Dear Dr. Landis,
Could you please put a link to this important news:
‘The community of Mar Musa victim of an armed attack.’

Ref, ‘The community of Mar Musa victim of an armed attack.’
This story has a very ugly and eery feeling, I guess the terrorists are using the notebook of their friends in Algeria:

Assassination of the monks of Tibhirine

On the night of 26–27 March 1996, seven monks from the monastery Notre-Dame de l’Atlas of Tibhirine in Algeria, belonging to the Roman Catholic Trappist Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.), were kidnapped in the Algerian Civil War. They were held for two months, and were found dead on 21 May 1996. The circumstances of their kidnapping and death remain controversial; the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) claims responsibility for both, but the then French military attaché, retired General Francois Buchwalter, reports that they were accidentally killed by the Algerian army in a rescue attempt, and claims have been made that the GIA itself was a cat’s paw of Algeria’s secret services (DRS).

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

Democracy Now article and Video:

“Amnesty International’s Salil Shetty: Arms Embargo, Human Rights Monitors Needed for Syria Crisis,” Feb. 29. 2012
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/2/29/amnesty_internationals_salil_shetty_arms_embargo

I don’t care what your religion or non-religion is/isn’t, but please have a moment of silence for Homs. We are in 2012, and a modern butcher is imposing a medieval siege on a terrorized city! Worse is an army of propagandist, including commentors on this blog (I do NOT mean Prof. Landis and his editors, who have been providing fair/informative analyses lately), who are justifying a dictatorial regime’s wanton murder and terror!

What is the going rate for regime propagandists? I have couple friends looking for a buck or two in blood money.

Anybody who doubts that the militia leader Hasan Nasrallah of the Sectarian Hizballah is a partner in Bashar al-Assad’s war crimes and murders, should read this article. I am sorry it’s only in Arabic, but please use GOOGLE translation.

http://www.watan.com/news/politics/2012-02-29/4568
20 ألفًا من عناصر “حزب الله” مستعدون للوقوف مع الأسد

صنيف الخبر: تقارير
تاريخ النشر: 2012/02/29 – 08:42 PM
المصدر: وطن

حذرت مجموعة “الأزمة الدولية” من دخول الآلاف من عناصر حزب الله الشيعي اللبناني إلى سوريا لدعم نظام الأسد.
وأشارت المجموعة إلى وجود معلوما لديها بأن نحو 20 ألفا من مسلحي حزب الله اللبناني مستعدون للتدخل في النزاع السوري للوقوف إلى جانب حليفهم بشار الأسد الذي يواجه معارضة شعبية عارمة، وتوقعت المجموعة أن تقوم بعض الدول المشاركة في حلف الناتو بإمداد الثوار السوريين بالسلاح.
وقال الين ديليتروز نائب رئيس المجموعة – فى تصريح لصحيفة (كوميرسانت) الروسية نشرته اليوم الأربعاء – “إن مشكلة سوريا هي أن اللاعبين الدوليين والإقليميين ينظرون للوضع من ناحية اللعبة الجيوسياسية إذ يزيحون النزاع السوري الداخلي إلى المرتبة الثانوية في حين أن الثورة السورية يمكن أن تصبح أكثر الثورات العربية انفلاتا وتفجرا”، محذرا من خطورة ذلك الأمر، وفقا لوكالة أنباء الشرق الأوسط.
[…]

4. TARA said:

I couldn’t help not responding Tara as I am curious, but how come you are peddling Aspirin on SC for sometime now? Are you or a relative working for Bayer?

Dear Dawoud, in post #177 you were complaining about the US income tax and paying for Israel etc. There is Saudi Arabia you know as a living destination with no income tax to go to Israelis’, Shiites, Alawis and Infidels, have you considered that by any chance?. The Saudi gov contributes on your behalf to support Israel then.

One added bonus point, the Saudi Gov. wastes lots of money on petty useless things that they could have used that money to improve the life of Palestinians (even buy them a country of there own if they want to) and Muslims everywhere instead of relying on Infidels every time there is a disaster in Islamic countries such as Somalia, Sudan etc.

Anyway look on the bright side, things can be worse. Allah said in the Qur’an: “Do not hate something it might be good for you after all”, Sadaqa Allahu Al-Azheem!

Five Years in Damascus by STEPHEN STARR

after five years spent in Syria this guy is only capable of producing this piece of sh.t ? and he claims to be a journalist who had learned a lot ?

i bet that he spent most of those years locked in his hotel

yeah keep taking syrians for dumbs …

4. Tarasaid: What is the going rate for regime propagandists?

Actually, can’t help you, do not know. But could you tell us what the propagandizing rate is we Americans are subsidizing in high oil prices to the bountiful GCC countries behind the Syrian opposition (say, Al Jazeera)?

Darryl

Tara the peddler? No ? Not in sales. It is just normal for people to care about their “loved ones” and to want them to live long and healthy life.

——

JNA

The way I look at it, it is their oil. They want to give it as a gift or sell it for $100 a barrel, it is their business.

A report sent to the Guardian claims that a number of militia leaders have already left Baba Amr,if this is true,it means that the armed militia decided to end the battle at BA and move it somewhere else. Another report sent to aljazeera said the opposite,in either way,the confrontation at BA that claimed the lives of many Syrians may be coming to an end,new hot spots are waiting inline since arming the opposition is now the only plan at work for the SNC,GCC and many other “friends”.

Lies lies lies:
Riad Lahad:we brought down 3 planes(not one).
A handicapped child removed from under rocks
With fine legs.

A poem written by an activist as his testimony to his family and friends, this man was not a terrorist, did not hold a gun, and threatened no ones life, all he did was have the audacity to ask for freedom and was killed by the security services for it:

آخر كلمات خطها الشهيد صلاح عنيز الذي استشهد يوم 27-02-2012 في دمشق في كفرسوسة أثناء تشييع شهيد للحرية آخر
:جدي الحبيب
كنت أتمنى أن أكبر و أشيخ مثلك
كنت أتمنى أن لاتبكيني عينك
كنت أتمنى أن لاتغسل جسدي
بقطرات دمعك
…
أبي يا رمز الكفاح
سأرحل فأرجو منك السماح
انتهت ساعاتي هذا الصباح
عذرا أبي
لم أكن أدري أن بسمة الأطفال
تستفز الأشباح
لم أكن أدري أن ردهم على بسمتي
اجتثاث الأرواح
…
أمي رمز الحنان
لم أفهم لماذا كان ماكان
ولم اختار الطلق بصدري له مكان
أكبر الله كنت ووقتها آن الأوان
سقط الورد وقطفت زهرة الرمان
…
أصدقائي الصغار
روحي معكم تكمل المشوار
و ببسماتكم سينقلب الليل نهار
ولتعلموا أن زهر الرمان يدعى جلنار

Taken respectfully from:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=384554874890142&set=a.288141837864780.82005.287684561243841&type=3&theater

Ghufran,

I wonder if Syria is going back to the sixties when she was a sore in the side of other Arab states, the question to you Ghufran, do you think that Syria will accept what is planned for her of anarchy and civil war or will try to export the same to the GCC and any other state that interfere in Syria,.

UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan says he will visit Syria soon – Mar 1, 2012

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/12091926.cms

“I would expect to get to Syria fairly soon,” Annan, the former U.N. Secretary-General, told reporters after meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York. “I would plead with (Assad) that he should engage, not only with me but with the process we are launching.”

[…]

A very good article by Hamid Dabashi for Aljazeera English

On Syria: Where the Left is right and the Right is wrong
Both the Left and the Right in Syria are “statists” – power hungry, reaching to gain control of the state apparatus.

New York, NY – When the Green Movement started in Iran in June 2009, there was a recalcitrant fraction of the Left (taken in a very generic sense) that went on a rampage against it and denounced the civil rights uprising as a Saudi-US plot to dismantle the Islamic Republic and appease Israel and pave the way for neoliberal imperialism. “I am only for revolutions that make Israel angry,” one such sophomoric detractor of the Green Movement famously said at the time. “If Israel is happy with an uprising I am not happy.”

More than two years after the Green Movement and a year into the Arab Spring, the selfsame segment of the Left faces an even more crippling dilemma trying to formulate a sensible position vis-à-vis the bloody drama in Syria.

[…]

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/20122276412929860.html

Some details about what’s going on in BA and the French stiNcky situation there:

محاولات يائسة من المخابرات الفرنسية وعملائها للانسحاب من “باباعمر” إلى لبنان قبل افتضاح أمرهم

معلومات جديدة عن تورط العقيد وسام الحسن في تهريب المسلحين والصحفيين إلى حمص ، ومسؤول في”الجيش الحر” يعترف بتلقي السلاح من فرنسا والولايات المتحدة

باباعمرو ( وسط سوريا) ، لندن ، باريس ـ الحقيقة ( خاص): فيما تأكد أن الصحفيين الفرنسيين ، العاملين مع المخابرات الفرنسية ، إديت بوفييه و دانييل وليام ( كلاهما من صحيفة “لوفيغارو”) ، وصحفيين آخرين من إسبانيا وغيرها، لا يزالوان عالقين في منطقة ضيقة ومحاصرة في حي “بابا عمرو” ، تكشفت اليوم في بيروت وباريس معلومات جديدة حول حقيقة هؤلاء الصحفيين ومن أرسلهما والطريقة التي دخلوا بها إلى سوريا. ويبدو أن محنة هؤلاء الصحفيين ازدادت خلال الساعات الأخيرة  بعد تضيق الجيش السوري خناقه على المربعات المسلحة الأخيرة في الحي ، وبعد أن كشفت أجهزة الاستطلاع السورية عن نفق يبلغ طوله أكثر من 2 كم يربط الحي مع لبنان ، وعمدت إلى تفجيره وفق معلومات “الحقيقة”، بعد أن كان يستخدم لتهريب المقاتلين والسلاح من منطقة “وادي خالد” شمال لبنان تحت إشراف العقيد وسام الحسن ، رئيس فرع المعلومات في وزارة الداخلية اللبنانية!

على الصعيد الأول ، أكدت صحيفة “لوفيغارو” أن صحفييها ما يزالون عالقين في “بابا عمرو” ، فيما أكدت صحيفة تلغراف البريطانية ، نقلا عن نشطاء محليين ، أن ما يسمى بـ”الجيش السوري الحر” مني بخسائر فادحة وصلت إلى أكثر من ستين قتيلا سقطوا فقط خلال محاولتهم تهريب الصحفيين! وقالت الصحيفة ، نقلا عن منظمة “أفاز” ، التي تمولها وكالة المخابرات المركزية الأميركية وصناديق إسرائيلية في أوربا وتقوم بتدريب نشطاء “التنسيقيات” في سوريا ، إن  وضع المقاتلين في حمص  و”بابا عمرو” بات قاتما جدا” بعد أن أحكم الجيش السوري الطوق على المنطقة ، وقطع جميع وسائل الإمداد والتواصل بين الحي والعالم الخارجي ، وسيطر على حوالي 98 بالمئة منه ، ولم يبق سوى جيوب عصية يتخذ فيها المقاتلون من المدنيين والصحفيين الأجانب دروعا بشرية . وكان الرئيس الفرنسي دعا إلى وقف إطلاق النار فورا في ” بابا عمرو”!

  على صعيد متصل، دخل العالم كله اليوم ، بطلب من فرنسا ، على خط الأزمة في ” حي بابا عمرو” ، الأمر الذي يكشف حساسية الأسرار التي يمكن افتضاحها إذا ما وقع الصحفيون ومن معهم في أيدي القوات السورية! ولا تتعلق الأسرار بالصحفيين فقط ( وهما العاملان مع المخابرات الفرنسية ، وفق مصادر في ” لوفيغارو”، وسبق أن قاما بمهمات شبيهة في ليبيا) ، بل بالعناصر الأجنبية الموجودة في الحي ، والطريقة التي دخلوا بها إلى المنطقة. وعلى هذا الصعيد ، قالت مصادر لبنانية إن العقيد وسام الحسن ، رئيس فرع المعلومات في لبنان (وأحد اتباع الحريري)، هو من يشرف على إدخال السلاح والمسلحين والصحفيين سرا إلى حمص ومحيطها ، بتنسيق مع المخابرات الفرنسية ومع لمى عبد الحميد الأتاسي ، عضو ” حزب الشعب الديمقراطي” الذي يتزعمه رياض الترك ، والتي تعمل ناطقة باسم “الجيش الحر” في باريس بالتعاون مع برنار هنري ليفي
{…}

http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6836/Default.aspx

Brave Girl!

Syrian Girl – What Syria Should Do

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk1sLqfWdVw&feature=related

For all you anti Syria voices, know that NATO loves you, and would gladly kill another million Syrians, it has a proven track record. DU, destruction of archeological artifacts, Museams emptied, and loads of birth defects….

News from BA and what appears to be a dirty French game happening there:

محاولات يائسة من المخابرات الفرنسية وعملائها للانسحاب من “باباعمر” إلى لبنان قبل افتضاح أمرهم

معلومات جديدة عن تورط العقيد وسام الحسن في تهريب المسلحين والصحفيين إلى حمص ، ومسؤول في”الجيش الحر” يعترف بتلقي السلاح من فرنسا والولايات المتحدة

باباعمرو ( وسط سوريا) ، لندن ، باريس ـ الحقيقة ( خاص): فيما تأكد أن الصحفيين الفرنسيين ، العاملين مع المخابرات الفرنسية ، إديت بوفييه و دانييل وليام ( كلاهما من صحيفة “لوفيغارو”) ، وصحفيين آخرين من إسبانيا وغيرها، لا يزالوان عالقين في منطقة ضيقة ومحاصرة في حي “بابا عمرو” ، تكشفت اليوم في بيروت وباريس معلومات جديدة حول حقيقة هؤلاء الصحفيين ومن أرسلهما والطريقة التي دخلوا بها إلى سوريا. ويبدو أن محنة هؤلاء الصحفيين ازدادت خلال الساعات الأخيرة  بعد تضيق الجيش السوري خناقه على المربعات المسلحة الأخيرة في الحي ، وبعد أن كشفت أجهزة الاستطلاع السورية عن نفق يبلغ طوله أكثر من 2 كم يربط الحي مع لبنان ، وعمدت إلى تفجيره وفق معلومات “الحقيقة”، بعد أن كان يستخدم لتهريب المقاتلين والسلاح من منطقة “وادي خالد” شمال لبنان تحت إشراف العقيد وسام الحسن ، رئيس فرع المعلومات في وزارة الداخلية اللبنانية!

على الصعيد الأول ، أكدت صحيفة “لوفيغارو” أن صحفييها ما يزالون عالقين في “بابا عمرو” ، فيما أكدت صحيفة تلغراف البريطانية ، نقلا عن نشطاء محليين ، أن ما يسمى بـ”الجيش السوري الحر” مني بخسائر فادحة وصلت إلى أكثر من ستين قتيلا سقطوا فقط خلال محاولتهم تهريب الصحفيين! وقالت الصحيفة ، نقلا عن منظمة “أفاز” ، التي تمولها وكالة المخابرات المركزية الأميركية وصناديق إسرائيلية في أوربا وتقوم بتدريب نشطاء “التنسيقيات” في سوريا ، إن  وضع المقاتلين في حمص  و”بابا عمرو” بات قاتما جدا” بعد أن أحكم الجيش السوري الطوق على المنطقة ، وقطع جميع وسائل الإمداد والتواصل بين الحي والعالم الخارجي ، وسيطر على حوالي 98 بالمئة منه ، ولم يبق سوى جيوب عصية يتخذ فيها المقاتلون من المدنيين والصحفيين الأجانب دروعا بشرية . وكان الرئيس الفرنسي دعا إلى وقف إطلاق النار فورا في ” بابا عمرو”!

  على صعيد متصل، دخل العالم كله اليوم ، بطلب من فرنسا ، على خط الأزمة في ” حي بابا عمرو” ، الأمر الذي يكشف حساسية الأسرار التي يمكن افتضاحها إذا ما وقع الصحفيون ومن معهم في أيدي القوات السورية! ولا تتعلق الأسرار بالصحفيين فقط ( وهما العاملان مع المخابرات الفرنسية ، وفق مصادر في ” لوفيغارو”، وسبق أن قاما بمهمات شبيهة في ليبيا) ، بل بالعناصر الأجنبية الموجودة في الحي ، والطريقة التي دخلوا بها إلى المنطقة. وعلى هذا الصعيد ، قالت مصادر لبنانية إن العقيد وسام الحسن ، رئيس فرع المعلومات في لبنان (وأحد اتباع الحريري)، هو من يشرف على إدخال السلاح والمسلحين والصحفيين سرا إلى حمص ومحيطها ، بتنسيق مع المخابرات الفرنسية ومع لمى عبد الحميد الأتاسي ، عضو ” حزب الشعب الديمقراطي” الذي يتزعمه رياض الترك ، والتي تعمل ناطقة باسم “الجيش الحر” في باريس بالتعاون مع برنار هنري ليفي
{…}
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6836/Default.aspx

“One mediation process” key to ending Syria crisis: Annan – 2012-03-01

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-03/01/c_131439406.htm

“If we are going to succeed, it is extremely important that we all accept that there should be one process of mediation,” Annan told reporters at the UN headquarters wrapping up his first meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon since he was appointed the special envoy.

“When you have more than one, and people take their own initiatives, the parties play with mediators,” he said. “If one mediator says something that they don’t want, they go to the other,” he said, adding that “one single unity process” is needed that represents the “voice” of the international community.

[…]

It seems the answer in syria may be coming through fragmenting Syria into pieces which what Israel and the west wanted for long time.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Mar-01/165090-for-minorities-now-is-the-time-to-report.ashx#axzz1npRfQ2l4

the ineffable Radwan Ziadeh reinforcing the lies of the Israeli Barak by other lies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yFXihl1yp4&feature=autoplay&list=UUQ65FQZ6Nk-m4ryGGFXw7vg&lf=plcp&playnext=1

if the Israelis swallow the lies of Barak too bad for them ! who will pity them ? let them simply make their own revolution

as to this ridiculous gnome Radwan Ziadeh even the Americans whom he is the creature do not believe a word of his shenanigans, free to the Israelis to take him seriously …

Ziadeh like many others of his kind, is a poisoned chalice from the syrians

Clinton: more questions than answers about Syrian opposition – 01 March, 2012

http://rt.com/news/clinton-syria-opposition-arms-565/

“We have met some of the people from the Syrian National Council,” she said, noting that “they’re not inside Syria. This is not Libya, where you had a base of operations in Benghazi, where you had people who were representing the entire opposition to Libya, who were on the road meeting with me rather constantly, meeting with others.”

“So maybe at best, you can smuggle in automatic weapons, maybe some other weapons that you could get in. To whom, where do you go? You can’t get into Homs. Where do you go? And to whom are you delivering them? We know al-Qaeda. Zawahiri is supporting the opposition in Syria. Are we supporting al-Qaeda in Syria? Hamas is now supporting the opposition. Are we supporting Hamas in Syria?”

[…]

Norman,
Despite my objection to Bashar becoming president in 2000 and my belief that he needs to give up his office,and despite my opposition to albaath domination and corruption,it is now clear that Syria’s internal problems are being used to settle scores with Iran and to a lesser extent corner the palestianians who are still fighting for justice after 74 years misery. Alassads rule since 1970 did a lot of damage to Syria but also had certain achievements,what may come of this revolution if we go into a civil war is a country that is worse than the pre 1970 era ,a collapsed economy and a political structure dominated by war lords and religious zealots who are more loyal to the GCC than their own country.
The regime and a big chunck of the elite forces have decided that they have more to lose by giving more concessions after seeing that nobody wants to give them a decent exit,Clinton was the first western diplomat to talk about this,and I was told that the hawks in the regime won the argument and decided that Homs should not be allowed to fall
under the rule of the militia regardless of the price,the only wild card which seems a remote possibility is outside military intervention in the form of air raids,that is why there is so much focus on this particular approach since it may take years for the militia to topple the regime ,a big if,by force.
Syria today is far worse than the 1950s era because violence is more widespread and there is also an abundance if oil money and above all,there is Iran.
If things go south,the coastal areas will separate from the mother land,and most minorities will prefer that over getting slaughtered by alqaida and jihadist lunatics,I never thought I would see this in my life time.
Btw,Bashar will not be president of Syria much longer or even the head of any future entity in the coastal areas but his departure,if Russia has her way,will be orderly and in stages,however,his influence,and the influence of his Tayyar, through his close associates and loyal army chiefs will last for years to come.
The best case scenario is still a political settlement,that will not be considered by the regime or the opposition until there is a clear victory on the ground in the regime’s favor.
What Bashar’s armed opponents want is a swift fall of the regime and a Libyan style transitional period,they just do not know that this will be a transition to hell for all.

Ann,
Clinton needs to visit SC to find out

SOWHAT is right. Steven Starr’s piece was, to put it mildly, true garbage. Living in Damascus for 5 years, I thought I would read something that would make me reminisce and remember my youth in Syria. What a waste of time! This guy clearly learned nothing. Reading his trash, I get a feeling he spent most of his time in Damascus indoors, like foreigners do in their own countries.

I’ve read better garbage about Syria from March 14 douchebags like Zeina Karam and Nada Bakri. I’m really shocked that Joshua Landis presented Steven Starr’s writing as something special. Sometimes I think Landis’ “Syria expertise” is based only on old stories about family feuds in the villages of Lattakia and Nikolaos van Dam’s old books. I would just like to remind him that there is nothing linear about Syria. The current narrative of “Alawi vs Sunni” is bullsh!t and I hope that most Syrians understand this fact. The government was going to fall in 1976, 1979, 1982, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, and now it is going to fall in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2021, 2028 (if you know what I mean ;)).

[Please dial back your language a bit]

25. Jad said:

Ann,
Clinton needs to visit SC to find out

Don’t laugh, but I heard that the State Dept. reads SC 😉

Ghufran @24

“What Bashar’s armed opponents want is a swift fall of the regime and a Libyan style transitional period,they just do not know that this will be a transition to hell for all.

Of course they know, but they don’t care. In their eyes, hell in Syria for years to come is better than Bashar for one single day more.

This is echoed by many in SC. Fortunately for them , they all live in safety and comfort abroad.

At UN on Syria, Annan Talks Dialogue, Ban Spaces Question, Finances Undisclosed

http://www.innercitypress.com/syria6kofi022912.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 29 — When former Secretary General Kofi Annan came to the UN late Wednesday, it came after a day in which the Security Council could not agree on a statement demanding or calling for Syria to let UN Humanitarian chief Valerie Amos into the country.

Annan said he will go to Damascus, and that he wants to be the only mediator. He said the goal is to stop the violence, to create dialogue. He said that some may not want dialogue but the Syrians caught in the middle deserve it.

Inner City Press attended the photo op — Annan’s successor as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had with him his main adviser Kim Won-soo, his outgoing political chief Lynn Pascoe as well as UN Peacekeeping and other officials — and then Ban’s and Annan’s stakeout. Only three questions were allowed, and none dealt for example with Qatar’s call to arm the opposition, or even if Ban’s statement that Assad lost all humanity was useful.

[…]

Ann,you may want to read this:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=who%20reads%20syria%20comment&source=web&cd=13&ved=0CDsQFjACOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Foudaily.com%2Fnews%2F2012%2Ffeb%2F13%2Fdirector-centor-middle-east-studies-discusses-how-%2F&ei=sPJOT73xCYrgsQLGjvmeDg&usg=AFQjCNGvMaHmZwK2Em4xuH6JwTXvn-gB8w
(US amb Ford reads SC and so does a team of analysts at the SD,and most probably the CIA,a friend told me that the site is frequently visited by sources close to Bashar)

Edith Bouvier asks the French ambassador to come to Bab Amr and free her.

“Edith Bouvier, who was seriously wounded last week in the bombardment of a makeshift media centre, is asking the French ambassador to come personally and to do whatever he can, the LCC say.
Earlier, the French government said it stood ready to evacuate Ms Bouvier and photojournalist William Daniels, who were on assignment for Le Figaro.
“We expect the government in Damascus to provide all the conditions for a safe and rapid evacuation, in particular an immediate ceasefire in Baba Amr,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.”
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n272190

Was there money paid by some Lebanese security to rescue Paul Conroy?

What’s the latest on those French and Turkish blood thirsty mercenary killers captured by the Syrian military inside Syria?

Thanks

Guffran,

Thanks for the link about Dr. Landis, did not know he was a Fulbright professor in Syria. I recently came across the memoirs of Samuel Pickering Jr., a Fulbright professor that taught english in Latakia during the unrest of late 70’s early 80’s. Its a good read, I wonder if Dr. Landis was inspired by Pickering to teach in Syria.

http://www.ou.edu/mideast/Additional%20pages%20-%20non-catagory/Pickering_Fulbright_in_Latakia.pdf

I have to say the magazine : Le point- used a punchy line Syrie: l’opposition en voie de décomposition ?
Is the mainstream media less controlled in Europe than in the US?
http://www.lepoint.fr/monde/syrie-l-opposition-en-voie-de-decomposition-29-02-2012-1436196_24.php

I wonder if Galioun is going to RSVP his invite to Mrs Imperialist Clinton? Too bad..she already prepared 5 course meal. In all fairness I think she is a refined version of Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright, these two have poison dripping of their faces.
——–
As I was reading other blogs a blogger brought to my attention that what’s happening in Syria is a copy cat of what was orchestrated in Ivory-Coast…so the French hand is obvious in using same scheme.

http://www.ivoirebusiness.net/?q=node/3115
http://www.lexpress.mu/story/22894-cote-d-ivoire-la-france-et-l-onu-interviennent-dans-la-guerre-civile.htmlhttp://www.israel7.com/2011/04/lonu-intervient-en-cote-divoire/

SOD,
I know that Joshua seems focused on the sectarian divisions inside Syria for reasons that are not entirely clear to me but he as a relative outsider may be more objective than many of us about our own motherland.
Btw, I am still hopeful that Syrians will at the end behave like Syrians,but the oppression and corruption of 48 years of albaath and the Assads left too many scars in the Syrian psyche, those scars are now wide open due to the violence practiced by both sides, especially the regime, and the meddling of foreigners and violent islamists in Syria’s affairs.thank you for being more moderate than most, we all need a dose of that.

Annan seems to condition his ‘mediation’ to his exclusivity and no interference on the process. In other words he is telling the AL and the ‘friends of Syria’ to stay out.

Annan sees “one mediation process” key to ending Syrian crisis
2012-03-01 11:07:14
by William M. Reilly
http://www.chinaview.cn/world/index.htm
UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) — Kofi Annan, the UN and the Arab League (AL)’s joint special envoy for Syria, said Wednesday that an one and only mediation process accepted by all parties concerned is crucial for the success in the efforts to end the current crisis in Syria.

“If we are going to succeed, it is extremely important that we all accept that there should be one process of mediation,” Annan told reporters at the UN Headquarters at the end of his first meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon since he was appointed the special envoy.

“When you have more than one, and people take their own initiatives, the parties play with mediators,” he said. “If one mediator says something that they don’t want, they go to the other. (We need) one single unity process and it is one that the international community speaks with one voice.”

“That voice is powerful and we should pull our efforts and work together,” he said. “I am determined to work with everybody and I am going to consult broadly with all actors and I think I am well on the way in that direction.”

Annan, who served as UN secretary-general from 1997 through 2006, is expected to hold a series of consultations with UN member states through Friday in New York.

Ban, who met the press together with Annan, said that he had asked the joint special envoy to visit some Middle East countries, including Syria, “as soon as possible.”

In response, Annan said, “I would expect to get to Syria fairly soon.”

“I would plead with (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) that he should engage, not only with me but with the process we are launching,” Annan said.

Annan “will need the support of all those inside and outside Syria,” Ban said. “I call on all parties to do their utmost.”

“He will also be counting on the support of all member states on his diplomatic efforts including the Security Council,” Ban said. “He will certainly have mine. I strongly urge the Syrian authorities to extend their full cooperation.”

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has asked the United Nations to clarify the precise objective of Annan’s mission, ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Wednesday.

“Kofi Annan had talked with Mr. Muallem after his appointment and the Syrian side requested the precise objective of his mission be explained in a letter by the UN so that we can examine it,” the spokesman told reporters in Damascus.

Last Thursday, the UN and the AL announced that they had appointed Annan as their joint special envoy to deal with the crisis in Syria.

In a joint statement, Ban and AL head Nabil El-Araby said Annan would serve as their high-level representative on the crisis, and will be supported by a deputy from the Arab world who would be chosen later.

“The special envoy will provide good offices aimed at bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis,” the statement said.

The appointment of Annan to the post was widely hailed by the international community, including Russia and China, two permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Earlier this week, Annan held separate talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.

In the first statement in his current post, Annan called for the full cooperation of all parties and stakeholders to help bring an end to the current crisis in Syria.

His next stop will be Cairo to meet with AL Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Annan gave a hint of his approach to what he called “a very difficult assignment and … a tough challenge,” making a plea for only a single mediator, letting it be known he knows tricks played on mediators in the past.

“I am not going to say much tonight, since I am going to the region to talk to all concerned,” he said.

Annan said he was meeting with the Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja’afari while in New York and already has been “in touch” with Middle East leaders.

“I am arranging the agenda and as you can imagine in this type of situation, every move is sensitive and highly political, even the itinerary, but we are working it out and I would expect to get to Syria fairly soon.”

Months-long unrest in Syria has caused deaths of thousands. The United Nations recently put the death toll from the Syrian conflict at 6,000, while Damascus said that more than 2,000 army and security personnel have been killed during the 11-months turmoil and blamed armed groups backed by foreign powers for the tumult.

#3 DAWOUD said:

“I don’t care what your religion or non-religion is/isn’t, but please have a moment of silence for Homs. We are in 2012, and a modern butcher is imposing a medieval siege on a terrorized city! Worse is an army of propagandist, including commentors on this blog who are justifying a dictatorial regime’s wanton murder and terror!”

Creepy to see 11 people here quickly giving him the thumbs down for that. I think they have just given us evidence supporting what he said.

Norman, Ghufran,
As usual, I disagree with both of you about Syria fate to be divided in pieces.
Maybe that what the old colonial powers and the radical wahabi khalijis are working for, but it ain’t happening.
The Syrian society is diverse, that is fact, but is not and was never divided, even the majority of the Syrian Kurds didn’t ask to have their own piece of Syria for the Syrian Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, Druz and Ismaelis to ask for theirs, this gloomy fate will not happen unless the west occupy Syria and divide it on purpose, however, this scenario will be very costly on all levels to the whole world and I doubt that the world has a crazy leader at the moment to proceed with such plan.

What is truly alarming in the last couple months and is intensifying lately is the high level of the sectarian game/campaign that is orchestrated by both the Khalijis and the French for a lesser level on the ground and in the media (you can even see it on SC by specific people with specific sectarian message)

In my opinion, those two evil powers are using armed militias on the ground to make this issue as widespread as possible between all the different Syrian societies, luckily, until today, there is no reaction by the masses toward this strategy.

The repeated attacks between the Syrian Sunnis and the Syrian Alawis in Homs reached its peak, yet, fortunately for Syria it didn’t spread outside small and specific areas there, so they needed to add another group to the deadly equation.

Here came Jumbla6 role, everything started just one week after his visit to the Amri of Qatar which apparently he paid him well to start his tireless and shameless campaign of bullying and harassing the Syrian Druz, fortunately to no success.

Starting from last week it was the turn of the Syrian Christians to be threatened and bullied on the ground not only through the media.
Al7amidieh incident is defiantly staged, there is no presense of the army in that neighbourhood and it didn’t have any threat neither to the Army nor to the militias so why to attack it unless there is a reason, which appeaantly was a ‘sectarian’ one.

Then yesterday the threats to m7ardhe people to ask the Army to go away otherwise the terrorists will attack the city, again this threat doesn’t make sense to me unless it was meant to make some sectarian issue.

Today the incident of Mar Mousa adds more suspicion of the reason of targeting an isolated monastry that has nothing to do with anything happening in Syria, other than some ‘sectarian’ media strike with another ‘political’ message.

Unfortunately and sadly I wont be surprised if some bloody attack take place against the Syrian Christian communities somewhere in the country, la sama7 allah, but this ‘steady’ pattern is leading toward such thing and people needs to be aware.

one last thing about the sectarian game, I was shocked to see that even the non-violence movement is falling into this sectarian trap by using the Alawites’ shrines as a ‘post office’ for political message which fall into threatening/harassing category instead of the awareness mission it supposedly following.
http://youtu.be/mftaaJoub3I

Ghufran,
I agree with you about this crisis not being about Bashar anymore, it’s an obvious international power struggle over Syria for specific agendas and has nothing to do with any internal issue.

#2 Jad

You are drawing a very stretched link between a foraging raid on Mar Musa and the assassination of the monks of Tibhirine in Algeria.

I recall that Algerian incident years ago well, and at the time it was seen to be motivated by the fact they were foreign, not Christian.

There is a recent prizewinning book and a movie based on it, which I understand emphasises that it was not an Islam-Christian incident. The message is that the two communities managed to live in respect and harmony during Algeria’s terrible 1990s civil war.

The Algerian crisis was deeply complex and rooted in significant events and issues that have no resemblence to the currrent Syrian situation.

It sounds that the fsa left Baba Amr’s resident to their fate after using them as hostage and human shields and both were living in a fantasy world that has nothing to do with reality, this is the point I wrote about earlier by sticking someone self in reading one side of the story without checking what the other side is saying.

بلبلة في بابا عمرو : ناجي من المعارك يتحدث عن هروب قادة كتيبة الفاروق وصفحة الثورة السورية تعترف بخروجهم لتوصيل قافلة الحرائر إلى بر الأمان!!
خاص عربي برس – حي التوزيع الإجباري – الإنشاءات في حمص

تمكنت مراسلة عربي برس من التواصل مع أحد النازحين من بابا عمرو وهو رجل في الخمسين من عمره يدعى إسماعيل الشعار ، وهو رب عائلة بقي في منزله بعد نزوح عائلته إلى منزل إبنته في بلدة النبك قبل أسابيع ، والشعار يقول بأنه تسلل بين طلقات النار والقذائف بعد أن تجاوز الجيش العربي السوري في تقدمه إلى داخل بابا عمرو المنطقة المواجهة لسنتر القبجي بمئات الأمتار متوغلا داخل ” غابات ” المنازل العشوائية المجاورة لسكة القطار حيث يقيم الشعار في منزل (عشوائي ) .

شاهد العيان يقول :

الجيش أطبق على مداخل بابا عمرو منذ عشرين يوما ولكنه لم يقفلها تماما إلا قبل ثلاثة أيام أما قبل ذلك فكانت كل الطرقات مفتوحة لخروج المواطنين المدنيين ولكن المسلحين المرابطين مقابل الجيش كانوا يطلقون النار على مراكز الجيش وخاصة في جامعة البعث – كلية الطب البشري لمنع السكان من الخروج . وأضاف :

كثيرون من سكان بابا عمرو متعاطفين مع المسلحين ولديهم رغبة في إنتظار الناتو وهم يعتقدون بأن التظاهرات والعمليات المسلحة تعم أرجاء سورية وخاصة حلب ودمشق نصرة لهم والمسلحون مقتنعون بأنهم سيتلقون دعم طائرات دول الجامعة العربية وتركية و الناتو بين لحظة وأخرى وهم لا يصدقون بأن الجيش قد قرر الدخول حقا إلى المنطقة لأن كل الإشاعات كانت تتحدث وصدقها السكان والمسلحين على السواء من حيث أن الجيش لن يجروء على التدخل عسكريا في بابا عمرو لأن الإعلام العالمي موجود هناك ولأن الدول العربية ومجلس الأمن وتركيا لن يسمحو بذلك ولكن ما يحصل الآن أصاب الجميع بإحباط خاصة بعد إنتشار معلومات بين المسلحين (كانوا مرابطين حتى مساء اليوم على مدخل جورة العرايس من جهة الداخل قرب منزل – الشعار – وهو يؤكد بأن المقاتلين سمعوا على أجهزة الإتصال أخبارا عن إنسحاب مئات المقااتلين وقادة كتيبة الفاروق من بابا عمرو فأصيبوا بالبلبلة وأخذوا يصرخون على اللاسلكي وكان صوتهم مسموعا إلى منزلي يضيف إسماعيل الشعار – وكان صراخهم إستنكاريا حيث قال أحدهم : خانونا وضحكوا علينا وبس فات الجيش هربوا وتركونا .
{…}
http://arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=25210

#4. Tara said:

“What is the going rate for regime propagandists? I have couple friends looking for a buck or two in blood money.”

16 immediately rush to give the thumbs down! They must feel you spoke a threat to their jobs.

They seem to be not discreet about their presence here, like I pointed out in #38.

Syrialover

Two very important points I need to clarify:

-I never and will never see the struggle to be between Islam and Muslims against any other sect/religion, in my opinion that is not true.
The real issue is radicalism of any kind, ethnically, religiously and politically.

-I read the book ‘the monks of Tibhirine’ and you are absolutely right, the story was never introduced as a struggle between religious and that was not my intention at all, the killing of those monks was for political reasons, this is why I felt the connection between the two incidents.
From the beginning the monks of Tibhirine were actually helping the radicals by giving them food, and treating them and giving them medication (under threats) and the Algerian authorities at that time harassed the monks for doing that, but all that didn’t help the same radicals the monks treated and feed execute the monks in a horrible way and in a cold blood in a snowy night, so for me it doesn’t matter why they killed them, what matters is that they KILLED them.
Mar Mousa incident in my opinion has similar beginning of Tibhirine and sadly enough, every tragedy happened in the world started with one small incident.

Coup d’etat is the favorite choice for the ‘enemy of syria’.
How? NO CLUE!!
Meanwhile, keep the Qatari and the Saudi paying the bills…

اجتماع عقد على هامش مؤتمر تونس
استخبارات عربية وغربية تبحث خيار «الانقلاب» على الأسد

اجتماعان «لأصدقاء سوريا» في تونس، الأسبوع الماضي، وليس اجتماعاً واحداً: الأول دبلوماسي، والآخر في مكان مجاور، ولكن استخباراتي.
الانقلاب العسكري على النظام، كمخرج من مأزق عجز المعارضة السورية عن ترحيل النظام بعد 11 شهراً من انطلاق الحراك الشعبي في سوريا، عاد إلى الطاولة. وعلى صورة مؤتمر تونس «لأصدقاء سوريا» عقد ممثلون عن استخبارات غربية وعربية اجتماعاً موازياً للاجتماع السياسي في تونس نفسها.
الخبر جاءت به صحيفة «الكنار الآنشينه» في عددها الأسبوعي الصادر بالأمس. الصحيفة التي نقلت خبرها عن مصادر في وزارة الخارجية الفرنسية والاستخبارات العسكرية قالت إن اجتماعاً أمنياً على أعلى المستويات عقد في العاصمة التونسية، حضره ممثلون عن الاستخبارات العسكرية الأميركية والبريطانية والفرنسية والتركية والسعودية والقطرية، وبحثوا بشكل خاص خيار تنظيم انقلاب عسكري في سوريا ضد الرئيس بشار الأسد.
وقال ضابط في هيئة الأركان الفرنسية «إنه الحل الأمثل. من غير الممكن أن نكرر السابقة الليبية وأن نقصف جيشاً سورياً اصلب وأقوى من جيش (العقيد الليبي معمر) القذافي، تتحرك مدرعاته بحرية في المدن المتمردة، كما أن الأمم المتحدة لن تمنحنا الضوء الأخضر هذه المرة». يبقى في مواجهة الفيتو الروسي في مجلس الأمن تسليح المعارضة. يقول مصدر في الاستخبارات العسكرية الفرنسية إن شحنات من الأسلحة المتطورة قد بُرمجت، بالإضافة إلى خبراء غربيين في حرب المدن. وتصل الأسلحة والخبراء من بلدان عربية، لا سيما قطر.
{…}

243. Antoine said:

“May Khalid ibn Walid triumph over the Iranian stooge Ali.”

Ali (RA) was a senior and one of the greatest Companions. Certainly not an Iranian stooge. Ali and Khalid (RA) would be on the same side.

@251 Tara:

The regime can try to fool and decieve the world but in the heavenly court it’s crimes are tallying up. Yes every single one. Eventually when the sentence is passed the regime is gonna face the mother of all punishments.

Talking about the regime facing a blow or setback is it true Ann has defected?

[Doh! Damn! Wrong month. More fool me] 😳

I used to like Hugo Chavez but now… I’d rather not say. Disappointed to say the least.

He is supplying Assad with diesel fuel (2 shipments already last year) and promised to supply more if asked. He is pleasing his friends the Iranians. Probably backing up private verbal support with action.

He probably still is very popular amongst the Arabs and muslims who may not be aware of his material support of Assad. Perhaps it is time to start a campaign and spread awareness of his actions and bring down his popularity.

I happened to be reading the english translation of the Quran along with commentary and a certain note struck me and it seems very relevant.

Many of us supporters of the revolution will have felt, at times, uncontrollable frustration and anger at the constant lies and deceit of the regime.

The following is part of verse note 941 from A. Yusuf Ali’s translation and commentary of the Quran.

“The spirit of evil is ever active and uses men to practice deception by means of highly embellished words and plausible excuses and objections. God permits these things in His plan. It is not for us to complain. Our faith is tested , and we must stand the test steadfastly.”

Sorry for posting again. I just paid a visit to Sheikh Yaqoubi’s facebook and saw a new posting related to what we were talking about earlier (usefulness of prayer, Khalid bin Walid (RA)).

An Urgent Call to pray for the people of Homs
Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi

The city of Homs in Syria, where Sayyiduna Khaled Ibn AL-Waleed is buried, is being invaded by the the Army of the Syrian regime and brutal unprecedented genocides are being perpetrated with dozens being not only shot but also slaughtered like sheep in an attempts to take revenge on sunni civilians. Several other towns are being attacked or under siege.

We urge people to make special du’a for the victory of the Syrian people and their relief. May Allah reward you all. It is the least one can do to help and support your brothers in the blessed land of Shaam.

http://www.facebook.com/shaykhabulhuda

Hello folks, back from Egypt today.

I liked the article of Zeina Karam, and especially the joke she mentioned:

A man brings home a chicken for his wife to cook, but she tells him there’s no gas for the stove. “What about the microwave?” No electricity, she says. How about even the heater in their main room? No fuel.
At which point, the chicken jumps out of the bag and cries, “Long live Bashar Assad!”

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120228/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria_changed_damascus

Uzair,
i have a copy of his translation too, i find his language quite appealing, an real old english i would say.

Have you ever read the commentary by Muhammad Assad? His commentary differs in many ways from the mainstream sunni approach, i think they still publish him in the UK.

Jad

the events in Algeria in the mid 90s suggest a high role of the regime. Many independant reports suggest so. If you visit algeria Watch youll find reports which clearly show that the regime carried out the mass number of those massacres.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iqMDGCyYKrU

Michael Moore’s message to the nizam

[Caution: let us not associate individual commentators with nations. Avoid personally framing questions this way: Juergen == Germany]

Jürgen,
While in Cairo, did you have a chance to go and lecture the German University in Cairo about democracy and the right to protest?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/35695/Egypt/Politics-/GUC-students-protest-politicallymotivated-expulsio.aspx
“Thousands of German University in Cairo (GUC) students demonstrated Wednesday against a decision to permanently expel two students and ban three others from classes for their political activities.”

The next Syria-Egypt president has spoken:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/35747/Egypt/Politics-/Only-Sharia-law-can-fully-destroy-Mubarak-regime,-.aspx

Clinton: More questions than answers about Syrian opposition
http://rt.com/news/clinton-syria-opposition-arms-565/

http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2012/02/west-regards-majority-syrians-non-people
West Regards Majority of Syrians as “Non-People”

Russians living in Syria insulted, blamed for violence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/russians-living-in-syria-insulted-blamed-for-violence/2012/02/29/gIQAqKH2hR_blog.html

Russia upgrades radar station in Syria to aid Iran
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/29/russia-upgrades-radar-station-syria-aid-iran/

Here is an german report on how the revolution is taking ground in Damascus. The report was done by a german reporter who works secretly in Damascus. Again, the narration of the interviewed can be heard.

In the report the journalist suggested that by now more than 7000 have died and about 30.000 soldiers have joined the FSA, that would be every ten soldier of the regular army.
The report shows activists graffiting walls in Damascus, making fun of the President, especially about the famous story that the name of the family was closer to donkey and late Assad sen changed the unuseful family name to Assad. I always thought the name Wahasch does mean monster or unhuman being, or does it mean donkey as well?

In the interviews you can see a young men who was hit by an shrapnel and is since paralyzed, his sister takes care of him. It shows also that ordinary Syrians are more and more a victim of the brutality of the regime, one father described how his son got shot in his car, because he was getting to close to an army checkpoint. Somehow funny was the remark of an lady stating that the world does not care for the syrians, Brigitte Bardot is outraged when they slaughtered an sheep, and yet no one cares if we are killed.

One protester: we spray our slogans every night on the walls, during the day the muhabarat comes and erades all slogans. We possess the night, they possess the day.

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/hauptnavigation/startseite/#/beitrag/video/1578048/Alles-oder-nichts—Revolution-in-Syrien

Mina

I am quite sure Westerwelle will take care of that, the german university gets state fundings.

[Caution, please in associating one person with actions and policy of a nation. Thanks from the moderator.]

JUERGEN !

Why it is a shame to This German with Germany?

Blind Side: Iraq & Syria wars similarities un-covered
The world’s media is flooded with stories and images allegedly depicting the bloody results of the Syrian army’s assault on the city of Homs. But few have compared the clashes to the massacre in Fallujah, Iraq, which happened nearly ten years ago and saw US troops fighting alongside the government, against the rebels.
http://youtu.be/JDTjRqwqd5M?list=UUpwvZwUam-URkxB7g4USKpg

It is obvious that Ghalioun and Co. would try and distance themselves from the Islamic fighters in Syria, who are putting more the black headbands instead of the “Independence” Syrian flag.

There is no Free Syrian Army these days in many areas, or the Syrian Free Army is getting overtaken by religious zealots, instead of Syria lovers. On top of this: Sunni states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar keeps on interfering, because of their religious agendas. Their Sunni Sheikhs are calling now in the open also for a Jihad in Syria. These Sheikhs have been doing this since the beginning of events in Syria, and of course, they were preparing the Sunni masses everywhere for a fight with the indifels. The last decade can witness this. How this type of Takfiri thinking brainwashed the millions.

Now, people in some parts of Syria, want Islamic Caliphate in the open: but, wasn’t that what they wanted from day one when they chant ” We want a president who upholds the rule of Allah.”
بدنا واحد بيخاف الله
This is the chant everyday and everywhere. The “infidel” dialogue is all around; it is a religious war that is coming to the clear day after day. Also it is a war of influence between many powers and that is why you see them present in numbers throughout the conflict. The most dominant one is the Sunni Vs Shia/Alawis.

I used to read Ghalioun here and there. What would happen now if they start discovering his anti-Capitalist tone that you can see all over his writings. Ghalioun used to write (up till he started getting Qatari money) in a tone totally different.

Reading now a book he co-wrote with Samir Amin called
“The dialogue between State and Religion”, also could be translated as “The discourse of State and Religion..”
حوار الدولة والدين
المركز الثقافي العربي
الطبعة الاولى، 1996

Alan

you name it a shame, well you better check his background, Christoph Hoerstel has very good contacts to HAMAS and Hisbollah, he has lost all government jobs after he arranged meetings with HAMAS officials in 2006. Since then he always blame our government for being biased, i assume that he should consider taking a job with RT. May be he could join Lizzi in her work, quality journalism seems to be of need in the syrian media.

Two US Senators are calling for the investigation of Saudi Arabia role in the 9/11/01 attack, Graham, Bob Curry.

Again as usual I first check the pro regime sites: Doonia, Cham Press, Akhbar, Manar, and even RT.

Today is not a good day for Fredo:
Russia insisted on a country by country vote at the Human Rights Commission and only three countries voted not to condemn Syria’s regime Russia, China, and Cuba.

The next step is LaHaye and the ICC.

RT in Arabic has the news about Lavrov asking to meet with the GCC and he is going to Riad for consultation. The discussion will be what will Russia get for ditching Fredo.

China is embarrassed and the pictures and videos coming out are causing regrets about supporting such incompetent fool.

In Iran, the big question is the vote turn out. It would be really embarrassing to have the majority of the population stay home.

Yesterday and quietly the US has stopped successfully Iran from circumventing the sanctions through Noor bank in Dubai. That same day the Rial fell by about 12% to the dollar. There is panic and gold has soared in the Bazaars of Teheran.

HA on Manar TV has very little information on Syria. Finally the events on the ground are forcing the leader to just shut up.

More areas of the country are slipping from the grip especially at night and in the border areas. People are arming themselves and the flow of arms is going to accelerate.

The Ministry of foreign affairs is delaying the visit of Kofi and the Human Rights representative. Even Russia cannot support such fools.

If I were Putin I would bet on a smarter Fredo next time I stake my reputation on such fools.

Germs and Rats are coming.

Irritated

From previous thread. Sorry Irritated, I should’ve made myself clear. It was the word “hysteria” that is used by the chief propagandist that I was referred to.

A picture is worth thousand words. 

https://mobile.twitter.com/#!/javierespinosa2/status/173727443809615873?photo=1

Regime supporters: enjoy for now…

There is difference between arming the syrian people,including civilians, and arming the FREE SYRIAN ARMY.
Arming people will ensure that the different sects will be armed and here the majority will win,but that also ensure that civil war is inevitable, there will be a lot of death, probably one million, and many awful and ugly crimes will be seen.in the post Bashar era there will be chaos,and row bands will control the streets.
Arming the FSA ensure that civil war will not happen and it means that the minorities are protected,and they will manage the period in the post Bashar era well.
I think Arming the FSA is great thing and must be done soon,but the fight between FSA and the Assad troops is unbalanced thing the Assad troops has the advantage since they have better training and more weapons, it will be a fight between two armies,which is different from fight between army and armed civilians,The FSA can be defeated, but the syrian people will definitely win.

I fully support arming both the FSA and the syrian people, .
Purification of Syria ensure stability in the future.

49. Uzair8

“We urge people to make special du’a for the victory of the Syrian people and their relief. May Allah reward you all”

Please, don’t bring Allah or God in your personal judgements and desires. You don’t own the truth, no one does.
The only du’a or prayer we can have is for all Syrians who are dying, innocent or guilty.

38. SYRIALOVER said

“#3 DAWOUD said:

“I don’t care what your religion or non-religion is/isn’t, but please have a moment of silence for Homs. We are in 2012, and a modern butcher is imposing a medieval siege on a terrorized city! Worse is an army of propagandist, including commentors on this blog who are justifying a dictatorial regime’s wanton murder and terror!”

Creepy to see 11 people here quickly giving him the thumbs down for that. I think they have just given us evidence supporting what he said.”

Dear SYRIALOVER:

I agree with everything that you say and thanks for your eloquence. That comment was entirely about the terrorized city of Homs. Sadly, it looks like Bashar’s and Hasan’s army of propagandists (including those idealized/brainwashed Americans, who blindly accept Hasan’s utilization of the “resistance” without realizing that resisting a tyrannical dictator, not just the Israeli occupier, are BOTH essential). This should be considered the Next time Hasan, al-Manar, al-Dunia, RT, and Xinhunet hold an editorial meeting for their propagandists! FREE SYRIA! FREE Palestine!

Again, a moment of respect for Homs and its besieged/terrorized anti-Bashar citizens!

#Majedalkhadoon

“Purification of Syria ensure stability in the future.”

It seems that the FSA is already “pure”. How many Kurds, Christians, Shias, Assyrians, Druzes, Alawis, Circassians are there in the FSA?

“I fully support arming both the FSA and the syrian people”.

When are you joining physically the fight, you have no excuses.?

63. JUERGEN said:
(you name it a shame, well you better check his background, Christoph Hoerstel has very good contacts to HAMAS and Hisbollah)

Don’t forget that thanking these good contacts Germans an intermediary role have executed successfully in clearing of prisoners of war of Israel of Lebanon and Palestine!!! These contacts are at the bottom of success!! And if you name HAMAS and Hisbollah as a horror story, then according to Christoph Hoerstel Germany became a horror story

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/4c348a65-6ace-416c-929e-651fc014f484?GoogleStatID=1
المعارضة تشكًّل مكتبا عسكريا

جيش سوريا الحر يتصدى لهجوم باباعمرو

قال ناشطون سوريون إن الجيش النظامي واصل صباح اليوم الخميس قصفه العنيف على حي بابا عمرو في حمص سعيا لاقتحامه في إطار ما وصف بأعنف هجوم منذ اندلاع الثورة، كما أفادت لجان التنسيق بأن دبابات الجيش النظامي اقتحمت مدينة الضمير بريف دمشق واشتبكت مع وحدات الجيش السوري الحر.

وأضاف الناشطون أن وحدات من الجيش السوري الحر في الحي تمكنت حتى الآن من منع أكثر من سبعة آلاف من جنود الجيش النظامي من اقتحامه. ونقلت رويترز عن مسؤول في الجيش الحر قوله إن وحداته ستصعّد هجماتها على الجيش النظامي في مناطق مختلفة من البلاد لتخفيف الضغط عن حمص التي تتعرض لقصف متواصل بالمدفعية والصواريخ منذ 26 يوما.

وقال مهيمن الرميض لرويترز من منطقة في تركيا قرب الحدود السورية “ستكون بابا عمرو هي التي تقصم ظهر النظام.. النظام يظن أنه سيخمد ثورة سوريا في بابا عمرو. كل مدينة سورية ستكون بابا عمرو”.

واعترف الرميض، وهو عضو بالمجلس العسكري الثوري الأعلى الذي يشرف على الجيش السوري الحر، بأن المعارضين المسلحين في بابا عمرو يواجهون قوات تفوقهم كثيرا من حيث التسليح مع استخدامهم الرشاشات وقذائف المورتر، في مواجهة قوات مدرعة تدعمها المدفعية الثقيلة والصواريخ، لكنه قال إنهم يتشبثون بمواقعهم.

وقالت مصادر بالمعارضة إن مقاتليها “دحروا” محاولة للقوات الحكومية للتقدم إلى بابا عمرو من منطقة حكورة على المشارف الشمالية للحي، لكن دبلوماسيين قالوا في وقت سابق إن الفرقة المدرعة الرابعة بالجيش السوري يبدو أنها عاقدة العزم على اجتياح الحي.

ومن جهته، قال المتحدث باسم الهيئة العامة للثورة السورية هادي العبد الله في لقاء مع الجزيرة إن حدة الاشتباكات بين كتائب الجيش النظامي والجيش السوري الحر تراجعت قليلا في الساعات الأخيرة بسبب العاصفة الثلجية التي تتعرض لها مدينة حمص، حيث توقف القصف عن باقي أحياء المدينة فيما تدور اشتباكات متقطعة بين الحين والآخر.

وأضاف العبد الله إن حمص تتعرض لمأساة حقيقية بسبب العوائل التي أصبحت بلا منازل في ظل العواصف الثلجية، في وقت يستمر فيه انقطاع المياه والكهرباء عن المدينة، كما أن الغذاء شبه معدوم في حمص وتماما في بابا عمرو.

وطالب المتحدث كافة الدول بالتدخل بشكل سريع وتحمل مسؤولياتها، كما طالب “السوريين الشرفاء” بالتصعيد في كافة المدن والمحافظات لتخفيف الضغط على بابا عمرو، مؤكدا أن القصف أوقع عددا من القتلى والجرحى في حيّ كرم الزيتون.

وقال قائد الجيش الوطني الحر العقيد رياض الأسعد إن عناصره أجلت عددا كبيرا من المدنيين والصحافيين من حي بابا عمرو.

وفي السياق ذاته، اتهم المجلس الوطني السوري الجيش النظامي بارتكاب إبادة جماعية في حمص، وتحديدا في حي بابا عمرو عبر استهدافه بصواريخ سكود وقصفه بالطائرات الحربية.

وفي إدلب أفاد مراسل الجزيرة في مدينة سرمين بأنه بعد أيام على قصف المدينة بدأت تتكشف آثار الدمار والخراب حيث عثر الأهالي على جثث قتلى في المزارع وأحياء المدينة.
[…]

[Edited: avoid provocative paraphrases. Attack the argument, not the person]

Majed,
You are calling for ethnic cleansing, there are no christians in Homs any more, that is really sad,

#63 Juergen

“Christoph Hoerstel has very good contacts to HAMAS and Hisbollah”

So any journalist who has good contacts with resistance movements is a ‘propagandist’?
What about the bunch of journalists, Paul Conroy and others who have excellent contacts with the ‘resistance’ in Syria?
I see, they are all “propagandists”, in this case why do you proudly quote them?

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/03/20123175034166718.html

Ground assault looms in Homs district
Activists in Bab Amr report shelling and some clashes as troops and tanks close in around besieged neighbourhood.
Last Modified: 01 Mar 2012 11:06

Syrian government forces are massing around a besieged district in the city of Homs amid clashes with armed fighters and an increased artillery bombardment, raising fears of an impending ground assault, activists reported.

Accounts from the Bab Amr district differed over whether an attack had already begun, but on Thursday sources told Al Jazeera that there had yet to be a major assault.

Activists and fighters said there had been some clashes with government forces, whose numbers were in the thousands and increasing.

Reports from Bab Amr suggested that the shelling and fighting were limited to that district, which was described as being surrounded, and were not taking place throughout Homs.

But communication with residents in the district was difficult. Electricity and phone lines have been cut off, and an activist from the Syrian Network for Human Rights told Al Jazeera that the government was using a new technology to jam satellite phone signals.

“The Free Syrian Army has succeeded in stopping the attempt to attack Bab Amr, and it continues to resist,” Homs-based activist Hadi Abdullah told the AFP news agency.

He said that troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had not entered the district, which has become a symbol of the Syrian uprising after nearly a month of bombardment.

“The fighting between deserters and the army continues on the edges of Bab Amr, not inside,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
[…]

The Syrian army liberated Baba Amr,

Jürgen
So you didn’t notice while you were in Cairo that Ismail Haniyeh gave a speech at al-Azhar mosque? Since the Egyptian government has a lot of contacts with Hamas, would you advise the German university in Cairo to close its doors? What about Qatar having a Taliban Office in Doha?

After 27 days and hundreds of dead and displaced, the armed militias now care about the few civilians left.

Syrian rebels ‘in tactical pull out of Baba Amr’
AFP – 21 mins ago

Syrian rebels “tactically” pulled out of the Homs neighbourhood of Baba Amr Thursday after nearly two days of an all-out assault by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, the head of the Free Syrian Army said.

Rebels “have pulled out tactically in order to protect the remaining civilians,” Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad told AFP, after the district was subjected to 27 days of bombardment.
http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-forces-launch-ground-assault-rebel-city-025618757.html

Norman
No I sympathize with the christians, they are not the one who are killing syrian ,and they are more than welcome to stay, I call to protect christians in Syria,
Purification means keep only those who believe in Freedom and democracy,those who support dictatorship must go.they are not pure, they are blood thirsty people, only freedom loving people should stay in Syria.

Irritated
FSA has Kurds,Shiite Druze Sunni and Alawis.
And yes I signed up to go and volunteer ,in Turkey, as a surgeon,as the call from Syrian medical society sent e a message to do that.

Aavaz is well connected with guerilla movements in Baba Amro since the beginning of the uprising. Now it is even in the news. But it was on SC even before the guy started to work with Aavaz!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/29/syria-arab-and-middle-east-protests

[Edited: avoid equating the government of Syria with a religious belief or practice]

Norman

Ethnic cleansing? Had ethnic cleansing not been what the Christians supporting the regime calling for all along under the “politically correct” disguise of calling the revolutionaries Islamic terrorists?

Why would anyone who had a family member killed in Homs by the Alawite regime with majority Christians clapping for it would care whether any supporter remain in Homs? A simple question begging for an answer!

# 76,

Dear Mr./Ms. Irritated:

No, Syrian activists, including those in terrorized Homs are extremely resilient. Courageous NGOs like AVAAZ.ORG have given so many satellite and communications equipment to the Syrian activists that it would be very hard for Bashar, Hizballah, and Iran to SILENCE THE TRUTH COMING FROM THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION AND HOMS.
Please consider giving a donation to Homs. I have already sent them my donation.

http://www.avaaz.org/en/arab_league_save_syria_3/?fp
Update: 22 February 2012
Today in Syria 7 unarmed activists were assassinated in cold blood while trying to bring medical supplies into the city of Homs. They join thousands of brave citizens, medical workers, and journalists murdered by a regime that has gone beyond all limits of brutality. Avaaz is calling for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire (read the press release here) and more than 400,000 of us have called on the Friends of Syria group to take immediate action. Let’s get to 500,000 — add your voice now!
[…]

On AVAAZ press release, please see:

http://avaazimages.s3.amazonaws.com/syriapressrelease.pdf
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Avaaz: World Must Enforce Humanitarian Ceasefire in Homs as 21 killed

Avaaz today called for an urgent humanitarian ceasefire to be enforced in Homs as shells rained down on the city for the nineteenth day, leaving at least 21 dead including two international journalists. Over 20,000 people are trapped in Baba Amr who cannot leave and have no access to medical care. Anyone who tries to leave is targeted. ‘Abo Bakr’, a citizen journalist for Avaaz from Baba Amr said today: “If we don’t die of the shelling, we will die of thirst and hunger. All the shops are empty and we are forced to drink water out of old wells which is dirty and people are getting sick. The situation here could not get any worse, we urgently need the world’s help.” Avaaz is calling for the Friends of Syria group meeting in Tunisia this Friday to urgently demand a humanitarian ceasefire so that civilians are protected and that humanitarian aid is moved into the country. Over 370,000 people are calling on the Friends of Syria to protect civilians, get humanitarian aid into the country, support the Syrian opposition, toughen sanctions, and stopping the flow of weapons to the regime army. The petition will be delivered to leaders in Tunisia on Friday and can be seen here. Seven Avaaz activists were executed by the Syrian

[…]

Apparently the link is simply that of the live blog and it may disappear, so I paste the important part of the article:

[Link added, from the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont Feb 29
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/29/syria-arab-and-middle-east-protests?newsfeed=true ]

Javier Espinosa, the El Mundo correspondent who has been trapped in a besieged suburb of the Syrian city of Homs, has escaped to safety.

Espinosa, who has written a series of dramatic dispatches from Homs – some published in the Guardian – was smuggled out afternoon after making the perilous journey out of the city.

He was reporting from Baba Amr, the suburb that has been under siege for 25 days, and was one of the tiny group of journalists trapped there when two of them, including the Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin, were killed last week.

It was disclosed on Wednesday that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad had refused permission for the UN’s humanitarian aid chief, Valerie Amos, to enter the country, despite the urgings of Moscow. Reports also emerged of heavy fighting on all four sides of the Baba Amr district.

Meanwhile Kofi Annan, the new UN-Arab League envoy for Syria, said he would hold talks in New York with the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and member states. He will then meet the Arab League chief, Nabil Elaraby, in Cairo.

According to witnesses, the Syrian army’s 4th Division has moved towards the outskirts of Baba Amr, where troops were involved in heavy clashes with members of the Free Syrian Army.

Espinosa’s escape follows that of Colvin’s colleague, the Sunday Times photographer Paul Conroy, who was smuggled to safety on Sunday evening after the journalists were split up during their escape attempt while under attack by government troops. Thirteen activists were killed trying to get them to safety.

The campaign group Avaaz, which helped coordinate the escape of Conroy said on Wednesday night that Espinosa had reached Lebanon.

In a statement the group said: “Javier Espinosa left Baba Amr with Paul Conroy and the Syrian activists on Sunday. But after the Syrian Army shelled the fleeing party, he was separated from Conroy and the activists as he stopped to tend to the wounded and severely injured.

“For several hours he was unaided before he was reunited with a group that were able finally to escort him to safety in Lebanon.

“Sadly two more journalists, Edith Bouvier and William Daniels, remain trapped in Homs tonight as a full-scale ground invasion of the Baba Amr neighbourhood appeared to begin.

“Government forces were today engaged in an assault on four fronts after the most severe shelling of the last 26 days where over 20,000 people remain.”

UK shuts embassy in Damascus
not wellcome !
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_03_01/67238125/
The UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has decided to shut the country’s embassy in Damascus and recall all diplomats from the country amid unrest and violence. He explained the measure by safety reasons.

However, reporters say that the situation in the embassy area is quiet and the decision is politically bound.

AFP

Tara,

I am glad for what you said, you are going to get a lot of support from the Christians in Syria, and other countries,

Mina #77

Siding on the Syrian “opposition” is now the new trend among Arabs who lost their self esteem in obtaining justice in the conflict with Israel.

To compensate for their feeling of impotence, they think they can regain their sense of empowerment if they crush and humiliate the staunchest resistant to Israel, in the name of a “higher justice and ideal”.
This time they have the western powers and Al Qaeda on their side, so they hope for a ‘victory’ to get back their lost self-esteem.
The wake up will be hard.

Majedalkhaldoon #79

“And yes I signed up to go and volunteer ,in Turkey, as a surgeon,as the call from Syrian medical society sent e a message to do that.”

That’s laudable and it maybe be an eye opener for you.

Norman

Are you kidding?

After the world witnessed 11 months of butchery of the Syrian people by the Assad and his thugs, do you really think that the revolutionaries have any slightest illusions that the supporters can be won over? Do we want to win over killers?!

I personally would not want to be a neighbor to killers. Killers belong to each others. Isn’t that a normal emotion?

#82. Tara said:

“Had ethnic cleansing not been what the Christians supporting the regime calling for all along under the “politically correct” disguise of calling the revolutionaries Islamic terrorists?

I have not read about Syrian christians killing anyone, did you?
Ethnic cleansing involves physically eliminating people because of their race or religion. It is exercised against minorities.

Irritated
I hope YOU open your eyes in the near future, and realize that supporting dictator is a loosing endeaver, those who support dictator, must be cleansed in Syria we want only people who beleave in freedom ,the rest must be eliminated, they want to kill the freedom lover, they deserve their own medicine.

Bronco
get rid of who support dictators is not ethnic cleansing, ethnic cleansing is what the supporters of this regime is doing,

We will win and the Assad supporters will be the losers

The Syrian Army still has its hitting power.

Interesting to know how well encircled they have these rebels.

Also interesting to know the status of these rebels’ ammo stocks and where they draw supplies. I’ve a hunch the former is low and the latter is being compromised.

Robert Fisk: The regime calls it ‘cleaning’, but the dirty truth is plain to see

The word being used by Syria is a chilling one

“So it’s the “cleaning” of Baba Amr now, is it? “Tingheef” in Arabic. Did that anonymous Syrian government official really use that word to the AP yesterday? It’s a chilling expression, one that always precedes a lot of killing. And the UN says it’s 7,600 so far. The Israelis used the same word in English when they stormed into Lebanon in 1982 (total dead about 17,500). Five months earlier, when the Syrians were finishing off the Muslim insurgents of Hama, just north of Homs (more than 10,000, possibly 15,000 dead), they said they were “researching” the area, “searching”, “investigating”. The word they used was “bahagh”.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-the-regime-calls-it-cleaning-but-the-dirty-truth-is-plain-to-see-7466839.html

Dear Juergen,

Welcome back!
What was your impression regarding Cairo? Can you tell a little about your trip, observations, meetings, talks etc?
.

Irritated

i dont have a problem with journalists talking to rebels, revolutionaries,ect, but if you are an government advisor you better stick to the guidelines your government sets, and the position of our government is since 2006 that Hamas is an terrorist organization, and he knew it. What i dont like is that such folks blame the government on one issue, but actually he might just is still mad that they kicked him out.

Just for the record, to me Hamas is the legitimate
government of the Palestinians in Gaza, as they were democratically elected.

Mina

sure i saw the support of Haniyeh in Cairo, and Egypt has a lot of grounds to make with them over the handling of the border control to Gaza. I do think that such actions of schools or universities are counterproductive, and the least my government can do is to cut subsidies of such private schools with public subsidies.

Juergen
I think you meant TANZEEF, actually cleansing means ta6heer

To all sectarians and Alqaeda supporters living in Lalaland to wake up of their delusions and hysteria

تك تك يا ام سليمان

Welcome back Jeurgen. :)Hope you had a nice trip.

About your question. Muhammad Assad? Any relation to….nah only joking. I have heard of him but not read his translation. I know some famous converts to Islam have read his works before accepting Islam.

68. irritated said:

[“We urge people to make special du’a for the victory of the Syrian people and their relief. May Allah reward you all”

Please, don’t bring Allah or God in your personal judgements and desires. You don’t own the truth, no one does.]

Mr Irritated. Did you even read the comment properly if you didn’t check the link?

Those are not my words but those of the Sheikh.

Anyway I’m off to read the interesting sounding R. Fisk article posted by Jeurgen.

Bronco

I didn’t say Syrian Cristians are committing ethnic cleansing. I said they are calling for and cheering ethnic cleansing under the disguise of calling the revolutionists “Islamic terrorists”.

That brings us to a very good question. Going forward, when the revolution succeeds in toppling Bashar, can average anti-regime Syrians feel any passion towards the Christians who supported their slaughter. Now honestly, should they care if most Christian supporters of the regime decide to emigrate? Is it possible to trust your Christian friend knowing that if history to replay itself once more, majority Christians would cheer for our death?

I am hoping you think with me rather than accusing me. I have no hate towards anyone except Bashar.. To the contrary, I perhaps have a rather unjustifiable “love” to people..

Homs has played its part in the uprising. A very important and heroic role. This tactical FSA retreat doesn’t mean Homs will no longer play a role but now another region will step up to the plate. Perhaps Damascus. [Just a thought – would the regime besiege and flatten any part of Damascus if it came to it?]

The people of Homs made an oath. They have stood firm for 27 days of brutal indiscriminate onslaught. It appears they have fulfilled their part of the oath (?)

We humbly await the judgement from heaven.

Hey everyone! Assad is rehearsing for liberation of the Golan by practicing on innocent women and children.

UN-AL envoy for Syria to begin mission on March 7 – 2012-03-01

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-03/01/c_122778697.htm

“Annan’s visit to Syria will be followed by a visit to other countries affecting the Syrian affairs in a bid to find a solution “, he said.

[…]

Commentary: HRC resolution only fuels violence, causes more human rights abuse in Syria – 2012-03-01

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-03/01/c_122778722.htm

The resolution, which China voted against along with Russia and Cuba, is dangerously lopsided and will possibly fan fresh violence as it only calls on the Syrian government to lay down arms, while turning a blind eye to the violence and severe bloodshed caused by the opposition.

Although the resolution carries no legal weight, it sends a dangerous signal to the opposition that their equally condemnable acts of violence are tolerated and even supported by the international community.

It also paves the way for increased international pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, and fuels enthusiasm for foreign military intervention in Syria.

[…]

Moderator

There was nothing wrong with my comment for you to pull it for moderation. The question is legit. How can you trust your killers? Please review my posts with josh ASAP and release them. I need an explanation for pulling my posts for moderation.

I just read in the Global Mail there is an uprising in Saudi Arabia and no outcry from the mainstream media. It seems they can’t find activists to pay & interview.

The Growing Rebellion in Saudi Arabia

http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/the-growing-rebellion-in-saudi-arabia/84/#

Several posts are under review at the moment. I will release those posts that do not use discriminatory language against a sect, a person, a religion, or a national group.

I encourage every commentator to help keep Syria Comment both civil and open. Do not use these comments for personal attacks, whether open or hinted. Do not accuse other commentators of being paid propagandists, terrorists, ethnic cleansers, or use insulting epithets to denigrate a class of people. We value free and open discussion. We discourage needless provocations and escalation. We hope for the widest possible range of opinion, with the loosest possible restrictions on expression.

Please use the SC Moderation email to alert the moderators to problems, or for answers to questions, concerns or complaints. SCModeration@mail.com

Thank you to all active members of the community: we have increased the readability and civility of our comments.

Uzair8 #97

“The FSA militia is rehearsing for liberation of the Golan and Al Kuds by practicing on innocent women and children.”

and withdrawing ‘tactically’ as they did from Zabadani and other locations where they were about to be annihilated.
I thought they were fighting to the last men. But after 27 days their heart suddenly ached for the remaining civilians and the loss of their satellite phones.
That is so noble.

Dear Moderator

Thank you for releasing my posts. I have specifically said “Christians that support the regime” and did not generalize to a sect. I am well aware of Haytham, SL, kilo, Grorge Sabra, and Samar Yazbek, and other Minorities who are against the regime. I asked how to trust those who killed or cheered for killing Syrians going forward knowing that history can and may replay itself.

I think we as a nation should not have taboos and redlines. Things should come out and be discussed in public. Discussing it loud and clear may.. ( and only may) help with the healing process.

Nobody expects Bangladesh to interfere in the internal affairs of the United States. Nobody is going to bomb the United States to force it to modify its immigration or monetary policies because of the human consequences of such policies on other countries. Humanitarian intervention goes only one way, from the powerful to the weak.
….
The Libyan adventure has illustrated another reality conveniently overlooked by the supporters of humanitarian intervention, namely that without the huge US military machine, the sort of safe no-casualty (on our side) intervention which can hope to gain public support is not possible. The Western countries are not willing to risk sacrificing too many lives of their troops, and waging a purely aerial war requires an enormous amount of high technology equipment. Those who support such interventions are supporting, whether they realize it or not, the continued existence of the US military machine, with its bloated budgets and its weight on the national debt. ….
—
Piazza della Carina
http://piazzadcara.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/the-case-for-a-non-interventionist-foreign-policy-by-jean-bricmont/#comments

Firstly I hope Aboud and all Homsis are safe.

As Aboud would say, the whole point of a guerrilla army is to live to fight another day. The regime will have to hold this ground (Bab Amr) and may be easily picked off by hit and run attacks on checkpoints etc. The regime is gonna have to go after other parts of Homs, followed possibly by Daraa, Idlib etc. They will be stretched leaving themselves exposed to guerrilla tactics.

Weren’t the regime forces previously in control of Homs? Did they not withdraw because their checkpoints were being attacked and over run?

Taking control of an area is one thing but holding it is another. FSA is not for holding. It’s strengths will be guerrilla warfare and hopefully now it will come into its own.

For the ones who miss Robert Ford’s boring and predictable bla-bla

Syrian regime under ‘greater stress’ now: US
AFP – 30 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-regime-under-greater-stress-now-us-165237688.html

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime is under “greater stress” than it was just two months ago and it will eventually fall, senior US diplomats told a Senate panel on Thursday.

“The Assad regime is under greater stress than it was even two or three months ago,” said Robert Ford, the US ambassador to Damascus who left his post when the United States closed its embassy there for security reasons a month ago.

Ford told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the Syrian military which has led an 11-month bloody crackdown against pro-democracy protesters is “more challenged” as they suffer a “steady stream” of defections.

“The military have so far retained their cohesion, the security services have retained their cohesion, but they are under significantly more stress,” Ford said.

The business community is “very unhappy” and the Assad regime has changed its policies to “placate” them, and the leadership is also worried about their eroding support in the street, he added.

Ford said he believes the regime understands “this is the biggest challenge” to it during 40 years of Assad family rule.
(…)

[Norman, please feel free to address suggestions and concerns directly to SCModeration@mail.com. I have sent you a longer answer privately. In short, your question below is best addressed to Majedkhaldoun; Majedkhaldoun can answer to his meaning of the words ‘Purification of Syria‘]

SCM,
Majed said,(( Arming people will ensure that the different sects will be armed and here the majority will win,but that also ensure that civil war is inevitable, there will be a lot of death, probably one million, and many awful and ugly crimes will be seen.in the post Bashar era there will be chaos,and row bands will control the streets.))

((I fully support arming both the FSA and the syrian people, .
Purification of Syria ensure stability in the future.))

MR Moderator,
What do you call this argument.?

SCM,

I did ask Majed that in 74 and he answered to my satisfaction and that was the end of it,

Terrorist attack on police in Istanbul, no death

Bomb attack on police bus wounds 16 in Istanbul
(AFP) – 9 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hZUw53ylAezyQRXOrkbL7kkkOYOA?docId=CNG.9707fff7bc7b5ac3908f92bb1ccfcda5.661

ISTANBUL — A roadside bomb in central Istanbul wounded 16 people, almost all of them police officers, on Thursday, in an attack near Turkey’s ruling party headquarters, officials said.

The remote-controlled explosive was fitted to a stationary motorcycle and went off in the morning as a police bus carrying 21 officers passed by, authorities said.

The blast hit close to the offices of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who condemned the attack as an “act of terror”.

“The villains that carried out this attack will never reach their ambitions,” he said in televised remarks, without naming any suspects.

Several outlawed armed groups — Kurdish, Islamist and leftist extremist — have carried out bomb attacks in Istanbul in the past.

Erdogan said 15 of those wounded were police officers.

Istanbul police chief Huseyin Capkin said the blast came from a “remote-controlled bomb that went off as a duty vehicle with 21 policemen on board drove by,” the Anatolia news agency reported.

The device was made of plastic explosives, Istanbul governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu was quoted as saying by the agency.
(…)

An exclusive inside report from an activist in Homs

Syrian Activist: ‘It’s Snowing And We’re Shaking Here’
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/03/01/147730155/syrian-activist-its-snowing-and-were-shaking-here?ft=1&f=1001

According to activists inside and outside Syria, the government’s 27-day siege against the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr has now succeeded. Initial reports suggest that forces are entering this neighborhood in the city of Homs, but details are sketchy at best because most of the reporters and citizen journalists covering the story have either fled or died.

One man, though, continues to bear witness. Sami, known as @samsomhoms on Twitter, is one of the last holdouts in Homs continuing to report on the dire situation there.

“I’m now near Baba Amr,” he told us via Skype earlier today. “The shelling had increased yesterday in a very crazy way that was very intensive and concentrated, from morning til sunset… [But] now it’s just shooting by live rounds.”

While the end of the shelling is no doubt a relief to those inside the city, it’s also a sign that the next stage of the army operation has begun: a mop-up operation by ground forces going street by street, door to door. By any reasonable measure, the Syrian opposition’s most symbolic stronghold has fallen.

“Baba Amr is the most powerful center for the opposition — for the [Free Syrian Army (FSA)] and for the peaceful opposition,” Sami explained. “I think we have to remember that Baba Amr has stood against barbaric force by the regime for a continuous 27 days. That’s a very long time…. They are without water, without food and medications – without any support since the 5th of February. I think the next step of the regime, they will invade other areas near Homs where the FSA are. I absolutely hope they don’t do that, but the regime considers this a big, important win.”

“It’s impossible to do anything without the Free Syrian Army,” Sami lamented. “They [the opposition] are protected by them; they were protecting the protesters, even at the sit-ins and the strikes… That was all protected by the FSA. And without them we are unable to do anything.”

“The FSA doesn’t have weapons like the regime – just light weapons,” he added. “They can’t stand [against] the shelling and the mortars of the regime forces.”

While the fall of Baba Amr is a major setback for the opposition, Sami’s greatest concern at the moment is the humanitarian plight of civilians trapped in Homs.

“Water is still shut down by the regime for the third continuous day. And electricity too, for most parts of the city…. It’s a terrible situation in that it’s snowing right now; it’s snowing and we’re shaking here. We don’t have any way to warm ourselves. There’s no fuel, there’s no electricity.”

“The humanitarian situation is going so bad,” Sami continued. “It’s terrible, this military operation. The Free Syrian Army is making a withdrawal… They have withdrawn from the area of Baba Amr and the forces of the regime can enter it at any time.”

“There is no food, no medication, no water. It’s just a terrible situation. We need immediate help and aid, and we need humanitarian organizations to relieve our area soon.”

Just one week ago, Baba Amr was teeming with media. Now, as far as reporting is concerned, it’s a veritable ghost town.

“We’ve had to move our location,” Sami said. “I was very near to Baba Amr; I was so close. In the past few days we had to flee from the area. I went to an area near it that was more safe.”

Now that Homs has fallen, which city, if any, is positioned to become the opposition’s newest symbol of defiance? It could be any of them – Deir Ez Zor, Hama, Idlib… Or none of them. For the moment, at least, Sami is more concerned about what’s happening far from the watchful eyes of journalists and Internet-savvy activists, in villages and towns scattered across the country.

“Some of the small towns of Syria are facing the same situation just like Homs,” he said. “There’s no media concentrating on those areas because they’re small villages…Homs is the third biggest city in Syria – that’s why the media is focusing on it. There were a lot of media activists that were using their online connections to bring their voices to the world — to let the world know what’s going on there.”
(..)

Bronco, Norman
Here is the ‘bright’ future some on this site are shamelessly advocating:

Libya: rebels destroy christian cemetery!
http://youtu.be/l9WkrEo1O6k

Check out the ‘disappointment’ in Aljazeera presenters’ voice and looks 🙂
تك تك يا قطرستان الجيش الحر تبهدل بكل مكان
http://youtu.be/gwrJ7vWJe6k

Baba Amr under the Syrian Army control and Riad As’ad publicly rejected the SNC’s ‘military council’

الجيش يسيطر على “بابا عمرو” بالكامل، وغليون يعلن استمرار “الثورة السلمية المسلحة”!؟

الخارجية السورية تكذب ادعاءات وكيلة الأمم المتحدة للشؤون الانسانية بشأن عدم السماح له بدخول سوريا، وبريطانية تسحب بعثتها الديبلوماسية لأسباب”أمنية”!؟

دمشق ، لندن ـ الحقيقة ( خاص + وكالات) : جاء في آخر الأبناء الواردة من حمص ، وبحسب ما كان منتظرا ومتوقعا، أن وحدات الجيش السوري سيطرت على “حي باباعمرو” بالكامل ، ولم يعرف مصير المسلحين الذين كانوا محاصرين في آخر مربعاته الأمنية المسلحة أو /صير الصحفيين الأجانب. وفيما أعلن مسلحو ما يسمى” الجيش الحر” في حمص ، ومعظمهم من عناصر “القاعدة” الذين سبق لهم أن قاتلوا في العراق ، ومن المجرمين الجنائيين والمهربين، أنهم انسحبوا من “باباعمرو” تكتيكيا لتغطية هزيمتهم ، قالت مصادر ميدانية ودولية مراقبة إنهم تعرضوا لهزيمة منكرة في الحي نتيجة التكتيك الذي استخدمه معهم الجيش، لاسيما خلال اليومين الماضيين ، حيث عمد إلى قطع طريق إمداداتهم بالسلاح والمقاتلين من جميع الجهات ، لاسيما مع لبنان بعد اكتشاف نفق طوله حوالي 2.5 كم وتدميره .

وجاء هذا الإعلان ليكشف حجم الأكاذيب والدجل اللذين مارسهما كل من “المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان” ، و”الهيئة العام للثورة السورية” ، وهما أكبر ماكينتين لنشر الأكاذيب وخداع الرأي العام . فقد ظلا يعلنا حتى مساء أمس أن القتال “يدور على مشارف بابا عمرو وخارجه ، ولا يوجد أي عسكري من الجيش النظامي داخل الحي”!!

هذا الوضع الميداني المستجد دفع وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية إلى تخفيض سقف توقاعتها ، والنطق بلهجة مخالفة لما كانت تقوله خلال الأشهر الماضية. فقد أكدت أن ” الوضع في سوريا مختلف كليا عن سوريا ، فهنا (سوريا) الجيش السوري قوي جدا ، ومزود بشكبة قوية من وسائط الدفاع الجوي”، لتضيف ” نحن حتى الآن لا نعرف ما ي المعارضة السورية”، وأن “القاعدة” دخلت على خط هذه المعارضة!

هذه المعارضة عبّر عنها اليوم الناطق “السري” باسم “الطليعة الإسلامية المقاتلة” في الثمانيانيات ، برهان غليون ، الذي كان يكتب بأسماء مستعارة آنذاك واصفا إياها بأنها ” أنبل ظاهرة عرفتها سوريا منذ الاستقلال”، وفق ما كشفه قبل سنوات علي صدر الدين البيانوني للصحفي السوري نزار نيوف الذي نشر شهادة البيانوني له في سياق مقال خاص قبل أشهر.

غليون ، وخلال مؤتمر صحفي في باريس ، وفي واحدة من نوبات هذياناته وجنونه وهلوساته، أعلن عن استمرار ” الثورة السلمية المسلحة”! وقال غليون في مؤتمره إن “المجلس” قرر ” تنظيم تسليم الأسلحة” للمعارضين من خلال «مكتب استشاري عسكري» أُنشئ أخيرا. وأضاف القول إنه «قرر إنشاء مكتب استشاري عسكري مؤلف من عسكريين ومدنيين (…) لمتابعة شؤون قوى المقاومة المسلحة المختلفة وتنظيم صفوفها وتوحيد قواها ضمن قيادة مركزية واحدة»، مضيفاً أن المجلس سيعمل على «توفير كل ما تحتاجه المقاومة والجيش الحر من أجل القيام بواجباته الدفاعية على أكمل وجه وتأمين الحماية اللازمة للمدنيين ورعاية الثوار”.وتابع غليون بالقول: «سيعمل على الحيلولة لمنع حالة التشتت والفوضى في انتشار واستعمال السلاح، ومنع أي اختراقات أو تجاوزات لا تصب في مصلحة الثورة السورية والمصلحة الوطنية العليا”.

غليون يعلن الثورة السورية السلمية المسلحة
http://youtu.be/eVufhlZ-LAw

إلا أن الرد سرعان ما جاء من العميل رياض الأسعد ، الذي أعلن لقناة”الجزيرة” إن غليون شكل مجلسه العسكري “لحالو”، حسب تعبيره ، مضيفا القول ” “لا نعرف أهداف المكتب العسكري الاستشاري الذي أعلن عن تشكيله غليون”. وتكشف ردة فعل الأسعد ليس حجم الصراعات بين أطراف الجناح الأميركيي ـ الخليجي في المعارضة فقط ، بل طبيعة تبعية كل طرف منها لغرفة عمليات استخبارية ـ سياسية مختلفة عن الأخرى ، على الأقل شكلا.

{…}
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6844/Default.aspx

118. jad

I wonder why Al Jazeera is in dismay. It was expected that Bab Amr would fall.
Maybe they were expecting that these militias will stick to their promise of fighting to the ‘end’ and become martyrs, instead of sneaking out and abandoning the civilians they swear to protect to an unknown and dangerous fate.

In any case this painful episode for the civilians is close to be over as the humanitarian aid is coming.

Russia supports justice in Syria, not the regime – Lavrov – 01 March, 2012

http://rt.com/politics/lavrov-foreign-minister-syria-635/

In an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Lavrov said, “Today the Arab world is going through serious transformations. People are determined to get political rights and freedoms, social justice and a better life. We have been supporting these demands from the start. And we believe that the Arab people can and must determine their own destiny themselves, without interference into their domestic affairs, or by the imposition of foreign scenarios.”

Lavrov noted that when it comes to the events in Syria, “Russia supports not the regime but justice, sovereignty, the sovereign right of the people of Syria for the democratic choice of the government it wants to have, in full accordance with the principles of the UN charter.”

“In February we came close to agreeing on the text of a resolution on Syria at the UN Security Council. The remaining ambiguities could easily have been eliminated by requesting not only those on the side of the Syrian regime but also the rebels to leave the battle scenes. But our amendments, which I personally presented to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Munich, were not accepted. Our request to postpone voting before all council members could work on the Russian amendments was also ignored.”

He added: “The veto right is one of the basic principles of the UN. The creators of the organization were wise to establish that UN Security Council decisions can only be made with the an agreement of all of its permanent members. It was done especially so that the UN would not the sad destiny of the League of Nations.”

[…]

Bronco,
“I wonder why Al Jazeera is in dismay.”
It’s a big blow to the Khaliji’s multilevel war against Syria, can you imagine how much money, weapons they spent and how much money they are wasting on all those Khalijis’ channels to spread sectarian and hatred messages into our societies.
On top of that, Qataris and Saudis leaderships know very well that if they lose their hideous and bloody war against Syria it’ll be the end of them as a ‘credible’ entities that the ‘powerful’ ‘colonial’ ‘world’ can depend on in any ‘adventure’ in the future..

Do you remember this:

حمد بن جاسم يتعهد لأردوغان بدفع تكاليف الحرب على سورية

(دي برس)

المصدر: http://www.dp-news.com/pages/detail.aspx?articleid=104609#ixzz1ntQGSsEv

Bronco

I see you have no answer?

How can you care about those who want you dead?

Difficult question. Isn’t it?

‘Obama will have to back Iran strike to get re-elected’ – 01 March, 2012

http://rt.com/news/obama-iran-syria-assad-599/

It is not Obama’s choice to side with Israel for a pre-emptive strike on Iran. However Ramsey Clark believes that Obama will have to support the military operation against Iran for fear that “if he does not join Israel, that will be too costly at election, and he will lose it.”

“You have to see the American system – they [the Obama team] are nervous,” explains the peace activist. “If he [Obama] loses this election, he is a failed president. All his major decisions will be primarily conditioned by how they impact on the upcoming election.”

‘Assad is a gentle person’

Asked about the situation in Syria, Ramsey Clark confirmed that “Syria is a part of the effort to eliminate every government independent of US control.” Brutal regimes are perfectly acceptable, if they are dominated by the US.

In any case, the outcome will be very tough for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, predicts Clark.

”I don’t know whether he will make it or not,” he admitted.

“Right now he tries to save his country as he sees it. That is a rough business,” Clark said, calling Assad “a gentle person.”

[…]

Where there is smoke, there’s also fire. I was skeptical about this news, but did you notice how quiet France has been in latest week. Also, their ambassador has just returned to Syria…

http://wfol.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8179:syria-captured-18-french-soldiers&catid=55:arab-world&Itemid=40

[Edited: please avoid phrases like that deleted below]

Baba Amr rebels leave Metis anti-tank missiles behind

After the flight of 35 military advisers and Western journalists, the 2000 fighters of the Free “Syrian” Army clustered in the Islamic Emirate of Baba Amr lost all hope of seeing the promises of the West come true.
{…}
The insurgents gave themselves up, leaving their weapons behind. Their arsenal included shooting stations and AT-13 / 9K115 Metis anti-tank missiles. This Russian equipment being already outdated and quite widespread in the region, it is difficult at this time to pinpoint via which trafficking ring it was actually delivered.

At the start of the Battle of Homs, the rebels were also in possession of anti-tank Milan firing stations.

http://www.voltairenet.org/Baba-Amr-rebels-leave-Metis-anti

Syria – The CIA and NATO Exposed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnJt-eW5BhY
This is not a pro Assad account. This is just a truthful account. I am pro honesty. The Machiavellian tactics of the Global Elitist need to be exposed so that the world can move towards cooperation and survival of our Earth and Species. It is getting to be sink or swim, extinction or survival, and as I think we are moving towards being a more loving and kind species more spiritually and technologically awake, honesty is essential. Also, this is for educational purposes. Though our culture has forgotten what education is or what purpose it has.

European media (excluding UK, as usual) is starting to ask the difficult questions about the media coverage and how credible it is and who is behind it:

La propagande occidentale est la pire

Face à la couverture biaisée de ces guerres par les médias «officiels», le public occidental se reporte sur des sites d’information alternative
{…}
A l’heure actuelle, la presse occidentale s’épuise sur les «massacres de Bachar» en Syrie, condamnant les crimes contre l’humanité de ce nouveau «dictateur fou». Mais aucun journal n’enquête sur les ingérences occidentales en Syrie: se pourrait-il, comme le suggère la Russie et certains médias chinois, que l’opposition syrienne soit instrumentalisée par l’alliance occidentale? Qu’elle soit armée, financée, entraînée par les services de renseignement américains?
{..}
http://www.bilan.ch/editoriaux/mz/la-propagande-occidentale-est-la-pire

As if it’s not enough that children are used, abused and killed in this bloody struggle, now the terrorists and their ‘reporters’ are using children in the fights, how ethical:

بكاميرا صحفي بريطاني طفل يلقم سلاح برعاية المسلحين
http://youtu.be/3FjGWC4OqNc

U.S. military draws up further Syria options: report

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Feb-29/165010-us-military-draws-up-further-syria-options-report.ashx#axzz1nmfp3ag8

[Link added: http://www.voltairenet.org/France-pulls-out-its-agents%5D

France pulls out its agents ensconced in Syria

The Ambassador of France in Beirut, Denis Pietton, officially visited last week the region of Baalbeck in eastern Lebanon. In fact, he traveled with a French security team to northern Bekaa, a region bordering the Syrian province of Homs.

On the Syrian side of the border, officers and experts from the French military intelligence services, some posing as journalists, were training Free “Syrian” Army fighters. They had all entered Syria surreptitiously.

At an illegal crossing point, Ambassador Denis Pietton and his companions retrieved the French intelligence officers leaving the Islamic Emirate of Baba Amr where they had been teaching their techniques in urban combat.

Under the Vienna Convention, diplomatic cars can not be searched. The convoy was therefore able to drop off the French agents at the embassy’s doorstep under the nose of the Lebanese police.

With all the arrogance of the former mandatory power, the French ambassador, once again, interfered publicly in Lebanese affairs by declaring on 23 February to our colleagues from the Daily Star: “Lebanon should keep out of the turmoil in Syria.”

Ann
There are two comments
1- Lavrof indicating that they were close to agreeing to the resolution condemning the syrian regime, I personally do not trust Lavrof, I beleave he wants concessions from the west ,in regard to the missiles shield in europe.

2_ Obama is not going to attack Iran in the near future.
If the regime falls, and I am sure Bashar will fall and the regime will collapse, the HA becomes orphan and will be neutralized, and Iran can easily be attacked. so getting rid of this syrian regime is a priority, the question is how can US remove Bashar and at the same time stop HA from attacking Israel, till that matter is resolved ,the syrian regime will easily be removed, Bashar is a dictator, so he is coward toward the western military power, he is strong against his people only.

I believe that HA can be neutralized by fogging the area,quiet fog bombs can confuse HA and this is under study now.

I applaud the FSA tactic withdrawal from Baba Amr. They should not be suicidal. Baba Amr may fall but Syria will be eventually free. We then will build up Baba Amr to iconize out freedom struggle and you never know ..the tyrant’s final destination may very well be Baba Amr ‘s underground…

Self-appointed revolutionaries shooting people in the streets – Homs eyewitness – 01 March, 2012

http://rt.com/news/syrian-witness-report-rebel-crimes-639/

People have been left without water or electricity as rebels destroy water pumps and power converters. Civilians are forced to stay inside as snipers shoot from the rooftops.

­RT in Damascus managed to contact an eyewitness in Homs, who says self-proclaimed revolutionaries are killing civilians in the streets. Galina says leaving home is out of the question, as snipers “can shoot you in the back.”

“They kill both young and old. They steal people from their homes and chop them into pieces, put them in plastic bags and throw them out!”

She claims rumors are spreading of gunmen from France, Lebanon and Tunisia killing Syrians.

“They mostly kill Christians here,” she says.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9WkrEo1O6k&feature=youtu.be

[…]

Creating a “military bureau”, a lovely french word by French based Syrian expatriates was followed by “tactical withdrawal”.

Disastrous timing.

I hope Red cross and Crescent moving into Homs tomorrow will bring clearer picture of situation there.

118. jad said:

“Check out the ‘disappointment’ in Aljazeera presenters’ voice and looks…”

It is human nature and an instinctive reaction to express signs of disappointment at injustice or any success for criminals.

#133 Tara said:

“I applaud the FSA tactic withdrawal from Baba Amr”

Applaud? Tactical withdrawal?
You should be crying for the civilians they have abandoned after swearing they will protect them and fight to the end.

This “tactical withdrawal” is a noble term for running off for one’s life.

Questioning the Syrian Casualty List?

Every time I discuss the Syrian tragedy with an anti-revolution or pro-Assad person, I would be faced with these questions: how do you know the numbers of killed people are right? Can you verify them? Why not count the killed soldiers too? Obviously, these people try to muddle the core problem and cover (unintentionally sometimes) for the Syrian regime atrocities. This is exactly what blogger Sharmine Narwani did in a long article in Al-Akhbar English. From a previous conversation with her on twitter, Sharmine might not be a pro-Assad person, but she is doing her best to doubt the genuine outcome and intentions of the peaceful uprising (yes peaceful, that’s how started, ok).

[…]

http://lebanonspring.com/2012/03/01/questioning-the-syrian-casualty-list-in-the-uprising-against-bashar-al-assad/

Irritated

“You should be crying for the civilians they have abandoned after swearing they will protect them and fight to the end.”

Love it. Is that an explicit admittance that Bashar and his thugs are killing civilians… Thanks Irritated, I could’nt have a better admittance of regime’s culpability in killing its own defensless civilians than your above statement. Don’t you think?

#136 Uzair8

“disappointment at injustice or any success for criminals.”

Rather a disappointment at another failure of the plan Al Jazeera and its owner have been promoting for months. Another slap on their face.
The Syrian army, the government and a large part of the population are united and the opposition is more and more disunited and in a state of decomposition ( as the french Le Point wrote). The international community is scrambling to find a face saving after hammering for the last 10 months that it was a matter of weeks, not months, that the regime will collapse and it is standing firmer than ever.
While the furious Arab hawks are rushing to throw their weight of money to bring in weapons to ‘help’ the opposition infiltrated with Al Qaeeda operatives, the USA and EU are worried that these will end up in the hands that will strike Israel and neighbouring allies.
Ghaliun ridiculous ‘military’ bureau is supposed to filter where the money goes. In the pocket of many for sure.
Another debacle in perspective.

A new post is up.

@139 TARA

Yes. I noticed that. They (the regime in general) keep shooting themselves in the foot. The Beast-men have many feet*

*A reference to ‘the Godless Beast-men’ threads elsewhere based on former Hama attorney general Adnan Bakkour’s statement.

One thread:
http://www.sunniport.com/masabih/showthread.php?t=9503

Recent post on that thread:
http://www.sunniport.com/masabih/showpost.php?p=37216&postcount=29

Tara #139

in next post..

Many syrians have fled to Lebanon. Areas around Baalbek city and the city itself is now full of syrians, mostly sunnis. Prices of rent flats haven doubled and now syrians begin to look for another areas like Rayyaq, Barelias, Anjar, etc. I was for half an hour in Dora round point last wednesday and I saw some syrians who came out of nothing. I also saw hurted syrians descending from buses and services taxis coming from the north. One of them could not walk – was being helped by two fellows – while his complete body was full of escamed skin (maybe chemical effects). They held no bags, nothing. I talked to one of them. They have lost everything. Homes, properties, relatives. But the have now what they never had in the past. Dignity. When I took a taxi in Beirut back home and the driver realized I was coming from Syria he began chanting pro Assad slogans I had no patience and I told him to shut up his mouth. He reacted in fear. Maybe this type of street coward moukhabaraat are not used to this kind of reactions. Something is definitely changing. Fear for Assads is gone. It is just a question of time until the regime falls.