This defector is same person who defected from the republican guards some weeks ago, same person with 2 different names, he must have multiple personalities like most western analysts and journalists who also seem to suffer from poor memory

I don’t know what happened in the last few weeks but Prof. Lands seems to have become a full-on proponent of this thuggish “revolution” as he continually peddles their silly propaganda and continually emphasizes sectarian divisions, all but cheering for and rejoicing in the possibility of a civil war. I’m afraid I have lost any respect I previously had for Prof. Lands.

It is sad to see that Syria is going down the road of Algeria into civil war,

I don’t believe the defector. He didn’t mention the 4th Div and Maher at all! And we all know from all the truthy eye-witnesses that only Maher’s 4th Div was in Dar’a.

Nour,
I think you missed this comments by Sophia:

“In it, he mentions that Prof. Landis is a member, with Ammar Abdulhamid, Radwan Ziadeh, and Patrick seale, of the US based Syrian center for political and strategic studies. I think Prof. Landis should have mentioned this to the readers of this blog.”

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/06/syrian-opposition-conference-in-turkey.html

and this:

“Dr. Landis is on their advisory Board, but still he should have told his readers here.”

http://www.scpss.org/index.php?lng=en

أنـقـرة تلـحّ علـى تطـبـيـق الإصـلاحـات … بطـريقـة سـلمـيـة
سـوريا: يـوم دامٍ حصيـلتـه 120 قتيـلاً أمنيـاً والسلطة تقاتل مئات المسلحين في جسر الشغور

دخلت الازمة السورية في منعطف جديد أخطر من كل ما شهدته سوريا في الاشهر الثلاثة الماضية، عندما أعلنت مصادر رسمية، أمس، عن مقتل 120 من عناصر قوات الأمن، في هجوم شنه مئات المسلحين على مراكز أمنية ومقرات حكومية في بلدة جسر الشغور في شمال غرب البلاد، فيما حذّر وزير الداخلية محمد إبراهيم الشعار «المجموعات المسلحة» مؤكداً أن «الدولة ستتعامل معها بحزم وقوة ولن يتمّ السكوت عن أي هجوم مسلح»، وأعلن وزير الإعلام عدنان محمود بدء تحرّك قوات من الجيش الى المنطقة.
وهي المرة الأولى منذ بدء الاحتجاجات منتصف آذار الماضي التي يعلن فيها المسؤولون السوريون مثل هذه المواجهة مع مجموعات مسلحة قدر عددها بالمئات، تمكنت حسب اعتراف السلطة من السيطرة على البلدة التي تردّد ان القوات الحكومية تحشد لاستعادتها.
وذكرت وكالة الأنباء السورية (سانا) إن «120 من عناصر الشرطة والأمن استشهدوا برصاص تنظيمات مسلحة في جسر الشغور، هاجمت مراكز أمنية وشرطية ومؤسسات عامة وخاصة، ونصبت كمائن لقوى الأمن والشرطة، وقامت بالتمثيل بجثث عدد من الشهداء وإلقاء بعضها على ضفاف نهر العاصي، إضافة إلى ترويع الأهالي وسكان المنطقة».
وأوضحت «استشهد اليوم (أمس) 20 عنصراً من الشرطة والقوى الأمنية في كمين نصبته تنظيمات مسلحة بالقرب من جسر الشغور. وأفادت المعلومات الأولية أن عناصر الأمن والشرطة كانوا في طريقهم إلى جسر الشغور تلبية لنداء استغاثة من مواطنين مدنيين كانوا قد تعرّضوا للترويع من التنظيمات المسلحة وهربوا من منازلهم باتجاه مراكز الشرطة والأمن».
وأضافت «كما قامت هذه التنظيمات المسلحة بالهجوم على المركز الأمني في جسر الشغور، ما أسفر عن استشهاد أكثر من 37 عنصراً في صفوف عناصر المركز الأمني مرتكبة مجزرة حقيقية، حيث لم تكتفِ بقتل العناصر بل قامت بالتمثيل ببعض الجثث وألقت ببعضها الآخر في نهر العاصي».
وتابعت «استخدمت التنظيمات المسلحة في هجومها الإرهابي على المركز الأمني الأسلحة المتوسطة والرشاشات والقنابل اليدوية وقذائف الـ«ار بي جي» واتخذت من الأسطح مراكز لقنص المدنيين وقوات الشرطة والأمن».
وذكر مندوب «سانا» في إدلب أن «ثمانية من حراس مبنى البريد في جسر الشغور استشهدوا جراء هجوم عشرات المسلحين عليه وتفجيره بواسطة أنابيب الغاز»، مشيراً إلى أنه «استشهد ثلاثة من عناصر حماية الدوائر الحكومية في جسر الشغور بعد أن هاجم المئات من عناصر التنظيمات المسلحة عدداً من هذه الدوائر وقاموا بتخريبها وحرقها».
وقالت مصادر ميدانية سورية لـ«السفير» إن الغالبية العظمى من القتلى من العناصر سقطوا في هجوم بالأسلحة شنته مجموعة، مدعومة بجرافات على مركز امني في المنطقة، مضيفة ان المهاجمين قاموا بعد اقتحامه بإعدام حوالى 60 شخصاً، رموا جثث بعضهم في نهر العاصي. كما قامت المجموعات المسلحة بإزالة حواجز حدودية مع تركيا.
وقال مندوب الوكالة في إدلب إن «التنظيمات المسلحة في جسر الشغور قامت بالتمثيل بجثث عدد من الشهداء، وألقت ببعضها على ضفاف نهر العاصي، وهي تروع الأهالي في المدينة وتقطع الطرقات وتهاجم منازل المواطنين وتقتحم المباني العامة والخاصة والمحال التجارية»، مشيراً إلى أن «الأهالي يناشدون ويوجهون نداءات استغاثة لتدخل سريع للجيش». وأضاف أن «التنظيمات المسلحة تحاول تفخيخ محطة كهرباء سد زيزون ومحطة كهرباء جسر الشغور، وأحرقت عدداً من الدوائر الحكومية».
وأشار إلى أن «عناصر التنظيمات المسلحة سرقوا خمسة أطنان من الديناميت كانت في منطقة سد وادي أبيض، بعد أن قاموا بمهاجمة موقع تخزين الديناميت وهدم جدرانه».
وأوضح أن «تعزيزات أمنية توجّهت إلى المكان الذي نصب فيه كمين لقوات من الأمن والشرطة بجسر الشغور»، مشيراً الى ان «القوى الأمنية والشرطة تحاصر بعض المنازل التي يتحصّن فيها المسلحون ويطلقون النار على العسكريين والمدنيين مشيرا إلى أن المعلومات المتوافرة تؤكد أن المسلحين مدربون ومدججون بالأسلحة المتوسطة والقنابل اليدوية وإنهم يروعون الأهالي ويستخدمونهم دروعاً بشرية».
من جهة أخرى، قال مصدر أمني مسؤول إن «قوات الشرطة والأمن تواجه في منطقة جسر الشغور مئات المسلحين، الذين سيطروا لفترات متقطعة على بعض الاحياء»، مؤكداً أن «قوات الأمن نجحت في تطهير أحد الأحياء الذي سيطرت عليه التنظيمات المسلحة بينما تدور حالياً اشتباكات بين قوات الأمن والشرطة وهذه التنظيمات المسلحة».
وقال وزير الداخلية «شهدت سوريا في الأيام الماضية هجمات مسلحة ومركزة استهدفت دوائر حكومية ومباني عامة وخاصة ووحدات شرطية ومراكز أمن في عدد من المناطق، كان آخرها في منطقة جسر الشغور، حيث قامت مجموعات إرهابية مسلحة بحرق وتدمير عدد من هذه المواقع، واستخدمت الأسلحة مطلقة الرصاص والقنابل اليدوية على موظفي هذه المواقع من مدنيين وعسكريين».
وأكد الشعار أنه «انطلاقاً من مسؤولية الدولة في الحفاظ على حياة المواطنين من مدنيين وعسكريين وحماية المنشآت الحكومية التي هي ملك الشعب فإننا سنتعامل بحزم وقوة ووفق القانون، ولن يتم السكوت عن أي هجوم مسلح يستهدف أمن الوطن والمواطنين».
وقال وزير الإعلام عدنان محمود، من جهته، إن «هذه التنظيمات أقدمت على نصب عدد من الكمائن وارتكاب مجزرة أودت بحياة أكثر من 120 من قوى الشرطة والأمن وسيطرت لفترات زمنية متقطعة على عدد من القرى».
وأوضح أنه «وبعد اشتباكات عنيفة دارت بين هذه التنظيمات المسلحة وقوى الأمن تبين أن عددها كبير، وأنها تستخدم أسلحة متوسطة وقنابل، ما استدعى بدء تحرك قوات من الجيش بعد نداءات استغاثة من قبل السكان المدنيين وذلك لوضع حد لهذه التنظيمات الإرهابية المسلحة».
من جانبه، قال ناشط في اتصال هاتفي مع فرانس برس في نيقوسيا إن «إطلاق نار تلاه انفجار سمع في المقر العام للأمن العسكري (في جسر الشغور)، ويبدو انه حصل اثر عملية تمرد». واوضح ان الامور بدأت امس الاول حين اطلق «قناصة» النار على متظاهرين في المدينة ما ادى الى مقتل عشرة من هؤلاء. وعلى الأثر، قام المتظاهرون بالتجمع حول المقر العام للامن العسكري.
واضاف «سمع بعدها اطلاق نار تلاه انفجار داخل» المقر، لافتاً الى ان «العديد من سكان المدينة فروا منها». وأكد ناشط آخر انه سمع اطلاق نار في المقر العام للامن العسكري، وقال «اعتقد انهم اعدموا عناصر من الشرطة رفضوا اطلاق النار على متظاهرين». واضاف «حصل تمرّد في صفوف الاجهزة الامنية».
إلى ذلك، استعرضت القيادة المركزية للجبهة الوطنية التقدمية في اجتماع، برئاسة نائب رئيس الجبهة سليمان قداح، «الأوضاع العامة في البلاد ومحاولات البعض إشاعة الفوضى والقيام بأعمال تخريبية تمس أمن الوطن وسلامة المواطن». وعبرت «القيادة عن ثقتها في وعي شعبنا وقدرته على القضاء على المؤامرة، وعلى تجاوز الحالة الراهنة».
وقال وزير الخارجية التركي احمد داود اوغلو، في مقابلة مع قناة تركية، إن سوريا هي اهم دولة عربية في عملية السلام. واضاف «لها حدود مع لبنان والعراق واسرائيل والاردن وتركيا. وعلى عكس ليبيا وتونس، فإن هناك تنوعاً طائفياً فيها. ولكن بالنسبة الينا فإنه يجب ان يكون هناك تغيير سياسي، ولكن يجب ان يكون سلمياً».
وكرر داود اوغلو ضرورة القيام بإصلاحات شاملة في سوريا فوراً بسبب تصاعد التوتر والعنف فيها في الفترة الاخيرة. واشار الى ان العديد من الناس قتلوا في سوريا، موضحاً «يجب ان تنتهي التوترات في سوريا. ان تطبيق الاصلاحات هي الطريق الوحيد لإنهاء التوترات هناك».
وأعرب الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة بان كي مون مجدداً عن قلقه «إزاء تقارير قتل وتعذيب الأطفال في سوريا». وقال «لقد لاحظنا إعلان الحكومة السورية العفو والدعوة للحوار، لكن لسوء الحظ فقد تم تجاوز ذلك من خلال الأحداث الأخيرة». وأضاف «أنا أشعر بالقلق خصوصاً من تقارير عن الأطفال الذين قتلوا أو تعرضوا للتعذيب، ويجب التحقيق في هذه القضايا بدقة وتقديم مرتكبيها للعدالة. ومرة أخرى، ندعو الحكومة السورية إلى احترام حقوق شعبها».
وأدانت جماعة الإخوان المسلمين في الاردن، في بيان، ما يجري على ارض سوريا من «جريمة مروّعة يندى لها جبين الانسانية»، مؤكدة ان «أي زعيم يأمر بإطلاق النار على شعبه الاعزل ويصادر حقه في التعبير ويسحق حركته بالحديد والنار قد فقد شرعية وجوده وسلطته».
(«السفير»، سانا، ا ف ب،
ا ب، رويترز، ا ش ا)

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=1864&articleId=830&ChannelId=43900

Mick,

They seem to have gotten a little better with the ‘defector’ lies after the one posted many weeks ago that was proved a fake.

This one is another fake, his apparent ID was issued in February. ID cards are issued in June/July.

I guess another analyst will prove it to be a fake, at the same time, giving the ‘revolutionists’ more ideas at fine tuning their fabrications.

We should look at something promising and that is , the areas that the army went into seems to have calmed down, they started from Daraa, then Banias, Homs, Al Rastan, , they are going north and they seem to clean each area, we have not heard anything about these areas that the army went into, could that be that the army is succeeding in thier efforts,

Can any Syrian in Syria confirm that these areas are good, I have not heard much about Homs in the last 2 weeks,

I might be wrong but if i am right then things are getting close to finish.

Re: the SYR EXPAT report above…”…the video showing the hanging of a security officer in Hama is very disturbing indeed. This type of barbaric behavior is unacceptable and inexcusable. Islam forbids this type of extra-judicial killing and the mutilation of bodies. Anyone condoning this type of “justice” is beyond sick.”

What rock has this person been living under? Un-Islamic? Please! The stories coming out of Iranian and Syrian prisons are worse. In Iran, they have public lynchings every week. And I haven’t heard that any of these good “Muslim Jailors” have confessed their “sins” to anyone. At least not lately.

http://playwrighter.blogspot.com/2009/04/pakistan-hasnt-changed-in-10-years.html

Jad

I think Joshua Landis is just depressed as he doesn’t see the end of this dangerous slope where the country is going.
The cruelty of the islamists is repulsive and I think there is no other way to reply than by force. Of course they are taking the people in the city as hostages, that is their usual cowardly way ( remember Ain Al Helweh).
I don’t know how long they can fool the international community in claiming a massacre. If this is what they fear, they should let the women and children go out, but of course they won’t. I pity these civilians caught between two determined opponents.
I think the Syrian army has all the rights to quell an uprising where weapons are used and where murders were committed.
If the international community refused to see that these Islamists are criminal gangs, than so be it. The Syrian army should go all the way while trying to spare civilians.
The MB has finally shown its evil face.

I never believed in violence but the regime has no choice but to retake aljisr ,if it fails Bashar needs to resign and let the army take care of security . I am not ready to listen to any talks about democracy until security is restored and armed thugs are dealt with in the manner expected from any government syrian or not.

Daleanderson,

In Saudi Arabia, were Sharia law is imposed, and seeing you are an expert on Islamic law, could you please explain to me how they justify lashings, dismembering of limbs, fingers and toes and so forth. Because as far as I know, the person that is imposing the law (the one conducting the lashings and so on) has to be SIN FREE.

Please let me know if there is anyone in Saudi Arabia or anywhere in the world for that matter who is sin free. It would also be great if you would enlighten me as to whether the US dennounce the Sharia law in Saudi Arabia.

I hoped the day when Joshua will get into publishing the youtube clips to prove one point or another will not come but sadly it has.
Please do not deteriorate to become another pro/against facebook group- It will be a loss to all of us who turn to Syriacomment for objective news.

Norman

Al Jazeera doen’t report any incident in any city except Jisr al-Shughour, Hama and Yarmouk(among palestinians), nothing on Darraa, Teblise, or Homs.
Maybe the agitators are been cornered in the north and will be finished there. It is also possible that the ‘peaceful demontrators’ elsewhere have finally understood that they are been manipulated and that they have moved the country on a very dangerous ground. I also think that Turkey, being in the middle of elections, cannot intervene to stop the move of weapons through its border.

I believe most of what we read is propaganda.
There is sectarianism in Syria, but most syrians are not violent and now all analysis focus on showing that Syria is going to be devided and that great civil war is going to start.
In a way it is similar to how all the analysis before Iraq war was focusing on شيعي و سني.
I think most analysis we read is either wishful thinking or ignorant, I can not understand how any expert would justify that 1 % of population should be able to change political system no matter how corrupt it is.
I lived in US for almost 17 years and I think the
syrian media is very incompetent but it is more truthful than what I am reading or hearing in the international media.
I was never بعثي but I feel very proud to be a pro regime at this point.
I don’t know if Syria is going to fall but it deserve to be defended against this fake and dirty attack, I would not dignify it by calling it a revolution

The irony is that ALL the US allies Arab Presidents are falling like a pack of cards. I think the Arab monarchs, also allied to the US are worried..
Bashar is NOT an ally of the US and he will remain despite the violent campaign managed by Sarkozy’s foreign minister, Israel and the medias.
I guess french will soon be removed from the Syrian school curriculum and replaced by russian or turkish.

Dear Gus,
‘I don’t know if Syria is going to fall but it deserve to be defended against this fake and dirty attack,”
Very touching words, I agree with you, we should never ever gave up on Syria and we shall defend it against all this fake attacks..it’s a very dirty and bloody game, but Syria wont fall, keep your faith high.
God willing Syria will come out better and stronger.

العشائر السوريّة خزّان البارود

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/14079

شهد مؤتمر أنطاليا مشاركة للعشائر السورية (آدم ألتان ــ أ ف ب)
«دقوا النشامى هيلنا وديغول خبّر دولتك مربط حصنّا وخيلنا». تلك كانت أهزوجة فرسان العشائر الذين حاربوا فرنسا في الأرياف التي انطلقت منها الثورة السورية على الاحتلال الفرنسي. تردد صدى الأهازيج من جبل العرب إلى سهل حوران، فالبادية صعوداً إلى الجزيرة العليا، ليصل إلى المدن التي هبّت على المستعمر. واليوم هناك من يريد أن يعيد التاريخ على نحو آخر من خلال زج العشائر في حرب مسلحة ضد النظام، من طريق استنفار عصبيتها لنصرة درعا

بشير البكر
تعود العشائر السورية اليوم إلى المشهد السياسي، بعد تراجع دورها المباشر طوال نصف قرن، وصار لا يخلو اجتماع للمعارضين من رموز عشائرية تنتمي إلى جميع المناطق، يترافق مع حديث عن ضرورة إشراك العشائر في الحراك الاحتجاجي. ورغم أن بعض المشاركين في مؤتمر أنطاليا للمعارضة السورية أعلنوا ولادة ائتلاف للعشائر السورية، تعارض بعض الرموز العشائرية هذا التوجه من ثلاث زوايا: الأولى أن تمييز العشائر على هذا النحو يضر بالوحدة الوطنية ويهدد سلامة المجتمع السوري الذي انصهرت مكوناته بعيداً عن العامل السياسي. والزاوية الثانية، أن هناك أطرافاً سياسية تحاول أن تستثمر ورقة العشائر في مواجهة مسلحة مع النظام، لأهداف حزبية، وهذا أمر من شأنه أن يضر بالحراك السلمي ويخرجه عن مساره، ويفتح الباب أمام نزاع أهلي. أما الزاوية الثالثة، فهي أن أبناء العشائر جزء من الحركة السياسية العامة في سوريا، وكانوا على الدوام يشاركون فيها من منطلقات أبعد ما تكون عن العصبية القبلية، وهناك رموز عشائرية بارزة اليوم في الحركة الاحتجاجية، ليس بصفتها العشائرية.
تنتشر العشائر السورية في مناطق الأطراف والبادية، وتكوّن ما يشبه السور الواقي جغرافياً من الجنوب في درعا والسويداء، مروراً بالوسط حيث ريف حماة وحمص وحلب والرقة، وصولاً إلى الجزيرة العليا التي تتكون من محافظتي دير الزور والحسكة. وتعد درعا والرقة ومنطقة الجزيرة ذات تركيبة عشائرية بحتة، ولا تزال تقاليد العشائر وأعرافها وقيمها سارية المفعول، لكن تحت سقف الدولة، لا خروجاً أو موازاة لها، كما هي الحال في بعض البلدان مثل اليمن. بناءً علىه، انخرط أبناء العشائر في مسيرة التعليم ودخلوا مؤسسات الدولة، وبرزت منهم شخصيات سياسية وعسكرية واقتصادية وثقافية، رغم أن هذه المناطق الغنية عانت التهميش الرسمي والتمييز على مستوى مشاريع التنمية الكبرى.
في درعا تهيمن على المشهد عشيرتان كبيرتان، هما الزعبي وبازيد، اللتان ضربتا المثل في مقاومة الاستعمار الفرنسي، ونصرتا الملك فيصل الأول لكونه نجل الشريف حسين صاحب مشروع الحلم العربي، ووقفتا إلى جانبه في صورة أساسية عندما قرر الجنرال غورو ترحيله من سوريا في تموز 1920، وكان لثورتهما على أعوان الفرنسيين الدور الكبير في إشعال الثورة السورية الكبرى التي قادها الشيخ سلطان باشا الأطرش المنحدر من بني معروف. وتقول الوقائع التاريخية إن الأطرش قرر إعلان الحرب على الفرنسيين سنة 1922 في لحظة نخوة عشائرية، عندما اعتقل الفرنسيون في منزله، نتيجة وشاية، الثائر الجنوبي اللبناني أدهم خنجر، الذي أطلق النار على الجنرال غورو في القنيطرة سنة 1921. وتجد عشائر جنوب سوريا امتدادات لها مع عشائر الأردن والسعودية، وصولاً إلى لبنان. ومنذ أكثر من قرنين من الزمن تمددت عشائر سهل حوران خارج حماها، فعبر المسيحيون والدروز في اتجاه لبنان، وذهب المسلمون نحو الفضاء البدوي الواسع في اتجاه الخليج عبر الأردن، وهناك الكثير من العائلات والبيوت الكبيرة في لبنان والخليج تعتز بأصولها الحورانية، وانتسابها إلى قبائل عربية قديمة مثل الغساسنة.
على الجانب الآخر، تمثّل البادية خزان العشائر التي ظلت تتنقل تبعاً لمصادر الماء والكلأ، بين الشامية ونجد والحجاز. ومن أبرز قبائل البادية السورية النعيم والحديديين والفواعرة، بالإضافة إلى عشيرتي شمّر وعنزة. لكن شمّر، التي نزحت رموزها الكبيرة في أوائل القرن الماضي من حائل بعد الصراع مع آل سعود (قبيلة عنزة)، كانت تسيطر أساساً على المنطقة الواقعة ما بين سوريا والأردن والعراق والسعودية، وصولاً إلى الكويت، وكان طرفها السوري بزعامة فواز الشعلان في البادية السورية ودهام الهادي في أقصى الجزيرة، وعجيل الياور في العراق، الذي أدى دوراً أساسياً في ثورة العشرين على الإنكليز إلى جانب رشيد عالي الكيلاني، حتى إن المقيمة الإنكليزية في تلك الفترة في بغداد، غروترد بيل، الملقبة بـ«الخاتون»، أفردت له فصلاً كاملاً في مذكراتها تتحدث فيه عن شخصيته الكاريزمية.
وحاول فواز الشعلان أن يؤدي دوراً سياسياً بعد استقلال سوريا، وكان على صلة بالملك عبد العزيز آل سعود الذي حمله هدية نقدية كبيرة، هي عبارة عن عدة أكياس من الليرات الذهبية للرئيس السوري شكري القوتلي، فكان أن رد القوتلي الهدية، وقال إن سوريا ليست للبيع. ومن يومه عرفت العشائر قاطبة الحدود التي يجب أن تحترمها إن أرادت الحياة داخل سوريا، ولم يكن الأمر سهلاً في حينه، فقد كان الملك عبد العزيز يعدّ نفسه زعيماً على كل من يضع على رأسه الكوفية والعقال، وكان من الجبروت حتى شاع المثل البدوي «الله أقوى من ابن سعود».
في الجزيرة السورية العليا يختلف أمر العشائر لأسباب تتعلق بعوامل الاستقرار، ومنها الماء. فهذه المنطقة الواقعة بين نهري الفرات ودجلة تعد ذات طبيعة ومزاج خاصين؛ فهي من جهة تمثّل إحدى أقدم الحواضر في سوريا، وهناك آثار تعود إلى العهد السابع قبل الميلاد (تل بيدر بقرب الحسكة يعود العهد المؤابي)، وتل حلف الأثري بالقرب من راس العين عُدّ معياراً عالمياً يعرف بـ«عصر تل حلف».
على هذه الأرض أخذت البداوة صبغة أخرى، حيث وجدت قيمها حاضنة تاريخية صاغت الوجدان بشعور وطني أساسه الأرض التي تقدست بعد ذلك بالديانتين المسيحية والإسلامية. ومن هنا يتحول أبناء هذه المناطق مقاتلين أشداء حين يتعلق الأمر بالأرض والماء. من أكبر العشائر في هذه المنطقة الجبور والبكارة والعكيدات، وتُعَدّ عشيرة الجبور عابرة للحدود بين سوريا والعراق، وتعد أكثر من ثلاثة ملايين، هي بمثابة خيمة كبيرة، يلخصها المثل الذي يقول: «إذا ضاع أصلك قول جبوري». ولهذه العشيرة زعامتان تاريخيتان، واحدة قبلية هي «الملحم»، التي برز منها الشيخ عبد العزيز المسلط الذي عرف كبار رجالات السياسة في المنطقة، والزعامة الثانية دينية رُفع لواؤها للسادة الهاشميين، الذين تذهب أصولهم للحجاز، وبعضهم كان قد قدم مع الملك فيصل، لكنه استقر هناك. ومن أبرز رجالات السادة، السيد علي الخليف، الذي نفاه الفرنسيون إلى السيشل لأنه رفض إقامة دولة في الجزيرة العليا، وقال قولته الشهيرة للجنرال غورو: «الجزيرة من سوريا مثل الرأس من الجسد».
انطلاقاً من أن البنية العشائرية هي بنية تنظيمية وسياسية في آن واحد، كما تعلمنا الانتروبولوجيا السياسية، يمكن القول إن هذه البنية، كانت تتحدد على الضد من سكان المدينة. فقد كانت المدن المحيطة بعالم البداوة هشة وتفتقر إلى التنظيم وعاجزة عن حماية نفسها تجاه المحيط القبلي الذي يكاد يطبق عليها. وهذا ما يراه حنا بطاطو، في دراسته عن العراق. فالمجتمعات القبلية هي «مجتمعات من أجل الحرب»، وخصوصاً في مجتمع يقوم على الحرب، حيث تمجد البنية القبلية الغزو وتحتقر الزراعة والفلاحة وحتى سكنى المدن التي اشترى فيها زعماء القبائل بيوتاً جميلة لارتيادها في المناسبات فقط. من هنا كانت التحالفات بين القبائل العربية، «تحالفات من أجل الغزو والحرب». وظلت العشائر تأنف سكنى المدن الناشئة، حتى بداية الثلث الأخير من القرن العشرين، الذي تميّز بهجرة ريفية كثيفة إلى هذه المدن.
يجري اليوم الرهان على دور للعشائر لنقل الحركة الاحتجاجية إلى العنف المسلح، وأكثر طرف يدفع في هذا الاتجاه هم جماعة الإخوان المسلمين، الذين يتولى قيادتهم حالياً رجلان من جناح «الطليعة المقاتلة»، التي خاضت مواجهات مسلحة مع الحكم في نهايات السبعينيات ومطلع الثمانينيات، انتهت بمذبحة حماة الشهيرة، وهما محمد رياض الشقفة المراقب العام ونائبه محمد فاروق طيفور. وهناك إشارات إلى أن الإخوان يحاولون استدراج العشائر إلى معركة مع الحكم لعدة أسباب: الأول هو أن الحركة الاحتجاجية التي بدأت من درعا، كانت شرارتها الصدام مع عشائر المحافظة، حيث تشير أكثر من رواية إلى أن مسؤولي الأمن وجهوا إهانات لزعماء عشائر المحافظة الذين توسطوا لتطويق الأزمة في بدايتها، وهذا ما يفسر انخراط المحافظة على هذا النحو الواسع. وبالتالي يسعى «الإخوان» إلى استنفار العصبية العشائرية، وجر عشائر أخرى من منطلق نصرة عشائر درعا، وهو أمر مأخوذ به في العرف العشائري. والسبب الثاني هو أن الجيش يتكون في غالبية جسمه العام من أبناء العشائر، الذين يؤلفون القوة المقاتلة الفعلية، وهذه مسألة معروفة، ويمكن تفسيرها من خلال نظام الخدمة الإجبارية من جهة، وتركيبة الجيش العامل القائم على التطوع، وقد عرف الجيش حركة تطوع واسعة من أبناء العشائر في العقود الثلاثة الأخيرة، وخصوصاً بعد تدهور الريف وتراجع الزراعة. ويجري الرهان على استمالة أبناء العشائر للتمرد ورفع السلاح للدفاع عن الحركة الاحتجاجية.
أما السبب الثالث فهو أن العشائر مقاتلة، ورغم دخولها في عالم المدنية والتحضر، فإنها ظلت تضع قدماً على أرض البداوة، وتستطيع أن تعود إلى لحمتها وعصبيتها العشائرية بسرعة شديدة إذا ما أحست بأن هناك تهديداً لأعرافها وتقاليدها وقيمها، وهذا يفسر الطريقة التي تعامل بها الرئيس حافظ الأسد، الذي جعل من شيوخ العشائر مقربين منه.
والسؤال: هل ينجح الرهان على ورقة العشائر؟ ليس هناك معطيات تؤكد ذلك، فالعشائر تدرك خطورة رفع السلاح، فضلاً عن أن لا مصلحة لها في إدخال البلد في حرب أهلية، وهي من جهة أخرى ليست في صف الإخوان المسلمين، وسبق للرئيس العراقي السابق صدام حسين أن لعب هذه الورقة من خلال عشائر الجبور في الحسكة، ولكنه فشل، ولم يكسب العشائر، ولم يستمل من رموزها إلا بعض الشخصيات غير المؤثرة.

Dr.Landis,how did you verify the video posted above? are you sure its not another fabrication? if not then I would refer to it instead of just posting it and build analyse about defections are really happening in the Army , Thank you

The first lieutenant in the second section clearly was reciting from a paper, his eyes searching looking under the screen , specially when he has to mention names or numbers.
How the hell did he figure out who killed who on different levels, he mentions a colonel Bassam Jadeed killing someone , then a lieutenant colonel killing another, he also mentions presumed killings done by other battalions he does not even belong to
His voice was louder , hesitant
While it has happened before, several times and in more peaceful situations , this Tlas guy is a fake and was instructed what to say, when I hear him talk I feel I am reading off the filthy Facebook page of The ” Syrian revolution ”
I am asking syrians to support the army as a whole, if it is gone , then Syria is gone

I wonder why the STL is continuing its work. Saad Hariri has obviously decided to take his revenge into his hands, with the help of the anti-Syrian lobby in the US and Brussels that he had probably been financing in part (in particular Mr Wissan Tarif, who has disappeared from the news since it was explained here that he was no Syrian but Lebanese, and a lobbyist who has prevented a better relation between EU and Syria in the last years). Tarif had contacts among prominent Kurdish activists (just Google him to find out) and these were the 2 parties actively calling for demos on Twitter and FB. The “word of mouth” made the rest. Sunni djihadists quickly jumped him as they were seeing that in Libya everything was possible.
It is easy to verify what I say about the first people pushing for the Syrian demos by checking the archived tweets with Google (Twitter has recently taken a step of not showing the older tweets, no one wonders why).
By the way, the events did not start in Daraa but with the demonstration of some Hamidiyye shop-owners, if I am right. They were protesting against taxes and the cost of living.

I do not understand how people on this board keep defending the regime. What has this regime done in the past 50 years to justify defending? Is Assad the only true Arab leader still standing up to the west and Israel? If ending the occupation involves killing 13 year old boys then I say to Israel continue the occupation because the alternative is no better. I do not believe one word that comes out of this regime. If they were honest and had nothing to hide they would allow foreign media to cover the story! I would not be surprised if this escalation by the opposition was nothing more than the security forces firing on defectors.

Also, if you people really care about syria’s future then you would see the need for change…after 50 years of Assad dominance our country is now one of the poorest most backwards nation in the world. I think a change to freedom and no corruption with an actual civilized government is overdue. Our children deserve a better future in a free secular Syria!

Bashar, please do not lead our country into civil war! Your time is over. We want you to lead us to a better future not burn our country!

Memo to louai:

Army defections are logical. The Syrian Army, just like the old Iraqi Army under Saddam, was never designed to protect Syria from foreign attack. It was built from the ground up on the old Soviet model to serve one purpose: to frighten and oppress the people.

When it can’t do that anymore (i.e., when the people fight back), the army begins to fall apart. It loses its reason for existence. You see, the defections are logical…

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

I truly believe that the Presidents men are failing him. This is the 11th hour, bullets and tanks aren’t working, (god only knows who is giving those orders) the time has come for one last fight, and i dont mean blood. The entire regime survives if the majority that is with it, has a leg to stand on. They can not argue with any opposition loyalist, when their countrymen are dying. What the majority of the people (pro-regime) need is a political victory, coming in the form of (ironically enough) democracy. REFERENDUM VOTE something that is montitord by an independent observer. For Bashar, or new govt. It probably wont even stifle the oppostion and the protest, but it would atleast guarentee no outside military interference, and help the majority of the syrians try to talk to the oppostion, and work through a transition. I believe Bashar to be a patriot first, and he loves his country. He cares about his legacy, and think that if he knows he lost the poeple, he wont destroy his country like Sadaam or the rest of the usuall suspects. He doesnt want his childrens fate decided already.

Nour,

Your anguish over the changing editorial line of this blog touches my heart.
.

@8 Norman

No, things are not quite in Homs. I live there, every single night there are protests, even in Baba Amr that got shelled by the army. Khaldia and Bab Esba3 are no go areas for the shabiha. Every night before the high school exams there were “takbers” all over Homs (where people shout Allahu Akbar from their windows and balconies).

Two weeks ago there was a massive turn out for some funerals. It was so large the shabiha scum did what they always do; kill and shot even more people. Bashar is so obviously not in charge of anything. Before sending in the army to “liberate” Rastan and Talbesa, how about the Baathists liberate their so-called God of a president.

Also, last Friday there was a protest in Dar’a.

Mr. Landis;
With all my respect, the video of the defector is fake. He looks very similar to the one who had been shown on channels more than month ago as a republican guard. His name is different.
He said that he witnessed ALL the crimes and massacres of the regime from Deraa province up till the north! I mean, he was everywhere and all the time, and witnessed everything!
Just check the video again @ 1:33, 1:43, 1:59, 2:04, 3:59, 4:07. In all these minuets, the guy looks at a paper in his hand downwards to have the names that he had to mention. He is not saying it by heart. He is concentrating on provoking and embarrassing the army to fight against themselves, and Al-Jazeera had edited the origin clip to hide other defaults. The army is not fighting each other. This is not “wag the dog” movie!

Norman I agree. The army succeeded in every area they entered. My friends in Homs say life is back to normal.
Disappointed at Dr. Landis comments..

Nothing is back to normal, DAMASGUY.

And it will never be normal again. At least not for the Assads. The problem with turds like the Assads is, if even one person steps out of line and speaks his mind, that person has to be slapped down. Dictatorships cannot tolerate dissent, not even from children. And that is what started this whole thing: some kids spray painting on a wall. And because Bashar’s mafia beat up some young boys just fooling around, the whole thing is gonna go down in flames.

Well, shit, if it hadn’t been those kids, it would have been someone else. And when you get right down to it, 40 years of mafia bullshit is enough. Time to move on.

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

What is great is that no city/village is left alone as it was the case in the 80’s for Hama and Aleppo,the revolution reached Deir Zor and Abu Kamal in force.
When Aleppo will join in mass ,the game will be over for asad mafia.

for the pro asad lebanese here… dont forget your long lasting neighbors are the syrian and palestinian people and not a family dictature .

your support for asad is based on a mini sectarian mentality.

Thank God that in Syria such mentality only concerns a small minority.
Of course the Asad -Makhlouf will be put on trial,it will not take long time to get them but a civil war is impossible in Syria…(no need of foreigner forces in Syria)

Is Assad Capable of Refom ?

BERLIN — In a brief address before Syria’s Parliament on March, President Bashar al-Assad declared that he was still for reform, but insisted that the first priority was to combat a “conspiracy” that was responsible for the bloody protests in his country. The speech came the day after the president dismissed his cabinet.

The speech was bound to disappoint those who had expected Assad to at least lift the emergency status and announce a new law on political parties. Changing the ministers is a meaningless gesture unless it’s followed by real reform. Assad mentioned the emergency law and the party law but insisted that he would not act under pressure — “haste comes at the expense of the quality of reforms.”

It’s a refrain that Syrians have heard too often. The idea of a new party law in particular has come up whenever the regime was under pressure — for example in 2000, after Assad took power, or in 2005, after Syria’s forced withdrawal from Lebanon. But the time has never been right.

I remember a meeting I had five years ago with Faisal Kalthoum, a professor of law and at the time a confidant to Assad, who proudly told me about a draft party law he and other members of a special committee had just finalized. (Kalthoum, who regarded himself as a reformer, later became governor of Dara’a and was in that position until he was fired after the first bloody crackdown.)

The new law, he told me at that time, would allow parties of various tendencies to be established. But there was no intention, he added when I asked, to change the Constitution, particularly Article 8, which states that the Baath Party is the “leading party in the society and the state.” In other words, parties could be freely constituted so long as they did not challenge the Baath’s monopoly on power. It is hardly necessary to add that Assad did not enact the law. The situation, other officials told me in subsequent years, “wasn’t yet considered ripe” for such a reform.

I would be positively astonished if Assad was prepared today not only to enact that law, but also to lift the state of emergency and rescind Article 8. He could make history with such moves, probably setting the stage for a step-by-step political liberalization in Syria — for which, I assume, a small window of time still exists. But I doubt he will do it.

This is mainly because Assad, in contrast to the image of him that some Western leaders have developed, is not a reformer. He can better be described as a modernizer. When he inherited power from his father in 2000 he set out to modernize the system — the economic and technological foundation as well as the political, security and bureaucratic elite on which he bases his power.

He allowed archaic economic and trade regulations to be shelved, private banks to operate, foreign investments to come in, mobile-phone companies to operate. And, starting with regional party leaders and governors, then ministers, and finally the top echelons of the security apparatus, he managed within only a couple of years to remove his father’s old guard and replace it with people loyal to himself.

In doing so, he gave Syria a more modern face and made some things work more efficiently, but he also made sure that the basic system — which relies on the heavy hand of the security services, on personal ties, and on a form of tolerated corruption that allows loyalists to enrich themselves — remained intact.

Initially, after his assumption of power, Assad encouraged a somewhat freer political debate. But in 2001, after a short-lived “Damascus Spring,” the regime cracked down on many of the intellectuals who had thought that it was really the beginning of a political opening. Many have been arrested repeatedly over the past decade.

To be fair, Assad has not relied only on repression and cronies. Unlike Hosni Mubarak or Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, the relatively young Syrian leader did gain some real popularity. The regional situation has helped him, as he quite frankly admitted in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. He was extremely critical of the U.S. invasion in Iraq, rightly warned of chaos after an externally enforced regime change there, and gained a reputation for saying no to the United States.

He was compelled to withdraw his forces from Lebanon, but managed to make the best of it by opening up the economy in Syria, thereby reducing the reliance of Syrian businessmen on Lebanon, and gradually rebuilding Syrian political influence in Lebanon.

He denounced American and Israeli policies toward the Palestinians, while making clear that Syria would not block a peace treaty with Israel. All this made him for a time one of the most popular heads of state in the Arab world, and, to the extent that it can be judged, at home.

This apparent popularity may have led him and his advisers to ignore the fact that even in Syria, many people were angry with a repressive regime, bad governance and blatant corruption.

In Syria, as in other Arab countries, there is a widely shared feeling, particularly among those between 20 and 30, that the regime denies them dignity and a fair chance to participate in politics and the economy. Offering cosmetic reforms now is likely to be too little too late.

Assad may find that while it was relatively easy to deal with intellectuals and activists, it is far harder to restrain an entire generation.

Volker Perthes is director of SWP, the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, and author of several works on Syria and the Arab world.

@ DALEANDERSEN
There is no such thing as democracy look at britian, people get arrested there for just thinking of protesting, britians foregin policy has stayed the same for 100’s of years, never anti NWO, and u dont think America, israel, or Saudi arabia are not run by the “some Mafia”. i support a united Syria, and i hate this media hate campaign, that is biased against Syria, its quite simple, people who oppose america’s foreign policy either get killed or over thrown, or a “humanitarian mission” which ends up killing a million people and puts the country in a civil war. We dont want Syria to become another libya, where the so called revolutionary council is an american puppet and has death squads roaming around the place killing kadaffi supporters, and in a deep civil war. We must ask ourselfes who is the real winner in a war, the country that one or the bankers and weapon companies who financed there war and gave them weapons.

Josh, you have some free publicity on twitter

syriancommando Syrian Commando
by SyriaTweet
Be careful from any information from Joshua Landis. He was formerly reliable on #Syria, but now he is working with the terrorists. Shame.

Everybody is getting ready for regional war:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-sends-submarines-to-red-sea-in-move-that-could-anger-israel-1.366500

The Israelis are doing their best for months now to provoke any Arab country to start the hostilities. Now that Ahmadinejad is on the way out (no more presidential mandate since he had 2 and elections in the Autumn) their only “window of opportunity” is now. Plus the US will be paralyzed by its own elections until next January. Who knows what they will invent.

Sudan is ready, Iran is ready, and no wonder why Syria had to be weakened.

SHAMI –
let me refresh your memory about the 80’s :-)))) the revolt was crushed by force. Therefore the same will be done now :-))))))))

MR LANDI,

YOU HAVE LOST ALL CREDIBILITY ON THIS BLOG. FIRST THE VIDEO YOU CLAIMED WAS THAT OF A DEFECTION IS FALSE. COMPARE TO PICTURES OF THE PREVIOUS DEFECTOR 6WEEKS AGO WITH A DIFFERENT NAME, AND THE SO CALLED DEFECTOR WITH A DIFFERENT NAME. LOOK AT YOUR PREVIOUS POST, WITH YOU EVEN ADMITING THAT SAME SOLDIER WAS A FAKE 5-6 WEEKS AGO. AND NOW THE SAME SOLDIER MAKES ANOTHER VIDEO WITH A DIFFERENT NAME, AND YOU STATE THAT THIS SAME PERSON IS A TRUE DEFECTOR.

MR LANDIS, TAKE A LOOK AT THIS VIDEO POSTED BY YOUR SYRIAN REVOLUTIONIST’S. IT IS IN IDLEB AND THE “REVOLUTIONISTS” ARE STEALING THE CLOTHES FROM MURDERED SYRIAN SOLDIERS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uQx0eiofMI&feature=player_embedded

YOU HAVE JUMPED THE BANDWAGON WITH ALJAZEERA. MR LANDIS IT IS TIME YOU STEPPED ASIDE FROM YOUR BLOG AND JOINED FOX NEWS. YOU HAVE LOST ALL CREDIBILITY AMONGST MANY

Prof Josh,

Do not listen to these morons who would be willing to turn on you in a matter of seconds just because you are posting objective information and analysis. Please speak your heart and mind and don’t take these biased bashar fanatics into consideration.

Joshua Landis or his administration have failed to publish any of my comments, but I will try one last time.

Like #35, I am really disappointed that you’ve decided to burn your credibility. You were going great and suddenly you were activated to generate lies and mobilise the sectarians?

Shame on you.

I have a problem when western media put in doubt the killings of 120 Syrian soldiers and has no doubt about the Syrian revolution communiques spread by people who live in the US and Sweden and who can see Syria from their balcony.

This is a war after all and information can be manipulated on both sides.

I hope the truth will emerge soon.

I still believe that the Syrian revolution 2011 is trying to drag Syria into a civil war but I still believe that this won’t happen for many reasons, the primary one is that in a civil war there is a dissolution of the army and the state while a bunch of extremists on both sides take into hostage the majority of the population. Some of these conditions are met but some will never be met. But there will be blood. Shame!

Shami,

The end result of this will not only be a civil war, rather a regional one. It is too soon to say that the regime ended. Remember that the MB are the cause of sectarian mentality

Time for Meshal to ask for asylum in Qatar
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4079355,00.html

Mina said:

The Israelis are doing their best for months now to provoke any Arab country to start the hostilities.

Mina,

How do you know this?

@39 Sophia

“I have a problem when western media put in doubt the killings of 120 Syrian soldiers”

Then put the blame where it lies, on the regime’s idiotic decision to ban any and all foreign media from entering Syria and properly covering events. What could they possibly have against Russian or Chinese or South Korean news agencies?

Thanks to official media’s clumsy lies, the regime has zero credibility, even if they decided this day to speak nothing but the truth from this moment forth, who would believe them.

Want an example? That Internet cut off on Friday, remember that? Guess what people, it really WAS for maintenance. It had been planned for weeks, there is a huge expansion of broadband gateways and access underway right now, with connectivity being provided to rural villages (like Telkelakh).

But the idiots at the Syria Telecom didn’t bother telling the ISPs, and didn’t bother to inform their customers beforehand. So in the end we have Hillary Clinton expressing her dismay at the cutoff of the Internet.

Oh, and here is more food for thought; not one single student from the Alawite villages surrounding Telkelakh has been able to come and sit for their high school exams. Apparently, Shabiha scum are only good for intimidating, and can’t even ensure the protection of high school students against an unarmed but understandably furious populace.

@38 Typical Baathists whiners. Landis gave you people one of the rare forums on the Internet where you had a fair chance to air your grievances, even going so far as to appear sympathetic to the regime at times. And what did you do with that freedom? Bitch and whine at the first sign of the professor having an opinion that didn’t toe the Baathist party line. I suppose now Landis is a member of the evil Bandar/Harriri/Salafis-who-raise-the-israeli-flag conspiracy against the eye doctor?

Lebanon war, Gaza war, bombing of the Syrian nuclear installation, rhetorics against Iran, destruction of Palestinian areas, more settlers, and a good article
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/could-this-war-produce-a-sunni-israeli-alliance-1.195990

The first thing they’ll lose is Eilat. I can’t wait to be able to travel direct from Taba to Aqaba.

Aboud,
I bet you that if you allow non-Arabic speaking journalists in Syria (we do read articles by some non-Syrian journalists in Damascus in the Arab press) the first thing that will happen will be a kidnapping, followed by a beheading, followed by a foreign intervention.
Remember Daniel Pearl?

Abood ,I have family in Homs and I call them every day 1 know you wish that the situation in Homs is not good but I am sorry to tell you it is ,yes there are some protests few numbers and for the last few days were peaceful ,regarding Takbeer ,that happened for three night thanks for 3ar3oor requisition on wisal TV not its stopped ,this peaceful ways of expressing some anger or demands are welcomed we wished all the days will keep like this .

As for the international media, no thanks we saw what kind of truth they are telling us from Libya, you can’t have restricted media for year and all of the sudden in an emergency like that just allow the media !

# 43, Aboud,

You have just shown us how unobjective and twisted you are by citing just have a sentence from my comment and omiting the other half that did not please you. And you want us to believe what you write when you pick and choose?

I am going to remind you of the whole sentence:

“I have a problem when western media put in doubt the killings of 120 Syrian soldiers and has no doubt about the Syrian revolution communiques spread by people who live in the US and Sweden and who can see Syria from their balcony.”

Army Defections?
Human activists say it is insignificant

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/07/137023971/attack-kills-120-syrian-forces-crackdown-feared?ft=1&f=1001

…Human rights activist Mustafa Osso said there were unconfirmed reports of a few soldiers who switched sides and were defending themselves against attacking security forces, but he said the reports suggest the mutiny is limited and “does not pose a threat to the unity of the army yet.”

“The protesters have so far been peaceful and unarmed,” said Osso.

A Syrian activist speaking on condition of anonymity said there were unconfirmed reports of infighting between security forces. “The situation is very foggy, it is unclear who is doing the shooting, but the situation is very serious and appears to be getting out of control,\” he said on condition of anonymity….

Daleandersen

I have nothing against you as a person but I have a lot against you as a Zionist, I do not need you to tell me about the Syrian army no addressing me in anything ! I served for 2 years in the Syrian army and I know enough about it to tell you this : the Syrian Army has a noble cause to liberate its land and protect its border from insidious enemy who occupied its land and constantly interfering and conspiring against our people .

@45 MINA

“the first thing that will happen will be a kidnapping, followed by a beheading, followed by a foreign intervention.
Remember Daniel Pearl?”

And yet not one such incident happened in Egypt or Tunis or Yemen. This is Syria, thank God we are not the hopeless failed state that is Pakistan.

Banning foreign media will not stop news from getting out, the news will just be twisted and inflated. To this day, not one of you people residing outside of Syria know what really happened in Telkelakh. And yeah, I do.

@46 louai

There are demonstrations every night, and the takber went on for far more than three days. The security forces here are exhausted, their morale is rock bottom. There is a severe shortage of suitable manpower to man the checkpoints.

I was at the Tartous road heading out of Homs recently. The sole guy checking IDs at the city entrance was a fat guy over 45, while his comrades sat beneath a recently installed picture of Bashar having tea (said picture replacing the massive one at the city entrance that was burned down, and which now has a huge Syrian flag in its place).

@47 Sophia

Damn right I’m not objective. I never pretended to be, but that doesn’t mean I lie. To hell with the regime, no matter what comes afterwards. If I could click my fingers and transport Maher and Bashar and the rest of the regime to Tehran, I’d do so in a moment, and damn the consequences no matter what they may be.

Abboud

“thank God we are not the hopeless failed state that is Pakistan.”

With the fall of the state that you are promoting, we are almost there.

Yemen, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia were allies to the US. This is why they were many news agencies there that lied for years to hide the corruption of the leaders and the terrible state of the human rights in these countries. Now that the wind has changed they are reconverting and throwing stones at the ones they praised…

Syria has always been suspicious of such polluted and biased news agency on its land.

Aboud,God bless the hamasneh bro !!!
The homsians are the most sophisticated people in Syria today.

SS,Syria lost many lives from the 70’s and is still losing because asad has weapons,but once the dictatorial regime is toppled,i dont see the possibility of a civil war in a country in which there is a relative majority in all of its parts, i dont see Aleppo,Hama,Homs,Latakkia,Deir,AbuKamal,Hassake,Damascus in war.
Most of syrians are today conservative muslims,Syria became relatively an homegenous country.
Today the majority of the alawites live in the cities as neighbors of the Sunnis and Christians,they have no other choice than to be integrated.
Post Asad Syria will also remove the weapons from the hands of Hezbollah ,because they could use it against the palestinian refugees in Lebanon.

Wissam tarif is at the international criminal court in the Hague. He dismisses the shootings of Syrian soldiers as infighting between factions of the army.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/jun/07/syria-yemen-middle-east-unrest-live#block-7

First it is said that the regime invented these death, second it is said that the death is due to infighting. My opinion is that these are two conflicting informations. Either you affirm that the soldiers are dead and you blame the regime or you refute the death of the soldiers as propaganda from the regime. This leads me to think that the Syrian revolution 2011 is up to its neck, and probably its noise, in propaganda war and has no more credibility than the regime it seeks to topple.

Wissam Tarif who prides himself as a Human Rights advocate in Syria and Lebanon has been very active on Syria and mute on Human Rights violations by his friends in Lebanon.

Have a look at his blog where he is an ardent advocate of the much discredited Special tribunal for Lebanon.
wissamtarif.blogspot.com

#50,

“I was at the Tartous road heading out of Homs recently”

Really, please let me know how your trip went, so I can compare and see if it was the same or a similar experience to my uncle’s trip. As I don’t believe you actually do live in Homs, I doubt it.

As to the situation in Tal Kalakh, I think people do know what happened there and it’s not the same twisted version yours.

@51 And what do you have against Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian, Indonesian media? Isn’t there a single country on Earth that isn’t involved in the Great Plot to Unseat The Eye Doctor?

@52 I’ve never been prouder to be a Homsi.

@54 Yaaaaaaaaawn. I’ve been over this so many times. When the fake Homsi Christian (one of your alts it seems) challenged me to prove I was in Homs, I did so, and we never heard from him again.

And if you knew what really happened in Telkelakh, then I wouldn’t be too proud of your gutless and incompetent Shabiha scum. We always heard such people were really cowards, and now we know that for a fact. The whole operation was a fiasco. Not one weapon was confiscated. Not one person arrested with a weapon in his hands. The Alawite villages around Telkelakh are petrified of the backlash of the operation. Just ask why the army had to bombard the nearby village of Hajr Al Abyad, and then tell me there are no defections.

My goodness there’s a lot of messenger shooting going on here.

I don’t always agree with Joshua Landis and those he agrees with. But I respect his intellect and like him and never cease to appreciate what he has provided over the years with this blog. And at this time more than ever.

Dr Josh is not a smartass or hater like many he gives free rein to in his comments section. Instead, he’s engagingly human. His lack of sour cynicism makes him prey for cynics and his lack of ego and aggression makes him an easy punching bag for poor debaters.

Many comments here are unconsciously playing out that brilliant analysis from a contributor he recently posted “Syria in Fragments: Divided Minds, Divided Lives”. All armchair commentators outside Syria urgently need to read it (https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=9986).

#55,

I thought that would be your answer, just continue running around the issue as you do. Your shallow assumptions are ridiculous and you do not know what happened in Tal Kalakh so stop pretending.

Make no mistake, the army will clear the country of the terrorists you label freedom fighters and peace will be return to Syria with Bashar as it’s leader.

MB Cawns
You know the say:you can’t give what you don’t have.
Can any one explain how can MB give Syria secularism if they(MB)don’t have it?

Prof. Joshua,

Thank you for allowing my comment on your system. I still have an extreme number of problems with your new “style” of reporting and I will try to communicate them in due time.

Aboud,

Yeah, you think we should let the foreign media, who is known to only tell the truth (cough cough, WMDs, al jazeera 24/7 lying station etc.) because that will fix things?

The Syrian media has many shortcomings but out of everyone else, it has been the most truthful. There’s multiple eyewitness accounts and in fact I myself broke the news of the 82 total security people dying in Jisr al-Shaghour on twitter.

The names of the dead are being distributed, I assure you their families are not imaginary. Unlike the hundreds of fake callers on Al-Jazeera et al.

The MB have in the last 3 days, given the government a complete mandate to crack down on their terrorist activities. The last straw was the attack on Jisr al-Shaghour.

My heart wants them to destroy the terrorists, who are entering from Turkey and are different to the salafists who have been defeated earlier, but I know what the foreign media will make of it, so my mind wants a measured controlled response. Unfortunately, such a response will come at the expense of the lives of Syrian soldiers.

After seeing what they have done in Hama and in Jisr al-Shaghour, you would have to be the most vile of traitors to fall for the vicious lies that they’re propagating.

Everyone forgot that a few days ago, Syria was getting calmer and calmer. Only when Erdogan got what he wanted (release of MB) did he give the signal to unleash the hoards on to Syria from the only remaining uncontrolled border! Yet not a single “intellectual” commentator is talking about this, forcing me, a twitter user, to break the news to the world.

@56 No. Unless Professor Landis puts on a kafiyah and marches in Friday demos with people from Bab Esba3 to tear down Bashar posters, I will forever label him a Baathist sympathizer.

🙂

(I’m joking of course).

I just hope that the civilians are leaving the town.

“Major Military Operation” Expected In Syrian Town: People are fleeing part of northern Syria ahead of what is expected to be a tough crackdown by government forces. On Monday, the regime of President Bashar Assad claimed that 120 members of the government’s security forces were killed over the weekend in clashes with armed men in Jisr al-Shughour. Now, as NPR’s Deborah Amos said today on Morning Edition, Syria’s defense minister has “all but announced an offensive” and “we can expect a major military operation in that town in the coming days.”

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/06/07/137025765/major-military-operation-expected-in-syria?ft=1&f=1001

reports emerging of the terrorist gangs in Jisr Alshghour burying the bodies they managed to take with them then taking vidoes in order to fabricate another mass grave situation.

Syria no Kandahar,

Secularism and MB do not belong in the same sentance together. They are a group who will forever be wanting to impose an Islamist state.

SYAU,

It’s true, I heard this as well. The terrorists in Jisr Al shghour are not like the sloppy Salafists from before. You can see them entering from Turkey, some of them wearing body armor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAo2omosWrY

They’re organised, brutal and came flying the Turkish flag. I suspect some of these may very well be from the Turkish military because they’re using extremely organised tactics.

The people still trapped in the city are being advised to lock themselves in the basement if possible, but to avoid going out in the street because it will simply make life more dangerous for soldiers operating there. I think that they will send Syria’s su3ikah division though, so you can be sure the terrorists are going to lose, but the damage is done…

I hope they capture a few of them so that any evidence incriminating Turkey is in our reach. It should be televised, it would be a great step forward in transparency rather than to use it as blackmail.

Demands of verification of the Syrian ‘aluminum tubes’ equivalent of guilt is quite valid. The Potemkin Spring ‘War on Islam’ pt 2 justified by 911 is heavily funded and expertly deployed by western powers for whom resources are no object to get what they want: The New Middle East subjugated into the NWO. Some snips-

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/06/us-hackers-fbi-informer??

One in four US hackers ‘is an FBI informer’
The FBI and US secret service have used the threat of prison to create an army of informers among online criminals
Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 June 2011

A quarter of hackers in the US have been recruited by federal authorities, according to Eric Corley, publisher of the hacker quarterly, 2600.
The underground world of computer hackers has been so thoroughly infiltrated in the US by the FBI and secret service that it is now riddled with paranoia and mistrust, with an estimated one in four hackers secretly informing on their peers, a Guardian investigation has established.

Remember all those Facebook Friends who signed onto the various twitterati social Arab Spring networks? See the US Gov contract to hire fake friends with fake ‘personas’-

http://www.seankerrigan.com/docs/PersonaManagementSoftware.pdf

syrialover,

I agree,

Dr Landis gives the readers the chance to think and make their own judgment, that is a change from the way we learned in Syria, We will get it eventually.

another video of a defector, this time from the Air Force intelligence:

@59 One more time, I’ll repeat the obvious question. What does the regime have against South American media? Japanese and Korean media? Russian and Chinese media? Indonesia? Malaysia? South African media? There are over 190 countries in the world, are all of them plotting to remove junior?

“Everyone forgot that a few days ago, Syria was getting calmer and calmer.”

Conveniently forgetting the assaults on Telbisa, Rastan, the mass shooting of funeral goers in Homs. I really don’t know what television station you were watching, but here in Syria last week was anything but calm.

Anyway, now you seem to have added Turkey to the list of plotters against Bashar.

Regarding your video, the title says “Turkish Terror Brigades Enter Syria”. Do any of the people in it look like friggin fighters? Do you see weapons? Camouflage? Does it remotely look like a hardened “terror” force entering a country to fight? Kindly stop insulting our intelligence with such obvious crap.

Know what, keep it. I’d love for the Turks to see how low and paranoid Baathists can get, as if we needed any more examples.

By the way, are you a “commando” the same way Bashar is “First Judge”, even though he never went to law school?

Syrian Commando,

I heard the weaponary they used are far more sophisticated than the ones used by previous gangs that have been confiscated. I also heard the Syrian army are entering via helicopters. I hope they are swift in eradicating this latest threat.

These gangs do definately seem more organised. God help the people there and protect the army.

Who is arming this mob? Very very sad and unnecessary that the Syrians have fallen into the West’s game of divide and conquer. When the little guys have fought to exhaustian, West will exploit the vulnerability and seize the country’s ‘management’ (perhaps via Carnegie and AYM trained western psroxies, like in Egypt). Only the Syrians themselves can refuse to volunteer to be used as the West’s pawns.

Syrian forces battle gunmen, 80 killed: state TV

(Reuters) – Syrian forces fought hundreds of gunmen in a northwestern town and 80 security force members were killed, state television said on Monday, in the first report of a major clash in the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

The television said armed groups set government buildings ablaze in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, stole five tonnes of dynamite and were firing at civilians and security using machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Turkey involvement in the terrorist gangs?

I think that before election date (on the 12) in Turkey, there are turks who want to create embarrassing problems to Erdogan and the AKP supported by the MB and discredit him in the eyes of the Turks and the Syrians. I don’t think the timing is a coincidence.
It makes no sense that Erdogan would do such a thing a few days before his reelection!

I would like to see Turkey’s reaction to the alleged infiltrations coming from its borders.
Many things will change after the 12th June. Erdogan landslide re election will allow him to have a more constructive and direct role in Syria.

Norman,

In Syria we’re taught critical thinking, unlike in America where everyone throws the stupid term “conspiracy theorist” around when anyone questions authority. Maybe you’re writing from America?

Prof. Joshua Landis has done himself a great disservice in the last two posts and I will be going through it in great detail when time makes itself available. Time is on my side of course, because I have the truth on my side as well. Lies are extinguished quickly when their ability to change reality fails.

All these little “defectors”, very funny actors. Incredible stories. The military forces are united, that last AIF guy looks calm unlike the previous ones (whom always looked like there’s a gun pointed at them), but no doubt he was bribed heavily to make his appearance. Or they stole someone’s ID and fabricated the whole thing.

As for Aboud’s post:

>There are over 190 countries in the world, are all of them plotting to remove junior?

Completely unsubstantiated claim. Besides, most of these nations are controlled states — controlled by debt.

>Russian and Chinese media?

Have you been listening to the Russian arabic media? They’re completely on Syria’s side. Ditto Chinese media (in Chinese, which I can speak).

>Conveniently forgetting the assaults on Telbisa, Rastan, the mass shooting of funeral goers in Homs.

Conveniently forgetting that these mass shootings were instigated by terrorists. Really, do you think the government is stupid enough to keep shooting people up every now and then even though they do not form a critical mass to threaten their authority? Absolutely insane double-think.

>Do you see weapons? Camouflage? Does it remotely look like a hardened “terror” force entering a country to fight?

Did you watch the rest of the video when these “peaceful” Turkish invaders (what the hell are they doing in our land) start weilding their large knives? Look through the rest of the channel, you will find a video of the Horran standing over the soldiers they killed.

It is you who thinks the others are stupid enough, the truth is plain in sight.

>By the way, are you a “commando” the same way Bashar is “First Judge”, even though he never went to law school?

It’s just a name, but I await you calling me a:

– Ba’athist
– Pro-government
– Pro-regime

etc. etc. etc., despite the fact that you know nothing about me, because this is the way you paid propagandists work.

@52 I’ve never been prouder to be a Homsi.

Aboud ,today and for ever, you have a good reason to be proud of your city.

Tahya Homs ! the city of Julia Domna.

Why,Erdogan knows the amount of love for Turkey from the people that Bashar fears,those who will end his dictatorial rule.
Bashar belongs to the iranian mollah theocracy.

Abboud

In your last comments, you sound particularly agitated and fidgety, anything wrong?

Aboud,
you show how far you are from understanding what it going on by saying “not one such incident happened in Egypt or Tunis or Yemen”

Well indeed, it was not in the interest of the West to have any of these regimes falling, didn’t you get that?
But in the case of Syria, it is pretty easy to anyone of Syria’s great friends (US, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, I should add France…) to pay some idiot terrorists to kidnap and kill someone, just for the sake of creating a reason for more foreign interference.

The more the Western youth is pro-Palestinian, the more the West is doing its best to support Israel. This patronizing of its own people’s will won’t bring any good. It looks like saying to the Muslims living in Europe and the US: don’t go too far, these are red lines. It will bring only more violence. After all, the Russian revolution happened during WW1.

#66

At least this time they used a different kid to act as the latest defector. “This time from the air force intelligence”……
Why isn’t this one wearing a uniform? Could it be that the ‘revolutionists’ were unable to make one or unable to steal an airforce intelligence uniform?

Not a very clear video of him or his ‘ID’. And I noticed he didn’t show his metal tags and neither did they most recent ‘defector’. Possibly because after they saw what the real tags looked like, they realised they wont be able to copy it.

The defector stories are getting really desperate.

Ugarit News!

Next I assume they will have a new defector from the navy.

The new moukhabarat defector interview is kind of weird, the person doing the interview tell the moukhabarat guy what to say and the moukhabarat speaking Fous7a.
One thing though, if all the 10 moukhabarat agents get around one protesters how can they deal with the other 100s of protesters shouting around them?

شبكة أخبار حمص H.N.N
التنظيمات الارهابية المسلحة في جسر الشغور تجبر بعض من احتجزتهم من رجال الامن على تمثيل مشاهد مزورة لارسالها الى المحطات التحريضية وتجبر العناصر المحتجزين على الادلاء بشهادات “مكرهة ” تفيد بوجود انشقاق في الجيش

SYAU,

It’s true, they are armed with machine guns (mounted), grenades, RPGs and I heard they even have special-forces grade plastic explosives. The security forces had no chance, they’re not equiped or trained to deal with such a force. The government assumed the border with Turkey was safe, which proved to be a bad gamble.

WHY-DISCUSS,

You could have a point! I have no proof Erdogan or Gul themselves are involved in this, but I am looking at the timing of their requests and overtures and the “coincidences” are alarming. Especially with the foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, who has threatened Syria directly. It’s quite possible that the army itself is generating these problems in order to create instability in Turkey and blame it on Erdogan. There are definitely consequences for the operations that have taken place and it will be a few month when we start seeing them in action.

Aboud bin Aroor
You like to joke when you smell dead bodies,that is no homsi.
Every Syrian knows that the regime did alot of mistakes,and every Syrian should be held accountable,the problem with people who are jerks in there mind like you is they don’t want there terrorist jihadists scums to be accountable for any thing,they think of them as victims even if they see them on you tube kicking dead soldiers bodies and trying to take money from there pockets .at the end listen to this short story:one time they spit in frog face,he laughed do you know why? The frog said all the river water did’t get my water wet ,you think your spit will.that is you and MB.

Josh:
The ‘defection video’ you are showing is the joke of the ether: This ‘army first lieutenant’ was shown last month (by Al Jazeera) to be a ‘republican guard conscript’. I believe that next month he will be either an ‘air force lt. general’ or a ‘rear admiral’.
take it off!
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/06/al-jazeera-syrian-army-deserters-fast.html

Azme Bshara Vs Hassan Nasrallah:

# 80 Aboali,

Azmi Beshara hasn’t been able to achieve for his people what Nasrallah has achieved for Palestinians and all Arabs: retrieving their lost dignity.

GPC,

Oh my! And they say you don’t move fast in the Syrian armed forces. 😉

Debunked in record time, bravo. I expect Joshua to include it in his list of news items next time though, with 10 paragraphs of commentary building up on the false premise.

As for Azme Bshara,

Anyone who takes this idiot seriously hasn’t seen him take bribes from Al Khanzeera:

http://youtu.be/oV-ay85hJiI

Yup, totally credible and worth mentioning in any conversation.

I think it is unfair to put any pressure on prof. Landis. We have to understand that he has a duty to his family and his career. It won’t be long before these ‘revolutionists’ will be accusing anybody who was on the sides of being an enemy. Any extremist movement has this logic: with us or against us.

# 79, 82, GC, Syriancommando,

FLC is an excellent news curator about Syria and Lebanon.

Again, we see the way the pro-regime goons attempt to bully and demonize people when they speak out the truth and expose the regime’s hideous crimes. Anyone is fair game, from previous allies like Turkey’s Erdogan and Qatar’s Hamad, to respected activists like Azme Bshara, to professors like Dr. Landis, everyone is out to get Dr. Butcher. This is why we have to get rid of this regime and it’s entourage as quickly as possible, they alone are responsible for dropping the collective I.Q of humanity by several points, not to mention it’s morals and self respect.

SOPHIA,

I understand but you have to understand that we have a country and family too and his comments are damaging. I have in the past directed English speakers to this website because in my opinion his commentary was concise, direct, objective, critical and reliable.

Now it’s degenerated into a Alkhanzeera live blog, basically, with lots and lots of assumptions build up on top of each other and a picture of Syria that is completely disconnected from reality. It really broke my heart to see Professor Landis reduce his valuable commentary to something like this, I honestly appreciated his thoughts previously, but now they’re a complete joke.

The MB and their gangs will not make way into Syria, you can bet my blood on it. We will not let our country get run by cave men. We saw the leader of the bumbling idiots on Emirates television, he couldn’t even string a sentence together. This is meant to represent the respected people of Syria??? Never, EVER, EVER, EVER, __EVER__.

By the way, what is this FLC?

aboali,

Ever heard of the pot calling the kettle black? Because that’s exactly what you’re doing. You’re complaining about demonising others all while you demonise anyone you disagree with as a “ba’athist, pro-regime, boogey monster” and so on.

I think someone needs to crawl back into their cave. The 21st century doesn’t need them.

Sophia,

No one is asking Prof. Landis to be a spokesperson for the regime, but his coverage of the events has become farcical. He posts fabricated videos of fake defections when it was clear to any objective observer that such videos are totally made up. He continually peddles the propaganda that the regime is cracking down on “peaceful” protesters when his wife’s own cousin was killed by these “peaceful” protesters. He has consistently emphasized and stressed sectarian divisions in the country, doing his part in engaging in sectarian agitation. There is no way any of this can be justified. And if he is spreading lies because he fears that otherwise he may be criticized by the clowns calling themselves “revolutionists” then I would have even less respect for him.

@71 “Have you been listening to the Russian arabic media? They’re completely on Syria’s side. Ditto Chinese media (in Chinese, which I can speak).”

Then let them in. What are the regime so scared of if they won’t even let in news media that are sympathetic to them? Or do you buy into Mina’s imagined plot to kidnap and behead foreign journalists in order to force NATO to bomb Syria-and-oh-my-God-I-can’t-believe-I’m-actually-repeating-such-crap

“You like to joke when you smell dead bodies,that is no homsi.”

Here are some jokes for you, courtesy of the unbeatable spirit of Homsis.

At the checkpoints, you aren’t going to be asked for IDs anymore. They will just get you to talk, and see if your voice is hoarse after yelling “Allahu Akbar” all night.

Know how a Homsi gives directions? “The place you want isn’t after the first tank, nor the second, it’s left after the third tank”

An advertisement in a Homsi newspaper; “Abu Ahmed’s new tank and APC service station! Oil change! Spare parts! Russian and Chinese replacement parts available!”

And finally, I’d like to share with you a story about how the youths in Dar’a are coping. When they see a sniper on the roof, at nighttime they all start yelling loudly from their windows.

Agitated Sniper; “You sons of bitches! Shut up! Shut up or I swear I’ll shoot!”

*shouting still goes on*

*sniper lets off a few rounds*

Shouting of “3eda! 3eda! 3eda! [Do it again! Do it again!]”

Agitated sniper; “Shut up you sons of whores or I’ll send the tanks after you!”

Shouting of “Debabi! Debabi! Debabi! [Tank! Tank! Tank!]”

How can anyone even think of beating such spirited youths.

seems junior’s plan to divert attention away from the crisis in Syria by orchestrating the Golan breach has dramatically backfired and caused inter-factional fighting and instability within the Palestinian refugee camps:

http://syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=133521

And in other good news, the Aleppo business community is poised for a dramatic shift against the regime due to the collapse of business and the belief that promises of reform are disingenuous.

I spit on Joshua Condis’ biased reporting of the events in Syria. I have family there. I speak to them regularly. By reading Jahashua’s blog, you would think there is mass panic and hysteria all over the country, but there isn’t. He is behaving like a criminal, supplying ammunition to a fake opposition, and putting millions of people, my family included, in harm’s way by trying to convince the Western world (Because let’s face it. Those people are dumb.) that the opposition is telling the truth. Three months of fake videos, fake witnesses, fake news. All of the fabrications become debunked, but none of it is reported.

I hold Joshua Landis, and the rest of the Western media, responsible for any harm that comes to the people of Syria. People like you are aiding terrorists.

ABOUD,

>Then let them in. What are the regime so scared of if they won’t even let in news media that are sympathetic to them?

None of them are “asking” to enter, you really live in a fantasy world where ever piece of information reinforces your beliefs, don’t you?

There were some Russian journalists from RT in Damascus not too long ago, but not on permanent post. The only correspondents are local. The trouble is, the great majority of the “international media” is not really independent. They must all play by the rules or they become “irrelevent” in the eyes of the main stream media.

If someone sympathetic to Syria, like a Russian/Chinese/Brazilian/Indian or Iranian journalist were to report something you don’t like, you’ll use the knee jerk reply that they’re just “appeasing the regime”.

There’s no point winning you types over (and let’s face it, half of you are paid) so it’s better to shield the country from the lie-stream that we saw in Libya and the other “coloured revolutions” in east Europe.

ABOALI,

>And in other good news, the Aleppo business community is poised for a dramatic shift against the regime due to the collapse of business and the belief that promises of reform are disingenuous.

More fantasy from the usual suspects, Syria is a relatively closed economy, the only sector hurting at the moment is tourism, but it’ll pick up dramatically in due time thanks to the free publicity. The Syrian pound is the real indicator of people’s confidence in the economy.

Syrian Knight,

>I hold Joshua Landis, and the rest of the Western media, responsible for any harm that comes to the people of Syria. People like you are aiding terrorists.

I’m quite angry too, at the moment I simply want to ascertain the reasons behind this change in tone. Was this bait and switched planned from the very beginning? Or are we to believe that Joshua Landis suddenly forgot all the lies that were debunked and entire written plans that we saw unfold? I somehow doubt it.

Something was triggered and it is critical reader’s jobs to figure out what.

Is this the final trump card? No one saw Turkey coming (though, the Syrian government possibly did with the pre-arranged meetings with Kurdish groups) and this re-ignited the terror storm striking our country. Using this new scene, Joshua Landis is attempting to make it seem like it was trending towards this, rather than it being a sudden spike in activity. Are people stupid enough to fall for it? Clearly not the readers of this blog who came here for the commentary rather than to spread propaganda, so this bait and switch may have just backfired.

The BBC has a nice reporting on the events with sources side by side one from the official SANA, the second from locals, and the third from activists in and out of the country.

I do think that the Syrian narrative of a wide ranging conspiracy and armed rebellious groups with a nasty agenda require one simple thing: allow for foreign correspondents to come in and to report, and allow for the UN to investigate just as they did in Gaza and elsewhere. The regime can even ask for the representative of the commission to have wide representation mainly from countries that have not had any strong comments one way or the other such as South Africa and India and what have you.

As for some on this blog that are using foul language and insults and calling this or that by epithetes and names, it really speaks volumes about the deep divisions this regime is bringing to the fore and the total lack of strategy to deal with the issues.

Attacking Dr. Landis personally for posting things and quoting sources does not implicate him one way or another for being pro or anti regime.

If I recall his pledge of allegiance is to the constitution of the US and not to Baath or MB.

Why should Dr. Landis’ opinion de jour matter so much?? It’s a one man’s opinion/interpretation of fast moving and confusing events. I’m sure he has his reasons… The fact is neither he, nor the rest of us, have all the facts. This uprising has evolved into an ugly beast that has gone well beyond anyone’s predictions, proving all experts (including Dr. Landis) wrong. The only thing that matter in my mind is the news de jour on the army’s progress in containing events on the ground, not Dr. Landis’ pinion. Stay tuned…

#90 and I spit on your and your family, go to hell, you’re lying and you know it. Syrians are fed up and revolting against the regime, the county is in turmoil and headed towards civil war, where hopefully we’ll cleanse this land from this regime and scum like you and your family.

#91 the same lame excuse as to why you wont let any journalists or U.N teams into Syria, you just want to cover up your war crimes.

As for the Business men in Aleppo, I am a business man in Aleppo, and I work with the big industrialist there and with the chamber of commerce and guess what, they’ve had enough, Bashar must soon go they say. As for the exchange rate, the Syrian lira is above 50/1 U.S.D, a sign of imminent collapse.

You spit on me and my family you little Islamist RODENT? I hope you and your family are in Jisr al-Shoghour.

WD
You are too optimistic about this Turkish government
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkey-foreign-minister-urges-organizers-to-reconsider-gaza-flotilla-1.366327

Fisk today has a line on the presence of the Turks in Cairo during the Palestinian reconciliation. He seems to imply that the Egyptians needed their ok.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-the-untold-story-of-the-deal-that-shocked-the-middle-east-2293879.html

Notice how #94 attributes “crimes” on a blog commenter. The hate is just seething out of his post. This is a sign of either a troll or a paid propagandist. Just look at this language:

>we’ll cleanse this land from this regime and scum like you and your family.

Is he so silly that he wishes to discredit himself?

I have already answered, Syria won’t let any so called “independent” western media in, because this will give them a free propoganda card. They are neither fair nor objective. If media which aren’t controlled by the west enter Syria permanently, the anti-government people will simply ignore them.

So there, that’s the 3rd time in a few hours I had to fix up this little lie, but you should see it repeated again and again, as if the point was never debunked.

Also the Syrian pound can trade between 47-49, not 50 as he claims. This is stable against the USD (but falling, since the USD itself is falling). If there was imminent collapse it would be trading at 60, so you can trash his garbage commentary in with the following deceitful poster (OBSERVER):

>As for some on this blog that are using foul language and insults and calling this or that by epithetes and names, it really speaks volumes about the deep divisions this regime is bringing to the fore and the total lack of strategy to deal with the issues.

So the government should be to blame because those who oppose it are using foul language? Come on! I think you will find I have conducted myself perfectly reasonably and respectfully and so have other nationalistic Syrians here worried about the security of their homeland.

There is no freedom without security.

#95 Syrian Knight,

Please calm down and don’t let the enemy get to you.

The enemy wants to sew divisions between us. They want us to be enraged at their crimes, that is why they have broadcast the videos which damage their own position.

The families in Jisr Al-Shoghour are relying on the armed forces to restore order in their homes. They do not want these Turkish invaders to stay, I am hearing horror stories of the crimes they are committing out of sight. The army is taking its sweet time and there’s only indications that there will be a major operation soon.

I have already sent an alert on twitter (syriancommando) for all families in that city to leave if they can or bunker themselves in, because they’re going to get in the way of the military otherwise. The enemy is in a corridor and unfortunately many of them will escape to Turkey, but some can possibly be captured or killed.

@90

“By reading Jahashua’s blog”

Jahashua…Jahash in Arabic means donkey. See what happens when a person posts one thing not to the Baathists’ liking? Doesn’t matter how sympathetic and accommodating that person may have been in the past, the regime supporters think Landis can be bullied and scared into singing Bashar’s praises.

I used to take offense at Landis’ promoting the regime’s line about sectarian strife if Bashar should leave, but not even I went so far as to “spit” on him and call him Jahashua. Shameful, and disgraceful. How can such people ever be expected to reform themselves? They can’t, they are mentally and intellectually incapable of doing so.

“None of them are “asking” to enter, you really live in a fantasy world where ever piece of information reinforces your beliefs, don’t you?”

Utter B-S. Look at the number of news organization that flocked to the Syrian-Lebanese border after the exodus of refugees from Telkelakh. There are any number of reporters just itching to make a name for themselves by reporting in Syria. But I guess we can depend on good old Syrian TV and Dunya, where people who don’t praise Bashar 24/7 are “spat on” and called “Jahashua”.

“Also the Syrian pound can trade between 47-49”

AHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!!! Oh my sides, oh, please, I need to dry my tears of laughter. 47.5 is the official rate, but no private bank or money exchange will sell it to you at that rate. They all claim they have run out of foreign currency, because they know how ridiculous it would be to sell dollars at the government’s rate.

Know what the black market (hence real) rate is? 55 liras to the dollar. Bravo Mr Eye Doctor, bravo.

#98

>refugees from Telkelakh

You mean the families which return 3 days after the military secured the town from the Hariri-paid Lebanese Salafist terrorists? You mean the guys who greated the army on the way back?

You mean the same people Al khanzeera tried to use as a way to indicate that the Syrian government was killing civilians.

Yes indeed, we saw what these flocking liars did to Syria. They can stay on the borders and make up their fantasy stories. We don’t need 24/7 of baby incubators, weapons of mass destruction and non-existent Libyan airstrike.

>Know what the black market (hence real) rate is? 55 liras to the dollar. Bravo Mr Eye Doctor, bravo.

I will call my uncle in Allepo to find out if this is true, I highly doubt it given your incredible posting history. This isn’t the case in Damascus.

MINA,

I am almost convinced Ahmet Davutoglu’s bloody hands are all over the problems in the north of Syria.

نقلاً عن شبكة شام الإخبارية

آخر هاتف من رئيس احدى مفارز الأمن في جسر الشغور و قبل استشهاده مع رفاقه الأبطال

كان يهاتف قيادته و يشرح لهم تباعاً كيف هم محاصرون و كيف يتجمع المخربون وكيف يقاوم هو و رفاقه وفي آخر هاتف قال أبو يعرب رئيس المفرزة لرئيسه :

سيدي خلصت ذخيرتنا

سيدي أنا و رفاقي منحييكون و منحيي السيد الرئيس

نحنا منودعكون

الوطن بأمانتكون

وأجاب الضابط المسؤول ورب السماوات و الأرض انتو اكليل الغار ع جبينا

و حياة كل شي آمنّا فيه دمكون آمانة برقابنا

رحمه الله عليكم يا شهداء وطننا

Abolali

“the Aleppo business community is poised for a dramatic shift against the regime due to the collapse of business and the belief that promises of reform are disingenuous.”

You really believe they are stupid enough to believe that after the regime has ‘collapsed’, their business will return to normal in the hands of the Antalya conference and the Facebook MB nerds, the US human rights and a morally destroyed army. Please temper your enthusiasm, it wont happen soon.

اسماء شهداء الجيش وقوى الامن السوريين الذين روو بدمائهم الطاهره ارض الوطن دفاعا عن شرفه ضد الخونه والعملاء والجماعات التكفيريه التي اتخذت من مدينة جسر الشغور مسرحا للقتل والتمثيل بجثث قواتنا الباسله

1- فداء ضياء احمد / مساعد اول
2- مصطفى عيسى الصالح / مساعد اول
3- محمد علي احمد / مساعد اول
4- طاهر حمدان شاهين/ مساعد اول
5- يونس علي الخضري / مساعد اول
6- رياض اسماعيل المصري/مساعد اول
7- علي يوسف شما / مساعد اول
8- حسين صالح حنطو /مساعد اول
9- محسن حسن سالم / مساعد اول
10- محب محمد خليفه / مساعد اول
11- يوسف حسن عاقل / مساعد اول
12- رضوان محمد عابدي / مساعد اول
13- محمد غزال شريف /مساعد اول
14- نظام الدين احمد حسن /مساعد اول
15- محمد قاسم القاسم /مساعد اول
16- كمال محمود ابراهيم /مساعد اول
17- اديب حسين قلعجي /مساعد اول
18- حسين علي رضوان /مساعد اول
19- محمد احمد فخرو/مساعد اول
20- مجدي مرعي زريق/مساعد اول
21- اديب داؤود الخطيب/مساعد اول
22- اكرم ضاحي ابراهيم/مساعد اول
23- محمد محمود محمود /مساعد اول
24- حسين علي حبيب /مساعد اول
25- عدنان سليمان السقا /مساعد اول
26- نضال محمود مظلوم/مساعد اول
27- سمير ديوب عاصي /مساعد اول
28- بدر موسى شاهين /مساعد اول
29- نبيه احمد المحمود /مساعد اول
30- سمير حسن احمد /مساعد اول
31- همام عدنان يوسف /مساعد اول
32- ياسر اسماعيل المصري/مساعد اول
33- ثائر حسن فهد /مساعد اول
34- محمود حسن لاذقاني /مساعد اول
35- يوسف علي احمد /مساعد اول
36- احمد عزيز علي / مساعد اول
37- قيس عبد الكريم عمار /مساعد اول
38- بسام بسيم الراعي /مساعد
39- بسام عيسى حسن /مساعد
40- عمار بركات اسماعيل/ مساعد
41- محمد كريم حمود /مساعد
42- نبيل وجيه قاسم /مساعد
43- محمد علي القيم /مساعد
44- ثائر محمد رستم /مساعد
45- مداح محمد محمد /رقيب اول
46- فخر ابراهيم فخرو/رقيب اول
47- اصف حسن علي /رقيب اول
48- فراس ميهوب عاصي /رقيب
49- انس سليمان خضرا/رقيب
50- مروان طاهر اسعد/رقيب
51- علي محمود حسن/مساعد
52- عبدو محمد احمد /مساعد اول
53- غيث علي حميشه /مساعد اول
54- ايسر يحيى بطه /مساعد اول
55- زهير عبد الله قمور /مساعد اول
56- ياسر كامل سليمان/ مساعد اول
57- حسن محمد صلاح / عامل
58- محمود احمد سنيور /رقيب اول مجند
59- احمد عبد الحميد حمد/رقيب مجند
60- فراس ابراهيم الخلف /عريف مجند
61- محمد عبادي بكوري /عريف
62- محمد الاحمد العز الدين /عريف
63- محمود محمد الاحمد / مجند
64- محمد خليل الحلبي /مجند
65- عصام محمود غنام /مجند
66- محمد نجيب زكريا قلعجي /مجند
67- نزار محمد حرشي /مجند
68- غدير نبيل ناصر / مجند
69- ناجي سليمان ويس /مجند
70- بسيم وحيد محرز /رقيب اول
71- ناردين عبد العليم ويس /رقيب اول
72 – علاء حسين حمود الهلال /رقيب

#101 Again, I’m a part of that business community and I speak with the others every day. The mood has shifted, where as before most had support for Bashar to make his much vaunted reforms, they are now saying that he and his inner circle are part of the problem and must go. Business in Aleppo is in meltdown, thousands of factory workers are getting laid off, it’s a ticking time bomb. Mark my words, Aleppo is poised for an explosion against the regime very soon.

The exchange rate, as I write this stands at 50.25 Aleppo Black market price.

Sorry but we’re not going to take your word for it, ABOALI, you’re not exactly a neutral observer.

WHY-DISCUSS,

Yeah I cracked up a bit as well. The government is far more credible than the cave men that were bouncing around Turkey. We’re meant to believe that these guys are to be taken seriously. It’s like pointing at a circus and saying that they’re a viable replacement for the Fukushima workers.

NOUR,

Thank you for this list of martyrs. Can you please link the source, I cannot find it.

@99

90% of the inhabitants of Telkelakh have not gone back, despite repeated attempts by the government to convince them to do so. Go and send Dunya TV there and see if they can find anyone.

As to the images on state TV of people greeting the army, those were probably people from nearby Telsaren, whose school has been turned into a detention center for torture and abuse.

“I will call my uncle in Allepo to find out if this is true,”

Yeah, because your uncle is going to be so stupid as to say on the phone “Yes nephew Commando, I do buy black market dollars”.

You know, with all the hate directed towards Landis by the Baathists, it got me thinking. If he were a Syrian blogger, he’d have been arrested and charged with “weakening national sentiments”. This is what the Baathists do to people who practice free speech.

Bashar and family never had legitimacy but now they have no longer real control of fear, then no control on politics, and consequently no control on economics. Every day tens of thousands of people are losing their jobs, and leting aside the President and family as an effective source of stability and monthly salaries. How many people will have to die before Maher and brother leave power?

Here is the fake army defector:

http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2011/06/al-jazeera-syrian-army-deserters-fast.html

I still think that Iran, Iraq and Syria should bring war to the doorsteps of the Wahhabi regime in Riyad. If I were PM of Iraq, I would send 10 rockets onto the Wahhabi family in Riyad and another 10 onto the collborationist family in Jordan for each car bomb that explodes in Bagdad. This is the only way to stop these barbaric Wahhabi-Zionists.

Mina

The Turkish government is in election time, so it is not easy to read between the lines what is really the position of the AKP vs Bashar Al Assad.
Until now they have consistently supported him with a mix of friendly advices and warnings. It was well balanced so they wouldn’t be accused of being pro-regime if they intervene later.
Note than the main opponent to Erdogan, Kılılçdaroğlu is an Alevi and this has to be taken into the equation in view of the similarity between the alevis and the alawites. He is also closer than the Kurds than Erdogan.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=al-jazeera8217s-kilicdaroglu-portrait-2011-06-07

Abboud

“your uncle is going to be so stupid as to say on the phone “Yes nephew Commando, I do buy black market dollars”.

But you are…

>90% of the inhabitants of Telkelakh have not gone back

No need to go to Telkelakh to debunk this lie, just go to Lebanon and you’ll find the families have mostly left. They left in the first place due to Lebanese salafist terror squads.

Addounia already went there by the way and did an extensive investigation. I guess you were too busy calling up Al Khanzeera all day to notice… Then again, they’ve moved on to conducting their telephone interviews inside their own studios, lol.

>Yeah, because your uncle is going to be so stupid as to say on the phone “Yes nephew Commando, I do buy black market dollars”.

You’re paranoid and there’s other ways of asking such questions. Your sarcastic tone truly shows your hatred, I feel sorry for you. Luckily most of us Syrians (if you are truly Syrian, no idea if you’re an agent provocateur or not) are united against this terror “protest” spree.

Don’t bother with this guy folks, he’s a dinosaur with a grudge who has no bearing on the future of Syria.

#107 JIHAD

>I still think that Iran, Iraq and Syria should bring war to the doorsteps of the Wahhabi regime in Riyad. If I were PM of Iraq, I would send 10 rockets onto the Wahhabi family in Riyad and another 10 onto the collborationist family in Jordan for each car bomb that explodes in Bagdad. This is the only way to stop these barbaric Wahhabi-Zionists.

Iraq is controlled by the USA so you can forget it in that equation. Don’t worry, if we survive this (and I have confidence we will, despite this latest Turkish terror attack), the gulfies will be finished.

The middle east will finally enter the 21st century.

That said, if I was in control, my finger will constantly be pressing the trigger finger on the missiles. XD

Goldman Sachs had swallowed 1 billion dollars of Libyan funds before the war. Maybe the US prefered to bomb than to pay back? We live in such a world, no?
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304066504576347190532098376.html

All the pro regime comments,indicate how rude they are,but the worst is Syria Knight comment , discussion should be in a polite way,where is Alex? .
france is pushing for UN statement condemning Assad regime,I think at the end Russia will go along with the west.
Erdogan is busy with the elections,I agree that he will come stronger after the elections.

WHY DISCUSS

Yes, we believe that our bussiness will become better in a medium term. Not in the short term. We can expect 6 months to 2 years to recover bussiness to normal. Of course it will not be easy, but do you think that if regime stands this crisis our bussiness will work normally ? Bussiness will not work at all if Assad´s control by force the country and stand against the world with a low level opposition which could take the form of terrorism, and a high level pressure from outside with embargoes, etc.

Scarlet Letter ‘A’ for AIPAC & Syanim, Inc. Here’s to the heirs and sponsors of the US policy of ME Destruction:

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.” —Marcus Tullius Cicero Quotes

AboAli

“Business in Aleppo is in meltdown, thousands of factory workers are getting laid off, it’s a ticking time bomb. Mark my words, Aleppo is poised for an explosion against the regime very soon.”

After having being humiliated by the Homsis not to have participated in the demonstrations, do you really believe they will spontaneously join the demonstrations against the regime?
In my view they will be much more resentful towards the ones who have caused the chaos and the factories to close than to the regime that has been calling for calm.
You as a business man anti-regime, you are the one who will be in trouble soon, not the regime… Be ready for backlash against you.

#112

>All the pro regime comments

Notice how if you’re anti-terror, you’re pro-regime. This should be the first indication that this comment is created by a Fitneh promotor.

>indicate how rude they are

I have said nothing rude, only stated my concerns and judgement. In fact, if you look at the history of comments on here, it has almost always been the anti-government commentators who have been rude.

People are getting angry, and rightfully so. I don’t think any less of Syrian Knight for his commentary, he is entitled to his anger from this information war propagated against our country.

>Yes, we believe that our bussiness will become better in a medium term.

Yeah, in the medium the cave men will be trading in a currency based on severed heads. Mark my words, if the government falls Syria will be 100xs worse than either Beruit or Baghdad. It’ll never be the same again and they will cut us up into 4 pieces as per their plan. It won’t happen though, unlike your fantasy, Russia is not going to sell us out.

In fact, the trend is going round the other way. South Africa, Brazil and another African countries will move to block the resolution. That’s discounting a veto from Russia or China who are witnessing NATO’s crimes in Libya.

Keep dreaming though, maybe one day you’ll wake up and smell the homous.

This is the truth of the Muslim Brotherhood:
They are “Muslim” Brothers for Israel and Zionism

Check from minute 7:49

http://www.mako.co.il/news-world/arab/Article-07dbbcba6f1fd21004.htm

Liars and hypocrites.

Lest we also forget the statements made by another Zionist Brother, Issam al-‘Aryan, who wanted to reassure the criminals in Washington and occupied Tel-Aviv after the ousting of Hosni Mubarak.

SL

“Yes, we believe that our bussiness will become better in a medium term. Not in the short term. We can expect 6 months to 2 years to recover bussiness to normal.”

2 years starting when? Like Tunis?, Like Egypt? Except that the country will remain in a turmoil for a longer time than Egypt or Tunis.
It will be more like Iraq. How many business running there 8 years after the fall of Saddam???
If you are a business man and anti-regime, you better think about emigrating soon to a friendlier country

To all you Syrian pawns, you’ve created just the chaos that serves Israel, to later come in and Rule you. Here you thought it was an indigenous, spontaneous Freedom Festival!! LOLOL

The Jewish power-providers of the Arab Spring revolts
By STEVE LINDE 07/06/2011 jerusalem post

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg tops ‘The Jerusalem Post’s’ list of the 50 most influential Jews in the world, 2011.

Mark Zuckerberg’s deft denial during an Internet forum in Paris last month that Facebook was not responsible for the Arab Spring protests sweeping across the Middle East was somewhat disingenuous. In almost the same breath, Zuckerberg acknowledged that Facebook had performed a key role in the regional revolts from Tunisia to Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Syria.

Why-Discuss

I am not specially against the regime. But reality is the only thing we have, and it is in fact changing. If you do not accept it you can become crazy or ruin yourself. There are many many bussiness working well in Iraq nowadays and there would be much more there was not someone east and west sending suicide attacks to destibilize the country.

>There are many many bussiness working well in Iraq nowadays and there would be much more there was not someone east and west sending suicide attacks to destibilize the country.

You’re not even trying to hide the fact that you’re a traitor, right?

The suicide attacks are all driven by the occupation, to ignite a civil war amongst the civilian population just like in El Salvador. They even sent John Negroponte to do so.

“The person responsible for one component of this terror, the Contra war in Nicaragua, was the person known as the “proconsul” of Honduras, John Negroponte. Negroponte was U. S. ambassador to Honduras, which served as a base for the terrorist army attacking Nicaragua. He had two tasks as proconsul. First, to lie to Congress about atrocities carried out by the Honduran security services so that the military aid could continue to flow to Honduras. And second, to supervise the camps in which the mercenary army was being trained, armed, and organized to carry out the atrocities, atrocities for which it was condemned by the World Court. Now Negroponte is the pro-consul of Iraq. The Wall Street Journal, to its credit, had an article pointing out that Negroponte is going to Iraq as a “modern pro-consul” and that he learned his trade in Honduras in the early 1980s. In Honduras, I might add, he was in charge of the biggest CIA station in the world. He is now in charge of the biggest embassy in the world. But all of this didn’t happen and it doesn’t matter, because we did it. And that’s a sufficient reason for effacing it from history.”

To suggest Syria has anything to do with it is treachery of the highest order.

http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/WebPage.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRNODEGUID={7090A85C-9112-40C9-86FC-872CA4AEF9C1}&NRORIGINALURL=%2fTayyar%2fNews%2fPoliticalNews%2far-LB%2fghassan-chami-pb-2775669.htm&NRCACHEHINT=NoModifyGuest

@110

“Addounia already went there by the way and did an extensive investigation”

The same TV channel that claimed Al-Baiyda was actually Iraq.

Go ahead, try to go to Telkelakh, and take pictures of all the people you think you are going to meet there. High school students from the surrounding villages don’t even dare sit for their high school exams there. They could have all gone to Telsaren I guess, but that school has been turned into a savage detention camp.

SL
Are you condi rice or Donald ramsfield?

To Jihad RE: “This is the truth of the Muslim Brotherhood:
They are ‘Muslim’ Brothers for Israel and Zionism…”

To 873 RE “…[the protest] you’ve created just the chaos that serves Israel, to later come in and rule you…”

First of all, why would Israel want to rule Syria? It’s not a financial center, it’s not a tourist magnet and it doesn’t have any oil. It’s just a dusty hole-in-the-road, a poor country full of unhappy, embittered people. Israel already has the Palestinians to deal with. Why would she want to add the Syrians to the mix?

Second, how does the protest serve Israel? It doesn’t. It serves the protestors who are mad as hell at the Assads and not gonna take it anymore.

Get it through your heads. 40 years of mafia rule is enough. This isn’t about Israel or the Saudis or the CIA. It’s ordinary people tired of putting up with one man rule and brutal secret police and a phony war against Zionism, whatever that is.

The people of Syria have woken up after a 40 year sleep. They want their country back. And they want Bashar Assad dead or out of the country…

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

Of of of of,

Kandahara and Commando you do not need to take it so personally. I am not doing it. Just analysis. Calm youselves. Let people express. This is freedom and democracy. No traitor and no Rumsfeld from my point of view.

Do you believe that is written by a fatalist God that Syria has to eat shit (kul jara) forever? I think a brighter future is coming despite the syrian attitude for 40 years towards its regime. It will come despite of you since Syria in no longer for the syrians but for something called global economics, be it controlled from US or from China.

#125

LOL!!!

>First of all, why would Israel want to rule Syria?

It already rules part of it. Ever heard of Eretz Israel?

I hope you are joking because you look like a clown just from this line!!! Where have you been the last 60 years?

SANDRO,

>I am not doing it. Just analysis.

This is the problem, you are injecting lies and this skews the analysis to the conclusion you want to draw. You are not being honest.

And no, Syria should not eat shit forever. I am with the peaceful demonstrators from here until the end. Unfortunately, they have been hijacked by terrorists who want to put Syria back in the stone age.

Then, we will eat shit forever, those of us who remain anyway.

Aboali spits on me and my family, decides that my fate, and the fate of my family, should be death, and the Islamists want to pretend that MY comment was bad for spitting on biased journalism? You Islamists are out of your mind, and on your way out of my country and straight into hell. You bastards weren’t kidding when you said you were willing to kill and sacrifice millions of Syrians to achieve you goals. You want to kill everyone who supports the government, and that is everyone in Syria.

Dear
Joshua,

Thank
you for your efforts in bringing all these (grisly) news to our attention.

The video of the
defector broadcasted by Al Jazeera


has been proved fake by am231 in his comment # 27 on June 7th, 2011, 3:42
am .

The video of the
Syrian security forces standing over the dead displayed on a roof top http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-jun-4-2011-2212
also broadcasted by Al Jazeera has been proved fake by myself and others in my
comment on June 5th, 2011,
5:32 pm .

May I suggest
that before using a video issued by Al Jazeera for writing your definite
statement, you wait for our comments on the document.

This way, you
will not have to issue an addendum the next morning.

The true test of
impartiality is when the two conflicting parties are claiming your partiality.

I appreciate your
link to The Final Declaration of the Antalya Opposition
Conference
which
can be completed for comparison purpose by the link to President al-Assad’s Speech to the New Government

.

Memo to SYRIAN COMMANDO:

Eretz Israel is a theological term, you backward country doofus. It’s a future world when pious Jews believe God comes down and sets all things aright. It’s not the way things are now. Muslims who think this is happening NOW also believe Jews eat Muslim babies.

By the way, pious Muslims believe God will someday cleanse the world, reward them and toss the Jews in Hell. But that hasn’t happened yet either.

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

Daleandersen

“It’s just a dusty hole-in-the-road, a poor country full of unhappy, embittered people. Israel already has the Palestinians to deal with. Why would she want to add the Syrians to the mix?”

Obviously like the Israelis living in your california-like ghettos, you have never visited Syria and maybe never read the wonderful experience people have with Syrians.
The only embittered people are you, Israelis, isolated in their golden prison, terrified, worried, and rejected by most of the world.
You can try to convince yourself that you are a ‘happy’ and ‘successful democracy’ but inside yourself you know very well that you are thieves and oppressors.

Anyway I hope you and you likes never put your foot in Syria, you’ll pollute it.

Video comparing the real Syrian uniforms with the ones being worn by the fake actors on Al Jazeera:

Josh, thank you for your honesty; I too believed that you leaned a little too much in favor of the regime. So did I in a way.
Aboud, you are a wonderful at debating and I hope you continue to do so, although they might trace you, so be careful.

You see, guys, this is what the anti-Syrian scum consider polite:

>Eretz Israel is a theological term, you backward country doofus.

LOL. No, for us, in Syria, it is a reality we have to fight against everyday. The delusion of religious nut bags like yourself who are dragging the world into the stone age in the 21st century. May your kind be cured of their mental illness, whatever the type.

Go to hell zionist scum.

ANNIE,

>Aboud, you are a wonderful debater and I hope you continue to do so, although they might trace you, so be careful.

He’s actually quite a joke. A allepo industrialist who knows what is happening on the border of Lebanon (from his telescope) and will base his business decisions on the sayings of a couple of cavemen. I would not be surprised if he’s posting from Tel Aviv like Daleaderson above.

The great shame is I had real high hopes that Joshua Landis was a western intellectual who didn’t care about the Syrian government or the terrorists, I thought he just wanted a truth.

Now his hidden agenda is in plain sight and only foolish westerners will fall for it. But worry not, the hundred or so people I directed to this website have been warned about his change of hats. The bait and switch will not work.

Daleandersen

“By the way, pious Muslims believe God will someday cleanse the world, reward them and toss the Jews in Hell.”

Reference please?

Annie, Syria Commando

Joshua is playing the devil’s advocate, that’s all.

WHY-DISCUSS,

I didn’t direct people to this website so that they can read a joker like the angry arab. I told them this is a respected American intellectual who I endorsed as he had a balanced opinion and correct assessment of the situation.

Now that the cave man council unleashed his terror, he’s turned into another alkhanzeera live blog. I honestly have to check if I’m reading anderson cooper, the level is that poor!!!

He is hurting my own reputation, I trusted him.

It’s one thing to play devil’s advocate, but this is outright dancing with the devil. I know we’ll get through this, I know Syria will survive. I know the reforms will surprise all the naysayers. The sad thing is, when all this happens, Landis’s gamble will fail and he’s going to have a very poor reputation.

I think he’s already crossed the road of no return, it’s very difficult to back-peddle from this position.

@133 Thanks Annie, although according to people on this website, I’m supposed to be posting from Tripoli. Dunno where someone got the idea I’m from Aleppo. Last time I went there was by mistake, when I overslept on the bus going up from Damascus to Homs…hehe, classic Homsi.

Syrian Ambassador in France Lamia Shakkour resigns in protest for government violence.

With regard to defection from Army. I don’t want to comment on the actual videos, but such defections are highly probable and logical. Syrian tribes constitute the majority of the armed forces’ low-ranking personnel, and its no secret that they constitute the backbone of the recent protests.

I think the exchange of comments here is very childish and extremely circumstantial. I miss the seasoned commentators.

Palestinians kill Palestinians ‘to back’ Syrian regime

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=46553

Syrian Ambassador in France Lamia Shakkour resigns in protest for government violence.

With regard to defection from Army. I don’t want to comment on the actual videos, but such defections are highly probable and logical. Syrian tribes constitute the majority of the armed forces’ low-ranking personnel, and its no secret that they constitute the backbone of the recent protests.

I think the exchange of comments here is very childish and extremely circumstantial. I miss the seasoned commentators

The Syrian Ambassador to France resigned, another one appointed because of her father as a proof of the corruption that is Syria in.

Syrian troops head to ‘massacre’ site
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=46550

“….Jisr al-Shughur was a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s and borders Turkey”.

Interesting news, MAHJOL.

I guess this is a lot like the paid off Libyan resignations in a bid to undermine the Syrian government’s international legitimacy.

This is the enemy’s final frontal assault. If we can survive this, there’s really not much I can imagine them pulling out of their pocket and placing on the table. That is, if we can deal with Turkey, which I hope we can.

The Syrian army has to be careful, I think Jisr al-Shughur is a trap. They have to do this slowly, they have to do this carefully and with surgical precision. I suspect Turkey has turned the place into a tar-baby and whatever the Syrian army does will draw “international condemnation”.

Perhaps complaining officially about the border entries to the UN might be a better move than entering? They want us to take revenge, but this is a reactionary move. We have to surprise the enemy.

test

Norman

Anyway she is calling for Bashar Al Assad to lead meetings with the opposition groups and creating a new government. She is not calling for Bashar al Assad to step down!
“J’invite le président Bachar al-Assad à convoquer les leaders de l’opposition pour former un nouveau gouvernement”.

After Alain Juppe’s insistence on pushing a UN resolution against Bashar Al Assad, I wonder why they even bothered to nominate another ambassador in France, maybe only as decorum.
I think Syria should withdraw its ambassador in France in protest for Alain Juppe attacks on the president or nominate anyone just to fill up the post.
I think the good old time of France in Syria is over. Bye French fries, welcome borsch!

My grandfather fought off the French so that Syrians can be free. Now the French bastards want to return through “humanitarian” invasions? Too bad for them we’re armed to the teeth and can fight back unlike the countries they have attacked previously!

The only way they can attack is internally or through one of our 5 neighboring countries.

The end of Sarkozy is going to be very ugly… well, uglier than he is now (hard to imagine, I know, but it’s possible).

I think I said it before that I felt Dr. Landis was an “American agent”. I thought it was a little silly, but now we find out he have connections to an American-funded opposition group that includes feminine Ziadeh and ponytail Abdel-7ameer. To me, that is good enough to be quite close to an “American agent”. He even used this blog to priase ponytail who received funding MEPI: https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=124 He calls ponytail honest. Everyone by now should know that MEPI is America’s cover for covert funding.

Look I understand a blog is a personal thing, and I know that Dr. Landis posted a lot of good material in the past. However, it feels like Dr. Landis did exactly what al-Jazeera did: provide years of good useful information and built wide readership and credibility, and all of a sudden used that credibility to apply these vicious attacks on Syria today. This feels like it was a long-term strategy.

It should have been obvious from the start. Who uses WSJ, WP, NYT, CNN, etc, as reliable material for Middle East matters, especially Syria? Fortunately, most people know better. Unfortunately, there are idiots in the world; lots of them.

All I ask for now is that Dr. Landis post some kind of disclaimer clearly identifying himself as a contributor to an American-funded “Syrian” “opposition” group. That should not be too much to ask.

Syria’s ambassador to France resigns live on FRANCE 24

http://www.france24.com/en/20110607-syria-ambassador-france-resigns-live-france-24-lamia-chakkour-al-assad%20

Mabrouk to the syrian people !

Army defections are logical. The Syrian army was never organized to deter foreign invasion or protect the people from external threats. It was built from the ground up to keep the Assads in power. When it can’t do that, when it fails in its mission, And it begins to lose its reason for existence.

So you see, defections are logical…

Sounds like Syria, no?

“We do not have a traditional government and a traditional opposition in Yemen. Everyone is involved in these elite patronage networks and in many cases the formal opposition are as corrupt or non-inclusive as the regime,”
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/in-transition/Clashes-in-Militant-Held-Southern-Yemen-City-Kill-15-123314863.html

We read it first time “SHAMI”, good riddance. I think the embassy should be closed all together. France is a despicable, racist nation without a sustainable future due to the mass-immigration inside. I like French people but sorry, they are finished.

#147

>However, it feels like Dr. Landis did exactly what al-Jazeera did: provide years of good useful information and built wide readership and credibility, and all of a sudden used that credibility to apply these vicious attacks on Syria today. This feels like it was a long-term strategy.

This is the old bait and switch strategy. They make you think this blog is something, then they suddenly turn the tables on you. It makes the weak minded think that things have changed dramatically, when objectively speaking, only a few things have changed:

– Turkey is now attacking Syria through proxy army (not just Hariri’s/Khaddam’s gang who were very sloppy)
– With the amnesty, the MB was empowered along with that cave man summit of theirs, activating them in Hama, Jisr al-Shagour and a few other towns.
– The capital is still calm, though the shops are closing earlier.

So this illusion the professor is trying to build up, is no different than the illusion Al khanzeera has been trying to drum up all that time. It’s wag the dog episode 2, except now with even more people burning their credibility.

That is, if they fail, which I hope they will. If they are successful (please God no) then they’ll declare they were right all along (which we already know they were not due to the huge amount of lies debunked).

#149
Zionist says> So you see, defections are logical…

Maybe in your tiny zionist brain but on the ground anyone will tell you this is comedy. Keep wishing.

Hey when the US is bankrupt, maybe I’ll take you out for coffee in liberated Palestine and you can tell me how right I was!

Daleanderson ,you will see,there will be many alawites among the braves in the syrian army who will join the ranks of the people.
Their future is amongst their compatriots,we will build together democratic Syria ,a non sectarian ,pluralist Syria ,in which all citizens ,regardless their religion and ethnicity are equals in rights and duties.

151 keep your bazooka for who deserves it! You have to read Landis between the lines and he would lose a lot of readers if he wasn’t walking on a tiny thread. In the US, and especially in the academic circles, you get cursed with a “you’re a radical” in one second. Then you are finished and your voice will never be heard in any media outlet (look at Chomsky).

Shakkur is now denying her resignation. Anyway she was a long term opponent: according to some friends it takes 3 weeks to get a tourism visa from her embassy!

Just watched the video of Shakur: only a phone call of a woman who speaks a bad English with a non-Arab accent and has a tiny trembling voice. Hilarious. Now she is announcing on Syrian TV that she is going to sue France 24 and that it is part of France’s campaign of intimidation. Another shahida ayan !!

Believe me I understand the academic pressure professor Landis is under. I understand he has a family to feed.

But I just want you to pause for a minute and consider how dangerous mere words are in this day and age.

A bullet can kill a person.
A lie can kill a nation.

If my family is harmed as a result of Prof. Landis’ lies, what good is his continued academic tenure be to me??? How will it drown out my grandmother’s tears for her nation???

Not everyone has the guts that Chomsky has by the way. Or professor Finkelstein either. But these are the men I look up to. Don’t let my militarised username fool you, it should be obvious by now that I am also part of academia. But I value the truth more than popularity or money. And my country and my people, I value them above my own life.

Antalya conference elected a 31-member workgroup.
Only a few names have been made public.
Riad Ghannam
Obeda Nahas
Ghassan al-Mufleh
Khawla Yusef,
Sondos Soleiman,
Melhem Drooby,
Ammar Qurabi
Amr Al-Azm

Who are they ?
Who are the others and what are their affiliation ?

syria is under a psy ops and black ops attack from the zionized usa and israel.

believe the jew stream media? no. al jazeera apparently no better.

the current govt of syria is supported by the majority of syrians and will outlast the amurderkan regime.

Amr is the son of the philosopher Sadek al Azem,Obeida Nahhas and Milhem Droubi are MB,Khawla Yusuf is the wife of Ammar Abdelhamid,liberal trend.

Aboud, #55

Even the Hariri “refugees” from Tal Kalakh, who were so anti-Alawi (they didn’t even bother hide it), said that their men stayed behind to fight with their weapons. Now you want to tell me there was not a single weapon? You’re clearly getting all your updates from the FB page or from your abadhayat friends who feed the FB page with ridiculous garbage.

Aboud, #88

If they let the Russian media in, and then the Russian media begins to report very pro-regime material, are you going to respect it as the full truth? Or are you going to deny it again as a collaborator? Like my father says about people like you: عنزة ولو طارت (It’s a goat, even if it flies!)

I agree 100% with kicking out the media since we already saw how they ignored certain events and exaggerated other events in Damascus, where they had basically free reign in a taxi cab.

Aboud, #105

You seem to be so convinced that the phones of 23 million Syrians are being wiretapped 24/7 (by who?), yet here you are comfortable commenting here “from Homs” where internet tracking can be easily done by one person with home-made software that actively searches for certain keywords.

5 dancing shlomos,

I hope so, certainly the people are behind the government, more than ever after the hanging and the massacre in Jisr al-Shaghour.

But the forces of darkness surprised us with the Turkish card. We didn’t even know it was on the table.

Who knows what capital they have bribed or blackmailed to act against their country?

And notice none of these commentators even want to give the reforms a chance! Such criminality!!!

USAMA,

He won’t be traced. He’s posting from Telaviv. But he’s homsi so he thinks he’s still at home. XD

SC no one will get a bullet because of following Landis’s website. Brainwashed people are stuck to al jazzara and Facebook, and have really no time to read the comments here. Journalists may have read some of the articles given by Landis but if they did they also read some of the readers and insiders letters who have written on the situation on the ground: including the sectarian issue, the different actors and players. The fact journalists continue to buy the BS on Syria (that offered by activists on FB and paid people like Wissam Tarif, ponytail or the Swedish bro) is simply because they may lose their job at any second (newspapers live difficult times) and are always trying to go with the wave. So since the readers are saying hooo baaaaahh syyyyrrrriia diktaturiyyyyaaaa, they simply follow. Of course talking about Asia, Putin, or KSA who are paying some advertising in the very paper they work for is out of the picture.

Syrian ambassador
denies on-air
resignation in France,
threatens lawsuit

Article by: Associated Press

Updated: June 7, 2011 – 1:40 PM

BEIRUT – Syrian state television says the
country’s ambassador to France has not
resigned, shortly after the France 24
network aired an audio statement
purportedly from her saying she was
quitting.

In the statement on Syrian television, a
woman’s voice was broadcast denying the
resignation and saying she will sue France
24. The French network earlier aired a
statement it said was from the ambassador
saying her resignation “takes effect
immediately.”

It was not possible for The Associated Press
to reconcile the two accounts. Renee Kaplan,
deputy editorial director at France 24, said
the network called a number they have used
previously for Ambassador Lamia Shakkour
and she announced the resignation.

Syria has been beset by months of protest and a crackdown that activists say has left more than 1,300 people dead.

AboAli, #103

Good luck convincing those “thousands of factory workers” that their jobs will return if Bashar falls. Aleppo has not moved for one simple reason: They love Bashar. If you look more closely into their history, you will find out they’re “fa6imieen” like most Egyptians. Just remember how Jamal Abdel-Nasser was treated like a national hero by all Aleppines (they flooded the streets when he resigned, and when he died), and very differently by many Damascenes. If you don’t understand what that means, then good.

Even in the 70s and 80s, all their problems were coming from the countryside.

Oh and by the way, 50 is not 55. Big difference even for black market.

سفيرة سورية في فرنسا لمياء شكور تنفي استقالتها
http://youtu.be/7LOX3khV4CI

chomsky and finklestein are gatekeepers, deceivers, shepherds leading sheep astray, and are protected.

نقل التلفزيون السوري عن سفيرة سورية في باريس لمياء شكور نفيها ما تناقلته وسائل اعلام فرنسية عن نبأ استقالتها , مؤكدة انها ستقاضي تلك الوسائل لهذا التشويه .

Observer, #92 (and to everyone else in general)

When foreign media was reporting from inside Syria, they were lying and selectively ignoring some material and exaggerating other material. They dismissed the huge Damascus pro-Asad demonstration as “thousands” when it was well over a million, and meanwhile exaggerated the hundreds in the beginning in Dar`a as “thousands” and “tens of thousands”. In the case of Cal Perry of al-Jazeera, he was completely MAKING UP material. That is why they were kicked out. Notice how they were inside the country for almost a month. It’s a real privilege for non-citizens to be in Syria, not a right.

In the case of the UN, here is how it went down:
Monday, April 25: Navi Pillay calls for the Syrian government to conduct a clear and transparent investigation on the “killings of civilian protesters” and the “alleged killing of security personnel” (I especially like how the latter is “alleged”).
Tuesday, April 26: Syria extends a personal invitation to Navi Pillay to come see for herself.
Wednesday, April 27: UNHRC acknowledges the invitation and says it is considering it.
Friday, April 29: UNHRC condems Syria and calls for an investigation.

What, do we look like toys to you guys? F*** OFF!

MINA,

I understand, Professor Landis’ words are not bullets in of themselves and not that many people read his personal blog. But you will be surprised how many Syrians read this to find an “outside view” and if they come on here seeing this, they begin to question the real-reality on the ground and turn back to al khanzeera et al. when all they need do is open their eyes.

It’s a psychological operation and I really respected Professor Landis, I am quickly losing my faith in humanity as a result of this turn around!

5 dancing shlomos,

I thought so too about Chomsky, especially all the vile lies in his books. I thought he was what we call a “level 2 psychological warfare operation”. That is, to capture people who are a rise above the mainstream thought. But lately, it seems he is much more complex and is fighting back his gatekeeper master. The interview on israHelli television was very telling, he kicked the woman’s ass regarding the Flotilla incident and went further than he had before, perhaps even over the line.

Remember how surprised everyone was at Helen Thomas? We might be as surprised about Chomsky as well.

Why do you think Finkelstein is a gatekeeper though?

Jad
Thanks for the link! Not the same voice at all.
France 24 can go to hell.

Off topic, but this guy needs it.

Dale, #130

There is nothing about someday tossing Jews in hell. Judging from own personal friends, I don’t think you even realize that the God Muslims believe in is the same God Christians and Jews believe in. Christians and Jews in the Arab world call god “Allah”. The significance of the word “Allah” in Arabic is that it cannot be turned into plural, nor feminine (unlike “God” which can be turned to “Gods” and “Goddess”), which reinforces the belief in one God.

Dale, #149

You’re confusing the Syrian Arab Army with the Mukhabarat. Believe me, not even the US Army on its own can defeat the (always united and always will be) Syrian Arab Army. We all saw how they fleed in desperation in the 80s when Hizbullah gave them a little firecracker.

L’ambassadrice de Syrie en France démissionne

http://www.france24.com/fr/20110607-ambassadrice-syrie-paris-france-lache-bachar-al-assad-demission-damas-violence

Démenti sutr une chaîne d’État syrienne

Peu après la diffusion de cette déclaration sur notre antenne, la télévision d’État syrienne a diffusé un message qu’elle attribue à Lamia Chakkour dans lequel elle dément ces informations et menace FRANCE 24 de poursuites judiciaires.

FRANCE 24 est toutefois en mesure d’assurer que la déclaration de l’ambassadrice est authentique : Elle a en effet été jointe à un numéro auquel elle avait déjà été jointe par notre rédaction. dans les derniers jours. De plus, l’ambassade de Syrie en France a confirmé la démission de Lamia Chakkour à l’agence Reuters.

Mina,
Another lie as usual, France24 did apologize twice in the last couple weeks for publishing fake news and videos and blame it on Reuters, It’ll be interesting to see who will they blame their sloppy journalism on this time, Haytham Manna3!
[As usual blame it on Reuters! #170, I liked when they write: we ensure you that the voice is genuine, who should I believe the voice or the real person????] 🙂
The voice of France 24 can easily be of a machine, it sounded automated.
Here is she again on Addounia TV:
سفيرة سورية لمياء شكور: فرنسا فقدت شرعيتها 🙂
http://youtu.be/8ZXd2r5wde4

What is interesting is that Syria with only 2,5 poor channels Syrian TV, Addounia and (1/2) Al Ikhbariya are able to stand against the whole universe media for three months, isn’t it amazing.
I think they proved to be the more ‘honest’* channels comparing to all.
* No honesty in media AT ALL.

France 24 = 24 hours of lies a day.

This is the same channel we laugh at everyday, it is by far the worst of the gang. I hope Lamia sues them for a large amount of money.

JAD,

I am not religious but I am convinced that God himself is protecting Syria not just our media.

Quoting the article posted by Shami:
“Renee Kaplan, deputy editorial director at France 24, said
the network called a number they have used previously for Ambassador Lamia Shakkour and she announced the resignation.”

What kind of government official gets called by a news channel to announce their surprise resignation? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Lots of question marks these days.

Jad,

Come one, that was a prank on France 24.. stop the silly conspiracy theory

Lamia Shakour Ambassador of Syria in France confirmed that some Arab and foreign media about her resignation is untrue and false and which falls under the media campaign biased against Syria.

She said .. I greet Syrian President Bashar Assad .. I salute Syria, the homeland which is in the heart of every Arab citizen carries home in his heart, and I highly vulnerable to the news false, which aired on some Arab and foreign satellite, which is part of the campaign, which aims to achieve one thing: destruction of credibility of the Grand Nation with its people.

She said .. That this nation does not override the value of it in the world, one can betray any Syrian citizen, honest and loving to his homeland and I am part and parcel of this country and the people of this country and representatives of the Syrian Parliament and the Syrian government.

She said in contact with Syrian television .. I am the ambassador to Syria in France and I will stay ambassador to Syria as long as I live and I was able to do and I will perform my duty to the national and I hope that all Syrian to feel proud because the sons and daughters of the nation can not betray in this way .

She said all of this distortion is a campaign to bring down her credibility and the credibility of the Syrian and what will we do to protect our country from this blatant interference in the sovereignty and wished to reach its message to all Syrian citizens belong to this great country.

The ambassador said.. In the coming hours I will have a press statement in French on the French channels to discredit this story, affirming that she will sue channel France 24 on this distortion news.

After having read most of the recent posts about Syria, i came finally to the conclusion that this is a place of a subtle arsonist

دمشق – السفارة الفرنسية:
السفير الفرنسي في دمشق يأسف لما يحصل في الأعلام الفرنسي من تزوير وفبركة تخالف اخلاق و مبادئ الجمهورية الفرنسية كما يطالب الفرانس 24 بالأعتذار من الشعب السوري فوراً على كل ماتم تلفيقه من بداية الأحداث حتى اليوم و اخرها في الخبر المفبرك عن استقالة السفيرة السورية في باريس

NICARAGUAN COMMANDO,

Now we are changing from red revolution en centroamerica to divine revolution. So, you are a potential theocratic iranian revolutionary? You think that God is free to protect Syria more than other countries? Why this preference in God? Do you think God is going to protect Syria from the power mafia or is going to protect Syria from its own people and human aspirations?

>silly conspiracy theory

You’re right, we live in a world where there’s no ulterior motives, back stabbings and conspiracies!

All conspiracies are just incompetence!

Can I have the drug you’re consuming? I need to relax.

#178

Notice how this vile scum pretends he is just pushing forward an analysis then jumps out with the sectarian bullshit:

“So, you are a potential theocratic iranian revolutionary”

Oh boy! I *must* be a pro-iranian for some reason. That explains why I’m against the conspiracy and attempted destruction of my nation.

I won’t even answer your sectarian allegations. I am Syrian only, nothing more, nothing less. I even said I’m not religious but you’re so stupid that your knee jerk response was kicked into action, for all intelligent people to see.

Take a good look people.

This is the mentality that they hope to destroy our country with.

#176 FACTS,

It certainly seems that way and even someone as intelligent as me was duped by the professor. He is a professor after all.

Syrian Rambo :i’am not religious but I am convinced that God himself is protecting Syria not just our media.

USAMA : Believe me, not even the US Army on its own can defeat the (always united and always will be)

Jad:I think they proved to be the more ‘honest’* channels comparing to all.

And you dare criticize Ben Laden,Netanyahu and Bush ?

Syrian Commando, not Rambo. Rambo is an american story, I live in the real world, SHAMI, unlike you.

The American army cannot defeat the Syrian army, this is a fact that you would understand if you actually lived here (hint: he doesn’t, he probably lives in Lebanon/France). Now, the American AIR FORCE is another question, but I doubt they will want to throw so many airplanes away, because they will have to use a large chunk of it given our air force defense. … Russia isn’t going to sit still either.

And yes, right here we can see the Syrian media is the most honest. Care to give me an example of who is more honest?

And I am baffled how we got through this while other “coloured revolutions” failed. It can’t just be the intelligence of the leadership or the weak media we control. I am beginning to get convinced that god himself is protecting Syria. I’m open to less “fantastic” explanations.

By the way, even if they asked a secretary to answer the call at the embassy in Paris, it is still the most ingenious way to derail the expected UNSC French proposal of resolution! It shows that journalists do not have any ethics and are unable to verify sources, voices, who they are talking to, the reality of a scoop…

Majhool, Shami,
You refer to a story that happened to be fake, be a good sport and stop arguing, it’s not you who wrote the news, it’s France 24.
It happened to all of us linking a news that isn’t correct, not a big deal.

MINA,

Yeah I kind of wish it was a trap to embarrass France, that would be really smart. Alas, the Syrian government is not that proactive unfortunately. That’s why we’re in the mess we’re in I guess. Lack of pro-activity allows corruption to grow rife.

This frustrates me greatly, but I’ll take any victory I can get.

I have looked at and compared the two videos — one of a purported draftee and one of a purported lieutenant.

Some here (Gus, Nour, Alescander, Mick, Syau, Am231, Mohamed, Kanj, Syrian, Commando, Gpc, Hs, Sophia) have suspected or confidently claimed that any or all of the defector videos are fakes or fabrications and/or that the two videos above show the same person.

Do these faces come from the same person? (video comparison here)

Image comparison here.

— what is grave and sad is the labelling of Dr Landis as an enemy for reporting a report.

Of course Jad ,unlike you and your divine leaders ,we dont possess the email address of Allah.

The culture of ila al abad and totality is yours.

#185 William Scott Scherk,

I don’t think this alone would be a reason to call Prof. Landis an enemy. It’s the overall flawed and convoluted analysis and the attachment of importance to the cave men council in Turkey. Furthermore, his doubt about the terrorist murders in Jisr al-Shagour puts him in a situation where he will readily believe the liars and doubt the more reliable Syrian media.

The list of the dead is already coming out and we can see their families crying outside the town (they had to flee because of the terrorists who are not even allowing food in). There’s no reason to doubt the Syrian media’s side of the story. Indeed, I broke the story before they did by friends from DNN who have citizen reporting on the ground.

The fact that Landis can attempt to spin this as something that weakens the government is down right frightening. His analysis was perfect before and he wasn’t pro or against the Syrian government.

Then suddenly, bait and switch? Is he being blackmailed or threatened??? What has changed?

Can you not see the conspiracy by now? Look at the France24 lie, trying to ruin Syria’s reputation before they attempt to present a resolution to the UNSC.

I said 24 hours a day of lies before, now I’m thinking 24 lies per hour!

Shami 🙂
منك مقبولة

I finally figured out who Syrian Commando is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s27Oq5ot0ZI

Keep it coming, it is very entertaining.

# 86 Syrian commando,

FLC stands for Friday Lunch Club

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

# 87 Nour,

I understand. I was not that familiar with Dr. Landis’s blog, although I knew its existence but I was not a regular reader or commentator and I started reading it at the beginning of the current events in Syria. I must say that I noticed a significant change during the current events, and I am trying now to rely on other news outlets and blogs to form an objective opinion about what is going on in Syria. The task is difficult, believe me.

Memo to SYRIAN COMMANDER:

There is no conspiracy. No one (except for Iran and Hizballah) cares about Syria. Syria is a poor, backward country ruled by gangsters. No one wants to get dragged into the middle of that train wreck.

The people who are protesting are doing so because they’re tired of being treated like crap by a pack of mafia thugs. It’s that simple…

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

Thank you SOPHIA,

I will check it out and distribute it if I think it is a neutral, responsible source.

Very funny AIG, are you the collapsed insurance company?

If you find what is happening in my country entertaining, then you have a criminal psychosis.

I’ll leave you with a comment from the riverbend blog, of an Iraqi woman who had to flee to Syria:

“I remember Baghdad before the war – one could live anywhere. We didn’t know what our neighbors were – we didn’t care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night” – Riverbend, April 26, 2007.

“Syria is a beautiful country – at least I think it is. I say “I think” because while I perceive it to be beautiful, I sometimes wonder if I mistake safety, security and normalcy for ‘beauty’. … The first weeks here were something of a cultural shock. It has taken me these last three months to work away certain habits I’d acquired in Iraq after the war. It’s funny how you learn to act a certain way and don’t even know you’re doing strange things – like avoiding people’s eyes in the street or crazily murmuring prayers to yourself when stuck in traffic. It took me at least three weeks to teach myself to walk properly again – with head lifted, not constantly looking behind me. It is estimated that there are at least 1.5 million Iraqis in Syria today.” – Riverbend, the last blog entry October 27, 2007

This is the security that people like AIG want to destroy.

We have so little left already, they also want to take our security and our lives. The same people who destroyed democracies all over the world want to “grant us” democracy from their selected cave men, corrupt politicians and islamists.

Never forget these democracies of the past, destroyed by the west:

Congo: Lumumba — December 1st 1963
Iran: Mossadegh — July 16th 1952
Chile: Allende — September 11th … 1973

And those were just the beginning.

Good night and god protect the righteous. God protect Syria and its dignified, educated people.

#167

i havent reread this. no time. but i think this interview gives an idea about NF. he is certainly a zionist.

http://www.counterpunch.org/bruinsma01052008.html

About the Syrian brotherhood:

“I do believe that the new era of US/Saudi/Israeli/Qatari counter-revolution will entail an alliance with (and use of) the Muslim Brotherhood in all its branches. It is clear that the Brotherhood in Syria have been close to the Americans (and Israelis through the Jordanian mukhabarat and the Lebanese Phalanges since the late 1970s)”

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/06/they-talk-to-taliban-so-why-wont-they.html

A smart analysis from Tony karon, Time:

“Unlike Gaddafi, who is almost universally loathed among foreign governments, Assad still has enough geopolitical backing to prevent any U.N. Security Council action against him, even if the Western powers were inclined to give him the heave-ho. (And currently, they’re not.) Where the Libyan opposition had neighboring Egypt willing to facilitate their access to arms, Qatar willing to buy antitank weapons and European air forces willing to tilt the battlefield in their favor, no states are likely to back an armed rebellion in Syria. Still, Syria’s rebels will get plenty of support and weaponry from Sunni insurgent communities in Iraq, and from allies in neighboring Lebanon.
The bitterness engendered by the regime’s own violence may already have closed off reform by the regime as a path to restoring stability, yet the opposition forces are unlikely to muster the military means to topple Assad. They could, nonetheless, sustain a protracted insurgency in the hope that choking off the economy will eventually turn the urban elites against the regime, and prompt defections within the security forces. All of which portends a long, hot and morbid summer ahead.”

http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/06/07/syria-braces-for-a-new-massacre-but-dont-expect-the-west-to-do-another-libya/

@158

Taking time out from the drama surrounding Syria’s current or ex ambassador to France..

Point 1; I said the army did not find any weapons. Maybe some smugglers were armed, that’s never been unusual in Telkelakh, but certainly nothing to match tanks. However, not one gun was recovered *by the army*. Hint hint ya zaki.

Point 2; We will never know, since the regime will never allow any third party to report from Syria. Short sighted and foolish, but keeping in character with all their other decisions.

Point 3; Thank you for the heads up, but obviously I’m not gonna be posting from my own home ya zaki inta. Thank you 24/7 Internet Cafes.

I have just been listening on the BBC to the original interview by Lamia Shakour Syria’s Ambassador in France. It’s in English and the tone of voice and emotion are very unlikely to be that of an actor or hoaxer. It sounds authentic to me. It shouldn’t be hard to verify whether that’s her voice or not, which I am sure the French intelligence services are busily working on.

She was contacted on a telephone number that has previously been used to contact her, and that Reuters has announced they have a written statement from the Embassy confirming her resignation.

(http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-syria-france-idUSTRE7565D120110607)

Eventually the truth will come out. It’s easy to believe she and her family back in Syria are being threatened with extreme retribution.

Maybe we’ll hear of her “suicide” in the near future. After all, wasn’t that what Ghazi Kanaan did soon after giving a controversial interview on Lebanese radio.

Aboud,

You can believe whatever you want buddy. عنزة ولو طارت

From Reuters:
“Her background as a member of Syria’s Christian minority from a family regarded as loyal to Assad helped her secure her ambassadorial post.”

Is this supposed to be a news article or an op-ed?

And still no one addresses why, for a surprise resignation on live TV, France24 called Chakkour instead of Chakkour calling France24. That’s almost as bad as this “eyewitness” for al-Jazeera: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-jun-3-2011-1552

Actually no, I take that back. That al-Jazeera “eyewitness” testimony had so many holes in it that it was just downright embarrassing.

SYRIALOVER

A resignation over a cell phone interview on biased France24 or a trap?

“that Reuters has announced they have a written statement from the Embassy confirming her resignation.”:

Where did you read that?

By ZEINA KARAM and JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

BEIRUT — Syria’s ambassador to France appeared to resign Tuesday on a French television network, then less than an hour later Syrian state television aired her angry denial and threat to sue.

It was not immediately possible for The Associated Press to reconcile the two accounts or tell if the voices on the two networks belonged to the same woman. There was no video.

A top editor at France 24 said the network called a telephone number they had used previously for Ambassador Lamia Shakkour and she agreed to join a debate show, then abruptly announced her resignation in French and English.

Syria has been beset by 11 weeks of growing protests and a crackdown that activists say has left more than 1,300 people dead.

“Even if I always admired the courage of our armed forces, I cannot support this cycle of violence. I cannot ignore all the demonstrators who died in honor, and whose families today live in pain,” the woman said on France 24’s French language station, which was aired as audio with a photo of her. “My resignation as ambassador of Syria in France takes effect immediately.” France 24 broadcasts in French, English and Arabic.

Less than an hour later, Syrian state television aired a statement with a woman identifying herself as the ambassador and denying she had resigned.

“It’s part of this biased campaign of misinformation that seeks to do one thing: to destroy the credibility of this great nation, this nation of great people, great youth, great young women, this homeland that his worth more than anything else in this world,” the woman said in Arabic. There was no video.

In a later interview on al-Arabiya, the woman called the report of her resignation a Zionist conspiracy.

Renee Kaplan, deputy editorial director at France 24, said the network had invited Shakkour to appear on its live debate show, and she declared first English and then in French that she was resigning.

“We invited her and called her directly. We called on a number we have had for her that we have reached her on before,” Kaplan said. There was no answer at that number or response to text messages when AP tried it later Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/06/07/2255349/syrian-ambassador-denies-quitting.html#ixzz1OcuWZG3t

It’s funny that when a silly propaganda piece is exposed and debunked by the very subject of that piece, the pro-“revolutionists” go into overdrive trying to explain why the original fabricated propaganda piece had to be true.

AP, AIG, DALEANFDERSEN

The sweet, pious and peaceful Israeli settlers

Palestinian Mosque Set Ablaze In West Bank

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/07/137042766/palestinian-mosque-set-ablaze-in-west-bank?ft=1&f=1001

…The graffiti read, “Price tag, Aley Ayin.”

“Price tag” is a settler practice of attacking Palestinians in revenge for Israeli government operations against settlers. Aley Ayin is a small, unauthorized settler outpost that was evacuated by security forces last week.

Reuter confirms that they got confirmation for the ambassadors’s resignation from the Syrian embassy in Paris:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-syria-france-idUSTRE7565D120110607

“Reuters had checked with the Syrian embassy in Paris before reporting the initial resignation statement aired on France 24. An e-mail response from the embassy, sent via its website, confirmed that ambassador Chakkour had resigned.”

Here is Ambassador Shakkour on Al Jazeera:

صحفية عربية في قناة”الجزيرة”:القناة طلبت تصوير مقابر جماعية مفبركة في جسر الشغور!؟
الصحفية في رسالتها الرسمية: وضاخ خنفر أشرف شخصيا على عملية الاتصال بمعارضين في جسر الشغور طلب منهم دفن جثث العسكريين الذين قتلوهم في مقابر جماعية ثم إعادة نبشها وتصويرها وإرسال الشريط إلى القناة!؟
الدوحة ، الحقيقة ( خاص): تلقت “الحقيقة” عصر اليوم رسالة خاصة بالبريد الإلكتروني الرسمي من صحفية عربية في قناة”الجزيرة” تؤكد فيها أن القناة ، وبمعرفة وإشراف مديرها العام وضاح خنفر، اتصلت بمعارضين سوريين في منطقة جسر الشغور السورية وطلبت منهم عدم إلقاء جثث الجنود السوريين في نهر العاصي، بل الاستفادة منها ( إعلاميا) من خلال دفنها في مقابر جماعية وإعادة نبشها وتصويرها وإرسال الشريط إلى “الجزيرة” حصريا قبل وضعه على الشبكة للعموم!؟ وأكدت الصحفية ، التي عرفت عن نفسها بأنها غير سورية ( شطب اسمها من قبل”الحقيقة”)، أن الاتصال جرى عبر أرقام تركية تعمل في منطقة لواء اسكندرون الملاصق للمنطقة. وقالت الرسالة ( المنشورة صورتها أدناه) إن القناة عاودت الاتصال بمدير موقع “شبكة شام” ( الأخواني فداء طريف السيد) حول الموضوع نفسه ، ولكنها لم تفهم تفاصيل الحديث ، مشيرة إلى أن القناة” تتعاون مع ” شبكة شام” من خلال قيام هذه الأخيرة بأشرطة حصرية قبل وضعها على موقعها الخاص للعموم. وكشفت الرسالة عن أن قناة “الجزيرة إنترناشيونال” ( الإنكليزية) تحاول إرسال صحفي منها إلى منطقة جسر الشغور ( تهريبا) ، ولكنها لم تعثر حتى الآن على صحفي عربي في القناة يجيد التصرف في هكذا حالة.
على صعيد متصل ، كشفت الرسالة عن معلومات خاصة تتعلق بالشريط الحصري الذي بثته يوم أمس عن الملازم الأول عبد الرزاق طلاس ، مشيرة إلى أنه ينطوي على ” مشكلة تقنية” لم تعرفها بعد. لكننا آثرنا حذف المعلومات المتعلقة بالشريط من الرسالة أدناه ، نظرا لأن الصحفية عادت واتصلت بنا طالبة عدم نشر هذه المعلومات في الوقت الحاضر حتى تستكمل التحقيق في الأمر وتحصل على معلومات أكثر تفصيلا.
يشار إلى أن مسلحيين أصوليين كانوا ارتكبوا يوم أمس مجزرة بحق العشرات من العسكريين وعناصر الأمن المركزي في وزارة الداخلية . وأظهر شريط حصلت عليه “الحقيقة” عن المجزرة أنها ارتكبت على خلفية مذهبية ، حيث بدا واضحا أن القتلة يشتمون أمهات العسكريين بلهجة درعاوية أو فراتية ( ديرية أو رقاوية)، مشيرين إلى انتمائهم الطائفي / المذهبي المفترض.( طالع التقرير المنشور قبل هذا التقرير).

http://syriatruth.blogspot.com/2011/06/blog-post_07.html

It is disturbing. Joshua’s editorial used by Le Monde.

http://printempsarabe.blog.lemonde.fr/2011/06/07/en-syrie-le-spectre-dun-conflit-arme/

“La Syrie s’enfonce dans la guerre civile. L’annonce aujourd’hui que 120 officiers syriens ont été tués à Jisr Al-Choughour indique à quel point la compétition entre l’opposition et les forces gouvernementales est désespérée. Ce week-end, plus de 100 Syriens ont été tués par les troupes gouvernementales”, s’inquiète Joshua Landis sur son blog Syria Comment.

البيان الثاني حول الوضع في سورية: نعم لدور الجيش، لا للأجهزة الأمنية والشبيحة والمجرمين
الكاتب بسام القاضي
08/ 06/ 2011

باستثناء بعض من أعمي على عقولهم وقلوبهم من “المعارضة” و”الموالاة”، والمجرمين أنفسهم، لم يعد أحد يستطيع إنكار أن الصراع اليوم لم يعد صراع “متظاهرين سلميين” و”أجهزة أمنية متوحشة”، رغم بقاء بعض هذا وكثير من ذاك، بل هو صراع بين النظام كدولة، ومجموعات مجرمة بعناوين مختلفة بعضها أصولي.

واليوم، يواجه الجيش السوري تلك المجموعات المسلحة المجرمة التي تريد تحويل سورية إلى جهنم خدمة لتصورات بعض أمراء الحرب، ولبعض الأصوليين الذين لا يشبعون من دم، يواجههم دفاعا عن سورية شعبا وتاريخا، وليس نظاما كما يشيع البعض. فما يراد لسورية أن تمضي إليه يعني، حرفيا، زوال سورية عن خارطة العالم، وتمزقها بين مغول لا ينتهون، من العثمانية المستيقظة، وعبر الإيرانية الفاشية، وعبر الإجرام الدولي لكل من فرنسا وأمريكا ومن لف لفهم.. دون نسيان إسرائيل نفسها التي ستجد الفرصة مواتية لتنتهي من موضوع “الجولان” نهائيا، ولتضيف إليه كل ما تستطيع..

وهذا لن يكون سوى جزءا من لوحة الدم التي ستعصف بسورية من أقصاها إلى أقصاها. فحتى اليوم بات يوجد مئات آلاف قطع السلاح خارج “جداول” النظام (سواء بيد شبيحة النظام، أو الناس الخائفين، أو المجرمين). وهذه الأسلحة باتت على مسافة خطوة واحدة من أن تبدأ إطلاق النار العشوائي، الذي يخدم مباشرة رموز الإجرام في المعارضة، ومثلهم في النظام، ويدمر هذا البلد نهائيا.

هذا ليس تدبيجا إنشائيا، فجردة سريعة لكل ما نعرفه جميعا، ونشر خلال السنوات القليلة الماضية، وكل ما تأكد خلال الأزمة المستمرة من أكثر من ثلاثة أشهر، يؤكد قطعيا هذه النتيجة ما لم يتمكن الجيش السوري، الجيش وليس أي جهة أخرى، من حسم المعركة مع هؤلاء المجرمين جميعا، انتصارا لسورية وشعبها.

ومن هنا، فإن دعم الجيش السوري اليوم في معركته ضد هؤلاء المجرمين، بات ضرورة قصوى، تمر بنقاط محددة ودقيقة:
– تأمين كل السلاح اللازم لقيام الجيش بمهماته القتالية، ضمنا تأمين الغذاء والماء، وعدم السماح بتكرر بعض الحوادث حيث اضطر الجنود السوريون لشرب ماء آسن!

– تأمين الدعم الإعلامي الكامل للجيش، ليس بطريقة أمراء الحرب المجرمين في فضائية الدنيا، ولا مثيلاتها، بل بإعلام سوري واع مسؤول ويعرف جيدا ما يفعل وكيف يفعل. ويتضمن ذلك نشر وقائع ما يتعرض له الجيش بطريقة إعلامية صحيحة، من فيديوهات أو توثيقات مختلفة. فهذا يدعم الجيش السوري وليس كما يقول بعض من يعيش إعلام القرن التاسع عشر، أنه ينال من هيبته!

– حماية الجيش من أي ضابط أو مسؤول منفلت من عقاله، وذلك عبر نشر تعليمات دقيقة وواضحة (مرفقة بصور توضيحية) عن كيفية استخدام السلاح ضد المسلحين، مع توفير أقصى حماية للمدنيين، وتفضيل حياة المدنيين دائما على التخلص من المجرمين.

– حماية الجيش، وسورية كلها، من بعض أجهزة الأمن التي تكاثرت الدلائل على أنها تلعب بقذارة ضد سورية شعبا ونظاما، وقد أرعبها التوجه نحو إصلاحات جدية، خاصة رفع حالة الطوارئ التي ستعني بسرعة إعادة هذه الأجهزة إلى مكانها الطبيعي، بعد ان استوحشت وتغولت منذ منتصف الثمانينات، عندما أطلقت أيديها لتعيث فسادا وقمعا وموتا في سورية..
ومن المؤكد الآن أنها حاولت استخدام الجيش كدرع مسلح في بعض الحالات، فبينما كان الجيش ملتزما بأقصى ما يمكنه من إنسانية وجدية ومسؤولية حيث وضع، كانت قوات تابعة للمجرمين باسم تلك الأجهزة تحاول توريط الجيش بصراع مسلح مباشر عبر الاستفزازات من مختلف الأشكال، ضمنها إطلاق النار من خلف الجيش على المتظاهرين!
ولا يمكن حماية الجيش من ذلك إلا باتخاذ أقسى التدابير ضد كل عنصر مخابرات (خاصة من هذه الأجهزة) وكل ضابط يقوم بإطلاق النار أو الأمر بإطلاقه على أي من المتظاهرين أو المسعفين أو غيرهم، أو حتى يطلق النار على مسلحين بوجود الجيش ما لم يطلب الجيش نفسه مساعدته.

– البدء فورا بحملة واسعة النطاق، جدية وحاسمة، لاعتقال ومحاسبة كل شخص ينتمي إلى “الشبيحة”، وعلى رأسهم قادتهم الذين يعيثون عنفا وفسادا واستفزازا في مدن عادة (خاصة اللاذقية)، وهو ما يشكل انتهاكا صريحا للسلم الأهلي وتهديدا له، ودفعا للناس قسرا إلى الرد على وحشيتهم وانحطاطهم. ولا مخرج من هذا الحال الذي اقترب من الانفجار الحقيقي، إلا باعتقال هؤلاء الزعماء وزبانيتهم فورا، ومحاسبتهم علنا.

– البدء فورا، وعلنا، بمحاسبة من ارتكب الجرائم ضد الناس باسم النظام أو باسم الحفاظ على الأمن، وجميعهم من أجهزة الأمن، وجميعهم ما زالوا يرتعون في فيللهم وقصورهم، فيما تمر الأيام والشهور دون محاكمة علنية فورية. الأمر الذي يعطي كل سوري وسورية المبرر الكافي لنسف أي ثقة أن من يمارس الإجرام باسم النظام سوف يحاسب. ومن البديهي أن هذه النتيجة ستدفع الكثيرين للدفاع عن أنفسهم ما دامت الدولة غير قادرة على القصاص لهم من مجرميها الخاصين، وبقصاص قانوني علني وعادل.

– البدء فورا برفع دعاو قضائية ضد أمراء الحرب ممن هم خارج سورية، بتهمة الدعوة إلى العنف والتحريض على الحرب الأهلية، كل منهم في البلد الذي يعيش فيه، فهم يلعبون أقذر الألعاب لتوريط الجيش في الانقسامات، ولتصوير معركته مع المجرمين المنفلتين على أنها مواجهة مع الشعب السوري الأعزل. وإذا كان من يشارك في هذه المواجهة يعرف حق المعرفة أنهم كاذبون، فإن الجنود الآخرين قد يغرقون فعلا في تلك الدعاية التي تدعمها ماكينة الإعلام العربية والأجنبية بقوة لا مثيل لها، وتجد مساندة لها في فشل إعلامي سوري مريع.

إن الجيش السوري يخوض اليوم معركة شرسة وضع فيها بين فكي كماشة. فمن جهة تتخاذل الدولة والنظام عن تقديم ما يلزم له ليقوم بدوره، ومن جهة أخرى تحاربه وتورطه أجهزة من النظام نفسه تريد أن تظهر أنها لن تتخلى عن امتيازاتها برفع حالة الطوارئ، وأنها مستعدة لتفعل كل شيء من أجل امتيازاتها تلك، ضمنا تدمير البلد وإشعال حرب أهلية.
كما أنه يقع اليوم تحت ضغوط لا تطاق خاصة بسبب الإعلام السوري الفاشل، والذي يكاد يصل حد الإجرام الإعلامي بحق سورية كلها.
وكذلك تحت ضغوط شديدة ممن كانوا معارضين ذات يوم، وتحولوا إلى أمراء حرب وخادمين لأجندات خارجية لا يهمهم دم ولا بلد، مقابل حصولهم على كرسي في السلطة الموعودة، يستغلون علاقاتهم في البلدان التي يعيشون فيها، وقدراتهم الإعلامية المميزة.
وما لم يقدم له كل الدعم الصحيح، والمناسب، بلا شرط ولا قيد، متضمنا هذا الدعم تأمين كل ما يلزم لكي يحمي المدنيين حتى أثناء الاشتباكات المباشرة، فإن هذا الجيش سيكون في موضع لا يحسد عليه، وقد تكون النتائج كارثية أكثر بكثير مما يبدو للوهلة الأولى.

الجيش السوري ليس لعبة بيد المجرمين في النظام، ولا لعبة بيد المجرمين في “المعارضة”، فأقل ما يجب أن يقدم له هو إيقاف هؤلاء المجرمين من الطرفين وسوقهم فوريا إلى محاكمات علنية تفضح حقيقة إجرامهم، وتحمي الجيش من الطعن في الخلف.

http://www.bassam-alkadi.com/content/view/586/80/

AIG

This is what happens when news agency rely on emails ( not even a direct one, “what is an email “from its website” ?) and cell phones with unseen correspondants to produce their scoops!
A good lesson to journalists, the new media can be deceiving.

It seems that the Syrian 2011 revolution have settled for an explanation for the dead soldiers at Jisr El Shoughour: It is a mutiny. I just listened to Wissam tarif on CBC radio’s program ‘As It Happens’ (you can lsiten to the program podcast tomorrw on the CBC/asithappens, part one), and he was saying that it is impossible that the protesters:
1. Can be heavily armed on the frontier of Turkey (he was sugegsting that protesters can be heavily armed on the frontiers of Lebanon and Iraq)
2. Can kill 120 soldiers in few hours

The guy is not smart at all, he hammers the same faulty logic when he speaks to the press and rpesents himself as the executive director of the Syrian Human Rights Organistaion Insan. I didn’t know that Insan was Syrian, I thought that previously to the Syrian revolution 2011 he was marketing his organisation as an international organisation focused on Human Rights in Syria, lebanon and Saudi Arabia, although he never had anything to say about the last two countries. But his argument is easily refutable…

1. It is possible that the protesters can be heavily armed on the frontier of Turkey. Why not? He didn’t explain. The Kurdish opposition in Turkey, as well as the Syrian revolution 2011 that met in Turkey could have armed the protesters, they had all their time to do so and it is no coincidence that it happened just after the Antalya meeting.

2. It is possible if you ambush an army to kill that number, and sometimes with very light weapons… I mean one has to look at history books…

I am amazed by the amount of assumptions people make on both sides to convince, but these are just assumptions and in Tarif’s case they have a faulty logic…

Nour

From the moment Al Jazeera tried to sneak the Iranian journalist posing as a tourist to Syria, I became totally convinced that this channel would use any dirty tricks to advance their agenda.
I hope that its dark manipulations will be uncovered as it has turned to a shameful foxnews type of channel, vindicative and manipulatory. During the interview with the Syrian ambassador, they showed on the side youtube videos of gory scenes of dead people.
It was such a sick way of trying to distract from the strong accusations she was making.
After starting well, Al Jazeera has become a mentally sick channel.

To #199 Why-Discuss

“Where did you read that?”

Answer: as mentioned, I heard it on the BBC and read it in the link I provided in my post.

This site needs less kneejerk writing and more reading.

Why Isn’t NATO Bombing Syria?

Another Somalia, if we encourage the downfall of Bashar Al Assad…

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4703006/why-isnt-nato-bombing-syria/?playlist_id=86857

Michael O’Hanlon supports a military coup…

SYRIALOVER

“that Reuters has announced they have a written statement from the Embassy confirming her resignation.”

Reuter said it was an ’email’ from the “embassy website”, not even a traceable email. I do not call that a written statement.
Why didn’t they publish it ?

solid proof that the Syrian media and regime is lying about the situation in Jisr el Shughur. The people chant there are no terrorists here, we don’t want the army to enter – June 6th

ABOLALI

It is very theatrical with the olive branches! Yet, it does not sound like calling for peace, it sounds more like a violent preparation to war.

(الوطن) تنشر تفاصيل مثيرة حول استشهاد وفقدان 123 رجل أمن على يد الجماعات المسلحة…الجيش يقوم بعملية دقيقة للغاية تفادياً لخسائر بشرية في جسر الشغور…المسلحون يدفنون قتلاهم معاً لتصويرهم أنهم متظاهرون «سلميون» دفنتهم الدولة في مقبرة جماعية

علمت «الوطن» من مصادر في محافظة إدلب رفضت الكشف عن هويتها، أن الجيش العربي السوري والقوات الأمنية تقوم بعملية دقيقة للغاية تشبه العملية الجراحية وذلك حرصاً على أرواح الأبرياء الذين لا يزالون رهينة المجموعات المسلحة التي تسيطر على مساحة واسعة من المحافظة وتحديداً في «جسر الشغور» ومحيطها وجبل الزاوية والطرق المؤدية ما بينها وصولاً إلى الطريق الدولي بين أريحا واللاذقية، وقامت المجموعات بتفخيخ عدة طرق ومحاور منعاً لوصول تعزيزات أمنية وعسكرية ونصبت كمائن في قرى صغيرة وتستخدم الغابات والكهوف للاختباء، إضافة إلى أسلوب الكر والفر باتجاه الحدود التركية.

وفي إدلب بينت مصادر مطلعة وموثوقة لـ«الوطن» أن المجموعات المسلحة في مدينة جسر الشغور لا تزال حتى يوم أمس تسيطر على عدد من أحياء وشوارع المدينة ودوائر ومؤسسات حكومية ومخافر شرطة والمشفى الوطني بعد أن هاجمت تلك الأماكن مستخدمة الأسلحة الحربية المتنوعة، حيث أسفرت تلك الأوضاع عن استشهاد 107 رجال أمن وجرح 45 عنصراً وفقدان وأسر 8 عناصر، ومقتل 16 شخصاً من المجموعات المسلحة، حيث لا يزال هناك غموض عن عدد آخر من الشهداء والمفقودين نتيجة سيطرة المسلحين على المشفى الوطني بجسر الشغور وامتناعهم عن تسليم جثث الشهداء.
وبينت المصادر أن عشرة من الجرحى توفوا أول أمس في المشفى، كما توفي أمس ستة آخرون ليرتفع الرقم إلى 123 شهيداً.
وتحدثت المصادر عن حصول حالات مروعة في تشويه جثث بعض الشهداء التي وجدت مرمية قرب مجرى نهر العاصي وفي باحة إحدى المدارس القريبة من أحد المفارز الأمنية وهي مركز امتحاني، فتم إخلاء جثث الشهداء قبل قدوم الطلاب إلى المركز وبث الرعب فيهم نتيجة تلك المشاهد المروعة كما قامت المجموعات المسلحة بتعليق بعض الجثث على الأعمدة وقطعت رأس آخر بعد استشهاده.
وفي تفاصيل تلك الأحداث المثيرة فقد بينت المصادر أن الأوضاع الأمنية في تلك المدينة قد تفاقمت بدءاً من يوم الجمعة الماضي نتيجة تحول المجموعات المحتجة إلى السلوك المسلح بعد أن كانت تقوم بتظاهرات بدأت بـ30 شاباً في منتصف الشهر الماضي ثم ارتفع العدد إلى 100 ثم إلى 350 ثم 500 ثم 800 ثم 1500 ثم 3000 في يوم الجمعة الماضي، حيث كانت تلك المجموعات تخرج من الجامع الكبير في مدينة جسر الشغور ثم من عدة جوامع بالمدينة قاموا خلالها بمهاجمة شعبة الحزب وأضرموا النار فيها ثم قاموا بحرق سيارتي إطفاء وسيارتين لقوى الأمن الداخلي، وحرق مقري فرقتين حزبيتين في قريتي المرج الخضر والكستن حيث بدأت التظاهرات تخرج في قرى وريف ونواحي المنطقة بشكل يومي، وخلال هذه التظاهرات لم يجر أي اعتراض أمني لها وكانت تقوم وتنفض بشكل تلقائي إلى أن كان يوم الجمعة 3 حزيران الجاري حيث خرج 5000 شخص في تظاهرة بمدينة جسر الشغور من كل مساجد المدينة ومن قرى المنطقة ونواحيها جاؤوا على الدراجات النارية والسيارات ولوحظ وجود 50 امرأة في هذه التظاهرة مرددين هتافات تسيء للدولة والنظام، في حين شوهد أشخاص على أطراف التظاهرة يحملون أسلحة حربية، ولكن في نفس اليوم وتحديداً في الساعة 18 وبعد انتهاء التظاهرة وعودة المتظاهرين إلى قراهم في بداما وخربة الجوز قاموا بإطلاق عيارات نارية من أسلحة حربية على مركز شرطة الطرق العامة من عدة جهات حيث جرى تبادل إطلاق النار مع عناصر المركز ومخفر الشرطة المجاور مدة ساعة.
كما قامت المجموعة المسلحة برمي عدد من القنابل على المركز إلى أن تمكنوا من اقتحامه والسيطرة عليه وأخذ الأسلحة الموجودة فيه مع عدد من العناصر كرهائن بقوة السلاح، ثم أقدموا على حرق المركز وأخذ السيارات الشرطية الموجودة فيه وغادروه باتجاه ناحية بداما حيث قاموا بتطويق مبنى الناحية وإطلاق النار عليه واقتحموه وصادروا الأسلحة الموجودة فيه.
وفي الثانية صباحاً من نفس اليوم أقدم نحو 75 مسلحاً ملثماً على مهاجمة مخفر اليونسية الحدودية، على حين هاجم آخرون مفرزة حراسة الجيش الشعبي لسكة القطار في الشندوريش ما أدى إلى استشهاد المجند رعد الأحمد ومقتل أحد المهاجمين وجرح آخر، كما سبقه هجوم مسلح على مخفر خربة الجوز الحدودي والاستيلاء على أسلحته.
أما يوم السبت فقد شهد تفاقماً وتطوراً خطيراً للأحداث حيث قامت المجموعات المسلحة أثناء دفن قتيل الهجوم على مقر الجيش الشعبي في جسر الشغور بالهجوم على مركز البريد وقاموا بقتل عناصر مفرزة الشرطة في المركز وعددهم 8 مجندين ثم حرقوا ممتلكات مركز البريد وضربوا الصواعق والمتفجرات ما أدى إلى قطع الاتصالات، بعدها انتقلوا إلى مركز المخافر وقاموا بإطلاق النار عليه وأصيب مدير المنطقة بجروح واستولوا على الموقع، بعدها اتجهوا إلى مفرزة الأمن العسكري بجسر الشغور وباشروا بإطلاق النار على المفرزة وتبادلوا إطلاق النار مع عناصرها حيث استشهد عدد من عناصر المفرزة وجرح آخرون، ولدى قرب نفاد أسلحة المفرزة قام المسلحون بمحاولة فتح باب المفرزة مستخدمين تركس مع محاولة هدم أحد الجدران وعندما لم يستطيعوا قاموا بملء برميل بالمتفجرات ودفعوه باتجاه المفرزة لكون مقرها منخفضاً فقتلوا من بقي على قيد الحياة ليصل عدد الشهداء إلى 73 عنصراً وأسروا 5 عناصر، وبعدها قاموا بتشويه جثث الشهداء ووضعوها في أماكن يراها الناس لبث الخوف والرعب، ثم قاموا بحرق سيارات المفارز الأمنية وسيارات شعبة الحزب والتنمية الريفية، كما استولوا على مبنى المشفى الوطني بجسر الشغور وأخلوه من عناصره.
وفي صباح اليوم التالي (الأحد) تم إرسال تعزيزات أمنية إلى مدينة جسر الشغور ولدى وصولها إلى قرية فريكة قبل المدينة بـ3 كم كان بانتظارها مجموعات من المسلحين بلغ عددهم 2500 شخص يحملون الرشاشات والبنادق الآلية والقناصة والقنابل والمتفجرات، حيث قاموا بتطويق عناصر قوات الدعم الذين دافعوا عن أنفسهم ببسالة حتى أسفر الهجوم عن استشهاد 20 عنصراً وجرح 45 عنصراً أسعفوا إلى إدلب في حين قتل نحو 10 من المجموعات المسلحة، وتوفي أول أمس الإثنين عشرة من الجرحى، ثم توفي ستة آخرون أمس الثلاثاء، وقام المشفى الوطني بإدلب بتسليم عدد من جثامين الشهداء لذويهم.
وما زال مئات من المسلحين يجوبون شوارع مدينة جسر الشغور بعد أن نصبوا الحواجز المسلحة في عدة أماكن على مداخل المدينة وطريق عام أريحا جسر الشغور دون السماح لأحد بأخذ جثث المسلحين رغم توسط مجموعة من رجال الدين، وهناك من يتحدث عن اعتزام المسلحين دفنهم في مقبرة جماعية وتصويرهم بأنهم متظاهرون شهداء قامت الدولة بدفنهم في مقبرة جماعية.

http://www.alwatan.sy/dindex.php?idn=102765&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

yet another defector from the army:

First in Jisr alshoughour they said number of martyrs are 28,then 40 then 120,then 123, now Sharief Shahada was on Arabyieh and said it is 300,it is obvious, we ,and syrian authority do not know the exact number, with the ban on neutral media, they can say any number, some will believe it and some will say it is not possible

#216,

“yet another defector from the army:”

Yep, another fake defector.

By the way, why is his picture stapled to the ID?

So many references to Silmyeh protesters with no weapons…..

Any Syrian know the protesters are anything but silmyeh. They say practise makes perfect, but in the defector claims, their practise exposes their lies further.

He also makes reference to shirtless protesters a couple of times, there must be quite a few half naked people running around in Syria.

By the way, have you taken over revlons place in linking fake videos?

http://www.france24.com/ar/20110607–ambassador-bashar-al-assad-lamia-shakkour-syria-politics-unrest-france#

هذا وأصدرت إدارة فرانس 24 بيانا صحافيا جاء فيه.

في إطار برنامجها “النقاش” المخصص عن سوريا استضافت قناة فرانس 24 ظهر اليوم السيدة سفيرة سوريا في فرنسا لمياء شكورعبر العناوين الالكترونية المعتادِ استعمالها من قِبل قناتنا للتواصل مع الملحق الإعلامي للسفارة. ردُ السفيرة كان ايجابيا واتصلنا بها في الموعد المحدد على رقم زودنا به القسم الإعلامي للسفارة قمنا بالتحاور معها مباشرة عند الساعة السابعة وعشرين دقيقة بالتوقيت الفرنسي. لمرتين ومن دون أن يكون لدينا ادنى علم مسبق بمضمون مداخلتها ..لقد أعلنت استقالتها من منصبها كسفيرة لسوريا .. مباشرة على فرانس 24 .. على القناتين الفرنسية والانكليزية. واستنادا إلى تصريحات مكتوبة تم إرسالها من قبل السفارة السورية أكدت وكالة رويترز للأنباء تصريحات السيدة شكور..

لقد تفاجأنا جدا عندما كذبت السفيرة تصريحاتها على شاشات العربية والجزيرة والتلفزيون السوري.

لا نستبعد لا التلاعب ولا الاستفزاز.. إذا ما تأكد الأمر فأننا سنتـابع قضائيا كل الأشخاص والمصالح الرسمية التي قد تكون وراء ذلك..

انتهى البيان

الأسد ينتقل من سياسة حافة الهاوية إلى لعبة عمق الهاوية

07 حزيران 2011أنطوان الحايك – “مقالات النشرة”

بدا وكأنّ الوضع الاقليمي انفجر دفعة واحدة بدءا من أحد الجولان المتفجر مرورا باثنين العراق الدامي حيث شهدت بغداد وضواحيها سلسلة انفجارات دموية أعادت إلى الأذهان المرحلة السابقة التي شهدت معارك كر وفر بين عمليات التفجير التي طاولت القوات الاميركية والعراقية ومحاولات السلطة العراقية الحد منها ومكافحتها من دون جدوى، وليس انتهاءً على ما يبدو باليوم السوري الطويل الذي يصحّ وصفه باليوم الكارثي على النظام وقواته المسلحة حيث أدى كمين مسلح في جسر الشاغور إلى سقوط أكثر من مئة وعشرين قتيلا في صفوف الشرطة السورية فضلا عن عشرات الجرحى.
وفي سياق الاحداث المتسارعة، تعرب مصادر دبلوماسية غربية عن خشيتها من أن يكون النظام السوري انتقل من سياسة حافة الهاوية، وهي سياسة يجيدها الرئيس بشار الاسد بإتقان كبير، إلى سياسة عمق الهاوية في لعبة شديدة الخطورة والفاعلية في آن معا، فتحريك جبهة الجولان رسالة واضحة المعالم مفادها أنّ سوريا ما زالت قادرة على تفجير المنطقة برمتها، وهي على استعداد لذلك انطلاقا من قاعدة “عليّ وعلى اعدائي” واستنادا إلى أنّ الاستقرار هو جزء لا يتجزأ من منظومة المنطقة، وبالتالي فعلى المجتمع الغربي أن يتوقف عن دعم المعارضة السورية لوجستيا وماليا وسياسيا واعلاميا، وإلا فليتحمل مسؤولياته تجاه الانفجار الكبير الذي لن يوفر احدا او دولة في المنطقة لاسيما أيضاً أنّ سوريا قادرة على تحريك الداخل العراقي أكان عبر بعض القبائل المؤيدة لها، أم من خلال الطلب إلى إيران الدخول على الخط العربي بصورة مباشرة، ناهيك عن قدرتها على تفجير الجبهة الفلسطينية – الاسرائيلية.
ويلفت المصدر إلى أنّ الغرب دخل في معركة عض أصابع مع النظام السوري، وذلك لتطويعه وتركيعه عبر تحريك الجبهة السورية الداخلية من جهة والايعاز لقيادة الاخوان المسلمين للدخول على خط الازمة الساخن من جهة ثانية وكل ذلك بالتعاون مع تركيا التي تحاول عبثا إمساك العصا الاقليمية من منتصفها. غير أنّ واقع النظام السوري يبدو مختلفا عن سائر انظمة المنطقة فهو يمثل محور الممانعة المدعوم إيرانيا وروسيا، فضلا عن أنّ تركيبة الجيش السوري هي تركيبة عقائدية وقتالية يصعب اللعب على تناقضاتها كما في سائر البلدان التي تشهد اضطرابات امنية ومحاولات قلب أنظمة غالبا ما تنتهي بدور أساسي للقوى المسلحة وهذا ما لا يبدو متوفرا في التركيبة السورية الداخلية.
ويبرز في هذا المجال ما كشفه موقع اسرائيلي مقرب من الاستخبارات العسكرية الإسرائيلية عن أنّ ما تشهده سوريا من “تصعيد غير مسبوق” جاء نتيجة لـ”صفقة بين رئيس الوزراء التركي رجب طيب أردوغان وجماعة الأخوان المسلمين السوريين”. وقال التقرير في نسخته العبرية إن الصفقة جاءت بعد اتصالات تركية مع القيادة العالمية للإخوان المسلمين في مصر، التي أعطت الضوء الأخضر لإخوان سوريا بأن يلقوا بثقلهم في المعركة ضد النظام، وهو ما فعلوه في منطقة شمال غرب سوريا أيضا، وبشكل خاص منطقة جسر الشغور وجبل الزاوية حيث يتمتعون بنفوذ تاريخي قوي يوازي نفوذهم في حماة.
وعلى صعيد متصل، قال التقرير أنّ المخابرات السعودية تساهم في إدارة الاحتجاجات من منطقة الرمثا في الأردن، ومن مناطق غربي العراق ( منطقة الأنبار) اعتمادا على قبيلة شمر. وبحسب التقرير، فإن الاستخبارات السعودية لجأت إلى قبيلة شمر، التي يقيم أبناؤها شمال السعودية وفي الأردن وجنوب سوريا وشرقها، فضلا عن غربي العراق، من أجل “تأجيج الاحتجاجات في منطقة حوران ومنطقة دير الزور بعد أن شهدت المنطقتان هدوءا نسبيا خلال الأسابيع الأخيرة بعد حملة القمع الدموية التي تعرض لها المحتجون”.
واستنادا إلى هذه المعطيات، تشير المصادر إلى أنّ الأيام القليلة المقبلة ستشهد تبدلا في قواعد اللعبة داخل سوريا وخارجها، وتاليا فعلى الجميع انتظار تطورات الايام القليلة المقبلة لتحديد مسار الشرق الاوسط وليس سوريا أو لبنان فحسب.

http://www.elnashra.com/articles-1-28083.html

Assad supporters in Jesr Alsheghoor fired on by … whoever

abolali

Could you stop referring us to ‘defectors’. All news channel unanimously and grudgingly admit that the army is united, so you are wasting your time picking on one of two alleged defectors, it’s boring.
Find something else more convincing, if there is.

#185, Dear William Scott Scherk: thank you for the valuable links to the comparative photos and video clips. Here is my humble take.

Photos of the two Faces and the clips thereof show similarities and otherwise.

A collective and objective interpretation is significantly hampered by inherent technical and positional differences.

Similarities pertain to the general facial looks.
Dissimilarities have to do with:
o Teeth
o Dialect

This case can be laid to rest, by interviewing both gentlemen, side by side!
Even then, the This-Video-Is-Fake-Guru’s on this blog would not disappoint me.
They already know, it will also be a fake!

Alex

Are you in the business of posting fabricated videos now ?

here’s the original video posted on youtube on the 14th of April

Is this the best the regime scum can come up with ? ( This is not directed at you Alex, but towards whoever altered and uploaded that video on youtube).

NK, I saw this video today on facebook and I am not interested in the place (the part they “fabricated”, which is the YouTube title) but in the way Assad’s supporters are not considered “Syrian people” by those opposed to the Syrian regime.

NK,

You’re back…..Lowering your standards to Aboud’s I see. The word scum features many times in ‘revolutionists’ comments.

As you haven’t commented for some time now, please give us your opinion on the numerous murders and mutilations, public hanging and slaughter of security personnel and the mutilations of some. Shami, Revlon and Majedkhaldoon seem to think they deserved it, do you?

Please advise if you are also advocating outside interference in Syria as your buddies are.

Alex

Umm, in the original video there’s no gunfire, maybe you’re interested in THAT!!!

To Syrian Knight,

Such obscene remarks are completely unacceptable and uncalled for and they simply reflect the personality of the person who writes them. They lower the standard of discussion on this website. Most people really appreciate reading Syria Comment and appreciate the efforts of Joshua in trying to present as balanced a selection of views as he can. He is not representing any government or any opposition, but trying to show the two sides and this is how ‘normal’ journalism should be. Imagine if we were reading only one side of the story, there would then be no need for anyone to read this website anymore as you can find one side or the other everywhere. If reading objective journalism does not suit you, then I suggest you go and write or read what you want to hear somewhere else.
You also are not the only one who has relatives and friends in Syria. Most people do, but this is why we are interested in knowing really what is going on. You are also not the only one who loves Syria, we all do.
Joshua, we do thank you for this website and salute your efforts. I really hope that insults like these will not affect the continuity of this website as we really do depend on it a great deal.

“It’s a family business, and there’s a division of labor,” Mr. Landis said. “And Maher is the kneecapper. That’s his role, and he’s played it well.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/world/middleeast/08syria.html?hp

Joys. Another Anthony Shadid piece of shit article.

– A video of a lone soldier appears, and it is a major news article about how the military is splitting. Wonder why they aren’t doing that with the soldier that leaked all the cables to wikileaks. Is the U.S. military ‘splitting’? Soldiers have shot other soldiers in the U.S. military. The only reason retention is no longer a problem is the economy sucks.

– Maher has appeared as a lightning rod? Why? Probably for the same reason the crappy U.S. media follows Sarah Palin. Is there any evidence that only Maher’s forces have been involved in Dar’a, Inkhlis, Talbisi, Ar Rastan, Baniyas, Tal Kalakh? Of course not. Actually, is there any evidence other than crappy reporters that Maher’s (4th Div, no Republican Guards, no 4th Div AND Republican Guards, no Republican Guards and Security forces…) units have been involved in any of them?

– This, coming on the same bullshit that on the French Ambassador, where:

France 24 says they called her for a show, then she decides to resigns during the phone call. News to them.
Reuters says they have written information that she resigned, which they kept quiet until after France 24 reported it, but won’t report it.
The Ambassador denies it all and is threatening to sue.

– Like all the other bullshit, people just shotgun garbage out knowing that if enough people talk bad, there must be something there.

– Finding reality? Not so important.

Assafir article is way more balanced and objective than Anthony’s pointless one, he, obviously, on purpose didn’t mention the other activist side of the story who said that armed militia did kill the soldiers in Jisr Ashghour not the army blah blah blah story.

أنقرة تؤكّد الاعتراف بشرعية النظام: لا اتصال مع المعارضة السورية
دمشق: الحوار مفتوح … والأمن يمتد إلى جسر الشغور موسـكـو تـرفـض محـاولـة أوروبـيـة لتحـريـك مجـلـس الأمـن مجـدداً

أكدت «هيئة الحوار الوطني» في سوريا، أمس، «ضرورة أن يكون الحوار مفتوحاً للجميع تحت سقف الوطن، ولمختلف الشخصيات الوطنية والفكرية والقوى والأحزاب والمنظمات السياسية والشعبية الشابة»، معتبرة أن «أسس ومحاور الحوار الوطني تشكل محطة انطلاق نحو حراك سياسي مهم وخطوات مقبلة تعبر عن جميع التطلعات الوطنية للشعب السوري بمختلف شرائحه».
وفيما انتقلت قوات من الجيش السوري، مدعومة بناقلات جند، الى مدينة جسر الشغور في شمال غربي سوريا، استأنفت فرنسا، مدعومة بدول اوروبية غربية، محاولاتها لنقل الملف السوري إلى مجلس الأمن الدولي، بالرغم من أن موسكو كررت رفضها لهذا الأمر. وأعلن وزير الخارجية التركي أحمد داود أوغلو أن حكومة بلاده «تنظر إلى الحكومة السورية على أنها نظيرتها الشرعية، لذا فإن أنقرة لا تسعى إلى الشروع في أي اتصال مع جماعات المعارضة» السورية. وانتقد الرئيس الإيراني محمود احمدي نجاد التدخلات الاميركية في سوريا، موضحاً «أنا متأكد ان الشعب والحكومة السوريين سيحلان مشاكلهما».
وعقدت «هيئة الحوار الوطني» برئاسة نائب الرئيس فاروق الشرع اجتماعاً في دمشق، تابعت خلاله «مناقشة أسس ومحاور وآليات الحوار الوطني الشامل». وذكرت وكالة الأنباء السورية (سانا) أن «المناقشات تركزت حول ضرورة أن يكون الحوار مفتوحاً للجميع تحت سقف الوطن، ولمختلف الشخصيات الوطنية والفكرية والقوى والأحزاب والمنظمات السياسية والشعبية الشابة، من أجل توفير أجواء التواصل في المجتمع، وتوسيع قاعدة المشاركة ومناقشة جميع القضايا والأفكار التي من شأنها تحقيق مصلحة البلاد العليا وحماية أمنها ضد أي تدخل خارجي».
ورأت الهيئة أن «أسس ومحاور الحوار الوطني تشكل محطة انطلاق نحو حراك سياسي مهم وخطوات مقبلة في هذا السياق تعبر عن جميع التطلعات الوطنية للشعب السوري بمختلف شرائحه وقواه الحية المؤتمنة على صياغة مستقبله في مختلف المجالات».
في هذا الوقت، استمع مجلس الوزراء، برئاسة عادل سفر، إلى «عرض سياسي من وزير الخارجية وليد المعلم، تطرق فيه إلى الأوضاع الراهنة على الساحة العربية والدولية، وأبعاد المؤامرة التي تتعرض لها سوريا، والجرائم التي ترتكبها مجموعات وتنظيمات إرهابية مسلحة بحق أبناء شعبنا، تستهدف من ورائها النيل من الوحدة الوطنية وأمن سوريا واستقرارها ودورها الوطني على الصعد الإقليمية والدولية».
ردود
وفي حين أعلن مصدر في وزارة الخارجية الفرنسية أن «إصدار قرار من مجلس الأمن يدين قمع السلطات السورية للاحتجاجات مسألة أيام لا أكثر»، نعى وزير الخارجية الفرنسية ألان جوبيه شرعية حكم الأسد لسوريا، مشيراً إلى أن أكثرية من 11 عضواً في مجلس الأمن قد وافقوا خلال المشاورات الجانبية معها على تأييد مشروع القرار. ويقف لبنان والهند وروسيا والصين في صف المعارضين. (تفاصيل صفحة 14)
لكن وزير الخارجية الروسي سيرغي لافروف أكد أنه «يجب حل المشاكل في سوريا وفي البلدان الأخرى في المنطقة بالطرق السلمية، وليس بخلق ظروف لنزاعات لاحقة». وقال، في أوسلو، «على الدبلوماسية أن تحل المشاكل المستعصية بالطرق السلمية،

وليس بخلق ظروف تؤدي إلى انزلاقها إلى نزاعات لاحقة». وأضاف أنه «يجب التمسك بمثل هذا المدخل بالنسبة لجميع دول المنطقة، من دون اللجوء إلى مجلس الأمن للنظر في كل حالة من هذا النوع».
كما ان سفير روسيا لدى الاتحاد الاوروبي فلاديمير تشيزوف قال، في بروكسل، ان «الأمل في قرار من مجلس الامن الدولي على نمط القرار 1973 بخصوص ليبيا لن يلقى تأييداً من جانب بلادي… استخدام القوة كما يبدو في ليبيا لا يحسم الامور».
وأعلن وزير خارجية بريطانيا وليام هيغ، امام مجلس العموم، «ان الاسد يفقد شرعيته، وعليه إجراء إصلاحات او الرحيل»، معتبراً أن بعض الدول العربية تشجع الأسد على الإصلاح «رغم أن من المحتمل ان يكون أوان ذلك قد فات الآن».
وتطرق هيغ الى مشروع القرار الذي شاركت بريطانيا في اعداده الى مجلس الامن. وقال «ان لندن تسعى الى إقناع دول اخرى ان من واجب مجلس الامن التحرك». وأضاف «نحن نبحث مع شركائنا الأوروبيين إمكان فرض مزيد من العقوبات إذا استمر العنف»، موضحاً ان «العقوبات الإضافية ستشمل استهداف مزيد من الأفراد الضالعين في القمع والعنف في سوريا ومؤسسات تجارية».
وأعلن داود أوغلو، في مقابلة مع وكالة «اكي» الايطالية، أن حكومة بلاده «تنظر إلى الحكومة السورية على أنها نظيرتها الشرعية، لذا فإن أنقرة لا تسعى إلى الشروع في أي اتصال مع جماعات المعارضة» السورية.
وأوضح داود اوغلو «نحن نتابع عن كثب التطورات في سوريا، فهي بلد مهم في المنطقة، وأحد أهم الدول المجاورة التي لدينا معها علاقات متعددة الأبعاد على مر السنين». وأضاف «هذا هو السبب الذي يجعلنا نعلق أهمية كبيرة على الحفاظ على السلام الاجتماعي والاستقرار في سوريا، فضلا عن تحقيق التطلعات الشرعية للشعب في الإصلاح وإرساء ديموقراطية أكبر».
وتابع «ينبغي تجنب العنف والاستخدام المفرط للقوة»، مشيراً إلى أنه «ينبغي على الشعب التعبير عن تطلعاته من خلال الوسائل السلمية، ونتوقع أن عملية التحول الديموقراطي الحقيقية في سوريا ستتقدم عاجلاً وليس آجلاً».
وأدان نجاد، في مؤتمر صحافي عقده في طهران، «تدخلات» الولايات المتحدة وحلفائها في شؤون سوريا. وقال «إن سوريا تقف في خط المقاومة الاول بوجه اسرائيل، وأنا متأكد ان الشعب والحكومة السوريين سيحلان مشاكلهما، ونحن نندد بتدخلات الولايات المتحدة وحلفائها في سوريا».
وأضاف «هناك مع الأسف حكومات في المنطقة تتدخل (في الشؤون السورية) وتتبع الولايات المتحدة. أنصحهم عدم القيام بذلك لأن الولايات المتحدة سترتد ضدهم بعد ان تحقق اهدافها». وتابع «نحن نقف الى جانب كل الحكومات الثورية، ونعتقد ان السوريين قادرون على ادارة شؤونهم بأنفسهم».
ميدانياً
وبعد يوم من إعلان مصادر رسمية سورية مقتل 120 من عناصر الشرطة والأمن «برصاص تنظيمات مسلحة»، اتجهت ناقلات جند إلى مدينة جسر الشغور في شمال غرب سوريا التي تشهد تظاهرات مناهضة للنظام وأعمال عنف دامية. وقال ناشط إن «13 ناقلة تتجه إلى مدينة جسر الشغور» التي يقوم الجيش بعمليات تمشيط فيها منذ السبت الماضي. وأضاف «لقد انطلقت من حلب إلى جسر الشغور التي حلقت فوقها مروحيات طوال الليل».
وذكرت صحيفة «الوطن» ان «عملية امنية وعسكرية واسعة النطاق ستشن في قرى منطقة جسر الشغور، بعد معلومات عن وجود مئات الرجال المسلحين»، لكن اثنين من الناشطين في المنطقة اتصلت بهما وكالة «فرانس برس» نفيا المعلومات عن «عصابات مسلحة»، مؤكدين ان عناصر الشرطة قتلوا خلال عصيان في مقر قيادة الامن في المدينة الواقعة في محافظة إدلب.
كذلك أكد بيان نشر على موقع «فيسبوك» ويحمل توقيع «سكان جسر الشغور ان مقتل الشرطيين والجنود هو نتيجة الانشقاقات في الجيش، وأنه لا وجود للعصابات المسلحة في المنطقة».
وبث التلفزيون السوري صوراً لما لا يقل عن خمسة جنود وأفراد شرطة قتلى قال إنهم ضحايا «كمين لعصابات مسلحة». وسمعت اصوات في الشريط المصور تسب القتلى وتصف الكيفية التي قتلوا بها. وقال رجل لم يشاهد على الشاشة «طعنتهم..طعنت ثلاثة منهم». وأظهر تسجيل مصور آخر وضع على موقع «يوتيوب» جثثا لما لا يقل عن ثلاثة جنود وأصوات لأشخاص لم يظهروا امام الكاميرا يقولون إن هؤلاء قتلوا برصاص زملاء لهم لرفضهم إطلاق النار على مدنيين.
لكن احد النشطاء قال لـ«رويترز» إن «قصة هرب قوات الامن غير حقيقية. (افراد الشرطة وقوات الامن) قتلوا على ايدي المسلحين خلال العملية وقد تعرضوا لاطلاق النار. بعض الناس في بعض المناطق رفعوا السلاح». وأضاف «الوضع خطير. ما يحدث يعتبر عصيانا مسلحا. أنا أعارض العنف من اي طرف كان». ونقلت «اسوشييتد برس» عن ناشط قوله ان الاشتباكات وقعت بين القوات الامنية وأشخاص يتبعون لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين، موضحاً انه تم تهريب الاسلحة من تركيا. وأضاف «المنطقة فعلياً خارج سيطرة القوات الأمنية الآن».
وأعلنت منظمات حقوقية وقانونيون سوريون انهم طلبوا رسميا من مدعي المحكمة الجنائية الدولية موريس مورينو اوكامبو، في لاهاي، إجراء «تحليل اولي» للوضع في سوريا، مؤكدين ان «النظام السوري ارتكب جرائم ضد الانسانية».
وقالت المتحدثة باسم مكتب المدعي فلورانس اولارا «لقد تلقينا الرسالة فعلا»، مضيفة «ينبغي الآن ان نعلم ما اذا كانت هذه الجرائم من اختصاصنا، الامر الذي سيكون مفاجئا كون سوريا ليست دولة عضوا في معاهدة روما» التي نصت على انشاء المحكمة الجنائية الدولية.
(سانا، اكي، ا ف ب،
ا ب، رويترز، ا ش ا)

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=1865&articleId=971&ChannelId=43925

Mick

The article seems apologetic to Bashar and point the blame on Maher. Are the media impliying that if Maher is removed, Bashar has a chance?

A reply to an article posted couple days on SC titled ‘A Third Way on Syria Is Still Possible’:

Arguing with Noe on Syria
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/6/7/arguing-with-noe-on-syria.html

“As a PaleoLiberalCon, I would countenance that the best alternative is to stay out of it while trying to do as little evil as possible (no business with the Assads, for instance) and helping the Syrian people with relief when possible. It’s their fight, let them finish it. Enough imperial mindset and micromanagement of the region by the West.”

SYAU

First off you don’t know me personally, and since I too don’t know you I’m not really interested in what you have to say regarding “My standards”. and using me as means to attack others on this blog is pretty low …

I didn’t go anywhere to “be back”, I just stopped posting comments because everyone opposing the Syrian regime is instantly labeled a Salafi/MB/traitor/sectarian Islamist/deceived idiot, the latest victim to this was non other than Professor Landis himself!. With the exception of a very select few, no one here is interested in having a healthy discussion or any kind of a civilized dialogue.

You asked me about my opinion about the latest events, well I’m not sure what does it matter what I think (living thousands of miles away). Sitting in my air conditioned study I can preach all I want about the importance of law and order and why it’s important not to take the law into one’s own hands, I wish I have the balls to preach this same message to people who are getting shot at and hunted down in Syrian streets. To stand in front of a father that just lost his son and tell him not to be angry because whoever shot his son will be punished when I know the killer will most likely be rewarded handsomely for his “efforts”. Does those who got killed from BOTH SIDES deserve to die that way ? no one does. Do we know for sure who is killing who ? no we don’t, both sides are lying A LOT, in the meanwhile more and more Syrians die every day.

You seem convinced that the regime is not committing any atrocities and that those killed so far from the opposition deserved to die because they were without a shred of doubt terrorists son of terrorists, well whatever makes you sleep better at night.

As for outside interference, it’s funny how we blame others for our own selfish acts, Saddam could have stepped down and Iraq would have been saved, Qaddafi could have stepped down and Libya would have been saved, I guess it might soon be Syria’s turn, and when that day comes what you and I think would not matter much …

The reports on divisions within security and army forces are exaggerated,indeed it is remarkable that the best the media can come up with is a story of a low-ranking officer who made a number of claims that are very hard to substantiate. Opposing the regime by civil and peaceful means is something ,but attacking the army or trying to break Syria’s ability to restore order is something else. I call upon all of you who have grievances with the regime,most Syrians actually,not to play this dangerous game. A civil war will spare nobody and it will end Syria as one country to the benefit of Israel and those who want to create a Syrian Taliban state.

Memo to NK:

You are the one of the few sane men on this message board! Very well said, my man!

NK,

The people I wish swift eradication for are those who are taking the law into their own hands. Those who you can’t deny are provoking shots from security personnel. Violence was evident within the demonstrations. Revolutionists have stated they are willing to sacrifice a million lives to reach their agenda while spewing their sectarian poison.

Six thousand odd handed themselves in to security after they were assured no legal ramifications will be imposed for their involvement in violent demonstrations. Many that have been apprehended have admitted to receiving payments in return for violence within the demonstrations. After the announcement of reforms, demonstrations continued and seemed to become even more violent. Only an ignorant person can’t see that the demonstrations were not about reforms – I’m not referring to you personally here.

I have never said I was convinced the regime hasn’t been harsh. There have been deaths which could have been avoided, and mistakes have been made. Weapons were smuggled in, amongst state of the art laptops and mobile phones, for that I think boarder control should bear the blame and tighter boarder control enforced.

“Terrorists, sons of terrorists” no, terrorists full stop, and, I am referring to the armed gangs, not legitimate demonstrators. Those who have murdered to further their cause, and boasted about the way they have killed.

Saddam, and the WMD story, if he stepped down, the only difference there would have been the US would have established their oil base in the Middle East sooner. Many deaths could have possibly been avoided, but that wouldn’t have stopped the US soldiers from their abuse and rapes. Anyway, the US has Iraq, that agenda is achieved.

Ghadaffi, that was a situation that was apparently only supposed to last days, and NATO were not planning to either strike him or his family or have ‘boots on the ground’. Look at how that has turned out. Many innocent civilians dead, Ghadaffi’s son and grandchildren dead, US soldiers on ground, total destruction of infrastructure and it is still going on.
The US or any other country for that matter does not know what’s better for Syrians more than Syrians do. The people of Syria reject western interference and requested the intervention of the Syrian army and they stand by and support their president.

You were upset at a video you referred to as fabricated, but did not refer to the mountains of fabrications at the hands of the ‘revolutionists’. That is because of your biased opinion.

OMG!!!! WJS, is questioning if that the ‘person’ on Syrian TV is the real Mm Shakour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“PARIS—Syria’s ambassador to France announced her resignation on French television on Tuesday, but a subsequent denial by a person claiming to be the diplomat on Syrian state television raised doubts about her defection.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304906004576371770088075498.html

On the other hand, hypocrisy of Obama at it’s BEST:

Obama Presses Bahrain on Reform

“The White House said Mr. Obama told the crown prince he welcomed the recent decisions by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa to call for a national dialogue on political change to begin July 1 and to lift a two-month state of emergency.

“He also expressed strong support for the crown prince’s ongoing efforts to initiate the national dialogue and said that both the opposition and the government must compromise to forge a just future for all Bahrainis,” the White House statement said.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304474804576372030766105482.html

How can one argue that “Maher is the kneecapper”, and still support this regime? Kneecapping is something that Hamas is doing to Fatah members. It’s criminal, and something that Mafiosos do. Not something that should be done by a state, or a state official. Even if this was said as a metaphor (which I’m not sure), it shows to what extent this murderous junta has lost the support of it’s staunchest admirers (Mr. Landis, 3 months ago).
.

I see that MB electronic revolutionists on this site are so intimate:my man! Bro!
Is this following Alaroor style?

Or may be they are from Edlib?

Syria no kandahar,

As you can see there are Zionists on this website with bile dripping out of their mouth from the salivation occurring due to the terrorism in Syria. They cannot contain their joy. They think their transparent cheering will actually change the reality on the ground. I mean, if they wanted that effect then they’d have to be a little bit more subtle.

The funniest thing stated by NK is that Saddam was greedy because he wouldn’t step down to avoid the US invasion… well guess what, 3 days before the US was going to “invade”, Saddam offered to step down completely if they would change their mind. They didn’t. They weren’t after Saddam, or the non-existent weapons of mass destruction. They were after Iraq!

JAD,

I’m really happy that all of these idiots are falling for the trap. You can wipe out the credibility of the western press in one stroke.

All this laid to bare in front of us and fools are still demanding these rabid liars should be on the ground in Syria? They’ll create so many lies the country will fall apart. Never forget this fake scene from CNN during the first gulf war:

http://youtu.be/jTWY14eyMFg

Extremists are digging their own grave,Assad and Army are winning,peace and reforms will prevail,Syria will always be free.

Journalism has been hijacked by sick ideology nowadays,is rarely objective,always serve a hidden agenda and words can create war or peace,no matter how human being can be selfish but there is always room for peace,love and tolerance in this world,just do not get blinded by hate and revenge.
There is no room for fundamentalism in any religion nowadays,the global village will never allow it and extremists are destroying themselves slowly and the world will be a better place without them.

Yes, the world would be a better place without the extremists. It would also be a better place if the US didn’t believe it had the right to meddle in the Middle East.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=43yxph9Kh4o#at=67

Congressman Ron Paul’s Texas straight talk
“Time for congress to end all the unconstitutional wars”

It is unfair to criticize Landis, since this is the only website which has offered detailed portraits of some of the murkiest actors of the so-called Syrian revolution: a Swedish conservative Muslim (one could imagine what would have happened if he had launched a FB page against the Swedish monarchy) and “ponytail”, an American-Syrian who seems to have assimilated all the neocons speeches about Eastern Europe (by the way, he should go there for tourism, people went from: free hospitals, free schools, no freedom to: working for delocalized companies which pay them ‘local’, i.e. 300 euros instead of an average 1000 in other second-grade European countries. But of course they are free to practice prostitution to pay their bills.)

The very fact we read no comprehensive portrait on these people in any of the big media outlet is a striking proof that the behaviour of the media here is unprecedented since the Iraq war.

Jad 206
Thanks a lot for letting the readers of this blog know Bassam al Kadi, who is indeed articulate and a real local hero.
You should add this link, where he also has posts in English, for a bigger audience:
http://www.bassam-alkadi.com/content/category/9/20/58/

The Turkish gov has adopted a populist line since 3 months, shifting side on Libya and Syria every week, a sign of the esteem they credit their electors with. I bet the Turkish seculars will not appreciate (elections are on June 12th).

Nice line in this article
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MF09Ak01.html
“The conclave at Antalya was entitled “Change in Syria”. Ankara would go ballistic if a neighboring country did to it such a thing.”

@238 Amir

I wouldn’t say Landis was a regime “admirer”. I think he tried to create one of the rare places on the Internet where the regime supporters could feel comfortable airing their views, and he went out of his way to present the regime’s narrative to attract Baathists to these discussions.

Of course, we can all see what the regime apologists did when provided with an accommodating forum; gloating over the killing of fellow Syrians when Maher’s scum invaded Dara’a, and the vicious way they turned on Landis when he posted one headline that wasn’t to their liking.

It says alot about the Baathist mentality, which will accept no reality other than one in which Bashar is a deity and all those who oppose him are kufar. And they have the nerve to call the Muslim Brotherhood religious hardliners? Baathism is a religion just as intolerant as the most extreme forms of Islam or any other religion.

Doubtless, in his next update, professor Landis will throw a bone to the sulking and whining Baathists, treating them like the spoiled brats they are.

Great words Aboud

It seems like Ambassador Shakkour is playing a sneaky & dirty game with the regime by first stating that she resigned and then calling a different station and denying it completely. We have seen the Syrian regime play that dirty regime with Hosam Hosam when they sent him to lie to the UN prosecutors and then went back hiding in Syria.

On a side note, OFF THE WALL, where are you buddy? Miss your posts! Is there a way I can contact you outside of this forum?

test

Aboud #248,

I appreciate your opinion that “he tried to create .. a place for Baatists .. for discussion”. I see it somewhat differently.

Many people did support the regime. Not because it’s remarkable achievements, but because they feared the alternative. Actually, many of those who support the Baath are quite critical of this party because of corruption, lack of management, suppression of freedoms, and so on.

They saw it as a trade: ceding freedoms for gaining security.

As long as Syria was calm, one could have argued that the Syrians accept this deal, and it was very difficult to negate. But when the uprise began, it became clear that many Syrians do not agree to trade their freedoms for security. From this moment, everyone who actively supports this regime (and it’s proven brutality), becomes a partner, and shares it’s crimes. I believe that Mr. Landis along with others are changing the way they are perceiving this regime. From a Saviour to a brutal and oppressive criminal.
.

@249 LEO

Actually, I think her first resignation was genuine. She resigned when calling on her mobile phone, who else would have it? An email from the embassy confirmed her resignation. Both France 24 and Reuters had every reason to believe the resignation was genuine.

So what happened? First, we can discard the very silly and absurd idea that France 24 and Reuters both made up the resignation (but an explanation the Baathists predictably are going with). France 24 had hosted the ambassador on their station many times, and were familiar with her and her contact number. They had no reason to believe the person calling was anyone other than the ambassador.

But pause for a moment, and think on how the regime has treated defections in the past;

It murders soldiers in cold blood who so much as hesitate in following orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators.

It invaded Dera’a only after a wave of resignations of former Baath members from the local municipality level and the Dara’a representative at the People’s Assembly.

It invaded Baniyas after a similar wave of resignations.

It invaded Telkelakh immediately after yet a similar wave of resignations.

The regime very rightly sees resignations and defections from within as the beginning of the end. Their entire policy has been based around exacting retribution against those who left the regime, and to deter those who would think of doing so.

Rastan has been under a prolonged siege because so many officers from the Syrian army come from there (it is the hometown of Mustapha Tlass, the former defense mninister). Surrounding Rastan with tanks is the regime’s way of deterring Syrian army officers from defecting, as the regime would think nothing of shelling the place.

So how would they react to an ambassador to an important European country resigning so publicly? They would have gone ballistic. Relatives would have been threatened with the severest of consequences. The ambassador herself would have become a target.

The regime just can not afford high level resignations, it would be the beginning of the end. Just look at how Faroq Al Shara has completely disappeared since junior’s first speech fiasco, and what an extremely low profile Buthaina Sha3ban has assumed.

Judging from the history of the regime, as exemplified by the disgraceful way the Baathists on this forum insult professor Landis for posting something they don’t like, we can be under no illusions as to the kinds of pressure the ambassador is under to toe the party line. We can only feel sympathy for her, how she must look with envy at ordinary Syrians who go out every day and protest their hearts out.

@251 Amir

This blog is professor Landis’ vehicle to maintain his status as *the* expert to go to on all matters relating to Syria. The professor has patiently built up a reputation over the years as someone knowledgeable on Syrian affairs.

Syria Comment is the perfect, text book example on using the Internet to build one’s reputation and status in a specific field. The professor should be congratulated on doing so well.

But let’s not get carried away and think that Landis has suddenly turned anti-Bashar. He will continue to express the opinions that serve to enhance his reputation as an expert on Syria, and enhance the reputation of this website.

It is his right, as is our right to tell him when we think he is wrong. If he makes such bizarre statements such as “We don’t know who killed the Talbesi funeral mourners back in April” or “There are no defections in the Syrian army”, then we can disagree with him.

But what we cannot do is to say things like “I SPIT ON HIM AND ALL HIS ANCESTORS AND DESCENDENTS BASHAR AKBAAAAAAAAAR BASHAR IS HOOOOLYYYYYY I GIVE MY FIRST BORN’S BLOOD TO BASHAAAAAAAR!”

Sometimes, it’s nice to just sit back and let the Baathists destroy themselves with their own words.

BTW Amir know of any Eyal Golan Youtube clips?

Thank you 24/7 Internet Cafes.

#196 ABOUD,

Don’t they ask you to show a photo ID?

How can anyone think that this person
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/FeaturedImagePost/images/tv_0.jpg
can have this voice??
her accent is not Syrian and she cannot even pronounce the name of Bashar al Asad correctly.
http://www.france24.com/fr/20110607-ambassadrice-syrie-paris-france-lache-bachar-al-assad-demission-damas-violence
http://www.france24.com/en/20110607-syria-ambassador-france-resigns-live-france-24-lamia-chakkour-al-assad

Aboud seems to think she would have thought only afterwards that her family may be threatened. You really think they appoint idiots? There are so many Syrians who speak a perfect French that they had to take one like the one we hear on the France 24 clip?
an ambassador has so much free time that she records in English and in French? Why if she planned to resign didn’t she do like the Libyans officials, who waited to be away in hiding to announce their resignations?

Poor Syrian opposition. Going nowhere. I am confident though that the Syrian opponents inside Syria will achieve their aims.

Aboud,

Just copy paste אייל גולן into YouTube search and you have plenty. Try also זוהר ארגוב and שרית חדד
Cheers !
.

@254 BADR

Hehe, a couple of Homsi jokes come to mind

1) Don’t worry, I wear a disguise when speaking on the phone 🙂

2) Nah, they Internet Cafe guys know me so well, I come there often, I always use the same computer…oh, wait 🙂

But in all seriousness, no I’ve never been asked for an ID to use an Internet cafe. If someone was putting something up they didn’t like, they could get to him faster than it would take to unplug a flash USB.

I always laugh at people who think their names are on a list because of something they posted on Facebook. Dude, you like post from your mobile phone, they can get to you any time they like.

@255

“You really think they appoint idiots?”

Uh, I think the answer to that question would be obvious by now.

I’m sure the ambassador made the mistake of thinking she was untouchable, being so high profile. She forgot that she’s dealing with a regime where Maher Assad shot his own relative over some squabble, and for all intents and purposes the president himself seems to be under something like house arrest.

The latest escalation of the uprising in Jisr AlShughoor had to do with the failure of the regime to act upon an ultimatum issued by the elders of the city to hand over two lawyers.

The lawyers were sent by the city on a mission to Baniyas to investigate the cause of death of two army officers from the city.

They were arrested, and the delegate failed to persuade the security to release the lawyers and the bodies of the army officers.

أما السبب الأهم الذي جعل أهل جسر الشغور ينزلون إلى الشارع بعد كل هذا الصمت يتعلق بقصة استشهاد الضابطين اللذان استشهدا في مدينة بانياس الساحلية، ورفض الأهالي إقامة مراسم الدفن الرسمية إلا بعد اكتشاف طريقة استشهادهما، ولذلك فقد كلف الأهالي أربع محامين من المدينة للتحقيق في الأمر، وحين ذهب المحامين إلى بانياس للبحث عن الأسباب تم اعتقالهم ولم يعرف شيئا عن مصيرهم، فقام الأهالي بتشكيل وفد من وجهاء المدينة من اجل إطلاق سراحهم فلم يرد عليهم الأجهزة الأمنية، فما كان من الوفد إلى أن أعطى مهلة يومين لإطلاق سراحهم وإلا فإن المدينة عن بكرة أبيها ستنزل إلى الشوارع فكان ما كان. والسؤال الذي يطرح نفسه بقوة هو: ترى من المسؤول في هذه الحالة عن سقوط هذا العدد الكبير من المواطنين والجيش والأمن في هذه المدينة بعد كل هذا ,
حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom

#254 Not only do they ask for ID, it is closely monitored. It’s easier to get in trouble at an internet cafe than at home. It was too obvious that he was posting from outside Syria so I just glossed that over. A real Syrian would stay at home and use an anonymous proxy.

#255

>Aboud seems to think she would have thought only afterwards that her family may be threatened. You really think they appoint idiots? There are so many Syrians who speak a perfect French that they had to take one like the one we hear on the France 24 clip?

Aboud is more delusional than ever, I feel sorry for him. He must be kicking his hat in as we speak. The desperation of the so-called opposition is skyrocketing after their crimes are laid bare for the world to see at Jisr al-Shagour. This is a turning point and the end of their little campaign, because Syria did not fall for their trap.

They are lying about the army being divided in order to cover up their crimes anyone with a clue would understand the strong sense of nationalism in the army and thus would discount this possibility. These guys are armed and trained in Turkey and have booby trapped the entire town.

I think it is wise for the Syrian military to use precision strikes with paratroopers to arrest the key operatives without a complete entry. Ideally, they would have embedded journalists to minimise massmedia lying, but it takes time to train them for such situations.

It’s over fascists, you will not get your Islamist state now, even the few idiots who believe in this violent “protest” are keeping their silence due to the public backlash.

Mina,

You can’t always match a face with a voice. For example, when I first saw Ziadeh, I laughed, then when I heard his voice, I laughed more! Maybe that’s a bad example, but you can’t always match appearance with voice.

Aboud,

Maher was never deployed in Dar`a. It would have been an honor for the armed terrorists in Dar`a to have Maher personally come to kick their ass, but they were just never a serious threat. The only reason the “opposition” mentioned Maher and the “4th division” was to make some kind of connection to Hama 1982, where the president’s brother Rif`at supposedly led the 4th division which supposedly carried out the operations in Hama. One of the main things working for the regime is that the Facebook page, with its worshipers among the media, is purely reactive without good tactical vision. They should have saved the Maher 4th division line for later on… like for now maybe!

As for Chakkour, I would rather wait for what gets revealed later on, but it doesn’t make sense for her to resign now that it has become clear to all non-Aboud people that the security forces and army are not dealing with peaceful civilians.

In fact, in the video that shows the terrorists talking about how they killed the police and security forces, you can see 2 of the bodies are simple policemen. One of them had “S.M.F.” written on his shirt. That is basically a security guard for a public building. If he had a weapon, it would have been a simple pistol. The cameraman clearly talks about the SMF officer surrendering with his arms up in the air when he shot him. Also notice how the two equipped security officers are not wearing sneakers? Security officers may wear army style uniforms, but they are not army trained. I hope those terrorists get a good taste of the Syrian Arab Army.

H. Asad statue has been removed, and transported from a major square in Deir Ezzor to the city museum.
حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom
أوغاريت || دير الزور :: قامت رافعات في منطقة السبع بحرات قبل قليل بنقل صنم هبل حافظ الأسد إلى مبنى المتحف .

11 hours ago

Let’s just ignore and dismiss any indication of bias in Dr. Landis’ material on the blog.

Is it still too much to ask for him to include a disclaimer clearly identifying himself as a contributor to an American-funded “Syrian” “opposition” group?

I am interested in knowing how long this has been going on, too, because his praise of ponytail Abdel-7ameer began since at least 2008. Ponytail is, coincidentally, also a contributor to the same American-funded group, as well as recipient of direct funding from the MEPI program, which has been already proven to be a cover operation for US covert funding of Syrian opposition.

Either way though, I mostly come here nowadays because of the large array of material I find in the comments section. Most other material on this blog I can find on NYT, WSJ, etc, which are sources I’m not interested in.

#262

Good! It belongs in the museum, not on the street. We don’t need statues of past leaders around, only martyr, heroes and scientists.

#263

I think its important to highlight the bias. Sure, he built up his reptuation as a credible commentator all these years, but now that the bias is revealed, it is your duty to inform infrequent readers of the change. Otherwise they will assume this is a neutral source and read all this sectarian crap that we heard in Iraq (and was turned into reality by the US occupation’s death squads).

Anyway, I have news to deliver:

http://www.dp-news.com/pages/detail.aspx?articleid=86297

Turkey has captured 10 or so Islamist terrorists, some which are not too far Jisr al-Shagour. Is this meant to be a reconciliation move? Because I suspect it is too late. Turkey is going to look back at the days of security and popularity with nostalgia. It won’t be the same again and they can say goodbye to any prospect of joining the EU as a result.

Families, estimated in thousands, fleeing besieged Jisr AlShughoor are currenntly stranded at the Turkish border!

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد
جسر الشغور : عاجل : نداء إنساني : حالياً هناك عشرات الآلآف من اللاجئين من مدينة جسر الشغور وقراها محتجزين على الحدود السورية التركية بمنطقة خربة الجوز والجيش التركي يمنع دخولهم الى داخل الحدود التركية …… ونحذر من كارثة إنسانية في المنطقة بسبب أن المنطقة غير متوفر فيها اي مستلزمات معيشية أو طبية ..
ندائنا إلى كل المنظمات الإنسانية و الصليب و الهلال الأحمر التركي و كذلك القنوات الفضائية بالضغط على الحكومة التركية لإجبارها على السماح بدخول اللاجئين

about an hour ago

What is the end to this?.

Funeral prayer for 9 Martyrs from Jisr AlShughoor, yesterday.

AlFati7a upon their souls,
May God blesstheir failies with solace and empower them with patience.

#266. The restoration of the right of the people to self determination, in their homeland.

#268,
As long as they do not impose their way of life on others.

The so-called “Syrian revolution 2011” facebook page is trying to do damage control by claiming the Islamist murderers are the victims but no one is buying it except hardcore traitors.

I previously expressed doubt about some
documents that have been brought to our qualified attention on this blog by
Joshua.

Here is another example :

« The
Gay Girl in Damascus – A very talented and brave
Syrian blogger, Amina Abdallah, has been detained without notification or due
process by the Syrian security forces. I pushed her wonderful blog about a
month ago, here.”

A “little” research and I got

her “real name” Amina Arraf on Twitter

and her original
webpage translated by Google ( I am not fluent in this old revisited language)

Any comment !!!!

#268, I second that!

Revlon

“Families, estimated in thousands, fleeing besieged Jisr AlShughoor are currenntly stranded at the Turkish border!”

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Syrian-Refugees-Fleeing-Threats-Enter-Turkey-123446324.html

“A group of 122 Syrian refugees has crossed into neighboring Turkey, as civilians flee a restive border town following a government vow to respond “decisively” to recent violence.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday his country will not close its door to refugees fleeing the unrest, after the group entered Turkey near the town of Karbeyaz.”

Abboud

France 24 fell into their own trap . They used unproven ‘eyewitnesses’ twitter, emails to mount their campaign against Syria’s government. It was time someone traps them and give them a lesson for their own manipulation of unreliable elements to incite violence and disinfomation.

Mother, mourning son Martyr Dawood AlSheikh and Husband before him, who were killed by regime forces in Jisr AlShugoor.

She is inciting her other four children to avenge their father and older brother.

She said: We are not against the state, but they are the ones who are behaving indecently. They are inflicting terror on the people.

AlFati7a upon their souls,
May God bless their family with solace, and empower them with patience.

#271,
revlon,

Talking is better than fighting, we agree after only two lines.

#272,
I do not see discrepancy in the numbers! A few families crossed, others are stranded!
Erdogan is keeping the door ajar!

the syrian ambassedor to France story is weird,is there any public appearance of Lamya Shakkor after the alleged resignaion?or we have only phone statements? please help
Russia may work to delay any resolution in UN till Russia sees what is happening in Jisr AlShughour.If a delay occur,Syrian regime must get worried about Russia position.
Turkey ,is getting a lot of refugee,this can be a justification to do something inside Syria.If we see massacre there ,I think the regime is going too far.Massacres in Deraa,TelKalakh,Rastan and Talbiseh,and now in Jisr AlShughour.
The video showing the hanging of the syrian officer,we need to verify if it happened in Hama,or in different place.

Leo

Off the wall is posting on qifanabki a blog about Lebanon

The fake double army defector, just made a fool of himself on Al Arabia news.

He stated he is the ‘defector’ from Daara with Maher Assad 4th division. He refuted claims that he is the lieutenant (Tlas).

Although in his first fake defector video it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was a fake, he insisted he was a Republican guard and his orders were to go to Daara with Maher’s 4th division.

He stated ON TV that he and his fellow RG were ordered to dress in CIVILIAN clothes prior to being deployed to Daara….. wanst his initial story that he was told to wear the black anti terror uniform prior to being deployed to Darra.

He then said he was told to shoot at peaceful protesters, but he defected and was sheilded from the bullets of his fellow soldiers by the women protesting…….What women protesing? Back then, there weren’t any women protesting. Even more ridiculous is that a republican guard would hide in between a crowd women!

Cant wait to see the third sequel to this comedy.

revlon

I guess there are only 123 because the armed terrorists are probably preventing them to flee because they want to keep them as a human shield. Typical of the MB methods.
I really hope we hear that thousands are leaving, but yet it does not look like that they are allowed. despite the fact that Erdogan is encouraging them to do so.

AIG, AP

UN says West Bank economy not flourishing

..The report said the unemployment rate in the West Bank stood at 25 percent in the second half of 2010, up from 23.5 percent in 2009…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110608/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestiniansconflicteconomyun

More defections and “friendly fire casualties” in Freekeh, Jisr AlShughoor!

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد
جسر الشغور : عاجل : إنشقاق جديد لعدد من الضباط و الجنود من القوات المتجهة لجسر الشغور و تبادل لإطلاق النار عنيف يجري حالياُ في قرية فريكة قرب جسر الشغو

31 seconds ago

Majed
Breaking news:the public hanging vidio was confirmed to be in dear sidnia,the brave people hitting the body with stick were confirmed to be members of new organization called:Christian Brotherhood for Syrian Liberation(CBSL).CBSL also announced responsibility for Jisr Alshogor Massacr and for kicking and stealing money from dead bodies.Tony Abdulmassih the Head of CBSL was arrested .
Congradulation Aboud.Revlon,SL,NK :thahar alhak o zohek albatel.

Faculty of Literature at Aleppo University is being besieged by security forces

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد
حلب ::: انتشار أمني كثيف جدا في كلية الآداب بحلب حيث تم محاصرة الكلية من كل الجهات

30 minutes ago

Father and Brother of martyr Hajar Al Khateeb were summoned and coherced by authorities to state that she was murdered by terrorists!

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد
نقلاً عن صفحة الحرّة سهير الأتاسي : تمّ استدعاء السيد تيسير الخطيب والد الشهيدة هاجر والسيد نايف الخطيب شقيق الشهيدة …. وذلك لإجبارهم على القول أن أهل الرستن “المخربين” هم من قاموا بقتل ابنتهم
36 minutes ago

قصيده للثورة السورية من الشاعر أحمد مطر

دكتورنا ” الفهمانْ ”

يستعملُ السّاطورَ في جراحةِ اللسانْ

مَنْ قالَ : ” لا ” مِنْ شعبهِ

في غفلةٍ عنْ أعينِ الزَّمانْ

يرحمهُ الرحمنْ

بلادهُ سجنٌ..

و كلُّ شعبهِ إما سجينٌ عندهُ

أو أنَّهُ سجَّانْ

بلادهُ مقبرةٌ..

أشجارها لا تلبسُ الأخضرَ

لكنْ تلبسُ السَّوادَ و الأكفانْ

حزناً على الإنسانْ

أحاكمٌ لدولةٍ..

مَنْ يطلقُ النَّارَ على الشَّعبِ الذي يحكمهُ

أمْ أنَّهُ قرصانْ ؟

لا تبكِ يا سوريّةْ

لا تعلني الحدادَ

فوقَ جسدِ الضحيَّة

لا تلثمي الجرحَ

و لا تنتزعي الشّظيّةْ

القطرةُ الأولى مِنَ الدَّمِ الذي نزفتهِ

ستحسمُ القضيّةْ

قفي على رجليكِ يا ميسونَ..

يا بنتَ بني أميّةْ

قفي كسنديانةٍ..

في وجهِ كلِّ طلقةٍ و كلِّ بندقية

قفي كأي وردةٍ حزينةٍ..

تطلعُ فوقَ شرفةٍ شاميّةْ

و أعلني الصرَّخةَ في وجوههمْ

حريّة

و أعلني الصَّرخةَ في وجوههمْ

حريّةْ

another defector speaks to AJA, seems Jr. strategy of intimidation and propaganda isn’t working anymore, his security forces at cracking and splitting:

Breaking news:
Muslem Brotherhood branch of Edlib announced defection,they named themselves:Muslem Bros .Alton John announced that he will join them.
Ouestion:if you drop something in Edlib ,you should’t try to pick it up why?

Irina, of leningrad, Mother of martyr Omar AlShami sends messages in Arabic and Russian, about the murder of her son in 7ama, by Jr’s thugs.

Al Fati7a upon his soul,
May God bless his mother with solace and empower her with solace.

رسالة والدة الشهيد عمر الشامي روسية الجنسية للعالم

Why Discuss
four to five posts in late month do not qualify as “is posting on QN’s site”. You may need to review your English Grammar or does it depend on what “is the meaning of is”.

Leo
I have been here, read almost all posts and I really miss having a dialog. I am working on your request and will be honored to communicate with you, Abboud, Tara, and a few other old timers and new brave souls, hopefully soon enough.

Joshua
You know I have criticized the site recently after it was taken over by regime propagandists. But I stand by what I said on Qunfuz’s site, when I said “my beef is not with you” even when I thought that your views then were tilted towards the regime. And again I reiterate: You are a very decent fellow, and I am proud to know you and grateful to you for your initiative, which I accredit for getting me out of my shell and for giving me the opportunity to meet, albeit virtually, many great Syrians in the diaspora, and now it seems back in the old country. You sir, have done what one defunct reincarnation of Arab-American organizations after another failed to do over decades. Thank you.

Joshua, in your worst of times, right after the assassination of your wife’s cousin, you maintained composure and tried to remain as open to interpretations despite of the urge to blame someone, to shout at someone, and to go for blood. You were civilized even when your beloved family was bereaved. It is in such circumstances when the character of people shows, and yours shined then.

إقالة محمد المفلح رئيس فرع الأمن العسكري بحماه، ومغادرته المدينة صباح اليوم
الكاتب بسام القاضي
08/ 06/ 2011
تمت إقالة العميد محمد المفلح، رئيس فرع الأمن العسكري بحماه، والمسؤول عن إطلاق النار على المسعفين المدنين يوم الجمعة الماضي، (3/ حزيران، 2011) من منصبه، وغادر مدينة حماه صباح اليوم الأربعاء.

إذ نؤيد هذه الخطوة الهامة، نعيد التأكيد على ضرورة سحب “قوات” المخابرات من المواجهة مع الناس في كافة المدن السورية، وإعطاء الجيش كل الصلاحية والقدرة على مواجهة المسلحين المجرمين، وحمايته من أي نوع من الاستغلال أو التوريط.

كما نؤكد على أن البدء الفوري بمحاكمة من ارتكب الإجرام ضد الناس من أجهزة النظام، محاكمة علنية وعادلة، سوف يعطي آثارا فورية إيجابية في طمأنة المدنيين أن لا أحد فوق القانون، كما سيكون رسالة واضحة للمجرمين أنهم بقيوا وحيدين في مواجهة الشعب السوري..

http://www.bassam-alkadi.com/content/view/588/44/

After months of this armed uprising we learned how to read the news provided from the opposition, Every time we hear from the Syrian revolution 2011 webpage about defections it means they know about clashes between them (MBs members and other terrorists) and the army, they did that in all the cities they fought the army in ,I know for matter of fact that there are more martyrs now from the army .its their stupid way to cover the clashes and the armed gangs
The Syrian government should not care about the international opinion any more, we have all the right to fight those terrorists and restore order.

Minister of Interior’s threats echoe in the desolate streets of Jisr AlShughoor today.

OTW

Sorry, I have not seen any posts of you here but when I browsed one time QN site, I saw your comments. As Leo was asking about you, I pointed him to QN site. I thought I was helping Leo. Sounds like it bothered you, I wonder why.

Why Discuss
Many thanks for the explanation, What bothered me was my impression of the tone indicating that I am continuously blogging on QN’s (not that I would not be pleased to do so). But that should be my problems not yours. My apologies for the harsh tone. It also provoked me to get out of my self imposed silence, which probably what irked me the most.

hmmmm, wonder why in almost every single protest, the people chant and hold up banners saying “Syrian media is a liar” and thanking AlJazeera. Could it be a hidden message perhaps? or a blatantly obvious one about who is telling the truth and who’s engaged in lies and propaganda?

Prisoners of Sidnaya Facility are on hunger strike!
One prisoner brough today to Duma Court,spoke of inhumane conditions, and torture and killings.

My heart goes to them and their families.

Ugarit News | أوغاريت الإخبارية
أوغاريت ||عن تنسيقية دوما ::دوما: احضر اليوم معتقلين من سجن صيدنايا الى محكمة دوما لمحاكمتهم وقد تكلم احدهم عن الوضع لا انساني في سجن من قتل وتعذيب وأن زنازينه تغص بالمعتقلين وانهم مضربون عن الطعام منذ البارحة نرجو النشر المساجين في سجن صيدنايا مضربرن عن الطعام…

40 minutes ago

Problems with the identity of the Gay blogger:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/syrian-american-blogger-detained/

I have mentioned in a previous post in the comment section of this blog several contradictions in her writings. But journalists were too busy facilitating the escalation in Syria to investigate Amina, the Swedish pious Sunni who is behind the Facebook Syrian revolution 2011 page, Wissam Tarif, or Ammar Abdalhamid. After all, their job is only sensation, ain’t it?

Revlun
The vidio of the Russian was another Najdat Anzoor hit.why don’t show videos of moms of people killed by MB dogs?

We are running away from the city!
We fear for our lives and our families!
Rumors have it that the army is coming!
We do not want the army to enter the city.

7 6 Jisr Ash Shugur Idlib أوغاريت نازحو جسر الشغور يكذبون النظام السوري وإعلامه ج1

#300
Revlon is not interested in objective news reporting, he’s hoping the 24 hours/7 days a week of lying will dent the Syrian people’s resolve but it won’t do anything.

People are screaming for the army to enter the city, it’s hilarious that the propagandists will make up videos of people requesting otherwise. Why else would people be fleeing when the army isn’t even there???

IT IS NOT EVEN LOGICAL YET THEY CONTINUE TO LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE AND LIE.

I previously expressed doubt about some
documents that have been brought to our qualified attention on this blog by
Joshua.

Here is another example :

« The
Gay Girl in Damascus – A very talented and brave
Syrian blogger, Amina Abdallah, has been detained without notification or due
process by the Syrian security forces. I pushed her wonderful blog about a
month ago, here.”

A “little” research and I got

her “real name” Amina Arraf on Twitter

and her original
webpage translated by Google ; the page has been created before
15 Mar 2011 07:39:18 GMT ( I am not fluent in this old revisited
language)

Any comment !!!!

Ah yeah almost forgot to add, the exchange rate for the Lira vs U.S Dollar is now 51.25 Aleppo black market prices. Seems the economic meltdown is coming sooner than expected for this regime. Of course the idiotic handling of the economy and the smuggling of huge amounts outside the country by corrupt officials certainly hasn’t helping the crashing exchange rate.

You keep on deciding what is lie and what is not. I did not know you had family in Jisr Al Shougur, or are you reporting direct from that village? While you decide what is a fake, a lie or a manipulation…

MEANWHILE THEY ARE BEATING,TORTURING AND KILLING IN SYRIAN PRISONS.
MEANWHILE THEY ARE BEATING,TORTURING AND KILLING IN SYRIAN PRISONS.
MEANWHILE THEY ARE BEATING,TORTURING AND KILLING IN SYRIAN PRISONS.
MEANWHILE THEY ARE BEATING,TORTURING AND KILLING IN SYRIAN PRISONS.
MEANWHILE THEY ARE BEATING,TORTURING AND KILLING IN SYRIAN PRISONS.
MEANWHILE THEY ARE BEATING,TORTURING AND KILLING IN SYRIAN PRISONS.

SL, I showed you a contradiction in the two lies (people fleeing the killings yet the army isn’t inside! Slow down idiots, you need to wait until the army is inside before you start lying!)

The propaganda campaign against Syria is becoming more of a comedy festival now.

There is no alternative to restoring calm in the streets if you want to keep Syria in one piece. The price of dehumanizing the army is too high and will make Syria more like Iraq.
Opposition to the regime should not be turned into an armed rebellion against the army and a campaign against the police,hizbullah and public institutions.I support withdrawing security forces from troubled spots and replacing them with the army as long as people understand that the army will shoot back if it is shot at.the question is not whether the regime has to stay,we know that it needs to go eventually (we are not talking another 40 years),but removing the regime swiftly using force is not doable without destroying the country. I am getting tired of seeing this self destructive behavior by people on both sides especially those who sit comfortably behind their computers inciting hatred and violence. Refusing to admit that atrocities were committed by both the regime and anti regime thugs is a sign of moral bankruptcy and will take us to a new era of bloodshed and lawlessness. Send money to needy families in Syria instead of getting busy searching YouTube looking for pictures of dead Syrians and Fatwas from pseudo Islamic sheikhs who hijacked Islam and made it a religion of violence and Fitnah. The challenge for all of us it to move ahead and get out of this third world hole that we,especially our governments,have put ourselves in.شام اهلوك احبابي و موعدنا اواخر الصيف..

Talking once more about the 1955 Baghdad pact:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/08/egypt-haunts-saudi-arabia-again

Revlon @301
i wonder why they are not afraid any more of Mukhabarat?he dose not have intention of coming back any more?

you guys are doing hard work ,one must admits! but the quality is bad and the results are deadly but the truth will win in the end.

‘The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is.’
Winston Churchill

ABOALI

Please use EURO reference as the dollar has been slipping a lot recently vs the Euro

I previously expressed doubt about some
documents that have been brought to our qualified attention on this blog by
Joshua.
Here is another example :
« The
Gay Girl in Damascus – A very talented and brave

Syrian blogger, Amina Abdallah, has been detained without notification or due
process by the Syrian security forces. I pushed her wonderful blog about a
month ago, here.”
A “little” research and I got
her “real name” Amina Arraf on Twitter
and her original
webpage translated by Google ; the page has been created before
15 Mar 2011 07:39:18 GMT
language)
Any comment !!!!

Here is the latest declaration from the Arab League, the office of every Arab Prime minister about the situation

To:

Now I feel that we are very close to core of the problem..:))))
NR

خبر تستاهل عليه الف بوسه

أصدرت الهيئة العليا اليوم القرار القاضي بالبدء الفوري بوضع مسودة لإعداد مشروع ورقة متعلقة بتشكيل لجنة خاصة لدراسة حيثيات جميع متطلبات آليات العمل لإعداد جدول زمني دقيق لاستصدار مفكرة توضح الأطر العامة بتحديد سبل انشاء مجلس معني بحل جميع المعوقات التي تعرقل عملية تذليل العقبات المرتبطة باعداد مذكرة تحدد المبادئ اللازمة لإطلاق عملية تداول كل المسائل المتمحورة حول القضايا المرتكزة على الحلول المنبثقة عن المقررات السابقة .

!!الف مبرووووووك!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!

Mina, HS

Thanks for the link to NYT

It seems that the outspoken “Gay girl in Damascus” is another hoax.

Her writings were referenced in Le Monde and very serious newspaper as a proof of how bad the Syrian regime is.
Are they going to apologize, or sue the Gay Girl for impersonating a fictional character and spreading misinformation as a way to have fun?
The newspaper are learning that the world of Youtube, blogs, email is nebulous and unreliable…

Lol, no offence to the real Syrians who thought Damascus Gay Girl was legit, but it should have been obvious to anyone who lived and grew up in Syria. I couldn’t even read all the way through the blog post that made her “famous”. Its English vocabulary was beyond mine, but I figured it could still be legit since my degree is not in Arts and English is my second language. But then when she says her dad asked those `Alawi shabbi7a thugs for their names, and they GAVE HIM THEIR NAMES, that was just obvious fiction. Not to mention this happened after they allegedly threatened to rape her to cure her homosexuality. That kind of thought is Western thought, and NOT Syrian. Such allegations in Syrian society are very serious. It was a real farce.

I look forward to many other anti-government elements being embarrassed. This anti-Syria plot, built on serious needs for reforms, was clearly meant to end the regime within a month at most because more and more of these fabrications are being exposed with time, which wouldn’t have mattered had the regime been toppled by now. Currently we’re seeing reactive elements (that were probably meant to appear later to get a civil war going) acting in desperation, along with media support, to get some new momentum going. The fact that we’re seeing this new wave of funny videos of defections in the army shows that they are getting very desperate to get ANYTHING going within the army since that’s clearly their last hope.

#306

I’m more than willing to criticise any unlawful killings by the government but the fact of the matter is the evidence supporting it on a systematic level during these “peaceful” demonstrations is not forthcoming.

Almost every single story has turned out to be a fabrication.

Meanwhile, the same people pretending to care about Syrians, don’t seem to care at all about the 14 year old boy who was hung by Islamists not too far from Damascus. Only the putative victims of the government (who always end up turning out to be victims of the mokharabeen/insurrectionists) deserve mourning for.

What a bunch of hypocritical crocodile tear wielding liars! When passed the news of 40 Pakistani children dying from random US strikes, they throw the news in the bin — they don’t care as long as there’s no one to attack. That’s their target, they want to attack Syria by any means possible.

They know that Syria’s military is a force to be reckoned with, so instead they want to starve the population out with sanctions. Damn you all, curse you to hell.

#313

I knew it was fake 2 month ago, I tried posting messages on her little “blog”, but she refused to approve any of them. None of my questions were answered.

I can’t believe the professor would lower himself to considering her serious. You know who he takes seriously as well? The cave man council from Turkey.

Mina,
It seems that the longer Syrian conflict goes more lies are exposed.
Its unbelievable how many people are involved in lying and how easy to manipulate the media any time they want regardless of how many lives are going to be affected, it’s the Iraq war lies allover again and it’s sad that many people are actually buying all of this, some are buying it out of convenience to support their stories and some are out of lack of intelligence and many are actually part of the lie and their job is to spread them.

#303, “for this regime” How do you call yourself a businessman and you celebrate the supposed meltdown of the economy you promote when you with the rest of the 23m Syrians will be the first ones to be affected with, not the regime…people are really living in a the fantasy land of nowhere.

Lamia Chakkour appears on French TV, Denies her resignation. France 24 admits that the resignation was not true.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13694802

In a separate development, Syria’s ambassador to France has denied reports in the French media that she had resigned.

Appearing on French TV, Lamia Chakkour said a telephone interview in which she was reported to have quit was part of a campaign of misinformation against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

She has threatened to sue France 24, which admitted on Wednesday that it was probably the victim of a hoax.

More on the Gay Girl
http://www.myspace.com/135726767/
Acarvin is leading the inquiry
http://twitter.com/#!/acarvin

Someone in the comments of this blog had mentioned earlier that she sounded a bit like a self-claimed Palestinian gay girl blogging from Lebanon. Probably a friend of Tarif, who was involve in gay rights during the Swedish workshop
http://wissamtarif.blogspot.com/2009/07/swedish-summer.html

The Gay Girl :

Amina Arraf

http://he.netlog.com/aminaarraf

Can someone explain to me what this research entailed about this slut girl in Damascus, what was found, and what it means? Maybe I am just not understanding something…

#318

The information they are finding about her contradicts the information she made available on her blog. It is quite likely the whole thing is a fabrication. Since the “opposition” is so desperate, the last thing left to do is to “martyr” the character.

318,

The blog in question has attracted a lot of empathy and interest. Since most of the revolutionaries are actually sitting in a couch and stuck to Twitter and Facebook, such a blog, with daily news, often contradictory, are a way to attract people and get their sympathy. Otherwise it would be a little more difficult to go to the Security Council and pass resolutions for regime change every week.
We thought we got rid of Bush, but Cameron and Sarkozy think they have a role to play. They need to distract people in their own countries from poverty and budget cuts (never for missiles).
The empire is at war because it is in financial crisis. In this case, just like for the US bowing to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the case of Iraq, they are ready to do whatever is needed for weapon deals and access to new cheap resources.

It’s a pity the Syrians don’t discuss with the Iraqi Shiis who got cheated by Bush with their uprising in South Iraq in 1991.

Syrian Knight

The Gay Girl in Damascus is a probably a hoax. He/She is a smart wannabe writer having fun abusing the credulity of the media that are always eager for sensationalism to reinforce their own agenda against Syria.

Syrian commando

You are right, we would soon read that “the gay girl” has been ganged raped by a whole bataillon of soldiers and found disfigured in a mass grave…
Then we will receive videos of the family crying etc.. the whole TV serial.

Mina,
I think she is a good friend to Razan from Razaniyat, they share the same quality, she is even still quoting her until NOW:

http://twitter.com/#!/razaniyat

I am not saying that she is not a hoax or that your findings are illegitimate. I just want some clarification on what exactly is contradictory, now that you have found some information about her; information that I don’t quite understand how it means anything. I have not been following this slut girl enough to know what the contradictions are and why today’s findings are so important. Any clarification is welcome.

Here are some contradictions I pointed 1 month ago
William,
here are the three extracts i read through a week on her blog and that led me to feel there is something fishy:
I have travel plans for later on in the year: in June, I plan to be in Italy, in August in the USA and Canada, in September in the UK … before all this started I got accepted into grad school in the UK …
11th May

And I start laughing. My girlfriend has just stumbled on to the first rule of conversation in a dictatorship; never speak directly.

We had been dating for six glorious months and I had a vacation coming up from work; Anna is self-employed (she’s an artist) so she can vacation whenever she wants. And since we’d met I had been talking ceaselessly about how beautiful Syria is, how Damascus is the greatest city on earth and how I longed to see her. So, we’d decided to go together …
9th May

I opened my email just now … and what do I find waiting for me?
A message from my ex-husband … it’s been nearly ten years since we last spoke and nearly as long that we had any direct contact (though I have visited his mother on numerous occasions; we always got along famously … and she has always said she likes me better than him …)
8th May

I add, about my personal feeling about Amina, which sounds to me like “but why is Syria not like the US” (with the same… hum… ‘culture’?) that if all the rich in Syria were paying taxes, the country could do perfectly well. You would be surprised on how little taxes pay most people in the Arab world. No governement want to face it!!

May 12th, 2011, 1:57 am

I am glad Off the wall is commenting again,I missed reading his comments.
It is ironic,that what US call terrorist Syria Goverment said freedom fighter, now syrian goverment say terrorist, we say freedom fighter.

Dear WD,
I’m not familiar with the Turkish news paper/media, could you please, when you have time, check on this piece of news, I’m not sure if it’s true:

(اليوم شهدت مدن لواء اسكندرون السليب المحتل من قبل الاتراك مسيرات تندد بطائفية اردوغان المقيتة وتقف الى جانب امها سوريا شعبا ورئيسا
مسيرات جابت الاماكن في مدينة السويدية وانطاكية ومرسين تقف صفا واحدا ضد التآمر الامريكي المدعوم من قبل الشيخ اردوغان الذي يختبئ وراء ربطة عنق تخفي لحية صفراء تذكرنا بالمشعوذين الذين حولوا الحضارة العربية الى شعوذة وتبصير في الفنجان)

326
you mean the public hanging freedom f…er
and the kicking dead bodies and stealing mony from them by MB freedom f..er

The Gay Girl :

Amina Arraf

http://he.netlog.com/aminaarraf
the original

HS,
Is she a Palestinian?

I hope that is not true, this propaganda war from both sides is horrible:

حسب شام اف ام ……احد سكان جسر الشغور قال ان مسلحون يرتدون لباس الجيش العربي السوري يعتدون على معلمة مدرسة ويقومون بتجريدها من ملابسها والاعتداء عليها بالسكاكين وتصويرهاعلى انا الجيش يعتدي على النساء بعد دخوله جسر الشغور…..

NOUR (pro-regime) said: “I’m afraid I have lost any respect I previously had for Prof. Lands…. He has consistently emphasized and stressed sectarian divisions in the country.”

ABOUD (anti-regime) said: “I used to take offense at Landis’ promoting the regime’s line about sectarian strife if Bashar should leave.”

On 29 May Josh Landis posted what in his opinion was “the best piece of writing on Syria since the uprising began”, and that piece was all about using anecdotal evidence to argue that sectarian polarization was on the rise. Every reasonable person wants first and foremost to understand what the realities in the situation are, and Josh is no different. But Josh’s understanding begins with an assumption that sectarianism is foundational. If that assumption is not correct, it distorts his view of reality. I believe it’s not correct.

Suppose the anti-regime political constituency grew substantially bigger, and the country trended into polarization of the pro- and anti-regime constituencies. That scenario must indeed be sectarian in an important way, given what we know about the demographics of today’s anti-regime constituency. On the other hand, however, if the anti-regime constituency doesn’t grow substantially bigger, Josh’s assumption about sectarian mindsets doesn’t look correct for the Sunnis. That is, if the sectarian thing — whatever it is — were important for the Sunnis, we’d by now have seen them out on the streets in bigger numbers than we’ve seen. NOUR has interpreted Josh as “all but cheering for and rejoicing in the possibility of a civil war”. That’s probably because at this point Josh has a personal stake in the analytic question of whether his sectarian emphasis is right or not. Josh is not right, I say. The anti-regime constituency is smallish and hasn’t been showing growth. Violent attacks on Syrian security forces cannot succeed militarily of course, and such attacks definitely weaken anti-regime political support — because the vast vast majority of the population support the security forces. The Syrians, including most of the ones with anti-regime political opinion, are opposed to violent revolution. Bashar Assad said on 16 April 2011: “The Syrian people are civilized, committed to law and order and do not accept chaos and demagoguery.” It is clear to me that that is true and correct. Although I’ve never been in Syria in my life, I can see enough recent evidence on the Internet to be able to agree with USAMA, a true Syrian, when he says the Syrian Army is and always will be united.

For how many months do you think the protesters can do the same thing on the streets, week after week, before they run out of energy?

Good joke:

I can’t believe the professor would lower himself to considering her serious. You know who he takes seriously as well? The cave man council from Turkey.

By the way, Josh wrote on Monday that “the truth [about what happened in Jisr al-Shughour] will emerge soon enough”. But it’s now Wednesday and we still don’t know who the “armed gangs” consisted of.

# 328
You can not verify these accusations,so I consider it nonesense,till it is verified,there are those who said that the soldiers were killed by other soldiers because they refused to shoot at the demonstrators,it can not be verified either, this is part of lies and deceit media war.

[…] government crimes in Dera’a although there is reason to believe that the video was simply a bad acting job: With all my respect, the video of the defector is fake. He looks very similar to the one who had […]

رويترز Reuters
عاجل : مجلس الأمن سيعقد جلسة بعد ساعتين مناقشة مشروع قرار لإدانة سوريا

I think Russia gave them the OK on the revised resolution language, this is why they want to do it fast before the Russian change their minds.

This is a good message to many on this blog

http://bit.ly/lOgZV3

لعبة شطرنج وسخه

شهور و إنتو نازلين ن**كه و قتل بهالشعب و عم تلعبو بالنار و على قولة مسلحين و جماعات مسلحه….شرفو …هي صار في جماعات مسلحة…مبسوطين ؟؟ يلا خربوها …أصلا شو بتعنيلكون البلد…شو فارقه معكم …يلي عم يستشهد سواءا من هون أو من هنيك مالو قيمه بنظركم …اللهم إلا إنه تتباكو عليه و تينبحتو متل الشراميط على أساس كتير محروق قلبكون عليه…يا حرام …عندكم أحساس إنتو و متل العاده…قال على أساس بشر ….تفوعليكم من بن البشر…

لا و الأخرى إنه “شباب الحريه” و طبعا لأنهم عندهم وعي و أخلاق و بيعرفو إنه بالنهايه اللجوء للسلاح غلط ضد ولاد بلدهم مهمة كانت الأسباب ..ولأنهم بشر عندهم ضمير على عكس الحيوانات تبع منركع و منبوس …صارو هالشباب بموقف يلي لازم يبرر حاله و يعتذر و صار كأنه مضطرين يدافعو عن حالون…و إنه له له ليش هيك …

أحلى شي إنه جماعة منركع و منبوس على أساس لقو حجه …إنه هي هيه الحريه يلي بدكون ياها ؟؟ هيك ؟؟ قتل الجيش و رفع السلاح بوجه أخوكم السوري ؟؟ و فعلا في شباب بلشت تستحي و تحاول تبرر إنه لا نحنا ما بدنا هيك…و صار لازم نحنا ندافع عن حالنا..لهالشباب بحب قلكم

١- يلي عم يحاول يهول عليكم ليحطكم بموقف الدفاع عن النفس و تبرير الذات…أصلا مو فارقة مع رجله مين مات و مين استشهد …كل ما هنالك إنه عم يحاول بكل وضاعه و حقاره يستغل الدم السوري ليسجل كم نقطة و يجبركم ترجعو عن مطالبكم لأنه بيعرف إنه إنتو من معدن تاني…معدن أصيل شريف …ما بيرضى يشوف مذابح …مين ما كان ضحاياها …لأنون بالنهايه سوريين ..

.٢- شباب الحريه من أول يوم رفع شعار سلميه…و ما في داعي نتوسل لأي حدا كرمال يصدق إنه بدنا ياها سلميه…يلي عم تحاولو تقنعوه ما بدو يقتنع…لأنه جحش…و نشالله ستين عمر أهلو ما يقتنع..

.٣- مع إدانتنا الشديده و الواضحة لكل أشكال العنف و من مين ما كان (حتى لو كان أبي شخصيا ) إلا إنه يلي عم يصير حاليا من مواجهات مسلحه غبيه و استهداف أفراد الجيش بشكل نحنا منعتبرو (بجميع المعايير ) ارهابي هيه للأسف نتيجه لأحد أمرين…إما استغلال مجموعة ألها أجندة خاصة للحقد و النقمه يلي تولدت عند إنسان الشارع… أو إنه هل أعمال الارهابيه كانت ببساطة رد فعل (مرة تانيه أخرق و ارهابي ) على فعل ارهابي قامت في مجموعات الأمن يلي حاصرت و روعت مدن كامله بأوامر مباشرة من كبار المسؤولين ..

.٤- هلأ فينا نقعد سنه من ورا الكمبيوتر و نقول إنه هاد أغبى و أسوأ رد فعل و إنه لا يمكن تبريره أو القبول باستخدام العنف …إيه بس أنا و إنته ما شفنا حدا من أهلنا عم ينزف دم و محضة عم يخلينا نسعفو…ما شفنا ولادنا عم تروح على أقبية الأمن و ترجع جثث …ما شفنا أخ عم ينضرب حتى الموت عالتلفزيون ….أنا و إنت ما انكوينا…و ما زال بإمكاننا استعمال المنطق و المحاكمه العقليه لنعرف الصح من الغلط …إيه بس يلي إيدو بالمي …مو متل يلي إيدو بالنار

٥- و متل ما حكينا أول شي..من كذا شهر و الروايه الرسميه إنه في جماعات ارهابيه و جماعات مسلحة…. إيه هلا صار في جماعات مسلحة…نشالله يكونو نبسطو…ولله يمكن فعلا انبسطو …يمكن هن كانو عم يستجدو إنه يصير في جماعات مسلحة….

بالنهايه يلي عم يموت و من كلا الطرفين بالنسبه الهم …هو حجر شطرنج بلعبه وسخه عم يلعبووها…

RaymondO

HS, how can we be sure that this Hebrew profile thing is actually her, though?

#331

Great post, I agree with you, the professor has kind of trapped himself in his previous reasoning, which is a shame.

In western culture it’s very difficult for people to admit they were wrong because people will then criticise their “back-peddling”, as I’ve observed. But it’s OK to be wrong.

If you always try to be right, all you’ll get are instances where you are in fact wrong.

That said, I’m still concerned whether this is a complex bait and switch operation, given the think tank he belongs to.

Dr. Landis ,you are told by menhebak moukhabarati people and other scared mini sectarians to make the things back to the syrian tv and makhlouf and theocracy medias version of the facts.
Take note of the advice !

@331

“For how many months do you think the protesters can do the same thing on the streets, week after week, before they run out of energy?”

Forever. Sorry, but it’s no exaggeration. When your relatives are still imprisoned, you go out every single night. When your relatives have been killed, you go out every single chance you get. To do otherwise would be a betrayal of blood worse than anything the regime’s scum could possibly do to you.

And keep in mind that alot of these protestors have nothing to go back to, should the status-quo remains as it is.

It is the security men who are getting exhausted. Alot of them are sent to cities that aren’t their homes, they are away from their families for weeks on end. They have to be in a high state of alert every single night.

In Homs recently, loud nightly “takbers” were taking place with nary a hint of security response. Increasingly, we are seeing older men manning the checkpoints. Last Friday the security organizations didn’t have a man to spare for Homs, they had all been sent to Hama. The protest at Khaldia went on for hours with just a token security presence (and guess what, no one got killed there).

In a war of attrition, the majority always wins. When it comes to actual participants, the opposition have a vast majority (just watch how this sentence is going to send the Baathists foaming at the mouth. Where has Bashar disappeared to anyway?)

Where has Bashar disappeared to anyway?)

he is under my shoes ,later i will offer him as a gift of honor to our people in Deraa. I’m sorry for the aleppines and hamwis ,in the name of all our martyrs ,they deserve it !

Notice again how Shami is black-and-white. If you’re not for the destruction of Syria, you’re obviously for the government. There’s no middle ground with this seditionist/insurrection supporter.

There’s reportedly (according to DNN) a huge crowd of demonstrators outside the Qatar embassy that are demanding that the whole thing get shut down. It’s actually not far from my uncle’s apartment, I should call him to confirm, though I trust DNN based on the previous posting history.

Also, yes, they will run out of energy and more importantly, Hariri-money and armaments. A great deal of political prisoners have been released and that only seemed to give the MBs vigor. Therefor, ABOUD’s analysis is completely out of this planet.

He got one thing right though:

“In a war of attrition, the majority always wins.”

Indeed, that’s why your Muslim brothers have no chance.

http://all4syria.info/web/archives/11962

I would like to see the president offering an speech to calm down the people of Syria, to let them feel that he is protecting the people and killing terrorist and drug smugglers. We need a speech from the president, how can be so cruel that he does not give us a simple and short words ? The people of Syira need to know that there is freedom and that there is no political prisoners tortured, nor mass graves, nor massacres and specially that the military are not splitting. We all trust in the president, he is a very good person, he is so cool, so modern, so reformer. Only people around him are thugs, mafias, criminals and corrupts, but not him.

I have disturbing information that the protest against the Qatar embassy was not actually approved (nor was a request filed). I hope this trend of spontaneous protests doesn’t continue. Everyone has to obey the law, the government should not be seen to turn a blind eye on one group and criticise the other.

#342

I agree, a speech right after the operations in Jisr al-Shagour are over (I hope very quickly) would definitely unify the nation.

People need to understand that in Syria:

1 – Almost everyone wants unity (bar MB and terrorists/foreigners)
2 – Almost everyone wants security (ditto)
3 – Almost everyone wants reform (ditto)

We have to have 1 and 2, before 3 comes. Otherwise it’s not really reform but chaos. Syria has to change, but for the better not for the worse, which is what the west and the MB/Hariri/Saudis/Israelis want.

Syrians are intelligent people, much more intelligent than anyone here will give them credit for, certainly not the professor, which is disappointing. We won’t fall for this game.

Gay girl in Damascus likely a hoax!!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/a-gay-girl-in-damascus-called-into-question–missing-or-not/2011/06/08/AGT7svLH_blog.html

Amina Arraf started blogging in Syria under the nom de plume “A Gay Girl in Damascus” and gained Internet fame with her outspoken criticism of the Syrian government and openly posting about her participation in the antiregime demonstrations.

On Monday, a letter signed by Rania O. Ismail, which said she was Arraf’s cousin, was posted on the blog. It said Arraf had gone missing and her family suspected she had been arrested. By Tuesday, though, doubts started to arise if Arraf ever existed at all.

Just as the story of her potential arrest went viral, questions over her identity started to arise. NPR’s Andy Carvin wondered if Arraf was simply a blogger with a creative writing streak. On Tuesday, Carvin began to share his doubts on Twitter, asking if anyone had ever met or interviewed Arraf. Her interview with BlogPost in April was conducted via e-mail.

Robert Mackey at the Lede found that some of the writing posted on “A Gay Girl in Damascus” appeared on a blog published in 2007, which described itself as a mixture of fact and fiction and that the writer “will not tell you which is which.”

In April, during her interview with BlogPost, Arraf said, “I’ve been trying to write a slightly fictionalized autobiography for some time (fictionalized as in other people have their name’s changed) and when the Arab revolutions began, I realized I wanted to get my voice out there. The force of events has meant that my blog is more about events than anything else right now.”

On Wednesday morning, suspicion flared again when a London publicist claimed photographs of Arraf were in fact showing a woman named Jelena Lecic, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lecic said the photographs, which show a young woman with a mole over her eye, were taken from her Facebook page.

Sandra Bagaria had told the New York Times, the BBC and al-Jazeera that she was a personal friend of the blogger, but has since admitted she has never met Arraf in person, but rather has conducted an online-only relationship with her since January over e-mail.

It appeared that posts questioning Arraf’s existence on the Free Amina Facebook page were being removed.

Paula Brooks, an American blogger started communicating with Arraf via e-mail, but was initially suspicious about her identity when she saw the location of Arraf’s I.P. address. It seems to have been routed through Edinburgh in Scotland. Arraf told Brooks she occasionally used proxy Web addresses to protect her safety in Syria, a procedure some Middle East bloggers have turned to under Internet blockades. The two spoke regularly on e-mail and chat.

Arraf told Brooks she had been born in Staunton, Va., but now lived near a mosque in Damascus. Brooks has visited Damascus and Arraf’s descriptions of places in Syria matched Brooks’s memories perfectly. Arraf said she started her blog in part because of Brooks’s encouragement and that she wanted to write the great “Muslim coming out” novel, which would be 95 percent autobiographical 5 percent altered.

Arraf also sent Brooks a photo of herself in February that matches the photos Jelena Lecic claims were taken from her Facebook page.

Addressing the doubts Wednesday, Carvin wrote on Twitter: “Again, people should operate under the assumption that there is a real blogger under detention in Syria. Who they are is another matter.”

Syria has banned foreign journalists and prevented access to trouble spots, making it difficult to verify witness accounts independently.

Arraf, Bagaria and Ismail have not responded to e-mails.

We’ll have more on the story as it develops.

# 271 HS: Is There A Blogger named Amina?

You must read this because the twitter account you stumbled upon may be also a lie.

Is there a blogger named Amina? Mrs Clinton is calling for the liberation of a probably fictional character.

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/06/is-there-blogger-by-name-of-amina-i.html

#344

I’m quite confident it is a hoax, but we’ll find out for sure once the US embassy gets back to Andy Carvin.

If there is a blogger who is a US citizen captured in Syria, we will definitely hear about it.

S.C.
About the protest/demonstration in damascus today in Sha3lan:

S.N.N | شبكة شام
هام الرجاء الانتباه منذ قليل في الشعلان دمشق تمت تصوير تمثيلية بين مجموعة من المتظاهرين حيث قام احد الشباب بضرب زميله على انه امن يقمع المتظاهرين وكان هناك فتاة صارت تصرخ على هذا الشخص على انها تعاتبه وتمنعه من ضرب المتظاهر مع العلم ان هؤلاء الاشخاص قدموا معا وكانو يهتفون معا الرجاء تعميم الخبر قد نشاهد هذا المشهد فيديو بعد قليل على الصفحات الخائنة ارجو الانتباه

The origin of the false resignation story of Syria’s ambassador to France is not France 24, it is the Saudi funded, Salafi oriented, US occupation propagandist, Al’Arabiyya TV

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/06/covering-syria-in-west-and-east.html

The New York Times coverage of Syria.

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/06/maher-al-asad.html

“You learn based on not one identifiable source that Maher Al-Asad has influence in Syria. I have no doubt that he does and I have no doubt that he bars responsibility (along with his brother and others) for the repression in Syria. But the journalism of the article is rather laughable. There is one scene in which the article cites “Syrians” asserting that Maher himself is shooting at demonstrators. The article tried to feign false objectivity but maintaining that it could not confirm whether this is true or not, but then added: it does not matter. Can you imagine if “Arabs” claimed that Netanyahu actually killed Arabs himself (the claim, in the case of Israel, is far more credible because almost every prime minister in Israel since the 1950s has himself killed Arabs–not counting Golda Meir.) Who does the article cite? It cites that Syrian in Washington, DC but seems to have stumbled on another source: “a former Syrian diplomat who now lives in exile in Virginia”. So now you have three Syrians in the DC area who can freely feed any claims to the receptive Zionist US media.”

look at this and tell me there arent conspiracies in regards to syria… SYRIAWATCH-(CONSPIRACY OR NOT?)(NEOCON THINK TANK) http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2011/06/conspiracy-or-notneocon-think.html Meeting in Brussels on March 17, exiled Syrian opposition leaders announced the creation of a united front to form a transitional government to bring about regime change in Syria. Participants in the National Salvation Front include former Syrian vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam [NOW,WHO IS KHADDAM?BESIDES BEING A WESTERN PUPPET…Relative of Saudi King Abdullah and former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-post_23.html

(FRANCE24)Ammar Abdulhamid, Syrian human rights activist http://www.france24.com/en/20110323-interview-ammar-abdulhamid-syria-protest-revolt-political-oppression-democracy-freedom-violence#
Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian human rights activist, speaks to Marc Perelman about the recent protests against political repression and lack of freedom in Syria.

(And who is Ammar Abdulhamid?) Ammar Abdul Hamid, a Syrian intellectual who works at ”Brookings Institute” http://www.brookings.edu/scholars/fellows/aabdulhamid.htm (WHO IS BROOKINGS?ZIONIST THINK TANK,HEADED BY STROBE TALBOTT ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT ADVOCATE AND PARTNER WITH SABAN CENTER(ZIONIST ISRAELI THINK TANK)…

He runs the office for the National Salvation Front…wich is ran by vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam Head of Syrian Muslim Brotherhood(see above)..

He also had… “Previous Position(s): Visiting Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy (2004) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ammar_Abdulhamid (who is saban center? ZIONIST PRO ISRAELI THINK TANK AND FRONT) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Saban_Center_for_Middle_East_Policy

In August 2005 he talked at a conference titled Solidarity Twenty-Five Years On: Lessons in the Struggle for Freedom which was “Cosponsored by Freedom House http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Freedom_House (SOROS THINK TANK) Freedom House’s work is linked to the “democracy promotion” efforts of the National Endowment for Democracy.

Iran-Syria Operations Group – SourceWatch http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Iran-Syria_Operations_Group Iran Policy Committee – SourceWatch http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Iran_Policy_Committee Iran Syria Policy and Operations Group http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Syria_Policy_and_Operations_Group
Honesty of the Syrian Revolution? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peL2CRYdlmo Syrian Revolution terrorists pretend to be dead to fluff up the death toll as they are photographed. They come back to life on video. 1:20 and 1: 49 .. GOT’CHA AGAIN!(HOLLYWOOD PRODUCTION EXPOSED!) SYRIAWATCH-ALJAZEERA EXPOSED AGAIN- DEMONSTRATORS PARADING EMPTY COFFINS MADE OUT OF STYROFOAM? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwhBx386qrA AL JAZEERA SCANDAL CONSPIRING AGAINST SYRIA WHEN OFF THE AIR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MyNDUGPINU&feature=related Al JAZEERA EXPOSED Lies about Syria ”Dead Man talking” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxC1zImEuDU PROOF that ‘peaceful protesters’ killed Nidal Janoud in Banias http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTvrAPRl7Rs LIES ABOUT SYRIA – ALJAZEERA EXPOSED LYING AGAIN WITH FAKE VIDEOS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZZLMurp5Tk (and this is regional media) mind you western globalist emdia and pro corporate outlets reporting..think they are deceiving much?)

here is an indepth list proving the conspiracy by many parties,from future movement,mb,aljazeera,alarabya,statesepartment(us) neocn& zionist think tanks,aspen institute,chatta,m house,even rothschild financial interests..see…Syria’s crimes against humanity will be presented to the United Nations next week by ”ROTHSCHILD PUPPET”(IISS IMPERIAL BRITTISH MILITARY THINK TANK(SAME ONE WHO RECENTLY CAME UP WITH FAKE RAUL REYES FARC FILES-WICH HAS BEEN DEBUNKED) ”Radwan Ziadeh’ http://thenakedfacts.blogspot.com/2011/05/syria-proof-of-conspiracy.html theres no conspiracy? getreal..there are more conspiracy plots against syria,then even venezuela!!!

#349

“Netanyahu actually killed Arabs himself”

From the zionist military website:

“Returning to Israel in 1967 to fulfill his military obligations, Netanyahu volunteered for an elite commando unit of the IDF and participated in a number of daring operations, including the release of hostages from a hijacked Sabena Airlines aircraft at Ben-Gurion Airport, an operation in which he was wounded.”

The most we can say is that he was wounded. Whether it was friendly fire or by an “Arab”, I guess is difficult to confirm.

See, unlike them, we don’t make unverifiable claims and we hold ourselves to a strict line of credibility.

# 344 SN, #346 SC,

I knew that the story of this girl was a hoax when I read her first publicised post: “My father the hero” The events she described in this story couldn’t possibly be real life events in Damascus. And yet nobody was critical enough and she was instantly described as a brave lesbian woman blogger. She or he played on every prejudice and anti-prejudice one can imagine when thinking west-east relations. Even the story of ehr abduction byt eh security forces doesn’t seem believable, my first suspicion about her abduction is how her cousin knew of her passwords to imemdiately post the news about her abduction. Usually we know about blogger activists who are abducted from the silence on their website and in their web communications.

Unbelievable. In light if the recent news that this whore may not even be a real person, Western media goes on damage control by reiterating that she has been detained. This was posted by CBS just minutes ago:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504943_162-20070103-10391715.html

Is this the price for Russia to OK the resolution later today, because couple days ago the Russian were complaining that they are not included in the missile protesting negotiations?

راسموسن: يجب ان نعمل سوية مع روسيا في مجال الدفاع الصاروخي

دعا اندرس فوغ راسموسن الامين العام لحلف الناتو في افتتاح جلسة مجلس روسيا – الناتو على مستوى وزراء الدفاع في بروكسل يوم الاربعاء 8 يونيو/حزيران، دعا روسيا الى التعاون مع الحلف في مجال الدفاع الصاروخي.

وقال راسموسن ان “الناتو قرر اقامة منظومة الدفاع الصاروخي لحماية نفسها من الخطر الصاروخي. اما روسيا فهي ايضا قلقة من هذا الخطر، ولذلك فانه يجب علينا ان نعمل بصورة مشتركة”.

واعاد الامين العام الى الاذهان ان روسيا والناتو اتفقا في قمة لشبونة نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني العام الماضي على دراسة الامكانيات للتعاون في هذا المجال. وقال: “اليوم ننوي النظر في التقدم الذي احرزناه ومناقشة خطواتنا التالية”.

واكد راسموسن قائلا: “بامكاننا في سياق عملنا المشترك في مجال الدفاع الصاروخي ان نعرض قدرتنا على بناء امننا المشترك وعلى المضي قدما في طريق اقامة تعاون أوثق في مختلف المجالات في المستقبل”. واضاف قوله ان “لدينا امكانية فريدة لتعزيز الامن والاستقرار في المنطقة الاوروبية الاطلسية”.

مصدر: وكالة “انترفاكس”

It’s good to hear stories like this. This is from LNN:

زيارة لمكان تجمع بعض أهالي منطقة جسر الشغور في اللاذقية .. وكيف نقف معهم
by شـبـكـة أخـبـار اللاذقـيـة | L.N.N on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 11:30am

قامت شبكة أخبار اللاذقية بزيارة للأهالي الذين خرجوا من منطقة جسر الشغور بعد الأحداث المؤسفة التي عاشها أهالي المنطقة, ونزوح عدد كبير من سكان المدينة والقرى المجاورة باتجاه منطقة اللاذقية, حيث يتواجد العدد الأكبر منهم (في مجمع شاطئ النخيل) بالقرب من فندق روتانا, ونوافيكم بالأهم:

العدد الإجمالي حوالي 250 شخصا.

هناك 5 أطفال رضع.

بالإضافة لحوالي 50 طفلا أعمارهم ما بين 2 – 5 سنوات.

و حوالي 40 طفلا أعمارهم ما بين 6 – 10 سنوات.

والباقي من الشباب والأهالي وبعض كبار السن.

منذ وصولهم ليلة أمس الأول, قام أهالي المنطقة والعديد من سكان محافظة اللاذقية مشكورين بتقديم ما يلزم من طعام وشراب واحتياجات خاصة للأطفال, بعد تأمين المأوى (وهو الأهم طبعا) من خلال إسكان العوائل الموجودة في شاليهات المجمع. وتوجه قسم آخر تعداده حوالي 80 شخصا إلى المدينة الرياضية حيث تم تأمينهم هناك وسنقوم بزيارة خاصة لهم أيضا.

ويواصل العديد من أهالي المدينة (تلقائيا وبدون دعوى) القدوم إلى مكان التجمع وتقديم المساعدات العينية والحاجيات وما شابه. حيث شهدنا قدوم العديد من الأهالي وتقديم حليب الأطفال والأدوية مباشرة دون وسيط.

زيارتنا ترافقت أيضا مع وجود جمعية قوس قزح – المكتبة العمومية للأطفال الذين قاموا ببعض النشاطات الموجهة للأطفال من قراءة قصص وتوزيع قصص الأطفال والقيام بألعاب جماعية وعرض فيلم للأطفال أيضا. وسنقوم يوم الغد بوضع تفاصيل النشاط كاملة.

أثناء وجودنا قدم السيد محافظ اللاذقية أيضا وكان هناك اجتماع لبحث كيفية تأمين احتياجات الأهالي في الأيام القادمة.

بالنسبة للتبرعات فهي من خلال التالي:

إما من خلال التوجه مباشرة إلى مجمع شاطئ النخيل وتسليم التبرعات إلى اللجنة الموجودة هناك مباشرة, حيث يتم توزيعها بشكل مباشر على الأهالي.

أو من خلال الاتصال مع السيد لؤي يوسف (0933622916) والتنسيق معه بهذا الخصوص.

ومن خلال تواصلنا مع بعض المتطوعين هناك ذكروا لنا أن العديد تكفلوا بما يخص موضوع الإطعام وحليب الأطفال وما شابه, ولكن النقص حاليا هو بالملابس بجميع أشكالها و لوازم النوم من أغطية وقطنيات وفرش وما شابه

NK
It is just like with the other cities since the beginning of the events. We are told a place is surrounded, under shelling and bombs, and we see people witnessing in a very relaxed way in front of a camera, or we see people with their kids at the next demo.
Indeed, these women are saying: the young children are afraid, everybody is afraid by what the TV is broadcasting and of what they announce of sending the army. No one wouldn’t be scared in such a situation, but again, we have the FB people announcing massacres, then we see such interviews (of course not reported in non-Arabic speaking outlets), and we understand that the massacre is for the FB agitators meant to be a self-realized prophecy, when THEY put the events out of control.

S.K.
Nothing more sensual for the western media than Jewish news and Gay news, those two are the strongest lobbies in the west and anything may happen to any person of those two group is a cover page, it’s the west most successful (culturally) signature of equality.
It’s not about Syria it’s about the ‘person’ of the news.

This posting on facebook made me laugh:

أنا أقترح أن يتم تفريق أي تظاهرة تحصل بدون رخصة وذلك برش المتظاهرين بالصرامي بدلا من الماء وذلك انطلاقا من القاعدة القائلة : حقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا

(حقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا)
1- إذا بدنا نقول (الله أكبر) مو حبا بالله .. بس من شان نلبي نداء ال…عرعور فحقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا
2- إذا بدنا نحول يوم الجمعة ليوم قتل وحرق وتظاهر وخوف فحقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا
3- إذا بدنا نشوف أملاك الدولة عم تتكسر وتنسرق وتنحرق ونضل ساكتين فحقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا
4- إذا بدنا نشوف الأمن والجيش عم يستشهدو ونضل ساكتينن فحقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا
5- إذا بدنا نشوف حالنا عم نحكي بالطائفية والأقلية والأكترية فحقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا
6- إذا بدنا نضل نسمع كلام جماعة حقوق الإنسان أكيد أكيد أكيد رح نصير ليبيا أو العراق

وهنا نقول انطلاقا من قاعدة ( حقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا ) يجب سحق كل من يحاول المساس ببلدنا وبدون أي رحمة
وباستخدام كافة انواع الصرامي المتوفرة لأنو حقوق الإنسان وصرمايتي سوا ……

Nour,
The move of the Syrian communities to help each others regardless of backgrounds, ethnicities and religious is the most distinguish thing about Syrians and they prove that every day while the media is trying hard to show otherwise and non-Syrians would never ever understand that.
Thank you for sharing.

To all fabrication gurus on this site,

See below. This what is known about the First Brother!

I would love to believe that Maher was not the one taking pictures of the body parts from Saydnaya prison massacre 2008.

And btw, who is the man in suit at the end of the clip across from the “first bother”? Is he our current minister of Dakhlia, Mr. Shaar? Mr. Shaar promised desicive response in Jisr-Alshagour! I wonder what he means by that?

please come up with plausible explanation and do not tell us: It can not be Maher baecause he only wear Prada.

Extremely graphic!! Click at your own risk.

To majedkhaldoun
I share you all your ideas about the regime in Syria…….you are my twin not only in your great thoughts but in spirit and may be more…………We should work hard to get our goals

Jad:

It is these types of actions that strengthens our faith and confidence in our people, not the background noise that a minority is making.

Please someone has to instruct English AlJezeera of how to pronounce “Jisr al-Shughour”. I just heard one of them now saying that something today has happened in Jaser el Sugar.
.

Nour,

Thanks for that. Indeed, anyone who does not understand this aspect of the Syrian nation cannot call himself an expert on Syria but instead a “subtle arsonist” as one put it so neatly.

#360

I’m not going to correct them and I suggest no patriotic Syrian does, it’s better they make fools of themselves.

Tara,

This video is old, it was posted before, but since I’m so smart and I have the sharpest memory in the whole universe, I remembered that I saw the same clip before and I couldn’t remember it until you post it again (Thank you)
It shows that this clip you posted is fake and manipulated, they actually add, the Holy Quraan, Maher or someone who looks like him and the other man in suite to it to make it sensational.

[I don’t know how to record the video before someone discover that they made a mistake and uncover their own fabrications and delete it, someone please record it for future use]

فيديو مسرب من قبل الشبيحة وهي تحتفل بقتل الأبرياء
http://youtu.be/itUkEU3YWWE

The video is indeed old (the oldest of which was dated before/just at the start of April in fact!) and dubious, it was posted well before the army intervened in Dara’a. It may look like Maher, but it isn’t him, in fact he wasn’t anywhere near Dara’a.

Can you explain to us exactly where the manipulation lies? Isn’t it possible the Qur’an was out of view in the other video?

Anyway, a video like this without context doesn’t really tell someone anything — only a propagandist/insurrectionist will make terrible things out of it.

Impressing video about Daraa. It shows how security has been shoting at boys, young men and old men, randomly and when they were peacefully demonstrating.

Warning: this is the hardest video I have ever seen with a boy (maybe 14 years or so) losing brain mass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01B6wPi7dHU&feature=related

After watching this video I have no words, even of hate. I just have a feeling and a prayer.

This one is even older, you guys like to recycle these horrible videos don’t you? Do you have an affliction with snuff films? Notice that there’s absolutely no indication where the fire is coming from, contrary to SL’s claim that it was security forces firing upon peaceful demonstrators.

It’s quite likely that the not-so-peaceful “demonstrators” were firing upon them along with security forces as we have all seen several times, recorded!

In other news,

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183804.html

“The Syrian government says the weapons used during clashes in the northwestern town of Jisr al-Shughour were smuggled into the country from Turkey.

The head of the US Central Intelligence Agency has recently visited borders between Syria and Turkey in a secret visit to Turkey. The United States and some regional countries support civil war in Syria.”

The Muslim Brotherhood Turkish-division was defeated but at a great cost. We don’t know the causality rate yet, but now my speculation was proven to be correct.

You read it first on syriancommando at twitter!

Rest in peace, martyrs of Syria.
You will pay for the Syrian blood you have spilt, Erdogan, you will pay Ahmet and Gul. One day we will take back our land in Eskendarun.

Jad,

Well thank you. I am not going to say that these may be 2 clips of the same incident and it is possible that the 2 men were there, took pictures then left the body parts for Shabiha to celebrate. I do agree that the post you link does decrease the credibility of the first one.

Have you seen the one below? It is definitely someone who appears VIP with leather jacket who looks very much like an Assad shooting at demonstrators? I think they called him mystery man in foreign press. Any explanation for that?

No warning for the clip below: It is common practice in Syria!

Third old video, you guys don’t have any new material?

At first I thought this guy was firing live rounds, but if you look at the reaction of the crowd and the smoke rising afterwards, it should be clear he’s firing tear gas or crowd dispersal rounds of some sort.

He’s probably the head of the security division, they don’t have many of these crowd control tools so it’s important it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

This from the Christian Science Monitor…

“…some 500 Syrians from Jisr al-Shughur have crossed the nearby border to Turkey – more than 220 on Wednesday alone – in anticipation of a Syrian government attack that state-run news organs say will be ‘decisive,’ as the army carries out its ‘national duty to restore security.’ At least 35 were admitted to a Turkish hospital with bullet and shrapnel wounds.

Though Turkish officials in the border region sought to limit access to journalists, they prepared for an influx of Syrians. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey – which has a visa-free arrangement with Syria, and close ties with the Assad regime – would accept refugees.

‘At this point, it’s out of the question for Turkey to close its doors to refugees coming from Syria,’ Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. ‘The recent developments are really unfortunate. … We hope Syria will have more tolerant attitude towards civilians’…”

Many of the Syrians fleeing into Turkey will have horrific stories to tell. They can’t all be fakes and liars and “Salifists”. I’ll be curious to see how the regime hawks on this message board treat their reports…..

Many of the people with the “horrific” stories, will be the perpetrators of the crimes.

Luckily we have photographs, videos and human evidence proving the crimes they have committed.

You can fool the whole world but Syria is now more united than ever due to the MB Turkish-division crimes. Too bad for you, Syria haters.

#365 I do not care if this older or not. It is real people being shot. Your know perfectly the nature of the regime and what happened first days in Daraa. I have been informed about things that happened there if you have not. Now the regime accepts in a way some peacefull demonstrations but first days in Daraa they were brutally massacred as seen in the video. Do not come with conspiracy and uniformed revolutionaries…. blablabla
If you can sleep defending these crimes, that are not new, since thousand and thousands of political and/or innocent prisoners have died during last 30 years, you and your regime guys are really garbage… I am sure that if Syria has been suffering this kind of regime is just because its people is patience and kind, but the more a people is kind, generous, patient and pious the more its government is criminal, abusive and corrupt. This is a political universal law.

SL,

I acknowledge the stupid and unnecessary crack down in the very first few days, but that’s it. You have demonstrated no other SOLID evidence, I have seen zero solid evidence.

For conspiracies though, we have a huge amount of proof. You would have to be lobotomised not to see the giant conspiracy against Syria!!! Even if you hate everyone in the government, you would at least want stability before peaceful demonstrations take place much like in Egypt. But now, all you want is chaos chaos chaos and you seek out news to confirm what you want to hear, just like my father does. All it is vengeance, in the blood of a very few old grumpy Syrians who can’t let go of the past and as a result seek to destroy the future.

You also did not read my comment full or watch your own video closely. Look at what’s happening and observe the smoke. If it was live rounds being fired, the crowd wouldn’t wait until the smoke reaches them to flee.

Please be objective. There’s 100,000 people who look like Maher in Syria.

I am beginning to understand how in front of barbaric acts of brutality and crimes against humanity, rural syrians are being invited by foreign neighbours and even syrian bussinesmen abroad to take arms and fight against the criminal state powers. I cannot believe a human being is being killed and humiliated and dont aspire to fight till the end for his honour. It comes a moment when death is better than a fu…. ing humiliating life.

Enough with the bullshit, SL. The protests in Deraa were not peaceful. People burning buildings and attacking hospitals are not peaceful actions. Massive amounts of weapons that were found, along with cash, are not for peaceful purposes. Stop trying to shit on people with you fake news that you think people forgot about just because it happened 3 months ago. There are videos of these violent peaceful protesters in Deraa. I, myself, have one where ‘peaceful protesters’ shot up an ambulance with people inside, killing the passenger and wounding the driver.

99% probability is that Amina Arraf is Sandra Bagaria. Sandra Bagaria is a young woman living in Montreal Canada. She claims to have had an online relationship with Amina with around 500 emails exchanged.

Read this interview published yesterday in Al-Jazeera:

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/06/07/had-happen-eventually

One thing is important in the interview:

“(Bagaria did not have copies of the e-mails.)”

There was a similar case in France with a young woman claiming that she was attacked by Arab men in the metro because they thought she was Jewish, she even had self inflicted wounds to convince the police. Turns out she wasn’t Jewish and she wasn’t attacked but she was seeking attention.

About the story:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jul/27/france.jonhenley

The story was fictionalised by Andre Techine in ‘The girl on the train’

#372 SL,

I’m glad you are at least opening your mind to the possibility.

They are armed and funded via Hariri’s lebanese sect, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq and now Turkey. The money is coming from Europe and some investments from the gulfies. The information war is being driven primarily by Al khanzeera. I think Syria has threatened Lebanon and Iraq to tighten up their borders and is patrolling the snake Jordan. The latest leak of arms and highly trained arab-turkish soldiers will be difficult to deal with. Erdogan still insists that there are no violent demonstrators, he is such a snake.

We have all their information, that’s why we can anticipate their next move and neutralise it.

These people are being paid off to fire randomly and kill other Syrians. No one should support this, no matter what their political stance.

Revolutions start from universities, not places of worship. Change shouldn’t come by the barrel of the gun, but through the peaceful stroke of a pen!

COMMANDO

I know perfectly how syrians look, very probably much better than you and all expatriate pro-regime here in the forum. I am not talking about Saidnaya video, I am talking about this one:

Are you Syrian, Sandro loewe? Because if you’re not, you have no way of knowing how Syrians look like better than I do. I know how my brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, uncles and grandfathers look like.

You keep calling me pro-“regime”, and this is about the 5th time I’ve caught you guys out for your black and white thinking. Just because I’m anti-terror does not mean I am pro-government.

I also covered this old video and like I said, no indication where the fire is coming from. We all know it is the terrorists trying to stir up the nation, the evidence is as large as a mountain.

When your own regime deals with you like a khanzeer then it is probably better to be ruled by zionist themselves or the saudi dogs or the king of Zimbawe. Syrian regime had the chance to aproach to the people.

Dear Tara,
We all are subjected to a horrible propaganda by all sides, and it’s really hard to know reality anymore.
Nobody is celebrating in the clip as you said, the music and the picture of Bashar was added to it, and you can tell from the soldiers’ faces that it’s not a celebration times.
S.C,
The original video came out as a prove of Sednaya massacre, it’s not, it’s somewhere that lots of people don’t know. And it was use a lot. I’m not deneying that it did happen but the way it was filmed and zoomin on the Holy Quraan and Maher while we don’t see that in the other clip and it’s obviously not in a prison make you ignore both clips, that was my point.

SL,

“When your own regime deals with you like a khanzeer then it is probably better to be ruled by zionist themselves”

Wow, are you on paltalk?

Because this is exactly the manner which the paltalk insurrectionists discuss things. This is their strategy and why the terrorists are flying the zionist flag in Syria!

From the Bandar-Hariri plan: http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/86507

I quote:

“As this stage proceeds, objections by non-enthusiasts are to be faced by a set of appropriate responses such as:
– If someone says there is a change, the response must be: “There is no change at all. This is all a lie”
– If he says change is coming, then the response must be: “We have heard this for more than 40 years”
– If anyone says that time is not suitable, the response must be: “So when must we move. Are we going to move after 100 years”
– If one says that of our dignity lies in resisting America, the response must be: “We have nothing to do with resistance, we want to live” and so on…”

Indeed, so we see all along that SL is either falling for the trap, or is the trap itself. 🙁

#379 JAD,

Thanks, I understand what you mean.

Like I said before, there’s no context to the video so its worthless except for seeing either explosives or heavy weaponry were used. By which side and why, we can’t tell from a video.

Journalism, was it always like this? I am beginning to wonder… the first causality of a conflict is the truth.

More attempts to hide the story that the slut girl is fake by flooding the Internet with news of her arrest, which happened a while ago. A few minutes ago, GulfNews.com posted this:

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/girl-who-blogged-about-repression-is-detained-1.819193

“everytime a child dies we lose part of our innocence”. children kilers will have a special place in hell. parents should not allow kids outside when there is shooting and demonstrations,and parents should not let kids throw stones at the police,properties and other people. the way children were treated and the way some parents behaved by putting their kids in danger is yet another reminder of why we are a third world nation.some people still like to fish at youtube looking for pics of dead syrians as if we still need those pics to know that a lot of people died.

Syrian Knight,

The key to lying is to repeat the lie. They just keep repeating their lies and build up speculations on top of the lies and soon the viewer/reader/listener will be in a parallel dimension.

Where I grew up in California, there were several Syrian families. I went to high school with the Habib brothers. They didn’t have a particular “look.” No one said, they looked “Syrian.” They looked pretty much like everyone else at the school, which had a mix of Portuguese, Armenian, Basque and Scandanavian.

So I don’t really know what a Syrian “look” is…and neither do any of you…

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

an interesting video posted on ‘the Syrian revolution 2011’ an interview with two students they are saying that they are scared of the army to enter as they heard on some TV chanals that the army is preparing to enter and destroy the city ,the interviewer asked them if there are any armed men in the city she answer no there is only young men went out to protect us’ hmmm how to protect them from the army?
i find it also interesting that they post it in their webpage they are either stupid or they thing the people are .

I see that the regime supporters are still playing their amusing hypocritical game of complaining about the news while not allowing the free press into Syria.

It is so simple.
Who is the liar? The one that does not let the free press cover the news.
Who has something to hide? The one that does not let the free press cover the news.

And the answers are really simple. Since the regime will not let the free press in, it is doing most of the lying with the help of its supporters.

Uh, Syrians do have a ‘look,’ as well as a certain voice and dialect. I have been able to detect the Syrian nationalities of people here in this country before I even ask them. Syrians don;t look like ‘Everyone else,’ Like the American Zionist is claiming. He wishes he could look like a Syrian.

To those interested in the testimony of actual Jisr Ash-shugur residents

Sophia,
Your speculations might be true, when she felt that her identity will be discovered soon she decided to remove the character using a good exit.
Is she Iranian too like our friend Dorothy? 🙂

Aleppo: The young man Firas Haleeso, 30 years architect, got arrested after being called into the Political Branch of State Security in Aleppo last Monday

http://www.facebook.com/LCCSy/posts/229198143773996

From the opinion page of a British newspaper:

…while Assad’s Ba’athist government continues to claim that it is the only guarantor of a secular state in the face of alleged Islamism, its only remaining allies are religious-based regimes such as Iran, or non-state actors such as Hizbollah…

When Iran is your ONLY friend, you have problems. I wonder if Bashar and Asma have a palace sorcerer. LOL!

#384

There’s definitely a Syrian look. It’s just very subtle and you have to live in Syria to see it. Even when I travel abroad and put on my perfect English accent when I come home, the guys at the airport will know I’m Syrian no matter what line I take. Local or foreign.

Want to know what the Syrian look is?

For men, it’s handsomeness. For women, it is beauty. 🙂

He does have a mild (though rather silly) point though, there’s a large variety of Syrians. But just like the English, we can tell a Syrian when we see/hear one. Very easily.

#386

>Since the regime will not let the free press in, it is doing most of the lying with the help of its supporters.

You mean the lying press which declared the resignation of the Syrian ambassador for France? Let them in and they’ll announce the entire government is liquidated!

Just look at how much damage they are doing from the outside. One AJ reporter stayed in Syria and was lying so much he was asked to leave. Let us discard this old tired lie.

#391

The opinion page of a british newspaper is not even worth the dust behind this dirty old computer.

NK 389
My answer ended up with number 355. Travelling through time.

# 390, Jad,

I don’t know but on her Yatedo profile she is connected to at least two Lebanese people in Montreal, one of them has been already removed from the profile the second time I consulted.

SOPHIA,

Whenever you encounter information like this, try and save it immediately. You can push it all into a single folder and then zip it up and upload it on a place like mediafire.com.

It’s very important we collect as much information about this hoax as possible, because if we expose this lie, it will hurt the liars severely. They’ve dug themselves in deep on this one!

I commend your pursuit of the truth. Andy Carvin should also be commended for this, but you know I am so disillusioned with journalism that I will only recommend people after they live a life without broadcasting any lies. Only in retirement can one be commended.

S.C.
“Journalism, was it always like this? I am beginning to wonder… ”
I was asking myself the same, was journalism full of this amount of lies?
I never questioned the English BBC news before Syria, now I read every news from 7-8 different sources before I even think about it.

Sophia,
I’m sure her account will be closed in few hours if not minuets

On the fake blogger
http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/2011/06/existence-syrian-american-blogger-questioned

But alas, acarvin still doesn’t want to admit that it is a hoax, read this:
http://www.tweetdeck.com/twitter/acarvin/~zMjfv

Since the guy introduces himself as a “senior strategist for NPR” and an “online community organizer”, I wouldn’t be surprised that he actually delivers messages. Maybe after all, the US will be able to win the jackpot and to get rid of their sticky relation to KSA!

# 396 SC,

The two connections are found on another profile aggregator, Plaxo. They do not appear at the same time in the right bar.

http://www.plaxo.com/profile/show/60130618801?pk=805a89f0cb67604816d4ee5fd3540813a9c02753&src=status

# 397, Jad,

No, that’s impossible because these are sites that collect informations from other sites. Unless she is helped by a specialist (even then it would be impossible to completely erase the information, what is on the web stays on the web). She appears to have a wide web presence as all people of her age today.

Sandra Bagaria’s Facebook profile:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=523107526

Slut girl’s profile. No picture of her, just of a badge disgracing Syria with a rainbow:

http://www.facebook.com/damascusgaygirl

# 396 SC,

“Only in retirement can one be commended.” I would go further: “Only over a a well lived and complete life”

COMMANDO

Am I syrian?

Of course, I know Syria better than you and you can test me, but if you are not in Syria, how can you?. Do you think I will sign as per example Mohammad Heir Bahsas or any other syrian name so an innocent man is detained on behalf of my comments?

It seems as if you were working full time job (and getting money for it?). Maybe you are one of the informers or moukhabarat in this forum? Sent and paid by the regime? This is the first thing to be learn in Syria, that all around you there is always a moukhabarat.

اتصال هاتفي بين أفراد من التنظيمات المسلحة في جسر الشغور يبين تحضيرهم مقبرة جماعية لشهداء الشرطة والأمن وتصويرها ليتم نشرها لاحقاً على أنها من أعمال الجيش
اتصال هاتفي بين أفراد من التنظيمات المسلحة في جسر الشغور يبين تحضيرهم مقبرة جماعية لشهداء الشرطة والأمن وتصويرها ليتم نشرها لاحقاً على أنها من أعمال الجيش
إدلب..
كشف اتصال هاتفي بين عدد من أفراد التنظيمات المسلحة في جسر الشغور تخطيطها لاستغلال جثث قوى الشرطة والأمن للنيل من هيبة الجيش ومهامه الوطنية بعد أن ارتكبت هذه التنظيمات مجزرة وحشية بحق هذه القوى ومثلت بالجثث ورمت ببعضها في نهر العاصي وعلى ضفافه وسرقت لباسهم العسكري.
وعرض التلفزيون السوري مساء اليوم مكالمة بين أفراد من هذه التنظيمات تبين ما يخططون له فقال حسين وهو من جسر الشغور خلال اتصاله هاتفياً بشخص يدعى جهاد يسأله عن موعد قدومه إليه فرد جهاد قائلا.. نريد أن نحفر لشباب الأمن العسكري الذين قتلناهم مقبرة جماعية ندفنهم فيها جميعاً مثل المقبرة التي كانت في درعا.
وأضاف جهاد.. انتظر دقيقة سأتشاور مع بسام فهو بجانبي فرد حسين.. تشاور.. وأنا أتصل بأنس لكن عاود أنت الاتصال به وأكد عليه.
وخاطب جهاد بسام قائلا.. هل ندفن هؤلاء الأمن في مقبرة جماعية فيجيب بسام.. لكن صوروهم ولا تدفنوهم كلهم مع بعضهم البعض لأنهم قد ينكشفون..ادفنوا كل اثنين مع بعض.. وقال جهاد.. ندفنهم خارج البلد وبسرعة.
بدوره قال حسين.. ليست قصة إذا انكشفنا أو لم ننكشف سيتم تصويرهم على أنها مقبرة جماعية من أهل جسر الشغور.. وسنقول إنها مقبرة جماعية وليس لنا علم بها فيرد جهاد.. توكل على الله.. لكن إبعث لنا جميل أو أنس وأكد عليهم أن يصوروا هذه المقبرة.
فيجيب حسين.. عليك ب/أنس قطرون/.
جهاد.. اتصل به أنت فهو يطيعك أكثر مني.
حسين ..طيب ماشي ماشي.
ويكشف هذا الاتصال الهاتفي أن هذه التنظيمات المسلحة ليست مدربة على استعمال الأسلحة وارتكاب المجازر والتمثيل بجثث الشهداء وسرقة لباسهم العسكري وكل ما يحملونه فحسب بل مدربة أيضاً على المشاركة في عمليات التضليل والتزييف الإعلامي ضد سورية بمشاركة الفضائيات التي أثبتت هذه الواقعة أنها شريكة في الجرائم والمجازر التي ترتكبها التنظيمات الإرهابية المسلحة ضد المدنيين وقوى الشرطة والأمن والجيش.
وللاستماع للتسجيل الصوتي على موقع التلفزيون السوري يمكنكم الضغط الرابط التالي:

http://www.rtv.gov.sy/index.php?d=100010&id=73888

Sophia
She can’t be Sandra. She IS Syrian. But probably Syrian American and from SF.
The informations she gives here (given earlier by acarvin, who remains in denial for his own professional reasons, i suggest)
http://bit.ly/kYSBUc
resemble a lot what is found on her blog.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/a-gay-girl-in-damascus-called-into-question–missing-or-not/2011/06/08/AGT7svLH_blog.html

These people are simply mad to spread their whole personal life on the internet.
After the Arab revolutions, the internet masters will have enough datas on ‘revolutionaries’ of all type that they’ll be able to reduce their defense budget!

How can you be so naive that rely on Syria News Sana Agency????

It is so unhuman and ruin to lose your time discussing about this girl (true or false it does not change anything) while people is massacred, hundreds of children are losing father, women becoming widows, etc. You mus be very ill minded, or have some personal problem to think about this while your security services have been killing innocent people. And maybe some 10.000 people are in jail suffering tortures on a daily basis.

# 406 Mina,

I am not the only one to come up with this posibility. The author of this blog who was cited by The Guardian has this as a possibility amon others.

http://bookmaniac.org/painful-doubts-about-amina/

As for “She can’t be Sandra. She IS Syrian.”, again read the blogpost linked above, at this stage nobody knows who is Amina (if she is Syrian or not) and nobody has ever met her in real.

All over the world people understand the value of the free press. Syrians living in the West DEMAND they have freedom of speech and freedom of press. But when it comes to their own country some defend the totalitarian regime that does not allow freedom of press or freedom of speech. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press are basic human rights. Any regime that does not allow them is not legitimate. The Assad regime is a lying mafia. They aren’t? Why are they so afraid of freedom of speech and a free press? Because they are lying and murdering. Very simple. Let the press into Syria. Let the Syrian people blog what they want. Let the truth shine. If you are against this, you are part of the lying and murdering mafia that is the Assad regime.

# 406 Mina,

I am not the only one to come up with this posibility. The author of this blog who was cited by The Guardian has this as a possibility amon others.

http://bookmaniac.org/painful-doubts-about-amina/

As for “She can’t be Sandra. She IS Syrian.”, again read the blogpost linked above, at this stage nobody knows who is Amina (if she is Syrian or not) and nobody has ever met her for real.

SL,
#408

The discussion in regard to the girl is for non-syrian visitors of the SC. Some regime supporters are concerned about the regime’ prestigious image to the outside world in the way it handles gay affairs. They want the whole world to know how humane and civilized we are in Syria. I suggest that they try to improve the killing of the children image at the same time.

Nour, Mina and Sophia,

Was it for people like you, soft talk would prevail and no solutions and no truth would be reached by anyone. You keep your endogamic conversation away from reality. This blablabla takes nowhere. Let God judge you and give you what you deserve. Do you have something to say about human suffering in Syria and its roots? Or are you Al Malki born barbies?

AIG,

Foregin press??? God forbidden! The whole world is conspiring against the regime and you want the free press to come and start spreading lies. Hama II is probably cooking somewhere and you want the media present?

That’s right Nour, Mina and Sophia.

Thinking is right out with people like SL and the failed insurance company!

Thinking and investigation is blablabla.

Believe the lies readily, put on your hijabs/long beards and march yourself into the sea so that Israel and Saudi scum can take our lands.

These absolutist are an embarrassment to themselves, I will not answer any of their paranoid-hysterical allegations. I hope they do not delete them, they are truly telling of their desperation!

Goodnight.

Tara;
The video you showed is correct and authentic, it showed how crimial is Maher,and certainly crime will never be forgiven if it is old or not, Maher will face punishment and those who defend him they are as criminal as he is.

Russia said Gaddafi lost legitamcy the first day he killed one of his people,this is a message to Bashar,it means that Russia will not be able to defend bashar if he continue to kill his people.

It is silly to Blame Arabyeh news,or Saudi Arabia,for the incident of Lamya Chakkor,the one who said that is a crusader,Crusaders are extreme christian who,not like the majority of good christians,they are extreme in their views.they are dangerous and pose threat to Syria and the syrian people, and it seems that there are many crusaders her in SC.
Lamya Chakkour will have to answer a lot of questions, It is true that the imposter have access to her phone and it is true that the imposter has access to her E-Mail,the action of the imposter must have done what she did,in full knowledge of Lamya.The court will have no problem uncovering this fiasco.

SL:

Why don’t you then leave it up to God to judge rather than implying the judgment yourself in his name? For be sure that you will be judged also. I didn’t post the above link so I can convince people like you, who definitely will never be convinced of anything contrary to what they’ve already made up in their mind. It’s funny that you claim that Syrian media doesn’t provide any evidence of its claim, but when it does, you say well how can you trust them. So it doesn’t really matter then, does it?

COMMANDO

Desperation is a very appropiate word for describing your position, defending with bullets and tortures what you could not create in 40 years.

As for me I am desperate as all syrians are since everybody is watching this miserable show of death while losing jobs, bussines and faith in the corrupts who manage the country.

Regarding the lands do not be afraid, if one day syrian lands are stolen by saudis or jews they will be not stolen from syrian people but from Mr. Makhlouf who owns almost everything. That is the reason they fight for, not for you and not for me.

Finally notice that the only absolutist, real and effective, in Syria is the regime, the Baath party, and the security services that as Majedkhaldoun says are killing their own people, to whom they were supposed to defend.

Tara,

I used to care about the image of Syria to the outside, but then I realized what really matters right now is the image to the people inside.

How is that going? Well let me put it this way:

Bahrain has about 1.2 million inhabitants, a large percentage of which are foreign nationals. Yet, even they have been producing almost-daily protests that are LARGER than Friday protests in Syria… which has 23 million.

About the handling of gay affairs, I’m not sure what you mean. “We don’t have that phenomenon” in Syria. 😉

From Twitter
“فشل إصدار مجلس الأمن بيان بإدانة سورياااا وقد زاد عدد الدول المعارضة لإدانة سوريا بمجلس الأمن إلى ثمانية وهي
الغابون ، نيجيريا ، جنوب إفريقيا ، البرازيل ، لبنان ، روسيا ، الصين ، الهند”

NOUR,

Because as far as I know, from holy books (and not from some maniacs leading churches or mosques promoting fear of the other)
God is spirituality (see love, tolerance, understanding, enjoying existence) and not trying to defend the killing of innocent people, as a mean that justifies the end.

Regarding syrian free press it is very simple. All media in the world have different ways of interpreting facts. There are left wing, liberal, right wing, pro christian, pro muslim, pro ecologist, pro everything, but when you read all you can base on your common sense to take your own conclusions. Don´t you believe that if there were 10 media reporters in Jisr al Shoughur we could know at least 50 % of the facts?

The problem in Syria is that the monopoly of informing about facts is in the hands of Syrian Press. And they have created it by forbidding any foreign media to check the real facts. So, the judge is the only to know the facts then there is no justice or the probability is maybe 1 %.

If syrian press would like to show the reality of facts then at least should allow reuters, or even chinese or russian media to come in and see.

If you do not want to understand it then there is nothing to do.

students in Jisr el Shughur speak out “we fear the army entering our town and there are no armed gangs here”

فرنسا فشلت مجدداً في تمرير قرارها في مجلس الأمن ومفاوضات تخفيف اللهجة متواصلة…تركيا: لا حاجة للتدخل الدولي في سورية
http://alwatan.sy/dindex.php?idn=102851

في وقت فشلت فيه فرنسا مجدداً في طرح مشروع قرار يدين سورية على مجلس الأمن، اعتبرت تركيا أن الوضع في سورية لا يتطلب تدخلاً دولياً، مشيرةً إلى أن تسارع وتيرة عملية الإصلاح يتطلب السيطرة على بيئة العنف الذي «تزداد وتائره بشكل أسرع من الإصلاحات».
وقالت مصادر دبلوماسية رفيعة المستوى لـ«الوطن» من نيويورك: إن فرنسا وبريطانيا تسعيان «لتخفيف لهجة» القرار الدولي بهدف استمالة كل من جنوب إفريقية والبرازيل. وقالت المصادر: إن فرنسا «لم تنجح في جمع 11 صوتاً كما قالت، وإنها تسعى عبر تعديلات في الصياغة لاستمالة البلدين السابقين»، ورأت المصادر أن التنقيح الذي طرح ما زال «يجعل القرار مرفوضاً بنظر الدول الصديقة» لسورية، مشيرة إلى الهند والصين وروسيا ولبنان أيضاً.
ورأت المصادر أن هدف فرنسا وبريطانيا ما زال هو «إبقاء اسم سورية على لائحة جدول أعمال مجلس الأمن» بهدف «الابتزاز الإعلامي» منوها أن كلام وزير الخارجية الفرنسية آلان جوبيه عن سورية جاء في معرض جلسة مخصصة لمرض الأيدز في العالم.
واستبعدت المصادر حدوث تصويت اليوم الخميس «إلا إن جرى توافق بين الدول الخمس الدائمة العضوية» وهو ما رأته مستبعداً، وإن رأت أن الجهد الفرنسي البريطاني مستمر خصوصاً لأسباب انتخابية تخص الطرفين ولاسيما جوبيه الذي يسعى لمنافسة رئيس بلده في الانتخابات الرئاسية القادمة.
يأتي ذلك متطابقاً مع ما أعلنه وزير الخارجية الروسي سيرغي لافروف أول أمس في أوسلو من أن موقف حكومته الرافض لطرح موضوع سورية في مجلس الأمن واتخاذ قرارات ضدها، مؤكداً أن الدبلوماسية يجب أن تعمل على حل النزاعات بالطرق السلمية، دون توريط الأسرة الدولية فيها.
وقال وزير الخارجية التركي أحمد داود أوغلو أمس إنه لا يعتقد أن الأمر يتطلب تدخلاً دولياً في الشأن السوري في الوقت الراهن، وأوضح أنه إذا تسارعت وتيرة عملية الإصلاح وتمت السيطرة على بيئة العنف سيكون مثل هذا التدخل غير مطلوب.
واعترف أوغلو في تصريحات لقناة تلفزيون «إن.تي.في» الخاصة ونقلتها وكالة أنباء الأناضول أن العنف يزداد بصورة أسرع من الإصلاحات، وأشار في الوقت نفسه أن الإصلاحات لم تتم بالسرعة المطلوبة، مؤكداً أن بلاده تبذل جهوداً من أجل حدوث عملية تحول سلمي في سورية، بحسب ما نقلت وكالة الأنباء الألمانية.
وسبق للوزير التركي أن شدد أول أمس على أن سورية «بلد مهم في المنطقة، وأحد أهم الدول المجاورة التي لدينا معها علاقات متعددة الأبعاد على مر السنين»، مشيراً إلى أن حكومته تنظر إلى «الحكومة السورية على أنها نظيرتها الشرعية» لذا فإن أنقرة «لا تسعى إلى الشروع في أي اتصال مع جماعات المعارضة» بحسب ما نقلت عنه وكالة «آكي» الإيطالية للأنباء.
في هذه الأثناء، انعقد مجلس الأمن الدولي أمس لمناقشة مشروع قرار أوروبي يدين سورية، وذلك بعدما أعلن رئيس الوزراء البريطاني ديفيد كاميرون أمام البرلمان أن بلادها وفرنسا طرحت المشروع على المجلس.
إلا أن روسيا لا تزال تقف عائقاً أمام إقرار هذا المشروع وأعلن الرئيس الروسي دميتري مدفيديف في مؤتمر صحفي عقد في 18 أيار الماضي أن روسيا لن تؤيد قراراً لمجلس الأمن الدولي بشأن سورية على غرار ما اتخذه بشأن ليبيا.
من جانبه أعلن وزير خارجيتها سيرغي لافروف أول أمس من أوسلو أن بلاده تعارض اتخاذ القرار ضد سورية، وأضاف: «لقد تورطت الأسرة الدولية في التطورات الليبية إلى حد كبير. لذلك فإننا ننطلق في الملف السوري من ضرورة إيجاد حلول سياسية بحيث لا تميل الأحداث إلى اندلاع نزاعات».
وكان المندوب الدائم لروسيا الاتحادية لدى الاتحاد الأوروبي فلاديمير تشيجوف أعلن في مؤتمر صحفي عقده أول أمس في بروكسل أن روسيا لن تؤيد قراراً لمجلس الأمن بشأن سورية في حال صياغته على غرار القرار رقم 1973 بشأن ليبيا.

@419

Typical Baathist alternative reality. Bahrain’s protests were large before Saudi Arabia invaded Bahrain. Now, they are barely a trickle if they happen at all. And yet Bahrain’s crack down did not come anywhere near to the barbarity that the Baathist regime has used.

The Syrian people have endured, and the protests have gotten larger, despite a level of suppression that has been unsurpassed in 30 years. If anyone is hiding, it’s your eye doctor. Again, under what bed is he hidding? Or is his younger bloody thirsty brother Maher supposed to do all the work for him?

JAD,

Congratulations, first match ball goes to Assad. I hope he can manage the time resting for the next match ball to proceed with reforms he did not do in 11 years in power. Or maybe he considers a wide victory and recognition for his acts and intensifies his campaign. I hope he really manages to reform something but as seen in Irak and Lybia, when the crisis begins it becomes very difficult to stop it. Basically because the investment on the fall has already begun. Tonight I will pray for Assad to get some divine revelation.

Mina, Jad, Syrian Knight

The story of the gay girl resembles the film CATFISH I saw this winter.

The real girl is maybe an old lonely lady who never came out to her parents on her homosexuality and invented a life for her by blogging stories under the “dramatic’ and ‘threatening’ atmosphere of Bashar Al Assad’s regime.
It could be a best seller, I said it from the first blog I read in Le Monde..
When the American mother will be contacted ( if she exists), we will know if she really existed as a gay girl in Damascus or as an in the closet old lady in the suburb of Wichita.

لماذا لم تنفجر في دمشق؟
جان عزيز

ثمة فارق بالغ الأهمية والدلالة في جغرافيا الاضطرابات بين سوريا والدول العربية الأخرى التي عرفت «ثورات» شعبية. في تونس بدأت شرارة الاضطرابات في العاصمة. وبدا واضحاً أنها تتجه إلى التمركز فيها، قبل الانتقال إلى مناطق أخرى، وإن لم تُعط الوقت الكافي لبلورة ذلك وتأكيده، نتيجة تكتل أكثرية مواقع النفوذ في النظام ضد بن علي. فبمجرد التقاء الجيش و«إخوان» النهضة عليه، رحل سريعاً.
في مصر كان الأمر نفسه. «الثورة» ولدت في العاصمة. حتى إنها جعلت من قلبها، «ميدان التحرير»، مركز عملياتها ومقر قيادتها ومنطلق حركتها. حتى إنه قيل لاحقاً، بعد سقوط حسني مبارك، إن المناطق الأخرى في الأطراف البعيدة عن القاهرة كانت في منأى عن «الثورة»، أو حتى متباينة مع خطابها وتطلعاتها، بدليل ما حصل في الاستفتاء على الدستور الجديد.
لكن في الحالتين، كان من الثابت أن «الثورة» على النظام هي بنت مركزه. وهو ما يدل على «شعبية» الحركة المعارضة وعلى انبثاقها من ناس البلد، ومن قلبه.
منذ اللحظة الأولى لبدء الاضطرابات في سوريا، كان ثمة مشهد آخر، إذ لم تتمركز حركتها في دمشق، علماً بأنه بمقاييس ما سبق من تصوير وتوصيف، الشام هي قلب النظام هنا، وهي مركز ثقله بكل الأبعاد. حتى إنها تحتوي مع محافظتها، أي ريف دمشق، على ما يوازي 40 في المئة من سكان سوريا، أي نحو 10 ملايين نسمة. وحتى بالمفهوم المذهبي والجماعاتي، الذي حاول المعارضون اللعب على وتره أو الرهان على منطقه، هي دمشق المركز والثقل والقلب. ومع ذلك، لا تزال عاصمة النظام السوري بعد أشهر من الاضطرابات هادئة نسبياً، وبعيدة عن إمكان تحولها مركزاً لحركة «الثورة». والأمر نفسه يصحّ على حلب، العاصمة الثانية للبلاد.
مهما كانت التفسيرات والتأويلات لهذا الواقع، يمكن حياله أن يطرح المراقب فرضية أولى من نوع: ماذا لو كان هذا الأمر دليلاً أو مؤشراً أول إلى ما هو غير طبيعي ولاعفوي، وبالتالي «غير شعبي» في حقيقة تلك الحركات التي تنقّلت في أكثر من منطقة سورية؟
هذه الفرضية تقود فوراً إلى نقطة البحث الآتية: لكن أين ظهرت حركات الاحتجاج في سوريا؟ ووفق أي خريطة جغرافية أو جيو ـــــ ستراتيجية؟ يظهر سريعاً أن نقاطاً خمساً مثّلت منذ أشهر، وبالتتالي أو التعاقب، مراكز ثقل الاضطرابات السورية. نقطة أولى هي منطقة درعا. الثانية في بانياس ومحيطها. الثالثة في بعض القامشلي ودير الزور. الرابعة في منطقة تلكلخ. والخامسة والأخيرة، أو المنطقة الساخنة راهناً، في محور إدلب وادي الشغور.
ولا بد للمراقب من أن يطرح السؤال عن المشترك في هذه النقاط الخمس. وهو ما يقود الى ملاحظة الآتي: أولاً منطقة درعا، سمتها الأساسية أنها منطقة حدودية، متصلة عبر معبر الرمتا بدولة الأردن. المنطقة الثانية بانياس، حدودية أيضاً، وإن بمعنى ساحليتها واتصالها بالخارج عبر البحر. أما القامشلي فحدودية كذلك، متصلة بالعراق، وتحديداً بمنطقة متوترة و«ثائرة» على حكم بغداد، فيما تلكلخ تلتقي مع ما سبقها في حدوديتها المتصلة بلبنان، عبر منطقة وادي خالد، ذات الثقل السياسي والأمني والاستخباري، المعارض لسلطة دمشق، لتظل منطقة وادي الشغور مندرجة في السياق نفسه، أي كونها منطقة حدودية كذلك، متصلة بتركيا، تركيا نفسها، مقر استضافة مؤتمرات «الإخوان» المنتفضين على السلطات السورية القائمة.
في خلاصة سريعة، كأن مناطق الاضطرابات الخمس ليست غير محاولات خارجية لبناء «رؤوس جسور» في الداخل السوري، لمجموعات يجري ضخّها من خارجه، أو على الأقل تزويدها وتذخيرها بما يلزم لحركتها. أو كأن المناطق تلك هي تجسيد واقعي لمفهوم «المنطقة الخضراء» التي تتحدث عنها المصنفات الأكاديمية العسكرية، ضمن باب «الحرب التخريبية»، أي قيام منطقة آمنة، متصلة ببعد خارجي معاد، تُتّخذ مقراً لحركة «التخريب» في اتجاه «المناطق البرتقالية» المستهدفة في مرحلة أولى، وبعيداً عن «المناطق الحمراء» الخاضعة لسلطة الدولة المطلوب «تخريبها»، والتي تضم غالباً عاصمة تلك الدولة.
هكذا تبدو صورة ما يحصل في سوريا اليوم، أقلّه بمفهوم العلوم العسكرية. أما فلسفة ثورتها، فحسبها أبو جمال وحسَبه والنسَب.

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/14242

See No Evil

Foregin press??? God forbidden! The whole world is conspiring against the regime and you want the free press to come and start spreading lies. Hama II is probably cooking somewhere and you want the media present?

Tara,

On the contrary. Hama I would never have happened and Assad I would never have attained hero status if the foreign press were allowed in to report the Syrian attrocities.

And What foreign press is “spreading lies”? It seems to me if you’re afraid of Hama II, reporting “against the regime” would be welcome.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS1s3ggzC80pUpE-fg5p5oyXR1W9mmCoeeEVyzsmc32j6vULofZ

Jad

Since the fall of Ben Ali, Sarkozy and Alain Juppe have fire in their pant in the Middle East!
First pushing for war in Libya, next pushing for a resolution against Syria, next pushing for a Israel-Palestinian conference. Obviously Sarkozy wants to show he is Napoleon, not only by his height. Election time is close…

Majedkhaldoon,and all

Here is my 2 cents:

I truly think that most of the Syrian people on this site are genuinely humane deep inside. One thing all have in common though is intense fear.

We are extremely fearful of each others: The regime supporters are fearful that their family is going to be slaughtered by Sunni mobs incited by Aroor likes if Bashar to fall. The opposition is fearful as they are seeing their families being brutalized by this brutal regime for 40 years

The supporter must rationalize their solid support and therefore the killing of demonstrators by categorizing them all as evil (i.e. America, Israel and salafists). The supporters can not accept any other fact because they can not reconcile their views any other way. In their mind, Bashar wants to reform and therefore non-evil demonstrators should stop demonstrating and evil demonstrators (paid by US/Israel/ salafist alliance) will continue to demonstrate because they are part of a big conspiracy. They can not accept the fact that no one believes the regime and therefore the demonstrators will continue. They are simply incapable of accepting any other explanation because if Bashar to fall, their family would be brutalized. And this where we are now.

AKbar Palace,

I can not agree more. I was just being sarcastic.

As a side note, No offense but you choose very difficult name to have a conversation with. Any insight into that name? it just gives me an image of a solid wall.

#430

Loud and clear. Thanks for your 2 cents.

refugees at the Turkish border ” The Syrian media is a liar”. This is something that has been repeated over and over again in every protest. Take a hint guys.

Jad (#363) and Tara (#359) discuss two videos ( here and here ).

Each of the videos was uploaded in the past two days — which means nothing about when the videos were recorded.

I am puzzled about two things: if, as Jad and Syrian Commando assert, these videos are of an event in the past, when did these scenes first occur? Can you recall, Jad, SC, or anyone else? Videos are copied and recopied, but it may be possible to track down the original date. Where and when was this incident supposed to have been recorded?

Second puzzlement is over the earlier assertion by Mohamed Kanj that Syrian forces do not wear sneakers. In the video posted by Jad, a great number of uniformed and armed men are wearing sneakers . . . (I am not able to discern the difference between the various uniforms and insignia — does anyone have a guess as to the affiliations of those pictured?)

— Jad, I downloaded both videos.

UK, France offer UN resolution condemning Syria

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=224205

…Several diplomats told Reuters they expected Russia to veto the draft resolution, though others said they thought Moscow could be persuaded to abstain, in which case China would likely follow suit.

“I hear that the veto is inevitable,” one diplomat said.

Resolutions need nine votes in favor and no vetoes to pass. If Russia and China abstained, the draft would be adopted, even if Lebanon, South Africa, India and Brazil voted against it.

…Like an earlier draft first circulated to council members last month, the latest text urges countries not to supply weapons to Damascus but does not provide for an actual arms embargo or other specific punitive measures.

….In particular, a new clause says that “the only solution to the current crisis in Syria is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process.”
I wonder what this means, as this is what Bashar Al Assad is doing!

Looking for Amina:

Finally The Guardian pins an article on the identity of Amina Arraf which is very tendentious compared to Liz Henry’s article at composite.

I don’t think they are interested in knowing the truth about who is Amina since their correspondant in Damascus Katherine Marsh had contacts with people who introduced him, her, to Amina through email, but they never met. So if the Guardian is interested by knowing the truth they can investigate through these contacts.

Moreover, why would Amina be hiding from the security (which is the Guardian’s explanation for what they call ‘the mystery’ surrounding Amina) since they know her house, her father, and even her sexual orientation, so they must know a lot about her.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/08/syria-gay-girl-damascus-abduction

The next thing we know is that Syria will be accused of abducting a fictional character! The Syrian revolution 2011 is getting Kafkaesque and grotestque by the day and with them the western news outlets who spread their lies.

All this revolutionary narcissism is dangerous because it is distracting from real issues facing Syria.

# 423 Jad,

France and the UK will keep coming back at this resolution, believe me. Sarko has an election year before him and he desperately wants to be reelected despite his low ratings. Cameron is facing a difficult economic year or two because of his austerity measures and he is trying to continually patch up his shaking coalition. People in Europe are being served what US citizen have been served with the Iraq war that distracted them from the big tax corporate cuts that Bush made for the rich. However, US citizen will not be fooled, not this time. As for Europeans, they will soon realise that all this warmongering is meant to cover Europe’s economic Woes (to use Dr. landis’s word for Syria).

I am worried that the armed gangs in Jisr al Shughoor are holding the inhabitants as human shield. I was expecting thousands to leave but Al Jazeera reports:

“About 160 Syrians crossed into Turkey in two separate waves on Wednesday, an AFP news agency reporter at the scene said.”

“A foreign ministry official said around 420 people have crossed the border from Syria since the bloody protests started in March.”

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/20116815955110282.html

خلال 10 أيام…مؤتمر تشاوري يضم المعارضة
2011-06-09 |
صوت للمقال
| التعليقات

من المرجح أن ينعقد في دمشق خلال عشرة أيام اللقاء التشاوري الموسع بحضور شخصيات من المعارضة ومستقلين بهدف التمهيد لمؤتمر حوار وطني شامل يرسم آفاقا لمستقبل سورية السياسي والاقتصادي. وذكرت مصادر رفيعة المستوى لـ«الوطن» أن اللقاء التشاوري «مفتوح لكل من يرغب في الحوار شريطة ألا يكون له أجندة خارجية»، مشيرة إلى أن تحديد موعد ثابت لهذا اللقاء مرهون بـ«سير الاتصالات مع الشخصيات الوطنية التي ستتم دعوتها للقاء» وتنقسم هذه الشخصيات بين المعارضة السياسية والمستقلين وممثلي المنظمات الحزبية.
ووفقاً للمصادر سيكون على عاتق اللقاء التشاوري تحديد آليات الحوار وأسسه تمهيداً للمؤتمر الوطني الشامل. ومن بين عناوينه الاتفاق على معالم سورية المستقبلية ومن أبرزها نظام تعددي سياسي وديمقراطي مع تركيز على حماية حقوق الإنسان والعمل على كل ما من شأنه تعزيز السلم الاجتماعي وتوسيع قواعد المشاركة السياسية. وعلمت «الوطن» أن سقف الحوار يتمثل في «الموقف من الصراع العربي الإسرائيلي» فقط، كما أنه حين السؤال عما إن كانت الدعوات ستوجه لأعضاء أو ممثلين لتنظيم «الإخوان المسلمين» قالت المصادر إن جانب الدولة «مستعد للحوار مع كل من هو جاهز لهذا الحوار».

http://www.alwatan.sy/dindex.php?idn=102853

This might be the last attemp to end this crisis without a major military crackdown. More than 1000 Syrians were killed,around 20% of those were police and army officers,but that number will be small compared to what we as Syrians might pay if a political solution is not found by the end of this summer. Inviting Islamic figures for a dialogue is a step in the right direction as long as it is not
seen as a green light to form religious parties. A forceful removal of the regime is increasingly unlikely. If the regime wants this to work it must prevent security forces from taking the lead in securing aljisr and other troubled spots but there is
no alternative to the deployment of the regular army. The urge to revenge on both sides need to be suppressed for any future solution to succeed. The next 10 days will reveal the truth about the intentions of both the regime and the opposition.the army will take firm measures to arrest those who insist on using
weapons to make a statement but it is less likely now that a massive campaign in aljisr will be launched. It tells a lot about Syrians that the two most populated areas in Syria remained largely neutral or even supportive to the army’s deployment. However,if ending the violent rebellion in aljisr fails and a new wave
of violence emerges,a shift towards a military solution,as advocated by some,will likely take place. The UNSC may come up with a toothless resolution that saves the face of France and its friends without applying significant pressure on the regime. The deal is: the government will be more forgiving and the international
community will give another chance to Bashar. Many parties do not want this deal to work,and it may not,but there is still hope.there is already talks about a plan-B if things continue to deteriorate: resignation of Bashar and a takeover by the army !!

Usama,

Do we really not? somone told me it is very common in the middle east. Please share if you know.

Dear WSS,
Thank you for the download.
I’m as puzzled as you are about the location of those videos, the very first account of the Tara’s video was sometimes in March, it was said that it was taken in Sednaya prison when some inmate revolted against the guard of the prison and they were killed as a result, it was said that 23 prisoners died at that incident (That what I remember the story was).
I didn’t debate much at the time about the clip since I have no clue, some on SC said that it is fishy and that Maher is not himself but someone who looks like him, but I don’t know, I saw some pictures that compare the two guys and they actually look different.

The second clip I linked is somehow new: I was reading some comments on my FB and someone post it as a prove of brutality in ‘Homs’ but I didn’t think about it much until I saw Tara’s link then I remembered that both are for the same incident yet one is posted recently the other one was posted three months ago and you can see that the first one has more bodies and the Holy Quraan while the second doesn’t, one is about Sednaya prison while the second one is obviously not in a prison but in an urban area with shops.
I’m not sure where or what was this incident or if it was committed by the security forces or the army or it was an accident of some falling building and they were there trying to assess the issue, I have no answers for that, and at this moment I’m not thinking of that, the conflict is getting too complicated that trying to analyse any clip is wast of time.

# 427 Nour,

Thanks for the article. This is what I call political analysis. According to this analysis: there is a war waged on Syria from the interior and from the exterior of the country. However, as the focal points of the internal war are peripheral, in the geographical sense, one can assume that the internal war is in fact an external one. One cannot reasonably call this a revolution for freedom and reforms…That doesn’t mean that there aren’t true revolutionary aspirations in Syria for freedom, it simply means that these aspirations are not expressed nor represented in the current armed and violent Syrian revolution 2011.

WD, Sophia,
I agree with you regarding ‘Saiko’ dreams of become napoleon, and Europe attempt to divert it’s economical problems outside, they are acting like neo-colonial powers with the same attitude we read about in Syrian history books.
I doubt that they will stop this political blackmail anytime soon, it seems that Europe is looking for newer world to take over and it seems that our region is their destination.

WD, did you read anything about any protest in Antakya against Ardogan and in support of Syria today?

Jad

I have not seen the report of the protest in Ankara. As Turkey is in a election period, I guess there would be many rallies, but I don’t think they are significant.

I still believe Turkey is playing a positive and moderating role vis a vis Syria. It is not an outspoken support, it is subtle as it is the interest of Turkey to have a stable Syria but it does want to be labelled as a regime supporter.

What surprised me most is the number of newspaper worldwide (googgled) that reports “the influx of refugees to Turkey”. Yet the number reported by Turkey is 123 on Wednesday and a total of 420 since March. I don’t see that number meaningful and in fact it worries me as I was expecting all women and children of Jisr al Shugour to leave. Are they prevented from leaving?

There was not such alarms in the world press when millions of iraqis found refuge in Syria

Jad, thanks for the response above. The earliest upload I have discovered of the ‘looks like Maher’ video was from Apr 2, 2011 . . .

I totally understand your disinterest in analyzing these two videos, but appreciate you taking the time to give your assessment. I will compare the two downloads closely to see if they are at the same location . . . I find the references to ‘fakes’ and ‘fabrications’ of videos to be confusing and want to properly analyze actual disputed items. (as a personal aside, I find your posts here especially compelling; I don’t place you on one black/white side or the other, and I think you are very honest in your emotions and reactions. Of all those who might be thought of as sympathetic to the regime, or critical of demonstrators/militants, I think you are one of those who truly struggles to make sense of competing narratives. I wish you and similar compatriots the Syria you dream of — a civil, beautiful, free and welcoming people in a spectacular, historic and achingly beautiful land. It impresses me that you do not demonize individuals on this list when it might be easier to do so. I think you truly believe in the Syrian Spirit and you are seeking justice and freedom in your land)

Sophia — forgive me if you have already answered this, but are you in Canada too, like me?

‘West manipulating Syrian unrests’

A TV interview with Sarah Flounders,

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/183732.html

The new draft resolution to be voted by end week( hopefully)

After several rounds of discussions by the council’s political experts, the Europeans amended their original draft and brought it back to the council on Wednesday. British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters some of what is in it:

“It demands an immediate end to the violence and condemns the systematic human rights abuses,” said Lyall Grant. “It calls on the Syrian authorities immediately to lift the siege of affected towns; it calls for steps to address the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people – which include reforms that would allow genuine political participation, inclusive dialogue, and the effective exercise of fundamental freedoms. And it calls upon all states to exercise vigilance and prevent the supply of arms to Syria.”

I doubt the second part of the first sentence will be acceptable to Russia, it opens the door to the international court

WD,

The problem with Syria is the same for many years, everything takes forever to be done, buildings which are done in the US in 6 to 9 months take 5 to 10 years to be done in Syria, ID Card that i can get in the US in 2 hours takes at least 2 weeks to bone in syria,
The problem that the president and the government have is that they do not move fast enough, I do not have any idea to the reason that they have not to move on multiparty system and election to be set in November, let us say, that will take any excuse for the opposition and the West to blame the president and the government , then all bets are off and the gloves are off too if there is no calm,

Norman,

My guess as to why things aren’t moving as fast as we would like them to is two-fold. One, Assad does not want the west to get any idea that it can pressure Syria into doing anything, as that will encourage them later on to use similar methods to extract concessions on important national policies. Two, it isn’t enough just to pass laws, as institutional changes have to accompany those laws so that they are not mere ink on paper. In order to achieve these institutional changes Assad has to confront and struggle with elements inside the regime who are not fully on board with these reforms.

Aldounia tv exposes some of the revolutions fabrications.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuiaTHJwVOg&feature=channel_video_title

The martyrs that the revolutionists claim were civilians killed by the army in Jisr Alshughour, are the army personnel that were murdered by the peaceful revolutionists.

In time, some of those bodies will be used to fabricate a story of mass graves in Jisr Alshughour. Why discuss is right worrying about the people there being used as human sheilds, they might also be used in mass graves fabrications.

Nour,

He should move toward reform because it is the right thing to do no matter who is supporting it , they announced from the beginning that the reform is planned by was late in applying it, so announce it and give time 6 months to implement, but move , for God sake, the West found a way to pressure Syria claiming the support of the Syrian people and we are not doing anything tangible to take that away,

Norman

I agree with Nour. Announcing reforms hastily may just embolded the hardline opposition (The usual : too little, too late).
Groups who are calling openly for Bashar Al Assad to step down, must be brought to reason or jailed if they resort to violence.
Imagine a violent demonstration in the US burning Obama’s photo and calling for his resignation. They will be disarmed by force and would end up in jail, waiting for a trial, no?
I guess this is what Bashar’s army plan to do in Jisr Al Shugoor in a harsher way because we are not in state of law.
Once this last pocket or hardliners is taken care of, then we will probably see the flurry of announcements.
If the army stands with Bashar, it will succeed, despite the international condamnation.
The TV interview with Michael O’Hanlon’s intervention I have posted earlier is the most realistic I have seen about the dilemma of the western community on Syria.

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=10092&cp=all#comment-254603

You know, it’s truly outstanding the amount of nonsense and lies being spread by the pro-regime group on the comment pages of this blog. Perhaps they find comfort in re-enforcing one anther’s fantasies due to their great sense of loss and desperation, or perhaps it’s a meek effort at trying to influence any westerners who frequent these pages
Whether through hysterical semi-coherent vitriol, threats or thinly veiled semblances of analytical discussion, they all inhabit a fantasy world of their own making.

Now let me give it to you straight, here are the facts about the Syrian revolution:

1- It’s part of the Arab spring, an overwhelmingly young population rising up from years of stagnation poverty and abuse, sick of all the corruption and degradation imposed upon them by the tyrants that run their countries like they were their own private country ranch. Therefore you can see clear patterns throughout all these revolutions, from Tunis to Egypt to Libya to Yemen to Bahrain. Namely, masses of people taking to the streets in peaceful protests, calling for the fall of the regime, and being met with cold blooded murder by the security forces. Another distinctive feature is the claim by all those regimes that outside forces, armed agitators and foreign conspiracies are to blame for the unrest, mixed with a healthy dose of official media propaganda, misinformation and incitement for loyalists to violence. We’ve seen this very clearly in the Egyptian revolution, which is still very fresh in everyone’s mind, as well as the Libyan one of course, whose regime is strikingly similar to the Syrian one in terms of power structure (family business model) and unbridled use of deadly force. Really people, it’s not too hard, go read your history books and see where the Syrian revolution interjects with all the other revolutions, past and present, then you can clearly see what’s going on.

2- The overwhelming majority of Syrians do not, I repeat do not support the regime at all, period. Anyone who claims otherwise is outright lying. There is of course the silent majority who stays put and shuts up out of fear of persecution, or fear of instability and chaos should the regime fall. A “better the devil you know attitude” which will start to change as soon as the regime is sufficiently weak and the country hits major turmoil.

3- The regime’s media machine must keep up it’s propaganda and misinformation at all costs, because they are the only things keeping it’s security forces and loyalists from disobeying orders and breaking rank. Without these false pretexts constantly charging them up against imaginary fiends and foes, they might start to ask questions the regime is unable to answer or question actions it is unable to justify.

4- The Syrian regime was taken by surprise and totally unprepared when the uprisings began. Previously it was living in denial (see Bashar’s now infamous WSJ interview and Asmaa’s ill fated Vogue article, all the way to the staged loyalist rallies and Bashar’s surreal address to the parliament). It’s not used to any dissenting voices and can’t handle them. It didn’t see the revolution train coming, despite the fact that it had already stopped at several Arab countries and any school kid (like the ones in Daraa for example) could see it coming.

5- The revolution will succeed, the regime will be changed there is no doubt about that. Whether through an internal coup, an armed resistance, a civil war or outside intervention, this regime’s days are now numbered. Once a people have woken up and had their first taste of what it feels like to shout in the tyrants face, what it’s like to reach out and grab what should have been their birth right, they won’t go back into servitude. “Al Mout wala al mazala” is what they chant at protests – “rather death than humiliation”

There is an interesting article in Al-Akhbar that traces the history of the confrontation between the Muslim Brotherhood and the regime in Syria and the errors made by the brotherhood.

في هذه الفترة تحديداً، بدأ الإخوان بارتكاب الخطأ القاتل الرقم واحد، وهو رفع السلاح في وجه النظام، وكانت الفاتحة من خلال سلسلة من أعمال الاغتيال التي طالت رموزاً من الطائفة العلوية من دون تفريق، ولم يقتصر الأمر على شخصيات أمنية وعسكرية، بل وصل إلى أساتذة جامعات ومثقفين لم يكونوا في صف النظام. وبرر الإخوان ذلك بأنه رد على ممارسات النظام الطائفية وتصفيته لبعض شخصياتهم. وكانت الذروة مع حادثة مدرسة المدفعية في حلب سنة 1979، حيث ارتكب المدعو إبراهيم يوسف مجزرة مروعة بحق مجموعة من العساكر العلويين، سقط منهم 32 قتيلاً. ورغم نفي الإخوان المسؤولية عن المذبحة، كان الحادث إيذاناً بانفلات العنف من عقاله في الاتجاهين، وجرّد الطرفان أسلحتهما ودخلا في حرب مفتوحة استمرت حتى سنة 1982، وكانت خاتمتها مجزرة حماة، التي تتضارب الأرقام في عدد ضحاياها بين عشرة آلاف وثلاثين ألفاً، ولم تسلم
منطقة سورية من لظى تلك المواجهات، لكن كان لحماة وحلب النصيب الأكبر من الضحايا والدمار

الخطأ القاتل الثاني هو أن الإخوان خرجوا خاسرين في المواجهة العسكرية، وذهبوا إلى العراق ليتحالفوا مع صدام حسين لإسقاط النظام في سوريا. ولا يخفى على أحد أن الرئيس العراقي الذي كان في أوج حربه مع إيران، أراد تجيير هؤلاء على أساس مذهبي ضد عدوه اللدود حافظ الأسد. وقَبِل قادة الإخوان، ومنهم عدنان سعد الدين، هذه الوظيفة، وحاولوا أن يبرروها من منطلق تحالفات الضرورة، لكن هذا الحلف انتهى لغير مصلحة الإخوان، الذين لم يستفيدوا من إمكانات النظام العراقي لمواجهة الأسد، وخسروا رصيدهم الأخلاقي. واقتصر نشاطهم على بعض العمليات العسكرية، التي كان مفعولها عكسياً

الخطأ الثالث هو التحالف مع عبد الحليم خدام في سنة 2006. وكان ذلك بمثابة الضربة القاضية لهم. فخدام الذي عدّته المعارضة السورية جزءاً من النظام، واشترطت عليه الاعتذار عن ماضيه، قبل أن تقبله في صفوفها، احتضنه الإخوان وفق حسابات خاطئة كانت تقوم على أن الإدارة الأميركية السابقة تعمل على تغيير نظام الحكم في سوريا، ومرشحها لقيادة المرحلة المقبلة هو خدام. ووصلت للإخوان إشارات من أطراف عربية ودولية، بينها السعودية، بضرورة التحالف مع خدام، وهذا ما كشفه سعد الحريري في إحدى برقيات «ويكيليكس». وتبين مع مرور الوقت ورحيل إدارة جورج بوش أن المسألة لم تكن أكثر من سراب غرق فيه الإخوان، فانسحبوا سنة 2009 من جبهة خدام (جبهة الخلاص)، ولكنهم فتحوا خطاً تفاوضياً مع النظام السوري عبر لجنة أمنية، وعلقوا على أساسه نشاطهم، وبرروه بالحرب الإسرائيلية على غزة. وقد جرى الحديث في أوساط المعارضة عن أن هناك وساطة بين الإخوان والنظام، تولتها تركيا وحركة حماس، ولكنها لم تؤد إلى ما كان يعوّل عليه الإخوان في إلغاء القانون الرقم 49، والسماح لهم بالعودة من الخارج

اليوم يرشح الإخوان أنفسهم لدور قيادي من خلال سلسلة المؤتمرات التي انعقدت في تركيا وبروكسل، ورغم أنهم لا يزالون يمارسون لعبة التقية السياسية، فإن لمساتهم واضحة على مؤتمرات الخارج، بل إن شهوة الوصول لدى بعضهم تبدو طاغية، فهم مستعجلون لقطف ثمار الحركة الاحتجاجية، وعينهم على تونس ومصر واليمن، حيث تحتل حركة الإخوان حيزاً واسعاً من الفضاء الجديد، ومن الواضح أن إخوان سوريا استفادوا من التجربة في البلدان الثلاثة، وأدركوا أهمية تركيا وقدرتها على تسويق هذا النموذج لدى الولايات المتحدة، لكن ما ينقصهم هو الحضور الداخلي، الذي صار حلماً بعيد المنال، بعدما تشتتت صفوفهم وصار تاريخهم سلسلة من الأخطاء القاتلة

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/14220

Let them in and they’ll announce the entire government is liquidated!

Or maybe, just maybe they will uncover the truth of what is really going on in Syria, while the ruling regime is trying to put an end to the unrest!

WD,

When Martin Luther king started the civil right movement, many people died but that did not stop the American government and the congress from enacting the civil right laws, they did not say we do not want to give in to the black because we do not want to embolden them , they moved on these rights and at the same time secured and stabilize the country as they took away the source of the discontent , What the Syrian government is doing now is just giving the West that is hated by the people an excuse to say that we are with the people and defending their rights, Syria is better off announcing reform and election because these are rights that the people should have but if the criminals continue their attacks then attack back with full force , reinstate emmergency law and security court but at the same time move on reform and give a time table, that will be better for the president and the Baath parity, i have no doubt that even if an opposition party and we can assume that no ethnic or religous party are allowed gain power they will be so discredited by not taking good care of the people that they will lose the next election and with a strong army that protects the transfere of power, I see the Baath party coming back leaner and stronger than ever.The problem is the baath party , the problem is the baath party members who are not qualified to lead.They will be gone by then.

Memo to ABOALI:

You are 100% right!

It’s over for Bashar and his mafia. And I think he knows it. The problem for him is: (1) his place in history and (2) if he steps down, where does he go.

He has no acceptable (for him) options. So in the end, he will try to die like a man. He will be known as the last king of Syria. There will be no more kings after him. Syrians are tired of them.

After Bashar is dead and gone, I wonder what will happen to all the men and women who worked for al-Mukhabarat. They must number in the thousands. Will they melt into the mist and find jobs pumping gas or waiting on tables? Imagine yourself at a table in a diner and you look behind the counter and the cook is the man who tortured you and your brother. What would you do?

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

What is the mistake students do for the French government to cut their scholarship? Really? doing that will get France the support of Syrian people to come and occupy Syria again? What a stupid decision, by a colonial politically bankrupt country…

HNN شبكة أخبار حمص
قامت الحكومة الفرنسية بإلغاء إيفادات طلاب مركز البحوث العلمية، سنشارك تضامناً معهم في الاعتصام المرخص أمام السفارة الفرنسية في دمشق في الساعة الواحدة والنصف، نهيب بكافة الأصدقاء الأحرار المقيمين في دمشق بالتواجد الكثيف أمام السفارة،
———————————

Dear WSS,
Thank you for your words and I really appreciate your nice wishes to Syria. Best regards 🙂

Tara #430 and Aboali #453,

Well written. You pretty much summed it up.
.

تحليل مشاركة المرأة السورية بالثورة !
http://youtu.be/5gZ7CGxi9Ug

Nour,
This is the phone call story in English:

Phone Call between Members of Armed Groups Reveals Plan for Preparing Mass Grave for Police and Security Martyrs and Filming It to Be Broadcast and Attributed to the Army
IDLEB, (SANA) – A phone call between members of armed groups in Jisr al-Shughour revealed their plan to exploit the bodies of police and army martyrs they massacred and mutilated to undermine the army and tarnish its reputation.

The Syrian TV broadcast a call between two members of these groups, one called Hussein and the other called Jihad, with the latter revealing that they plotted to dig a mass grave for the military security personnel they murdered and bury them in it “like the mass grave in Daraa.”

Jihad discussed the issue with someone next to him called Bassam, while Hussein said he will call someone called Anas. Jihad asked Bassam if they should bury the security personnel in a mass grave, and Bassam answered by instructing them to videotape them and not to bury them all together because this might cause the truth to be revealed, while Jihad responded by saying that they should bury them out of town and quickly.

Hussein responded by saying “it doesn’t matter if we’re revealed or not… they will be portrayed as a mass grave containing people from Jisr al-Shughour, and that we know nothing about it.” To this, Jihad told him to go ahead, and asked to send either Anas or someone called Jamil, instructing him to make sure that they videotape this grave.

Hussein responds to this by suggesting someone called Anas Katroun, and Jihad told Hussein to call him himself because that person is more likely to obey Hussein. The two ended the call at this point.

The call reveals that not only are these armed groups trained to use weapons, commit massacres, mutilate bodies and steal military uniforms and equipment, but are also trained to participate in the media misdirection against Syria, making the satellite channels that broadcast such videos accomplices in the crimes and massacres committed by armed terrorist groups against civilians, policemen and security and army personnel.

H. Sabbagh
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/06/08/351524.htm

Propaganda glitch?

Does she even exist? The mystery of the Gay Girl in Damascus
… Jelena Lecic claims Arraf stole her identity and has been using it for more than a year. Lecic is a Croatian woman working as an administrator at the Royal College of Physicians in London, …
… Media have been scouring records for confirmation that Arraf exists and have also been trying to confirm biographical information found in her blog, but have come up empty. …
… nobody had even met her in person or spoken to her on the phone. Even a purported girlfriend in Canada said she had only had a text-based relationship with Arraf. …
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/does-she-even-exist-the-mystery-of-the-gay-girl-in-damascus-20110609-1ftwf.html

Damascenes are on edge these days and the shabi7a is everywhere
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL5aamdO-dw
.

#453,

“You know, it’s truly outstanding the amount of nonsense and lies being spread by the pro-regime group on the comment pages of this blog.” That’s funny coming from someone who links fabricated defector claims.

This uprising is not peaceful and focuses on toppling the regime with the help of outside forces. It is not a legitimate revolution. It is one that is sinister and murderous.

The majority of Syrians do not support the uprising and stand by their president and the army intervention.

The media war waged against Syria, with its fabrications and inaccurate broadcasting of the situation is exposed for all see and networks that were once credible have lost all credibility due to their fictional stories.

Although the organisers of this revolution are trying with all their might to achieve their agenda, the pillars are standing and show no signs of falling. This revolution will not succeed, the Syrian people are aware of the game that is being played and the desperation of this violent revolutions organisers is crysral clear.

Those who claim to by Syrian and are advocating foreign intervention in Syria, are not, because real Syrians reject any form of foreign intervention in their country.

The doom and gloom talks about a pending collapse of the Syrian economy is not supported by facts on the ground and history lessons. Syrians have enough money to survive this crisis. The problem is attracting outside investment,and this requires a climate of peace and an environment of confidence. Growth will be sluggish without a major overhaul of taxation system,investment laws and,of course,serious work on corruption.
Syrian expats send money to their relatives and to private charities but most are unwilling to risk capital without certain assurances. This group of Syrians outside Syria has enough money to make a huge difference in economic life in Syria but that can not be done without,for example,trimming the wings of corruption symbols like Rami and collecting from corrupt business “tigers” who are responsible for depriving the treasury from much needed money.starting tomorrow,Syrians may start hearing about aljisr again because the regime sees this as his final major military campaign.a lot of what is being said about the crimes committed by terrorists is sadly true,even the bodies of many killed officers have not been collected because they are likely to be used by thugs as a bargaining chip or for media tricks. I am here to report that I lost faith in Syria’s ability to enact fast and peaceful reform and I truely di not believe 90% of what comes out of mouthpieces on both sides. I am betting my money on the army and the average peaceful Syrian who had refused to use religion as a weapon. Be ready to see a flood of new ,mostly fake and hyped,YouTube videos and a diarrhea of worthless statements from people who can only hate and divide.as for the rest of us,we want peace and we believe that Bashar will freely leave office after he ,with the army help,succeeds in keeping Syria as one country. The game is OVER,that is what most of my contacts and relatives in Syria believe,and most of whom were anti regime and antibaath,and over half are Sunni,if you were just wondering.
God, Syria wabass.

For all pro regime
The worst anti regime demonstrations are on Friday after the pray, should the regime ban friday praying?May be they should try it once.
Let them work on maintenance and repair on all the Msoques,and close them for that reason.
Or may be the regime will put huge picture of Bashar in every mosque next where the Imam stand to preach, so when the people pray Bashar picture is in front of them.or better put Maher picture there too.and ofcourse Hafez statue in every mosque.
Also may be the regime ban all Islamic teaching and Quraan reading (TELAWEH AND TARTEEL)on T.V. and radio.
Have the regime cancel Religion teaching in school, or give the student passing grade even if they don’t answer any question in exams.
What do you think?

Tara,

Per#430:

As someone who was born in Syria and have many family members including my wifes side, we are all afraid of the situation. As much as I hate to see bloodshed, the reality is, if the country wants democracy, it will have to pay that price. Western nations did not have democracy by getting up 6am and saying here is democracy. Europeans paid heavily, so did Americans, and most recently Eastern Europe. What you have in Syria and most of the Arab world is possibly the final clash between a number secularism and theocracy camps and blood will be shed.

I was suspicious of the government lines in the beginning and my wife and I had a number of arguments on this issue. She lived through the period of the Muslim Brother (MB) violent campaign in Aleppo and some of her university friends died and some were injured in those campaigns, I did not experience it. I was debating this issue with our friend over dinner recently who than started to recount how on a certain day at the university of Aleppo, possibly thousands of lives could have been wiped in the electrical and mechanical engineering building as it was to be blown up, and the most unlikely hero was the janitor who broke his broom and went to get a new one only to find the closet was full of high explosives and timed to explode at 11am when most of the building was occupied.

Most recently, family members are still saying there are armed and hardline elements in the country stirring trouble. One was told by his employee that they built a wall to surround Bab alsbaa in homs as to have their own “country” and the neighborhood received a call from the interior minister to tear it down. I cannot see this individual lying; but I still cannot remove my doubts about the government’s line.

Most of the external players in the Syrian situation are not interested in democracy or well being of Syrians that includes most if not all of the Arab countries. I still have doubts about the Syrian government line, but I have no doubt that Syria is being punished for its stand against Israel and being friends with Iran. Syria was making progress economically, sadly not democratically, though perhaps at the cost of stability. 10 years ago, the only visitors to Syria were ex-patriots, last year there were almost 10 million visitors. Wide ranging investments were being put in place, reforms coming slowly but surely. Syria has potential to become an economic powerhouse in the middle east (not a military one though). I think Syria was becoming a threat to Israel, it had to be cut down to size, no one is allowed to compete with Israel. Do you know on a recent quiz show here in Australia, Syria was deemed the richest nation in the middle east, I could not believe it. Even richer than Iraq and Saudi Arabia!

The Saudi’s and gulf states spending their wealth on meaningless projects and theocratic satellite stations to keep the hardline sheiks busy and not interfering with daily luxurious life style. These countries along with Israel are leading the charge against Iran and in the process, Syria is being kicked. Iran is spending its money developing technology to compete with the west, technically advanced nations must have nuclear technology, Iran must be stopped. The Sunni-Shia split is being exploited by the US and its allies. And as I ahve said before, my greatest fear is a Sunni-Shia war like the Iraq-Iran war and Syria is the main “Proxy” player.

On a recent satellite station debate, it was apparently stated by an Israeli person; “by the time Israel puts a satellite in orbit, the Arabs would have developed a new recipe for Hommos”. Do not expect the Arab nations to move forward on democracy or technology any time soon until a lot of blood is shed and internal turmoil just like the west had to go through it centuries ago.

No Syrian government will try to stop prayers.conservative religious Sunnis,half of my family,are a significant and important part of Syria. I happen to believe that religion and politics do not mix. Every time Islam is used(Iran,Saudi Arabia ,alqaida,etc) as a political tool,we end up with a failed society,and that is even more obvious in countries like Syria,Lebanon,Iraq and Bahrain.Bashar et al has to go and our country deserves a better government but I am not willing to destroy Syria in the process or end up with a Taliban regime.no leader,Bashar or any other,will be able to stay in power for 40 years after the March uprising.Syrians are not afraid anymore,but cool heads need to prevail.my Sunni relatives are even more worried than the non Sunnis in my family about the direction this uprising is taking. Enough is enough,dialogue and civil protest is the only way out,bleed lead but it leads to more bleed !!

“Enough is enough,dialogue and civil protest is the only way out,bleed lead but it leads to more bleed !!”
Abughassan, well said!

Two Video clips of the same scene showing two, horribly mutilated human bodies, amidst rubbles and on looking dozens of Syrian army soldiers were dismissed earlier as:
– Old.
– Posted before.
– Fake and manipulated; Quran and Maher/look-alike added for sensation!
– The person looks like Maher, but it is not him!
– A video without context and thus does not really show anything!

There is complacency about how damning this video clip is.
A brutal murder is a crime, even if its video evidence material is
– Old,
– Posted before

The Subject matter of this clip is a crime scene, and it is a grisly one.
Those two young men were our brothers.
Their families are extension to ours.
Their bodies tell that they did not die from natural causes.
Their scattered remains further tell that they were killed with vengeance.
We as Syrians and Syrian nation, owe it to those brothers and their families to track the perpetrators and their supporters and bring them to justice.

In an ordinary crime scene one expects police, CSI team, medical examiner, journalists, may be some curious public.
In this crime scene we saw an assortment of army personnel in field uniform.
They were not gathering evidence.
They were not offering condolences.

The shooter of this video was part of the entourage. On lookers looked the camera in the eye on several occasions.
The video was released by the shooter, or a close associate, for a yet undisclosed purpose

Maher Al Asad, or his Look alike, as you wish to claim, is part of the crime scene. That part is not fake.
No where on earth, except in the most oppressive dictatorships of the world, can a leader survive the political and legal fallouts of such a video.

The crime depicted in this video was in limbo, until the clip was released.
In a country with an able justice system, the release of such video should have been immediately followed by necessary investigative steps, including subpoena to interrogate Jr and little brother.
The bad news is, it has not
The good news is, it will!
Shortly,
In Free Syria

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLNCc_Dy3hs

Back to the Grand Scheme:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8492078/How-the-Fed-triggered-the-Arab-Spring-uprisings-in-two-easy-graphs.html