"Syria’s chaos isn’t America’s fault," by Miller; "Abu Ali's wake-up call," by Abdul-Ahad

“Syria’s chaos isn’t America’s fault,” by Miller; “Abu Ali’s wake-up call,” by Abdul-Ahad

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013

UN: Data analysis suggests over 60,000 people killed in Syria

Syria’s chaos isn’t America’s fault
By Aaron David Miller, Published: January 1

Aaron David Miller is vice president for current initiatives at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and has advised Democratic and Republican secretaries of state on the Middle East. His books include the forthcoming “Can America Have Another Great President?”

Who lost Syria? Comments of some U.S. senators, analysts and journalists, including the editorial board of this newspaper, suggest there is no doubt: Bashar al-Assad and his thugocracy are primarily responsible for the killings, but the tragedy of Syria is also a direct result of a terrible failure of leadership on the part of the international community, and of the United States in particular.

Syria, it is charged, is Barack Obama’s Rwanda.

Don’t believe it.

The idea that Syria was anyone’s to win or lose, or that the United States could significantly shape the outcome there, is typical of the arrogant paternalism and flawed analysis that have gotten this country into heaps of trouble in the Middle East over the years.

One of the virtues of the Arab Spring/Winter is that Arab people came to own their politics — for better or worse. This sense of ownership was often painful to watch — democracy isn’t always liberal — but it brought authority and legitimacy to the political turbulence roiling that region since late 2010. That made change real and home-grown. The United States and Israel were not central to the myths, tropes and narratives of these historic changes, nor should they be.

Some have argued for intervention by attempting to draw a parallel to Libya: We helped the rebels bring down Moammar Gaddafi, this thinking goes. Why not do the same in Syria?

Three interconnected realities provide the answer. First, there was an international consensus for action in Libya, specifically through the United Nations and NATO. Second, Libya was low-hanging fruit from a military perspective: It had a weak regime, no effective air defenses, no weapons of mass destruction and no allies. The Libyan rebels also held discrete territory, from which it was easy to organize.

Syria is fundamentally different. It combines the worst aspects of three volatile elements: civil war, sectarian violence and manipulation by external powers. The argument that the United States created this mess makes sense only if there really were good options to intercede earlier that might have averted this fate.

Yet that was never the case. Yes, we could have done more on the humanitarian side and perhaps taken a more active role far earlier in helping to organize a political opposition, even covertly.

But since this conflict began in early 2011, all of the military options for intervention have been heavily skewed toward risk rather than reward. Given the Assad regime’s firepower, its allies (Russia and China blocking actions in the U.N. Security Council; Iran supplying money and weapons), Assad’s determination to do whatever it took to survive and his success in keeping much of his Alawite military, security and intelligence forces intact, none of the suggested military options was consequential enough to bring down the regime or to give the rebels a victory.

To stop the regime’s assault, let alone to topple it, would have required direct military pressure, most likely a massive air and missile campaign and probably an intervention force. Those, quite rightly, were never under serious consideration. Half-measures such as arming the rebels and instituting a “no-fly” zone carried risks but no identifiable rewards. It was never clear how a limited military response would shape events. U.S. planners could not be certain that a military response wouldn’t have pushed Russia and Iran to up the ante with more weapons. And with Washington seeking Moscow’s support to keep pressure on Iran’s nuclear program, a major escalation over Syria wouldn’t have helped.

And who, exactly, would we have been arming? Once the United States backs a particular rebel group, Washington would be responsible for its actions. Neighbors such as the Saudis and Qataris may have a stake in arming Sunni fundamentalists in Syria, but the United States does not. As for the Turks, the Obama administration did not prevent Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan from acting militarily. Erdogan faced serious internal constraints: Neither the general public nor 15 million Turkish Alevis aligned ethnically with Syrian Alawites wanted war with Damascus.

The tragedy of Syria is that too much blood has flowed to imagine a negotiated settlement between the regime and the opposition — yet the horrors have not been enough to force a divided, preoccupied and self-interested international community to intervene.

We will never know about the “what ifs” had the United States intervened in a more aggressive way. But to blame the arc of this crisis on Washington or to suggest that the Obama administration made it worse fails to understand the cruel nature of the Syrian tragedy and the limits of U.S. power and our national priorities. The United States is coming out of the two longest wars in its history, in which the standard for victory was never “can we win?” but “when can we leave?”

As recent polling on the prospect of intervention in Syria shows, the American people understand this, even if those who call for more aggressive U.S. action do not. We should not be the world’s top cop or caseworker, charged with fixing every calamity. We don’t control history. And it’s time we attend to our own broken house instead of running around the world trying to repair everyone else’s.

Read more on this debate: John McCain, Joseph I. Lieberman and Lindsey O. Graham: Syria’s descent into hell The Post’s View: U.S. impotence on Syria Jackson Diehl: Watching Syria’s descent

SLIDESHOW: Syria’s rising displacement crisis – IRINnews.org

“status of women in Syria under Hafiz al Assad” Lakshmi Priya, an Indian researcher, wants you to fill out this questionnaire for research. Respondent’s identity will be kept confident. Lakshmi Priya

‘The people of Aleppo needed someone to drag them into the revolution’
Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Aleppo, guardian, 28 December 2012

Abu Ali Sulaibi was one of the first people to take up arms in Aleppo. Now he controls two shattered blocks on the frontline where he lives with his wife, four children and Squirrel the cat…

“I can’t believe that this is my mother’s living room,” he says. Then, to the men: “Wake up, you beasts!”

As no one stirs, he pulls a pistol from his belt and fires into the ceiling, bringing down a chunk of plaster. The men jump from their mats, grabbing their guns. “That was Abu Ali’s wake-up call,” he says.

Outside, Abu Ali sits on a broken plastic chair set amid the rubble. His fighters, bleary-eyed, sit around him, making Turkish coffee and smoking. There is no food. The men live on one meal a day and many have not eaten since lunch the day before.

A trickle of civilians who braved the sniper fire to reach Abu Ali’s headquarters now come forward, as they do each morning, to ask favours of the chief. Some are trying to salvage their food or furniture, others come to ask permission to scavenge or squat in the empty apartments.

On this morning, six civilians stand sheepishly in front of him: a man in his 50s and his teenage son; a lanky man in a coat that is too big for him; a young engineer in rimless glasses and a bald man with his sister, who wears a black hijab. The civilians stay at a distance out of respect or fearing his unchecked anger.

“What do you want?”

“We want to collect some of our stuff, Abu Ali,” the older man says.

“Not today. Come back on Saturday.”

“But you told us to come on Wednesday.”

“I changed my mind. You should know that this is the state of Abu Ali Sulaibi.” He roars out his catchphrase as much for the benefit of his men as the civilians.

“You are all informers,” he tells the scared civilians. “I know you cross back to government side and report on us.”

“We are not,” says the bald man. “Our hearts are with you.”

“When you say that, I know you are an informer.” Turning to one of his men he says, half-joking: “Wasn’t he the one who was chasing us when we were out demonstrating?” The bald man’s face turns pale.

Abu Ali keeps the civilians waiting for two hours. Then, like a true autocrat, he quickly changes his mind and summons two of his men to take them where they want to go.

Al-Rashed Predicts al-Assad’s Fall in March 2013 – 01/01/2013
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed – As-Sharq al-Awsat

What if our hopes our disappointed and a third year passes with Bashar al-Assad still clinging on to power in Damascus?

At this point we would have no other choice but to apologize, stop writing, or pay the price for our mistaken analysis of the situation. Although I am being careful not to predict particular dates for al-Assad’s fall, all information confirms that his regime cannot last long, and the only predication that I am comfortable making is that he will fall by the end of the second year of the Syrian revolution. …

Increasing Barbarity Gaining a Clearer View of the Syrian Civil War
By Christoph Reuter – Spiegel

…What these foreigners in Aleppo have in common, says one member of the Ahrar al-Sham brigade, is less a hatred of Assad than a conviction that they must fight against all Shiites, whom they consider traitors to Sunni Islam. “When this is over,” the man says, “they want to continue on and fight against the Hezbollah.” These men with beards and Kalashnikovs, constantly shouting “Allahu akbar,” do fit with a certain framework, but that framework doesn’t exist anymore. Nor does the image of the ultra-warrior apply to all who adorn themselves with the al-Qaida logo. …

The true danger, the one we sense growing with each trip we make to Syria, is the increasing brutality and barbarism on both sides. The question is no longer simply how this conflict will end, but also at what price…. Tens of thousands of people have died. They are civilians, soldiers and rebels. Gangs massacre their way through suburbs and villages. Half a million people have fled abroad, and far more are desperately on the move within their own country, afraid to stay where they are, but fearing death around every next corner.

A year ago, Homs, Aleppo, Rastan, Talbiseh, Douma, Zabadani, Deir el-Zour, Idlib and hundreds of other cities and villages did not yet look like small Mediterranean Stalingrads. The irresistible pull of revenge increases with each wave of killing, for both the Alawites and the Sunnis.…

Analysis: U.N. confronts failure of diplomacy in Syria December 29, 2012. REUTERS

“It’s understood that Bashar al-Assad’s regime will not last long,” said Georgy Mirsky, a Middle East expert at the Institute for World Economy and International Relations in Moscow.

“But this does not mean that Russia is ready to join the West, the Turks and the Arabs and demand that Assad go? That would be senseless. Syria is lost (to Russia) anyway,” he said.

At least Russia “will be able to say that we do not abandon our friends,” Mirsky said.

Syrian war leaves children traumatize
By Carol Morello, Wash Post

Kids who fled the country find different ways to deal with the things they saw in their homeland…..

Violent Acts by Regime Supporter– Video (Very graphic) Syria video shows stabbing and stoning blamed on Assad militia, BEIRUT | Wed Jan 2, 2013 (Reuters)

Syria begins year with more air raids, clashes
Gulf Times – 02 January, 2013

Syrians woke up to air strikes near Damascus on New Year’s Day and the closure of Aleppo airport due to rebel attacks, hours after dozens of people took to the streets of the capital calling for the regime’s ouster.

The violence came a day after activists reported finding dozens of mutilated bodies, another sign of the gruesome nature of the 21-month conflict… There have been continued attempts by opposition militants to target civilian aircraft, which could cause a humanitarian disaster,” an airport official said…. The Observatory said 30 bodies were found in Barzeh district, while the Syrian Revolution General Commission said 50 bodies were found with their heads “cut and disfigured to the point that it was no longer possible to identify” them….

Laying Groundwork for Life After Syria’s Assad: As Regime Teeters, Jews Mull Outreach to Rebel Fighters
By Nathan Guttman, January 01, 2013, Forward

Future Leaders?: With Syrian rebels close to tipping the balance against strongman Bashar al-Assad, Jews are starting to think about their next steps…. Notably absent from most discussions of Syria’s future is the question of its relations with Israel…. “There are many in the opposition who believe that Israeli concerns over change in Syria are, in part at least, behind the lack of a more proactive response by the international community to the situation in Syria,” said Ammar Abdulhamid,

the Arab Spring made it clear that Arab democracy does not necessarily entail more openness to relations with Israel, at least in the absence of any progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front and other territorial disputes between Israel and its neighbors.

“The agreed line by the opposition is that the status quo in the Golan Heights will be maintained until conditions permit for organizing peace talks,” said Abdulhamid, referring to Israel’s occupation of that area since the 1967 Six Day War..

…after Assad’s fall, “a potential military-terrorist threat to Israel will likely emerge in the transition period, which will be marked by governmental instability and a lack of central control over at least some of the fighting forces.” Radwan Ziadeh argued that such concerns should not deter the community from getting involved. “It is better to invest in the future than to hang on to the old regime,” said Ziadeh… Ziadeh talks about the role he sees for American Jews in helping the Syrian cause. “Now is the time for the Jewish community and for Israel to push the Obama administration to take action,” said Ziadeh, who supports American military intervention aimed at helping the opposition…

“Jews will always be used by one side or another” in the conflict, Gaer argues in response. But the circumstances in Syria are so harsh and clear, she said, that there is no room for concern about Jewish support de-legitimizing the opposition. “If we speak to this issue we will not hurt the effort,” she said. “Turning an eye away from what’s going on, that is what can be seen as not legitimate.”

Syria Deeply – December 05, 2012
Conversations: A Road Trip to Idleb

As part of our effort to highlight civilian stories, below is a conversation between Syria Deeply and a Syrian university student. She’s from a conservative Sunni family in Aleppo. She hopes to leave the country, but first had to get a passport from her family’s registered home address in Idleb. She told us her observations about the road between Aleppo and Idleb.

The driver took us to Idleb from all the “liberated” villages. We passed from a village called Kafar Halab, which has a big hill nearby. The landscapes there were amazingly beautiful. I want to buy a house there after the revolution..

There was graffiti everywhere we passed through. Some of the writings support the regime and others are supporting the opposition. Each one of them tries to erase the other one and write in its place. It is very childish. You can never trust anyone of them.

I saw the shamsin bread factory on my way and there was an unbelievable crowd in front of it. There were thousands of people fighting and pushing each other for bread. Then I saw the Magic Land restaurant complex. It has a billboard, that now reads “We are a nation whom Allah gave the pride of Islam”.

We passed from a Free Syrian Army checkpoint, and then we reach the Icarda intersection, where was located al-Nusra Front Islamic jihadist group’s checkpoint. Surprisingly, they were nice to us. Perhaps they saw my hijab and modest clothing and they respected that. We passed from Binnish and Taftanaz, both are targets of heavy aerial bombardments, however, life is still normal there and people seem not bothered at all from living under shelling. They are insisting on not leaving their homes. Some university student girls from Binnish joined our vehicle and told their stories of how they are going to Idleb everyday for their lectures, fearing all the way that a shell, a barrel or a car bomb will take their lives…

Finally we reached Idleb, but my passport wasn’t ready yet. I wandered around and had a tea near the souk. They have a nice souk (covered market), which is exactly a smaller copy of our old souk in Aleppo. There were a lot of people and life was bustling there, just like it used to be in Aleppo before the big fire in the old city and the historic souk two months ago. I bought a Derby chips (a very famous Syrian produced potato chips) and the seller started to chat with me when he heard my Aleppo accent.

He asked me about the situation in Aleppo and I replied that it is still not good. He replied saying that when they were being shelled in Idleb we were making barbeques and eating kebab in Aleppo! I got mad and left the place.

I bought some bread from there to bring it home with me, because there is no bread in Aleppo. Before, we used to bring home sweets and other luxuries from our trips, but now a piece of bread is more valued than anything else… I hold the bread with both hands the entire road as if it is a treasure. On my way back to Aleppo, in the front seat of the bus there was very obsequious man, who used to greet every checkpoint we were stopped by. He sucked up to them whether if they were army or rebel checkpoints.

We reached Saraqeb, which is perhaps the most bombarded town in all of Syria. If not all houses are destroyed then they are half destroyed. We saw a shepherd with his sheep in the beautiful nature near the town. I saw a lot of people who had lost their young sons and children, their relatives, but somehow they were still hopeful [things would get better].

I cannot say how my heart was tearing apart on the road every time I saw these people and our beautiful country burning everywhere. I am sick of all the propaganda, applauses, analysis, and everything from both sides. What I saw on the road was enough for me.

This people want to live!

The new kind of visitors to Syria

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/28/world/middleeast/battle-for-aleppo-shows-weaknesses-of-both-sides.html?_r=0

Speaking in French-accented English, he said he was not Syrian, but a roaming jihadist who had journeyed here to help the Sunni uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s secular, Alawite rule.

“I am a Muslim,” he said. “When you see on TV many of your brothers and sisters being killed you have to go help them. This is an obligation in Islam.”

The presence of this foreign antigovernment fighter, who claimed to be from Paris and gave his name as Abu Abdullah, pointed to recurring questions of the battle for Syria’s largest city: How much longer will the fighting last, and what will its effects be?

The presence of foreign fighters like Abu Abdullah, and the calls for religious law that have been heard in many places across rebel-held territory, have left many to say that the fall of Mr. Assad, even if the day came soon, would signal the end of one phase of the war, and perhaps the start of another. In this way, Aleppo offered a glimpse.

Abu Abdullah, for his part, wandered the front with unmistakable approval of the Syrian fighters around him. With dreadlocks protruding beneath his black watch cap, he slung his Dragunov-style rifle and surveyed the broken buildings, looking for an elevated spot from which to watch the army positions near Hanano, waiting for a soldier to become a target.

He said that he had fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan and suggested that he had been a sniper in Iraq. Now, he said, it was Syria’s turn at war, which mixes an uprising against a repressive government with the older, uglier contest between Sunnis and Shiites. His mission suggested he saw no quick end to the violence. “I am here,” he said, “to teach the Syrians to snipe.”

Jabhat Al-Nusra’s Emir: America’s Designation Of The Group As A Terrorist Organization Is Merely An Expression Of Its Failure In The Region

On December 27, 2012, the Syrian jihadi group Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) released a 23-minute audio-recorded message by its Emir, Abu Muhammad Al-Julani, in which he responds to American’s recent move of designating JN a terrorist organization. Al-Julani says that the designation is an expression of America’s failure in the region, and thanks all those who stood by JN following this move, noting that their support is an indication of JN’s popularity among the Syrian people. It is noteworthy that Al-Julani’s address was posted on JN’s Facebook page, since the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum, JN’s usual outlet for publishing its materials, has been offline for several days.

U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands
By JAMES RISEN, MARK MAZZETTI and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
Published: December 5, 2012

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.

Envoy to Syria Warns of Slide to Hellish Fiefs With Huge Toll
By KAREEM FAHIM and HWAIDA SAAD
December 30, 2012

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The international envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, drew a grim portrait on Sunday of the country’s future in the absence of a political solution, warning of a state carved up by warlords and a death toll that would rapidly surge, while conceding that there was little sign that the antagonists intended to negotiate.

At a news conference at Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Mr. Brahimi said the violence, which has already killed tens of thousands of people, could claim 100,000 lives over the next year.

“People are talking about a divided Syria being split into a number of small states like Yugoslavia,” he said.

“This is not what is going to happen. What will happen is Somalization — warlords,” Mr. Brahimi said, according to a transcript of his remarks. Without a peace deal, he added, Syria would be “transformed into hell.”….

A word of advice about the Middle East – we’ve reached the ‘tipping point’ with cliches
Robert Fisk
Monday 24 December 2012

You’ve got to be careful when Syria’s rebels are perpetually “closing in”

Remember the days when we thought Egypt’s path to democracy was a done deal? Western-trained Mohamed Morsi had invited the people to come and meet him in Hosni Mubarak’s former presidential palace, the old military toffs in the “Supreme Council of the Armed Forces” had been pensioned off and the International Monetary Fund was waiting to bestow some of those cruel deprivations upon Egypt that would ready it for our financial benevolence. How happy the Middle East optimists were by mid-2012.

Next door, Libya produced a victory for nice, pro-Western secularist Mahmoud Jibril, promising freedom, stability, a new home for the West in one of the Arab world’s most fecund oil producers. It was a place where even US diplomats could wander around virtually unprotected.

Tunisia may have an Islamist party running its government, but it was a “moderate” administration – in other words, we thought it would do what we wanted – while the Saudis and the Bahraini autocracy, with the purse-lipped support of Messrs Obama and Cameron, quietly suppressed what was left of the Shia uprising which threatened to remind us all that democracy was not really welcome among the wealthiest Arab states. Democracy was for the poor.

Closing in

So, too, in Syria. By the spring of last year, the Western commentariat was writing off Bashar al-Assad. He did not deserve “to live on this earth”, according to French Foreign Secretary Laurent Fabius. He must “step down”, “step aside”. His regime had only weeks to go, perhaps only days. This was the “tipping point”.

Then by summer, when the “tipping point” had come and gone, we were told that Assad was about to use gas “against his own people”. Or that his supplies of chemical weapons might “fall into the wrong hands” (the “right hands” still presumably being Assad’s).

Syria’s rebels were always “closing in” – on Homs, then Damascus, then Aleppo, then Damascus again. The West supported the rebels. Money and guns aplenty came from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, moral support from Obama, Clinton, the pathetic Hague, Hollande, the whole factory of goodness – until, inevitably, it turned out that the rebels contained rather a lot of Salafists, executioners, sectarian killers and, in one case, a teenage head-chopper who behaved rather like the ruthless regime they were fighting. The factory had to put some of its machinery into reverse. The US still supported the good, secular rebels but now regarded the horrible Salafist rebels as a “terrorist organisation”…..

The Post’s View
U.S. impotence on Syria
by Editorial Board, December 29

AS 2012 COMES to a close, Syria is headed toward a bloody and chaotic end to what began as a peaceful uprising against an autocratic regime. This would be a catastrophe that could destabilize much of the Middle East, provide al-Qaeda with a new base of operations, and lead to the transfer or even use of chemical weapons.

Above all, the crisis is the result of the brutality and ruthlessness of ruler Bashar al-Assad and the family clique around him, and their supporters in Iran and Russia. But it is also reflects a massive failure of Western — and particularly American — leadership, the worst since the Rwandan genocide two decades ago.

Comments (189)

Citizen said:

http://theuglytruth.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/syrianrats.jpg?w=620

January 2nd, 2013, 9:40 am

Hanzala said:

A lesson that many Syrians have learned is that never expect support nor trust the West, they will turn on you in the blink of an eye.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:44 am

Russia blames Syrian opposition for failure to halt conflict

washingtonpost.com

MOSCOW — Russia’s foreign minister declared a deadlock Saturday in the latest efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, blaming the Syrian opposition for refusing to negotiate with the government and reiterating that Moscow will not force President Bashar al-Assad to leave.

Sergei Lavrov met here earlier with Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, and though both men warned that the conflict poses an increasing danger to the entire Middle East, they offered no hope of a breakthrough.

“As concerns Bashar Assad, he repeatedly said, publicly and privately — including during a recent meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus — that he is not going to go anywhere, that he will stay until the end and, as he put it, defend the Syrian people, Syria’s sovereignty and so on,” Lavrov said at a news conference with Brahimi.

Lavrov added that Russia could not persuade Assad to leave even if it wanted to.

Brahimi said Syria faces a choice between a political solution and a descent into “hell.” He also warned that the sectarian conflict that has engulfed the country has the potential to spread to its neighbors.

“If you have 1 million people leaving Damascus in a panic, they can go to only two places — Lebanon and Jordan,” he said, noting that such an influx would create an unsupportable burden for those countries.

The only alternative, he said, was a political agreement within Syria. “All of us have got to work ceaselessly for a political process,” he said.

Brahimi has proposed the creation of anational unity government, but the opposition has insisted that Assad himself cannot take part in it. That means, Lavrov said, that the opposition is to blame for the continuing violence.

He repeated Russia’s insistence that a political solution had to be achieved by the Syrians themselves, without outside participation. He also faulted the opposition, which on Friday turned down an invitation to visit Moscow, for thwarting an end to the conflict.

“We are sure that this is a deadlock position, which will continue to degrade,” he said.

Lavrov rebuked Mouaz al-Khatib, leader of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, for rejecting the invitation and demanding that Russia apologize for supporting Assad.

“It was quite a surprise to me to read his statement that he was willing to meet with me only if we change our position and if we apologize for our position publicly,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov also emphasized Russia’s opposition to armed intervention in Syria, and insisted once again that Moscow has not been shipping arms to Assad. Russia, he said, favors the revival of an agreement struck in Geneva in June supporting a transitional government that would rule until elections could be held.

The comments by Brahimi and Lavrov came on a particularly bloody day in Syria, with at least 364 people killed, according to the Local Coordination Committees network.

The Syrian military “field-executed” up to 220 people in the Deir Baalba neighborhood of the central city of Homs, the group said in a statement. At least 35 people were also reported killed in Aleppo province amid shelling and airstrikes.

A video posted online Saturday shows the body of a child being dug out of rubble in Azaz, near the Turkish border. A second video shows a man carrying the child’s body as a group of men gather and shout, “God is great!”

The official Syrian Arab News Agency also reported the military attacks across the country, noting that a number of “terrorists” had been killed and that heavy weapons had been confiscated. Government-run media in Syria often refer to rebel forces as terrorists.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:45 am

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoo,and Mjabali
You missed this video
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/02/258195.html
Your kind committed such haneos crime,this is not a complete video, it was shortened, it is part of long video,it is much worse.
there is another video,such as bad where your kind slaughtered a sunni couples and cut them to pieces.
this is what you defend, Khair Baik family committed, Assad family they are,what is your comment on them?

January 2nd, 2013, 10:28 am

A third video
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/31/257976.html

January 2nd, 2013, 10:35 am

zoo said:

Dear Majie

You know how much I trust Al Arabya’s videos and claims…
I am not missing, I am skipping.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:42 am

هل تعلم أنّ دلعونا باللغة الآرامية القديمة تعني حرية؟! هل تعلم أنّ ميجانا باللغة الفينيقية القديمة تعني كرامة؟!

January 2nd, 2013, 10:48 am

revenire said:

MAJEDKHALDOUN those are actually FSA terrorists in the video in #3 not SAA soldiers. The Saudi princes are notorious for this.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:52 am

Moaz Al Khatib and the Coalition chose war over negotiations.

This is what a senseless war looks like and it is far from over according to Ibrahimi.. he predicts hell.

“Muleiha is one of a series of Sunni Muslim suburbs ringing the capital that have been at the forefront of the 21 month revolt against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, who belongs to the Shi’ite-derived Alawite minority sect.”

Muleiha : Wasn’t the fuel destined to the armed rebels and Al Nursa terrorists hiding among the civilians?

syrian said:

@mjabali
For you to talk about the the Arabisim of Damascus is laughabel,
The Turkish languge up tp 1922 was written in arabic letters,
the turkish calls damascus to this day as Sham Shareef and conisdered it the fourth holisest city in the world after Mecca. Madina. and Alqudes,
what you called the”Turkification policies of the Ottomans” is outright lie, because that only happened for vey short time at the end of vey end of the Ottoman rules and that was all under the Secularist Yong Turk, who by the way also did the Araminan population transfers and not the Ottomans
Finally I don’t need wikki. or any source to proov to you that you are not an Arab, all you have to do is go and look in the mirror and study that Hayna look of your Kneck that all Alwais are famous for, the long one peice Attachec neck to the back that no Arab have it.you know what i’m talking about it is what Hamwies who know you best call Sendayha

January 2nd, 2013, 10:55 am

Egypt Moslem Brotherhood trying to rescue its terrorist agents in the UAE

Egyptian officials fly to UAE to discuss arrests
By By MAAMOUN YOUSSEF | Associated Press – 1 hr 10 mins ago

CAIRO (AP) — Two senior Egyptian officials flew to the United Arab Emirates Wednesday to discuss the arrest of 11 Egyptians accused of forming a Muslim Brotherhood cell in the emirate, Cairo airport officials said.
…
In September, Dubai’s police chief, Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, warned of an “international plot” to overthrow the Gulf governments by Islamists inspired by the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

The UAE has not faced street protests during Arab Spring upheavals, but authorities have stepped up arrests and pressure on groups including an Islamist organization, Al Islah, accused of undermining the country’s ruling system.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:56 am

9. syrian

I’ll like you to detail the physical characteristics of the ‘real’ Syrian.

You sound like a Nazi describing the Jews.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:03 am

A Syria-Iran combo deal for the USA ?

The year of Iran in the White House

02/01/2013
By Osman Mirghani
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=32402

The latest indicator comes in the form of the leaks about the so-called “Iran-Syria deal”, currently being considered by the Obama administration, with the aim of moving on both fronts. This begins with reaching an understanding with Russia on Syria for the departure of al-Assad and his inner circle, being replaced by a transitional government of “moderate” Sunnis and Alawites. As for Iran, the deal is being marketed as a new initiative from Washington to engage in direct dialogue with the Iranians about their nuclear program, on the basis that the alternative would be to go down the line of tighter sanctions and a covert and cyber war whilst retaining the option for a military strike, which would become more probable over time.
…
There are those who think that Obama has strengthened his stance with the nomination of John Kerry for the next US Secretary of State, and the possibility of nominating Chuck Hagel for the Ministry of Defense, both of whom have declared their support for the policy of dialogue with Tehran, but not excluding the military option as a last resort.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:08 am

Visitor said:

Ewe in a Zoo said,

“Dear Majie

You know how much I trust Al Arabya’s videos and claims…”

As if anybody cares for your trust!!!

January 2nd, 2013, 11:10 am

Visitor

“As if anybody cares for your trust!!!”

Then I “trust” you can tell you twin jihadist to stop asking me to read the Al Arabya garbage he is dumping on us…

January 2nd, 2013, 11:16 am

Zoo @14

Come again!!

may be you didn’t wake up yet!!

is this part of your daily bleating?

January 2nd, 2013, 11:18 am

“You sound like a Nazi describing the Jews.”

I’ve noticed this on the forum too. People who are clearly Syrian are suspected of not being Syrian because they don’t support terrorism. People don’t have to be Assad supporters to not want Syria destroyed by Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.

You also see this sectarian filth in FSA videos where anti-Alawite slogans are used (by people who have Libyan and other foreign accents).

It is very much like the Nazis and the beheadings, committed by the Salafist apes, is something right out of Hitler’s playbook.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:23 am

You’re much smarter than you jihadist twin. How did you guess?

Syrian said:

@ zOO
I was talking who is an arab, not who is syrian, so stop twisting my words.
of course Syria has lots of mix races, It is Majbali who keep bringing this subject as he is trying to poof something,
where did you see me calling for the extermination of Alawais like Hitler did to the Jews,
If any one acting like A Nazi it is the regime you support, and we have here Reve. acting as Joseph Goebbels as his propaganda Minster, and you are his 2nd in command

January 2nd, 2013, 11:34 am

Zoo @17,

You do not need to be a genius to guess what Ewes do. Neither do you need a twin to outsmart for that matter.

Not that I have a twin.

It looks like you are giving free reign to your imagination.

Now tell me. Is this Osman Mirghani a Sudanese? I think he is. So why are you dumping Sudanese ‘garbage’ on us?

He looks like a perfect mullah trainee who can twist/spin defeat into some kind of achievement. This is the only garbage that seems to interest you!!

So do you believe this garbage? If so, then your idiot idol is gone with the wind – at least according to part of the story.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:42 am

Syrian

I repeat my question: Inform us on the physical characteristics of Arabs, Kurds, Druze etc.. since you are smart enough to know the physical characteristics of the Alawites.

Nazis use to describe the Jews with the same despising way you describe Alawites. To call for their extermination is one step further that many of your ‘superior’ kind have already called for.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:47 am

Odd, under the “horrible dictator” Assad all minorities had the right – guaranteed by law – to worship and live freely. It was only when the Salafist rats came to Syria – from foreign nations – did we start to see Christians and other minorities being murdered by jihadis who want to impose sharia law on everyone at the point of a gun. Even more odd is the fact the apes call this “freedom”.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:52 am

Dear Smartie…

Your ignorance of medias other than Al Jazeera and Al Arabya is not acceptable for a man of a ‘superior race’ like you (and Syrian)

“Osman Mirghani is Asharq Al-Awsat’s Senior Editor-at-Large.

Asharq Al-Awsat is the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper, Printed simultaneously on four continents in 14 cities.
Launched in London in 1978, Asharq Al-Awsat has established itself as the decisive publication on pan- Arab and international affairs, offering its reader’s in-depth analysis and exclusive editorials, as well as the most comprehensive coverage of the entire Arab World….”

January 2nd, 2013, 11:55 am

Ewe @22

You see how you fell into the trap?

You think I do not know Asharq Al-Awsat?

Asharq al-Awsat is owned by the same owners as al-Arabiya.

So why are you complaining about Majed linking al-Arabiya stories?

basically, Al-Arabiya and Asharq al-Awsat have the same agenda.

But that doesn’t mean Osman Mirghani is not a Sudanese trainee of the mullahs.

So let’s say Osman writes something for al-Arabiya, which is a subsidiary of the same media oulet, then you wouldn’t mind reading him there because he’s been trained by mullahs? Right? So to you, the Sudan-Mullah link would qualify Osman as non-garbage even though he works for the same outfit that you think is garbage and you do not want Majed to bring in here?

January 2nd, 2013, 12:08 pm

DAMASCUS: Terrorist mercenary rats tried to destroy the Medical Services Building in Harasta without much success. They also tried to destroy the Al-Tahani Mosque.

In the Eastern Al-Ghouta, 4 kms east of the Airport highway, the following garbage was sent to Hades courtesy of the Republican Guard, militia and elements of Political Security:

Jihad Salim Makhoul
Sufyan Muslih Al-Harith (Saudi)
Belqadir Hifsi (Libyan)
Amer “Abu Al-Yarmouk” Al-Hayyeh (Palestinian)
Jubran Ali (Jordanian)

The rats mentioned above appear to have belonged to a group called “Liwaa Al-Tawhid”.

Juergen said:

Zoo

Nazis used to dehumanize their victims in year long propaganda campaigns, if I read the words rats, garbage here on this post alone, there is not a big step forward for ethnical cleansing by regime forces or supporters.
And bet on me, I cant stand the antialawite propaganda either, its the same hate just turned on the other side.

Reve

Have we experienced yet the climax of your verbal weaponry?

“Odd, under the “horrible dictator” Assad all minorities had the right – guaranteed by law”- you must be joking.

Same could one say about Hitler Germany, on the paper everyone had their legal rights. If your proclamation would also guarantee the rights of political opposition then we would have never seen an revolution in 1982 nor now.

January 2nd, 2013, 12:28 pm

Observer said:

Dear Majbali

I do not know who puts thumbs down or up and I do not ever look into this distraction.

I do recognize first and foremost my biases when I write about Syria and I regret that emotional yearning for freedom and dignity which is humanity’s basic right is not available to many in Syria and elsewhere.

Now there is some biological evidence based on the observations of primates with whom we share 99% of our genes that the allegiance we have follows the number of genes we share with each other. So it is clear that humans favor firstly their children with whom they share 50% of their genes and then with their cousins whom they share 25% of their genes.

In anthropological studies done on tribal societies it was also clear that the idea of kinship extended from this family to the local band to the outer tribe as the rivalry between the Nuet and the Kinda in Southern Sudan showed when they fought over cattle and land.

This type of kinship evolved eventually into a state and within the groups of states as we see clear favoritism on how many countries felt the same way when confronted by a threat. This is why Muslims and Arabs have felt the defeat of 67 deeply from Indonesia to Morocco. Likewise the West felt attacked when the twin towers were destroyed.

In Syria the disappearance of the state has revived local kinships and tribalism and sectarianism.

I therefore can understand how the Jews feel kinship and a shared identity even though many of them are atheists and I can understand that the same can happen to let us say Circassians in Syria and Jordan.

If Arabism has not brought us together as it clearly did not then we can come together on a different identity but this identity has got to be more attractive than the local kinship and provide a better chance for freedom and dignity.

This is why I do understand fully that the Baath party had to adopt the Eternal Message of Islam as it credo for it was binding and superior to the local kinship. However, I do object to making the universal humanistic message an Arab one for it clearly was not meant for Arabs alone, was not meant to be the product of Arabism, and has huge contributions from other groups and components.

That is also why I do accept this part of the history and culture of the people to be rooted in this religion just as the Japanese have kept their faith in the emperor as the glue of the nation.

Today I will not ask any questions or even expect a response for I am always weary of how sensitive you are at times.

To go back on the post today; I would say that in reality the role of intervening power that is destroying Syria goes to Putin’s Russia; not the US.

One cannot blame the US for intervening as well as non intervening. The conspiracy theory crowd cannot have it both ways.

January 2nd, 2013, 12:30 pm

ZOO

Did you know that O’Hare international airport in Chicago was closed for maintenance as they need to build an extra runway just like Aleppo airport was closed for maintenance?

The actually found Ostriches on the runway in Aleppo and they had to take back to the ZOO

January 2nd, 2013, 12:35 pm

annie said:

Keep them coming !

Defections and New Units 01 01 2013 thanks…: http://wp.me/p2vyM7-rm7 via @YallaSouriya

January 2nd, 2013, 12:39 pm

updating the news

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyria/latest_syria_developments

and this
http://www.livestream.com/syrianfreedom?t=410001

January 2nd, 2013, 12:43 pm

You’re are as smart as Marigoldran but not as Observer who is still longing for the printed phone book Moaz al Khatib promise him as reward for his loyalty to Al Nusra.

January 2nd, 2013, 12:48 pm

@27 Observer

“they had to take back to the ZOO”

The Turkish zoo you mean where they can make good company to the heroes of the revolution Ryaad al Asssad and General Sheikh.

Or may Hollande’s zoo where they can jump with Hariri jr , Tlass and Khaddam, the other exiled heroes of the failed revolution…

In Qatar’s zoo, there are only apes, maybe they will object.

January 2nd, 2013, 12:55 pm

Juergen

The worse is that they were giving the Jews some distinctive physical characteristics in order to denigrate them and differentiate them from the ‘pure’ race.

That’s what our ‘pure’ Syrian is doing, unconsciously… that’s even worse. Most racists deny they are.

January 2nd, 2013, 12:59 pm

Syrian opposition claims it can produce, use chemical weapons

2 January 2013 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM, İSTANBUL,
The political adviser of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has claimed that the Syrian opposition is capable of putting together components of chemical weapons and using them if necessary.

Bassam Al-Dada told Turkey’s state-run Anatolia news agency on Wednesday that the Syrian opposition has the necessary capability and raw materials to produce chemical weapons.

He said if Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad threatens the Syrian opposition fighters with chemical weapons, he should know that “we also possess them.”

Noting that they have the ability to put together components to produce chemical weapons thanks to defected army officers who are experts in this regard, al-Dada added that they won’t use them if the Syrian regime avoids using them. “If we ever use them, we will only hit the regime’s bases and centers,” he stressed.

January 2nd, 2013, 1:04 pm

Saudi Cleric’s ‘advices’ to fighters on how to relieve sexual needs while fighting in Syria.
Anyone around to disagree?

Wednesday, Jan 2, 2013 5:25 PM UTC
Saudi religious leader calls for gang rape of Syrian women
The cleric specified that the “intercourse marriages” last only a few hours “in order to give each fighter a turn”

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/02/saudi_religious_leader_calls_for_gang_rape_of_syrian_women/

A prominent Saudi cleric has issued a fatwa (a religious ordinance) that calls for the gang rape of Syrian women. Expressing frustration that the “warriors of Islam” fighting in Syria may be getting weary for the lack of sexual pleasure, the religious leader issued a decree that promotes hours-long “intercourse marriages.”

The cleric, Muhammed al-Arifi, who is a leading jihadist religious figure, made it clear that his edict called for the gang rape of Syrian women and girls. He specified that the “intercourse marriages” last only a few hours “in order to give each fighter a turn.” As to who is an eligible bride, the cleric approves any girls or women over the age of 14 who are widowed or divorced. Yes, you read that right. Any girls over the age of 14.

January 2nd, 2013, 1:10 pm

Warren said:

Al Nusra faggots dead and injured!

January 2nd, 2013, 1:30 pm

UN’s Syria death toll jumps dramatically to 60000 plus
The murderous regime of Assad has killed much more than 60,000,probably twice as much,

Zoozoo skip Arabiyeh and read Sana,the lying source

January 2nd, 2013, 1:31 pm

5 dancing shlomos said:

jew, israeli aaron david miller of the jew, israeli woodrow wilson center.

next, let us hear from dennis ross or martin indyk or gurgling, gassing sharon.

January 2nd, 2013, 1:37 pm

Uzair8 said:

@34

Hoax.

– Based on an alleged tweet of impossible length.
– Denied by the person in question.
– Not the first fabricated tweet attributed to this person in recent weeks.

January 2nd, 2013, 1:39 pm

New Saudi Fatwa Defends Pedophilia as ‘Marriage’

Muslim “child-marriage”—euphemism for pedophilia—is making headlines again, at least in Arabic media: Dr. Salih bin Fawzan, a prominent cleric and member of Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council, just issued a fatwa asserting that there is no minimum age for marriage, and that girls can be married “even if they are in the cradle.”

Appearing in Saudi papers on July 13, the fatwa complains that “Uninformed interference with Sharia rulings by the press and journalists is on the increase, posing dire consequences to society, including their interference with the question of marriage to small girls who have not reached maturity, and their demand that a minimum age be set for girls to marry.”

Fawzan insists that nowhere does Sharia set an age limit for marrying girls: like countless Muslim scholars before him, he relies on Koran 65:4, which discusses marriage to females who have not yet begun menstruating (i.e., are prepubescent) and the fact that Muhammad, Islam’s role model, married Aisha when she was 6-years-old, “consummating” the marriage—or, in modern parlance, raping her—when she was 9.

The point of the Saudi fatwa, however, is not that girls as young as 9 can have sex, based on Muhammad’s example, but rather that there is no age limit whatsoever; the only question open to consideration is whether the girl is physically capable of handling her husband/rapist. Fawzan documents this point by quoting Ibn Batal’s authoritative exegesis of Sahih Bukhari:

The ulema [Islam’s interpreters] have agreed that it is permissible for fathers to marry off their small daughters, even if they are in the cradle. But it is not permissible for their husbands to have sex with them unless they are capable of being placed beneath and bearing the weight of the men. And their capability in this regard varies based on their nature and capacity. Aisha was 6 when she married the prophet, but he had sex with her when she was 9 [i.e., when she was deemed capable].

Fawzan concludes his fatwa with a warning: “It behooves those who call for setting a minimum age for marriage to fear Allah and not contradict his Sharia, or try to legislate things Allah did not permit. For laws are Allah’s province; and legislation is his excusive right, to be shared by none other. And among these are the rules governing marriage.”

Fawzan, of course, is not the first to insist on the legitimacy of pedophilia in Islam. Even the former grand mufti of Saudi Arabia supported “child-marriage,” since “the Koran and Sunna document it.”

http://frontpagemag.com/2011/raymond-ibrahim/new-saudi-fatwa-defends-pedophilia-as-%E2%80%98marriage%E2%80%99/

January 2nd, 2013, 1:42 pm

Aida said:

Floppy-Sloppy American foreign policy is the new normal.

As a Syrian (father) and as an American (mother) I can’t win any argument for Mr. Miller. President Obama is terrible at Middle East affairs with the exception of Israel of course. Mr. Miller is correct America has proved it is not the world’s top cop ( the Iraq disaster that never ends). When it came to controlling “good for mankind” history President Obama had a huge opportunity to clear America’s name once and for all but failed miserably.

As a Syrian I have lost 60,000 of my countrymen and 3000 children with one million homes destroyed, along wiht historical sites, and hospitals.
As an American I have lost to Putin and Iran, how embarrassing. We Americans seem to be so good at starting conflicts and backing the wrong horse but when it comes to cleanup we just run in the opposite direction because it is too expensive and by that we make Russia look strong and in control.

Mr. David Miller says “It combines the worst aspects of three volatile elements: civil war, sectarian violence and manipulation by external powers.” Sorry Mr. Miller I don’t buy it. We don’t have a civil war. We have a revolution which began peacefully for the first 365 days. Where were you?

We do not have what Mr. Miller calls sectarian violence or as he hinted at (Sunni extremist) an offensive categorization to all Syrians on either side of the revolution. Syria is NOT Iraq and you can’t use the same manual for both I suggest you get a new and improved manual and study up .

What we do have is Iran and Hezbollah chipping away at American might at the expense of Syrian and Lebanese civilian lives and properties with Putin the ever silent partner.

The Obama administration owns this sloppy foreign policy and is accountable to all Syrians and the world alike.

January 2nd, 2013, 1:50 pm

#38

The Fatwa isn’t from a tweet you lying Paki.

January 2nd, 2013, 1:53 pm

http://www.youtube.com

January 2nd, 2013, 1:57 pm

#38 Uzair8

Please submit proofs of what you advance.

Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunni Cleric Muhammed al-Arifi Calls for More Prostitution among Muslims Fighting in Syria
..
Not surprisingly, since these are Sunni hadith, some Sunni scholars support temporary marriage. Popular Wahhabi Cleric Muhammed al-Arifi has even issued a fatwa allowing Jihadists fighting in Syria to hire prostitutes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qvo4_hMrF4&feature=player_detailpage

The Federal Office for Migration refused entry into Switzerland from Saudi preacher Mohammad Al-Arifi.

January 2nd, 2013, 2:04 pm

January 2nd, 2013, 2:06 pm

MarigoldRan said:

Haha. Regime supporters like Revenire and Zoo are denouncing hate speech.

What hypocrisy. Last time I checked, Revenire was arguing for the gassing of Sunni villages under the theory that they were supporting “terrorists” and cheered when the regime massacred 300 old men and children in Homs.

As I’ve said before, I’m always amused when regime supporters use international law to make arguments against the FSA. It’s not as if the regime follows international law, so why should its enemies?

What comes around, goes around.

January 2nd, 2013, 2:10 pm

Controversial Saudi preacher needs psychiatric help, MBC statement suggests

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/25/257033.html

AND

Saudi cleric backtracks on tweet describing Kuwait’s ruler as illegitimate

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/28/246400.html

__________________________________________________________________

No doubt the cyber jihadi propagandists on here will deny all this too!

– Say its a hoax
– Tweet is too long
– Source is biased
– Etc,

#40

Long time no see!
How’s things? How’s the 11th hour propaganda campaign?

It was a tweet. #34 & #39 are 2 different stories.

Anyway, keep us updated on the Jimmy Saville story.

41. Zoo

– Thread on Shiachat. This post apparently includes a tweet from the Sheikh denying the fatwa.

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?/topic/235009718-militants-can-marry-syrian-women/#entry2529146

– There was another ‘fake’ tweet attributed to the Sheikh forbidding jihad against Isreal. The tweet had no ‘time’ on it. That thread on Shiachat was locked and the initiator warned about such hoaxes. Remember the shia people are no friends of this Sheikh.

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?/topic/235009124-shaikh-al-arifi-jihad-is-not-allowed-in-israel/

– A tweet conversation on the length of the tweet:

https://twitter.com/amjadofarabia/status/285355993821503488

– Another tweet:

Abdullah@SyrianSmurf 30 Dec
@AnonymousZC it turned out to be fake…he denied it all…the “proof” used was an edited screenshot of a tweet w/ more than 140 characters.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf/status/285645372599181314

January 2nd, 2013, 2:25 pm

Mary

“What comes around, goes around.”

Does that mean allah who akbar screamers like you will stop whining to the Western media about “massacres” then?

January 2nd, 2013, 2:26 pm

Uzair8

“Remember the shia people are no friends of this Sheikh.”

Who is except lunatics?

January 2nd, 2013, 2:29 pm

Zoo @30,

Do you realize what level IQ YOU hve?

It is in the cryogenic range!!

So how can you judge those who are your betters?

Is this part of your delusional escapades?

On another hand, per your comment 31 you belong to the Mullah-stan Zoo where they only keep khamenei look-alikes,

http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.flicksandbits.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/rise-of-apes.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flicksandbits.com/2011/07/24/three-%25E2%2580%2598rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes%25E2%2580%2599-clips-%25E2%2580%2593-starring-james-franco-freida-pinto-andy-serkis/14112/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-9/&h=393&w=700&sz=87&tbnid=2I43fOUukzaY6M:&tbnh=72&tbnw=128&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dimages%2Bof%2Bapes%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=images+of+apes&usg=__UBV8fj0_ShofqQvJhMuDLNVx8GQ=&docid=AzcVJoeqwoFSOM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jIrkULSuCoOCiwLCq4GQDg&ved=0CDQQ9QEwAQ&dur=4715

January 2nd, 2013, 2:30 pm

That’s the original heading of the article:

“Air raid on petrol station in Damascus suburb kills 30-activists”

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/61700/World/Region/Air-raid-on-petrol-station-in-Damascus-suburb-kill.aspx

Syrian warplanes bombed a petrol station in a rebellious suburb on the eastern edge of Damascus, just as a consignment of fuel arrived and crowds packed the station
Reuters , Wednesday 2 Jan 2013

January 2nd, 2013, 2:34 pm

#49 Visitir

“Do you realize what level IQ YOU hve?”

How can I? My IQ is too low to realize how low it is.
Thanks for your observations, brilliant a usual!

January 2nd, 2013, 2:37 pm

48. Zoo

I’m not a follower of the Sheikh either. However such claims should be verified. There seems to be a campaign of fabrication targeting this personality.

The earlier ‘fake’ tweet seems to be sourced to ShiaDefence.org.

If the more recent tweets were true, Syrians (including anti-regime) wouldn’t be too happy about it. However, it seems they (particularly the latter) are not falling for it and and regard it as a ‘fake’.

@ Warren

No, because the regime has committed many more massacres than the opposition.

When the score has been evened, then it’s time to stop complaining.

What comes around, goes around. A good lesson for the regime and its supporters to learn.

If a regime supporter is captured and convicted of participating in a massacre, he will be executed, which is how it should be.

#45 Paki

How is that rebuttal? The links I posted demonstrate previous well publicized controversial comments the deranged Wahhabi has made. Showing he has a history of making outlandish and obscene statements. Do you deny he made such statements?

Learn to read properly you dishonest cretin.

Noticed your Paki brethren’s new targets are aid workers, this time they removed the kid and just killed the adults. Looks like you Pakis are evolving.

Pakistan aid workers shooting: Child removed from vehicle

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20886627

January 2nd, 2013, 2:39 pm

@ Zoo

Agreed. Your IQ is pathetically low. Glad you admit it.

January 2nd, 2013, 2:41 pm

I’m always amused when regime supporters accuse others of being dishonest.

Once again, most regime supporters are hypocrites, empty and soul-less on the inside.

January 2nd, 2013, 2:42 pm

Zoo @51,

Welcome.

I am glad I could help.

So next time you should avoid looking to higher levels and refrain from appointing yourself the judge while knowing you do not measure up. That is the whole idea.

January 2nd, 2013, 2:45 pm

#52 Paki

The source of the story is from the Lebanese Al Jadeed channel you Paki liar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qvo4_hMrF4&feature=player_embedded

And this story has been validated and disseminated in Western media outlets.

Saudi religious leader calls for gang rape of Syrian women
The cleric specified that the “intercourse marriages” last only a few hours “in order to give each fighter a turn”

January 2nd, 2013, 2:53 pm

Syrialover said:

The UN’s new 60,000-plus figure for Syrians killed has shocked even opposition and human rights groups.

The high and rapidly rising numbers are due to the Assad regime’s airstrikes on densely populated civilian areas.

The latest act of spiteful savagery was the warplane strike on a petrol station during a fuel tanker delivery, creating a fireball which has reportedly killed at least 60 and left countless others with massive injuries.

The airstrike was in Mleiha on the outskirts of Damascus, which has no opposition fighter presence and has been used as a safe area for people fleeing other areas.

These random air strikes targeting ordinary Syrians struggling to survive in bread and petrol queues by their own “Government” has no precedent elsewhere in history.

I am against revenge and further killing but now I yearn for massive precision air strikes on that rats nest in Tartus where the regime-linked elite have gathered to enjoy life as if nothing is happening. (See an account of the Tartus scene in http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/world/middleeast/syrian-resort-town-is-stronghold-for-alawites.html?ref=syria)

January 2nd, 2013, 2:55 pm

The Syrian Air Force does not bomb civilians.

The petrol station was a gathering of terrorists and they got what was coming to them.

To Hell.

January 2nd, 2013, 3:02 pm

58. Warren

There’s a tweet going around with the alleged fatwa.

Are you sure the al-Jadeed clip wasn’t based on the tweet.

If it wasn’t then why the need for an edited tweet which only weakens the claim and creates doubt?

January 2nd, 2013, 3:03 pm

#60. REVENIRE

Right on cue! I was waiting for some smartass, giggling nonesense from you on the latest airstrike atrocity on civilians. Are you by any chance writing from Tartus?

January 2nd, 2013, 3:13 pm

Today gunmen fired by mortars residential area and building near the hospital.
For This time, a suburb of Damascus was attacked settlement Dahie- al-Assad. Group of terrorists tried to enter the village, after firing it. The victims were three children. The appearance of one’s mother and father were waiting for years. It was their only child. The boy was 13 years old.
Issued shells damaged the building of the mosque and a kindergarten, which is very significant: the brave fighters irreconcilable “opposition” today won the children!
Managed to repel the attack, the attackers killed, among them – a sniper, try to fix and maintain accurate fire.
http://anna-news.info/node/9441

January 2nd, 2013, 3:25 pm

The four major Russian Navy fleets will hold a joint exercise in late January in the Mediterranean and Black seas. It will be the biggest such event in decades.
Commands for the Northern, Baltic, Black Sea and Pacific fleets have been preparing for the exercises since December of last year, the Russian Defense Ministry has announced. Warships detached for the event are currently sailing to those regions.
“The primary goal of the exercise is to train issues regarding formation of a battle group consisting of troops of different branches outside of the Russian Federation, planning of its deployment and managing a coordinated action of a joint Navy group in accordance with a common plan,” the ministry’s information department explained.
The exercise will include several scenarios, including the loading of amphibious troops from an unprepared coast in the Northern Caucasus onto transport vessels.
The announcement comes days after the launch of the nuclear-powered submarine Vladimir Monomakh, the third Borei-class strategic submarine cruiser produced in Russia. The vessel, armed with Bulava ICBMs, will become part of the country’s nuclear deterrence force after completing sea trials.
The Russian Navy’s five fleets each have their own headquarters. The strongest, the Northern fleet is based in Severomorsk in north-west of the country. The Baltic fleet is based in Kaliningrad, the western Russian enclave on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
The Black Sea fleet is based in Sevastopol, Ukraine, from which Russia rents a naval base. The Pacific fleet is based in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East. The Caspian flotilla is the smallest in the Russian Navy, but is the strongest naval force in the enclosed Caspian Sea.
Warships from the four main fleets conduct joint naval drills on regular basis to streamline command and control for operations. Groups of ships detached from different fleets also often sail for joint missions in the high seas. The patrol in the Mediterranean in August 2012 drew worldwide attention amid rumors that the ships would become involved in the Syrian civil war.
http://rt.com/news/russian-navy-major-exercise-211/

January 2nd, 2013, 3:29 pm

Rats kidnap more journalists:

2 journalists kidnapped in Syria
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_01_02/2-journalists-kidnapped-in-Syria/

In Syria, unidentified people have kidnapped 39-year-old US citizen James Folly, a France Press correspondent, and his colleague.

Within the last several months, Mr. Folly shot video reportages about the Syrian civil war.

Witnesses say that on November 22, unidentified people kidnapped James Folly, his colleague journalist, their driver and their interpreter near the city of Taftanaz in the northern Syrian province of Idlib. Later, the driver and the interpreter were released.

James Folly’s family announced about his kidnapping only on Wednesday. They still hope that he can be saved.

Voice of Russia, RIA

January 2nd, 2013, 3:36 pm

Refreshing and sane blog piece by Maysaloon calling for a stop to “trial by twitter”, gruesome videos and online vigilantism.

In a thoughtful commentary he points out the dangers of this to future justice and stability, and concludes:

“As unbelievable as this might seem today, the fighting in Syria will stop one day. When that happens, it is the duty of every Syrian with conscience to call for and demand an in-depth investigation of each atrocity, filmed or otherwise, and to begin the costly and lengthy process of investigation, trial and judgment. There might be some who ridicule such ideas as pedantic or unrealistic, but these people should remember that at one point so was any talk about overthrowing Assad’s regime, or of effecting change for the better in Syria. Amidst all the fighting there is still a revolution taking place in Syria, and this revolution is in the way we think about ourselves and our country.”

http://www.maysaloon.org/2013/01/no-to-online-vigilantism.html?spref=tw

January 2nd, 2013, 4:11 pm

@Maysaloon is a pro-terrorist symp. When this war is over we pray to God he is brought to justice. ALL terrorist supporters are guilty of war crimes.

People that say nothing of beheadings and the murder of children support these actions and when we win the war they will have to face justice. I am in favor of public trials. No mercy for those who backed foreign aggression against Syria.

January 2nd, 2013, 4:24 pm

# 67. REVENIRE

Oh you are so witty! Or at least you think you are.

You’ve shown you know zilch about Maysaloon.

And another thing for sure, you are very confused when you sentence yourself with the words: “No mercy for those who backed foreign aggression against Syria.”

Feeling uneasy about Iran and Russia?

January 2nd, 2013, 4:29 pm

SANDRO LOEWE said:

First it was ASSAD OR CHAOS. When people broke fear barrier then it became ASSAD OR WAR. When things are getting complicated to Assad mafia now this is the new dilemma:

ASSAD OR SOMALIA.

I propose Assad goes to Somalia and get killed there.

January 2nd, 2013, 4:34 pm

67. REVENIRE,

I am now in Turkey. People in a town near Idlib is telling me today by phone a barril with dinamite was thrown from an Assad army helicopter killing some children in that same village which is under FSA.

If accusing the mafia regime of bombing populations is being a terrorist then I am a terrorist, proud of it. Even those who previously supported Assad are now under Assad fire for the single fact of living in a sunni village.

Being called “terrorist” by a stupid criminal regime is much better than being stupid and terrorist at the same time as Assad and their supporters are.

No doubt there will be trial and justice against all Assad criminals and stupids supporting the holocaust in Syria.

January 2nd, 2013, 4:46 pm

Nothing changed! this is the dilemma: send to hell or diplomatic dialogue!

January 2nd, 2013, 5:06 pm

What inept circus clowns the “leadership” of Iran is, not only shooting their country in the foot and making it lamer by the day, but handing windfall profits to Saudi Arabia and other Opec Gulf states.

The high price of oil means the Opec oil cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, will bank a record windfall of more than US$1 trillion in net oil revenues in 2012.

But because Iran is in a self-induced sanctions mess with its oil production at a 32-year low, its reduced market share enabled the Saudis and co. to pump more, profiting from record annual prices.

The Iranian people are falling into isolation and poverty and their economy disintegrating. Meanwhile the evil moronic Mullahs betray them further by wasting scarce resources and deepening their countries international isolation by eagerly helping Assad burn Syria.

See “Opec cartel to reap record $1tn”, Financial Times http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eedc5b56-50da-11e2-9623-00144feab49a.html#ixzz2GrD2A9fb

January 2nd, 2013, 5:08 pm

Tara said:

Mabrouk to the regime supporters the burden of 60,000 death including 3,327 children for Batta’s toes when they face God.
—-

At 60,000 deaths the UN’s increased new estimate for the number of people killed in Syria is significantly more than estimates from activists.

It comes after after human rights activists documented the deaths of 36,332 people in 2012.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it documented every death by name, date, and in many cases with video and photographic evidence. photograph or video.

It said the figure is likely to be an underestimate: “It must be noted that there are many cases that we were unable to reach and document particularly in the case of massacres and besieged areas where the Syrian government frequently blocks communication. This indicates that the actual death toll is likely to be higher as there are dozens of cases in which residents buried the bodies in mass graves to prevent the spread of diseases.”

It’s tally includes the 3,327 children.

From the Guardian

January 2nd, 2013, 5:32 pm

#72 Syrialover

“The Iranian people are falling into isolation and poverty and their economy disintegrating.”

What is your source for that bold statement?

January 2nd, 2013, 6:07 pm

Tara

Be sure that Moaz Al Khatib and the Coalition clique will not be spared hell for rejecting the proposed plan to halt the violence and for having associated the Syrians to Al Qaeeda murderers.

They bear a large responsibility in the increase of violence that we see.
I hope that the “desperate” and impotent Coalition will soon call for an emergency meeting to kick out the seriously compromised Al Khatib and start all over.

By the way ” killed in Syria” does not mean “killed by the Syrian governement”.
It means any one who died violently on Syrian soil: foreign jihadists, activists, criminals, journalists , rebels, soldiers, civilians, government personalities, etc…

January 2nd, 2013, 6:16 pm

#68 Salafilover

“Feeling uneasy about Iran and Russia?”

I don’t, do you?

January 2nd, 2013, 6:17 pm

Sandro

“Being called “terrorist” by a stupid criminal regime”

Ben Laden and Al Nusra more recently said the same about the USA…

January 2nd, 2013, 6:24 pm

The leader of the infamous video of the stabbing to death has been recognize,
His name is Ali Hassan Wanoss(علي حسن ونوس) from the fourth division
A 2nd one has been also found out his name is Ahmad Hassan Barri(احمد حسن بري) From the shabiha family the Barri clan of Aleppo
Phone numbrrs are also available on the net for any supporter in case they want to warn them

January 2nd, 2013, 6:30 pm

Homs is almost totally free from the terrorists and Aleppo is being retaken inch by inch by the Syrian army to the delight of the Aleppo population.

I believe Ryad Hijab, like the others ‘highest level’ defectors may be hiding in Bakkourland but I am just curious to know if he still stands by his 70% of ‘liberated areas’ anymore.

Aleppo in September 2102
http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/45005_334380656675712_778113655_n.jpg

Aleppo in December 2012
http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/16626_334417370005374_1094300462_n.jpg

January 2nd, 2013, 6:32 pm

78. Syrian said:

“Phone numbrrs are also available on the net for any supporter in case they want to warn them”

Why would you want to render them that service? Did they promise you something in return?

January 2nd, 2013, 6:36 pm

Wahhabism and Music : A Tale of Love

In mathematics there are sometimes different methods to solve a problem. Look at the Music as a mathematical problem. Don’t ever bind yourself by a specific method to play the musical instruments. Be creative as “Abo Ghazi” in this video…

His name is “Abo Ghazi Al-Shummary”, a Saudi preacher. In this video he destroys the musical instruments, because they are tools of the “Devil”!! Look at his face, he is namely the devil.

In the past, such madness took place in Saudi Arabia. Today it invaded the Arab world after the so-called “Arab Spring”. The ture culture and heritage are under attack. Ruins were destroyed. Actors and movie directors were tried before the court and jailed. Authors have been put on hit lists.
To support the so-called “Arab Spring” means to support a way of life that can only fit in the middle ages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkETJsLQWf8

More barbarism from Wahhabistan: as usual the cyber jihadi cheerleaders on here will make excuses for this!

January 2nd, 2013, 6:39 pm

ann said:

is strict Islamic rule ahead for Syria? January 2, 2013

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/01/02/will-syria-become-islamic-state-after-assad/1784133/

ALEPPO, Syria — The voice of Islamist groups is growing louder in Syria as a number of Syrians in the battleground province of Aleppo are expressing increasing interest in establishing a government that leans toward a strict Islamic state.

The shift comes as radical groups from outside Syria have increasingly become part of the fight against the government of Bashar Assad.

The U.S. State Department implicitly recognized the growing influence of extremist groups in Syria last month when it designated as a terrorist group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is fighting the Assad regime in Syria. The State Department said the group’s ties with the group al-Qaeda in Iraq were among the main reasons for its decision.

Among its ranks are Syrians and foreign fighters who have battle experience in Iraq and elsewhere, according to the State Department. Jabhat al-Nusra receives considerable funding from Arabian Gulf states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to several news reports.

One former member, Abu Osama, says he left the group after it tried to get him to sign an oath pledging to fight with the group anywhere in the world. Now fighting with the rebel Free Syrian Army, Abu says some fighters with Jabhat al-Nusra consider Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, an infidel because he has not enforced sharia — strict Islamic law — in Egypt.

[…]

January 2nd, 2013, 6:40 pm

Zoo,

I guess it would be the same Hell that Palestinians have gone to for refusing to “dialogue” with Netanyahu..

Let me tell you what Batta meant during the very initial phase when he wanted to have a dialogue. He wanted groups of people to come to the presidential place, shake his hand, sit in this long oval or rectangular offce and talk. He would then say.انشالله بيصير خير, denies culpability, plea ignorance and dismiss them..the next group would come and do the same things and so on… Just like aمضيفِة. Then each and every person would be profiled by al Mukhabarat and you know the rest. This is the dialogue, Batta-style. Meanwhile the killing continues..

79. zoo said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqO0IGPM1zw&list=UUAoA66dH7UHEMwTJBTbO3Nw&index=1

January 2nd, 2013, 6:51 pm

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) liberated more of Aleppo from the FSA / Al-Quaeda / Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists and mercenaries – note the population cheering.

Soon our boys will liberate Idlib from the rats.

Surrender now while you have the chance.

January 2nd, 2013, 6:54 pm

The USA quest for a solution in Syria?
CNN ignoring totally the on-going UN plan,in he contrary boosts the rebels into more violence.

January 2nd, 2013, 6:57 pm

#85 Reve

“Surrender now while you have the chance.”

Why would they ? CNN and the SC Jihadist twins are telling them that they are winning..

January 2nd, 2013, 7:05 pm

80 Zoo
“Why would you want to render them that service”
My mistake,for the untrained eye it to look like I care.
But I’m hoping that they would know , so they live whatever left in their life in fear.
i did not get the 2nd part of your question, their phone number are on the Internet for anyone to find , why would anyone pay me for public information

#83

Tara, I think you have great imagination about the initial phase and I guess as much for the final one.

January 2nd, 2013, 7:09 pm

Zoo@87

You realize that you are lowering yourself tremendously when you engage someone like Ann and Reve in a conversation? We all saw beyond reasonable doubt that both criminally altered article(in case of Ann) or relabeled video link (in case of Reve) to suit their agenda. Are these the kind of people you like to associate with?

January 2nd, 2013, 7:17 pm

Zoo@89

Great imagination? Is it?

I am sorry to tell you that I was raisedبنت حكومة. An uncle of mine was a head of the dreaded Mukhabarat during Hafiz time and lots of family members and close friends are part of the regime, the past and the current and I am not going to list them so my identity remains discrete …Yes, it really is beyond imagination. It is not a personal revenge vendetta that I have against Batta like what you like to convince yourself with to explain why the non-Islamic Tara is supporting the revolution. It is an insider knowledge of how rotten the regime you are supporting is.

January 2nd, 2013, 7:26 pm

ALLAH SNACKBAR, ALLAH SNACKBAR!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDClAmqdCF0&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Tara I am sorry your relatives were booted out of Syria by President Assad. I am sure you could visit unless you’re on some terrorist list. Perhaps get some ice cream and visit Asma’s cousins?

January 2nd, 2013, 7:28 pm

If one word describes the regime:

CRUEL

How cruel it’s been to the young and old, to defenceless men and women.

Can’t wait till it’s gone. There should be no place for such a heinous abomination.

January 2nd, 2013, 7:41 pm

I like AD Miller’s term ‘thugocracy’ to describe the regime in the main post. I’m sure I’ve seen the term used before on SC.

What happened to Aldenshe?
Did his world really end on 21/12/12 ?

370. Revenire said:

‘…I’ve never been here before…’

That’s thrown a spanner in the works. I was sure…

Revenire –> (from the latin) Revenio –>

Verb

1. I come back, return.

January 2nd, 2013, 7:47 pm

One more airbase bites the dust.

But this is no dusty airbase. This is the most important airbase in the north. It is Taftanaz with lots planes, armored vehicles, missiles and amunitions,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/03/258355.html

Those FSA heroes, and especially the Nusra among them, are something for all Syrians to be proud of!!

January 2nd, 2013, 7:53 pm

Revenire most likely lives in America. He is most likely a college student, which means he has too much free time, which is why he’s trolling on this blog. The alternative is that he’s unemployed, and he’s trying to cover up his insecurities by sounding tough and confident. I am certain he has no personal relationship to Syria.

He does not have Syrian friends, because he doesn’t have many friends.

He regularly reads and watches CNN, which is how he’s informed about Syria. He pretends to be a regime supporter because he is empty and soul-less inside, and empty and soul-less people tend to gravitate towards empty and soul-less regimes.

Of all the topics he could have trolled abut, he CHOSE to troll for the side of the regime. I think this says something about him. And it’s not a positive thing.

January 2nd, 2013, 8:05 pm

The regime is evil and cruel, which is why many of its supporters are also evil and cruel.

People who are naturally evil and cruel gravitate to the regime, because the evil and cruelty of the regime is a reflection of the evil and cruelty in their souls.

January 2nd, 2013, 8:07 pm

Syrian View.

The other evening Reem Haddad had her say on BBC Radio 4.
The following evening an opposition person had a chance.

This evening it was the turn of a member of a minority.

BBC Radio 4 – The World Tonight

11:38 min – Member of the Syrian christian community.

14:47 min – Should the outside world intervene? A 15 minute discussion between Ann-Marie Slaughter and Edward Luttwak.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01phjbb

January 2nd, 2013, 8:13 pm

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02441/syria_2441295b.jpg

January 2nd, 2013, 8:44 pm

John McCain, the former United States presidential candidate who has urged President Barack Obama to intervene in the conflict, referred to the figures (60,000 death) on his Twitter account yesterday and said the president’s policy was no longer “leading from behind” but “waiting from behind”.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9776582/Syrias-truly-shocking-death-toll-passes-60000.html

January 2nd, 2013, 8:51 pm

When PM Erdogan spoke about ‘strong signals’ indicating the end of the regime, what could he be referring to?

Perhaps Turkey has been in contact with some Syrian generals and have seen some positive indications. Could a general or two split away from Assad causing scattering of Assad’s loyalists from Damascus?

January 2nd, 2013, 9:03 pm

apple_mini said:

#98 when I heard a reporter saying the eastern suburb of Mleiha where the claimed air strike at a gas station occurred was a peaceful village without any opposition members. I had to turn off that radio.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:18 pm

William Scott Scherk said:

From the recommended SyriaDeeply site (in English and Arabic):

Q&A with Michel Kilo: Some Hope for a Solution

Michel Kilo is one of Syria’s famous dissidents, a political opponent of President Bashar al Assad. He rose to prominence in the Damascus Spring, a brief flourishing of political freedom and expression in 2000.

Kilo left Syria eight months into the revolution and now lives in Paris with his family. He answered questions from Syria Deeply via Skype. For more on his story we’ve included a link to a video interview about his time in prison, jailed for his prominent political dissent.

SD: Are you officially backing the Syrian National Coalition? What do you see as their strengths and weaknesses?

Kilo: I’m not a member of the Syrian National Coalition, because I think its weakness lies in the exaggerated representation of the Islamic movement. It does not represent the various trends of the opposition forces, especially democracy and secularism.

SD: When you look at the state of the war in Syria, what do you see?

Kilo: I see a slow shift in the power relations between the opposition and the regime, with a possibility of many surprise twists. That includes desperate operations [by the Assad regime], such as the use of internationally banned weapons, as it loses control of more Syrian land. Fighting has also arrived in Damascus, encircling the main centers of power.

SD: Do you have any hope for a negotiated solution? What is the best-case scenario?

Kilo: Yes, I have some limited hope of a negotiated solution. Some members of the system have disassociated themselves from the Assad regime and extended their reconciliation to the opposition, accepting a transition to a democratic system.

SD: How do you keep Sunnis and Alawites from fighting each other? Is there any way? Any hope?

Kilo: I do not know how we can prevent sectarian clashes without a national program that brings in all parties. This integrated program does not exist today, since the opposition had missed the opportunity of drafting and implementing it [early on]. Today I think we need a kind of program, that will encourage everyone to collaborate in a joint national project, in order to cut the route to a sectarian conflict or at least reduces the possibility [of it erupting].

SD: Are there members of the current system that you think could and should stay on in a future Syria?

Kilo: Yes, there are people in the system who can play a role in the future of Syria…some of those who are now in power, especially those who are defecting from power and Assad’s family to join the people.

SD: What is holding up the Assad regime today?

Kilo: The resilience of Assad’s military strength comes from Russian, Chinese, and Iranian support and the lack of a critical western position against it. That enables them to play that supporting role without real impediment, with a green light that allows Assad to oppress people and destroy Syria.

SD: Do you think the Assad regime would really use chemical weapons for its political survival?

Kilo: Yes, there is no doubt that he would use all kinds of weapons, including chemical weapons, because he does not respect the lives and rights of human beings. Otherwise he wouldn’t have destroyed his country.

SD: How do you think Assad will exit the picture?

Kilo: My fear is that we will move from a crisis to overthrow the regime to a new crisis, extending civil war and chaos, political and armed. Plus we shouldn’t forget that Syria is destroyed, and much of the people are homeless, hungry, or displaced, and this atmosphere will encourage chaos.

SD: What is your biggest fear in the coming phase in Syria?

Kilo: Assad wants to make a decisive victory over his people, this is the goal of the war waged since nearly two years ago. It excludes all kinds of political solutions that had been offered by the opposition. He fancies that he can still win the war.

SD: What does the international community need to do for Syria?

Kilo: The international community should develop clear, practical and applicable positions to stop the killing in Syria and work on a political solution to the crisis without hesitation. [World powers] have demonstrated their inability to do anything, abandoning their responsibilities under the pretext of a weak opposition and divided Syrian society.

SD: If you could tell US President Obama to make one change on Syria policy, what would it be?

Kilo: I’ll tell him committed to what I said repeatedly, that U.S. policy must be based on respect for human rights for people, everywhere.

SD: Should the international community enforce a no-fly zone over northern Syria? Should the world intervene to take out Assad’s forces from the skies?

Kilo: But I do not think we need it. The Syrian people have proved over the past two years that they can [defend] their homes without external interference and are supported by the minimum of weapons needed for victory. They no longer depend on foreign countries to get their freedom. They believe that Western countries don’t want Assad to leave, and that he’ll stay until he destroys the whole society and what holds it together.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:37 pm

#91 Tara

“It is not a personal revenge vendetta that I have against Batta”

I came to realize that too as it sounded too obsessive to be based on anything rational.
I am not Dr Phil, but it looks to me that you are seeking a vengeance for your own upbringing in a family and milieu that you came to despise as you took your distances while living far away.

It is commonly known as ‘projection’. Bashar al Assad came to represent all you hate and reject about your own family and want to see destroyed.
Maybe it needs to be resolved in other places than SC.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:43 pm

jna said:

100. Tarasaid: John McCain …….

Never a war he didn’t like.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:47 pm

Ghufran said:

I hate to say it again but,yes I told you so:
(copied from a previous post)
Kilo: I’m not a member of the Syrian National Coalition, because I think its weakness lies in the exaggerated representation of the Islamic movement. It does not represent the various trends of the opposition forces, especially democracy and secularism.
Do not wait for the names of non Islamist Syrians who were jailed by Assad to show up in any NC list, seculars were imprisoned by Assad then excluded by the NC !!

January 2nd, 2013, 9:50 pm

Is Zoo’s natural state of existence contempt and arrogance towards the people he doesn’t agree with? He sounds like a person that’s lost all touch with common sense.

Honestly, a person who writes rude things about Islam on a blog about Syria has NO RIGHT to lecture others on online behavior.

Zoo is rude. And when other people are rude to him in return, he gets offended by it. What a hypocrite.

Johannes de Silentio said:

Michael Kilo says…

And if you don’t like what Kilo says, just remember, he’s somebody and you’re nobody…

January 2nd, 2013, 9:57 pm

WSS 102

That’s a voice of realism.. but Kilo can no longer be a spectator. He is ‘dépassé’.
The problem with the opposition and the Coalition is that they have absolutely no figure that has any credibility. Their allies ( France, Turkey, Qatar) tried hard to prop up some personalities ( defectors or expats) but they were very quickly dismissed as inadequate to the Syrians.
Even Al Khatib that we could have imagined succeeding in that role made one mistake after the other and is now totally burnt with the Syrians and with the international community.
I still believe the key is with the Syrian opposition that stayed in Syria, but they are not yet ready… the others smell too bad to be credible.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:58 pm

Taftanaz airport fight is going on,it is in the process of being captured, the fighter are large in number,they can help and relieve their friends, the 400 soldier inside do not have that luxury, once this airport is taken,Assad would have lost 175 plane,this is 1/3 of his planes,losing the whole area to FSA will be certain,soon we will hear the capture of Mannagh airfield too with another 30 plane will be captured,
Mr. Erdogan statement that there are signs the regime is collapsing may be meant to say those two airports are about to fall,Mr. Lavrove who is acting as foreign minster of Syria in place of Waleed Muallem is the one who negotiated with Ibrahimi,there wil not be any power to Assad in the transitional goverment,he will flee,things are faster on the ground than Brahimi is planning, I said it before and I repeat: Assad is in no position anymore to put conditions,the officers who are helping Assad must see the truth,they are not suicidal,they must act.

January 2nd, 2013, 9:59 pm

My psychiatrist – he’s not Syrian and really has no horse in the race (he wants peace and supports Iran’s plan, like the Vatican does) – took a look at some of the posts here and came up with an uncannily similar diagnosis as Zoo posted regarding Tara’s obsession with Bahsar. He described it as having features of erotomania as well.

Obviously I am no doctor but having literally hundreds of posts focusing on one man is obsessive.

Thoughts?

January 2nd, 2013, 10:03 pm

Your psychiatrist, Revenire?

So I guess we were right. You are a nut-case.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:07 pm

#106 Marigold

Dear friend, you seem to have become oversensitive on some subjects. Maybe you should call you local Sheikh for advices on anger management through prayers and meditations.
Using name calling and insults is certainly not how I am used to perceive Islam or any religion.
Even atheists that you despise don’t do that.

See?

Is Zoo capable of using normal language? Or is he always an arrogant, contemptuous bastard?

I am not your friend, nor are you mine. I don’t know who you are, and honestly I don’t care and I’d rather not know anything about you. It would probably be an unpleasant subject.

But one thing I do know:

You are rude and arrogant on this blog. In your contempt for Islam, you are no better than an religious extremist with their contempt for others.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:11 pm

Hillary Clinton got her blood clot a day after she talked with Ibrahimi and Qatar’s Hamad about Syria. Coincidence? Black magic?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/hillary-clinton-active-speaking-with-staff-on-phone/article6859194/

On Saturday, the day before the clot was discovered, Ms. Clinton had a half-hour conversation with Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN envoy to Syria, in which the two discussed the state of affairs in that country, her spokeswoman said.

Also on Saturday, Ms. Clinton spoke by telephone with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, discussing recent developments in Syria, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:17 pm

113 Marogold

Calm down.. Don’t get a blood clot in your brain just because you love Hillary and hate me.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:19 pm

مؤسسة الجيش الحر وشركاؤها للصيانة تعلن إغلاق مطار تفتناز لغايات الإصلاح

Zoozoo does not know what projection is

January 2nd, 2013, 10:21 pm

Majed

Al Jazeera:
‘Heavy fighting’ at Syria’s Taftanaz airbase
Operation ‘to liberate the Taftanaz airbase’ has begun in Idlib province, says anti-government opposition group.

Date: 3 november 2012..

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/11/201211391048764834.html

The Battle of Taftanaz started on April 3, 2012 in Idlib Governorate, between anti-government fighters and Syrian government troops

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

January 2nd, 2013, 10:23 pm

Zoo@103

وحياتك عندي, it is much simpler than that but you are refusing to see.

—-

January 2nd, 2013, 10:24 pm

Reve/SS

Tara, Tara, Tara, Tara…

I appear in almost every third post of your. You even asked your psychiatrist to read my posts? Stop obsessing about Tara. It is not healthy. She is fat and ugly.

January 2nd, 2013, 10:25 pm

110. revenire said:

I call it the KIBUTZ NOVO RICH potato picker down-syndrom

January 2nd, 2013, 10:33 pm

Reve. your mirror image ANN is talking to you, let me tell you she can give you few pointers on how to fake videos, she would never do your mistake of just stamping the FSA logo on a shabiha crime vedio like your last sorry attempt

January 2nd, 2013, 11:13 pm

شريط فيديو يظهر طعنا ورجما لرجلين يلقي باللوم على ميليشيا مؤيدة للأسد
2013-01-02

بيروت ـ رويترز: بث معارضون سوريون شريط فيديو يبدو انه يظهر مقاتلين مؤيدين للرئيس بشار الاسد يطعنون رجلين حتى الموت ويرجمونهما بكتل اسمنتية في عملية إعدام بدون محاكمة استغرقت عدة دقائق.
وتتهم قوات الأسد ومقاتلو المعارضة بارتكاب فظائع في الانتفاضة السورية المستمرة منذ 21 شهرا والتي تحولت الى حرب اهلية. وتقول الأمم المتحدة إن السلطات السورية والميليشيا الحليفة لها مذنبة بشكل أكبر.
ولم يتسن لرويترز التحقق من مصدر اللقطات أو هوية المنفذين أو ضحاياهم. وبث الفيديو على الانترنت أمس الثلاثاء لكن لم يتضح متى أو أين صور غير أنه يظهر بوضوح إعداما بدون محاكمة وتعذيبا ينفذه على ما يبدو أنصار للحكومة السورية.
ويقول أحد المنفذين في الشريط ‘لعيون الله وربك يا بشار’.
وبث المكتب الإعلامي للواء الأول في دمشق الفيديو على الانترنت وقال إنه وجد الشريط بحوزة فرد تم الامساك به وتبين انه ينتمي لميليشيا الشبيحة المؤلفة اساسا من اعضاء في الطائفة العلوية التي ينتمي اليها الاسد.
وكثيرا ما تستخدم وسائل الإعلام العالمية لقطات الفيديو التي يبثها مقاتلو المعارضة يوميا حتى وإن كان من الصعب بل ومن المستحيل احيانا التأكد من مضمونها. وتفرض الحكومة السورية قيودا صارمة على دخول وسائل الاعلام لسورية التي قتل فيها 28 صحافيا العام الماضي.
ويظهر في بداية الفيديو مجموعة من المحتجزين تم إيقافهم في مواجهة الحائط في غرفة بها مواد بناء. وكان اغلبهم يرتدي سراويل جينز وقمصانا رفعت لتغطي رؤوسهم ووجوههم.
ووقف خلف المحتجزين خمسة مسلحين يرتدون زيا مموها ويحملون بنادق والتفت أحدهم للكاميرا ليبتسم ويلوح بيده. وتم اقتياد العديد من المحتجزين إلى خارج الغرفة ليبقى رجلان في مواجهة الحائط.
وبدأ جندي طويل ملتح ويرتدي نظارة سوداء وقبعة بيسبول في احداث جروح خفيفة بسكين في ظهري الرجلين. وسلم جنديان آخران أسلحتهما لزملائهما ليستلا سكينين.
والتفت أحدهما وهو رجل اقصر يرتدي قبعة ذات لون بني فاتح إلى الكاميرا ولوح بالسكين في زهو. وبدأ الجنود في احداث جروح بالضحيتين ثم طعنهما لينتفضا وتعلو تأوهاتهما.
وأظهرت لقطة مقربة في الفيديو تمزيق ملابس أحد الضحيتين وجروحا في جسده وتدفقت الدماء من ظهره بينما سقط الآخر على الأرض.
وتباهى الجنود أمام الكاميرا وكانوا يبتسمون في اللقطات المقربة وهم يحدثون جروحا في ظهري الرجلين. وبدأ المنفذون في طعن الضحيتين بعنف وعمق أكبر في الظهر والجانبين إلى أن سقط الاثنان على الأرض.
وكان أحد الرجلين ما زال يتحرك حين ألقى جندي بقطعة حجرية كبيرة على رأسه وفعل الآخرون الشيء نفسه إلى أن غطت القطع الخرسانية الضحيتين بالكامل تقريبا وقد خضبتها الدماء. وانصرف الجنود وصفق احدهم بيديه لينفض عنهما التراب.
http://alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today2z498.htm&arc=data201311-022z498.htm

January 2nd, 2013, 11:20 pm

@Syrian

What comes around will go around. A lesson the regime and its supporters have forgotten.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:24 pm

Bashar al-Assad has won in Syria. Now it’s simply a question of how many civilians have to die before the Arabs and the West accept this.

A round of applause for Syria, who fought the world and won in two years. Seriously, two thumbs up. This is awesome.

January 2nd, 2013, 11:26 pm

@MGR
They know,but they are in denail,a minority will never beat a majority no matter how long it take, no matter how many they kill, there don’t not have enough wopens to do it, they think by killing civilans they will put the people’s sprit back in the bottle.There is a whole generation that is being toughen up now in the camps, in the street that will not forgive nor forget, because they were raised on the sounds of guns and bullets all around and they are full of thirst for freedom
The new generation is now being taught how to be tough and rough,the revelution is getting rid of the weak and the strong will survive, most Alaweis got used to the good life in the last forty years and got money to weary about”NOVO RICH”their numbers are limited,they don’t have enough men to keep the tides of the majority coming back wave after wave, and each wave will be stronger than the one before it, more experienced and more determine.
and those last one will be the strongest and will never run from the army service again nor will let any minority control it again

January 3rd, 2013, 12:29 am

Hopeful said:

After watching all the horrors from yesterday’s bombings, I am now convinced of two things:

1. Assad and his supporters, like Hitler and the Nazis, and like Milosevic and his Serb militias, cannot negotiate. People who are capable of such actions and atrocities are driven by an ideology marked by fear, paranoia, pride, and invincibility. This makes it impossible for them to compromise on anything.

2. Until now I had doubts, but now I believe that Assad will use chemical weapons if he had to. This could be the hell that Ibrahimi talked about.

Although personally I believe the FSA would have been better off without the foreign and home-grown jihadists among its ranks, I keep reminding myself that, today, although both Bosnia and Kosovo wars attracted a lot of foreign Jihadis, both countries are fine today – democratic and fairly secular.

January 3rd, 2013, 12:51 am

Naser shararah:
كان يمكن، بحسب قيادي ميداني في دمشق _ بدأ انخراطه في الحراك مواطناً مدنياً وتحول الآن إلى سلفي _ ألا تصل القضية إلى هذا المأزق، «لو نفّذ الرئيس بشار الأسد كلاماً قاله لي يوم ٢١/ ١١/ ٢٠١١». آنذاك كان الحراك سلمياً، وما استخدم خلاله من سلاح لم يتعدّ بعض المسدسات التي امتشقها البعض الذين لا يتجاوزون عدد أصابع اليد، كردّ فعل على قتل الأجهزة الأمنية، خلال التظاهرات، أبناءهم أو أقرباء لهم.
يستذكر القيادي أوّل شخص حمل السلاح في الحراك السوري، وهو والد شاب جامعي يدعى معتز الشعار قتلته أجهزة الأمن خلال إحدى تظاهرات الحراك السلمي في دمشق. قال والده أثناء تشييعه: «لقد قتلوه وأنا سوف أقتلهم». في التظاهرة التالية خبّأ في وسطه مسدساً، ثم تخفّى بين صفوف المتظاهرين الخلفية، ومن هناك أطلق أول رصاصة في مسيرة الحراك العسكري، التي أصبحت تضمّ ٣٠٠ ألف مسلح ببنادق، ومدافع، وصواريخ «ستينغر». تقليد «أبو معتز» أصبح لاحقاً ظاهرة اتّبعها كثيرون من أقرباء ضحايا التظاهرات.
يعود القيادي ليمسك بناصية روايته عن الفرصة التي ضاعت وكان يمكنها بنظره تلافي حالة الاستعصاء الراهنة. يقول يوم ٢١/ 11/ 2011، رتّب لي أشخاص لديهم صلة بالمعارضة والنظام موعداً مع الرئيس بشار الأسد، وذلك بصفتي حينها أحد قياديي الحراك في دمشق وريفها. وشكّل لقائي به أول مبادرة تجاه النظام من قبل الحراك الداخلي. وفي تلك الأثناء كان والدي، وهو شيخ قريب من السلفيين وأحد خطباء مساجد دمشق، مسجوناً لدى أجهزة الأمن. ولكنني خلال حديثي معه قلت للرئيس: «أنا هنا من أجل سوريا وليس من أجل إخراج والدي من السجن، فهو يستطيع أن ينتظر حتى يتمّ إخراجه من دون واسطة».
بمجرد وصولي إلى ردهة الطابق الذي يشغله، وجدت الرئيس واقفاً بانتظاري ليستقبلني على باب مكتبه. وبخطوات متناسبة مع خطواتي قادني إلى الجلوس بجانبه، وبدا مهتماً لسماع ما سأقوله. قلت له: «بصراحة، الحراك لا يزال حتى الآن سلمياً والسلاح المستعمل لا يتعدى كونه فردياً، ويعبّر أيضاً عن ردود فعل شخصية. الحلّ الآن منوط بإنشاء حكومة مشتركة تقودها المعارضة. فالحكومة الحالية المحسوبة على سيادتكم لا تستطيع حل المشكلة». قاطعني موافقاً، وأكد أنّ «الحكومة الحالية لا تستطيع حلّ المشكلة، ولو ظلّت تحاول خمس سنوات أخرى». فأجبت: «لماذا لا تحاول إحراجنا وتوافق على الحكومة المشتركة. ولتقل أيتها المعارضة، إذا كنتم قادرين على حلّ الأزمة، فخذوها». أجاب الرئيس: «كم حجم المعارضة»؟ قلت له: «إنها الأغلبية». لم يجب، لكنه عاد إلى نقطة جوهرية ركّز عليها طوال حديثه، ومفادها أنّه يريد منا، نحن حراك الداخل، أن ننظّم أنفسنا في أحزاب وتيارات سياسية كبيرة. وبرأيه التغيير يحدث من خلال دخول هذه الأحزاب الوليدة في تيارات شعبية واسعة إلى البرلمان والحكومة. ووعد بأنّه سيفسح الطريق للمساعدة، فيما لو نظّمت نفسها، وذلك من خلال إعادة صياغة الدستور والدعوة إلى انتخابات نيابية حرّة. وقال إنّه موافق على قيام حكومة مشتركة، ولكن نجاح كلّ هذه التجربة يظلّ مرهوناً بقدرة الحراك الشعبي الداخلي على تنظيم نفسه، وفرض وجوده الشعبي كتيار وطني عريض.
إثر هذا اللقاء، نشطت هيئات في الحراك الداخلي لوضع دراسات لإنتاج تصوّر جديد للواقع السوري، ولكن هذا المسار لم يظهر. وبنظر القيادي عينه، فإنّ نقطة الافتراق حصلت خلال الزيارة التي قام بها وزير الخارجية الروسي سيرغي لافروف لدمشق، وبصحبته مدير الاستخبارات الروسية الذي سلّم الأسد «خطة بديلة»، هي الحلّ العسكري، ثمّ إثر ذلك قصف بابا عمرو، في حمص، في الشهر الأول من عام ٢٠١٢. وتتالت الأحداث باتجاه رسم جبهات على الميدان.
في أوائل عام ٢٠١٢، وبعد تسعة شهور من عمر الحراك السوري، اتخذ قرار إعلان الجهاد. سبعون عالماً ضمن «هيئة علماء الشام» أفتوا بـ«أنّ الجهاد في سوريا هو فرض عام على كل مسلم». كان الشيخ يوسف القرضاوي قد سبقهم لإنتاج التبرير الشرعي، إذ رأى أن «الشرع يقول إنه عندما يولد طاغية يجب أن تفزع الأمة لقتاله».
لقد «مَرحل» شيوخ السلفية السوريون إعلان الجهاد. كانوا يدركون أنّ هذا القرار يحتاج إلى تمهيد حتى يتقبّله السوريين. فهم بلا شك لاحظوا أنّ المواطنين الذين خرجوا في التظاهرات الأولى لم يكن ضمن مطالبهم إسقاط النظام، بل رددوا شعارات مطلبية. وحينما كان يندسّ بينهم نشطاء إسلاميون، ويرفعون شعار «الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام»، كان الكثير من المتظاهرين ينفضّون. بعد ذلك صار ممكناً رفع هذا الشعار من دون مشاهدة انسحابات من التظاهرة. ثم عن سابق تصوّر وتصميم، طوّر الإسلاميون شعارات الحراك ليصبح «الشعب يريد إعدام الرئيس»، ثمّ «الشعب يريد إعلان الجهاد». ونحن الآن فعلاً في هذه المرحلة التي خطّط الإسلاميّون للوصول إليها منذ البداية.
According to the author,the turning point was when Assad with support from Russia decided to attack baba Amr , an incident that was instrumental in Manaf Tlas’ decision to defect ( if you believe the guy). A common theme among most stories is Assad’s early decision to use force and engage the army in what later became a civil war. No fair-minded person can write the history of Syria’s civil war without reminding readers that the war was dependent on an incompetent leader who listened to hawks around him instead of listening to his own conscience, the rest is details, Islamists succeeded in inflaming the situation only because Assad left little room for angry Syrians to think about a peaceful exit to this quagmire.

January 3rd, 2013, 1:04 am

131 So now this is how the history is written?!

This board contains too much wishful thinking and hearsay. It has become rather entertaining.

January 3rd, 2013, 1:17 am

According to a Syrian guy in Germany, Syrian girls as young as 16 are being smuggled out of Turkey to Europe and forced into prostitution after getting ” married” . The pimp in the story offered a girl who fled Syria to Antakya for 30 euros, that girl was sold to an Arab “husband” for $ 6,000.

January 3rd, 2013, 1:36 am

# 131 Ghufran

Thank you for sharing.

This is consistent with what Kilo, Al Khatib and others have talked about. It is also consistent with the chronological video archive on YouTube.

Even if one disputes the “origion” of the conflict (i.e., the regime caused it through its actions vs. a universal conspiracy), one cannot dispute the fact that the regime failed to manage and resolve it, after almost two years and close to 60,000 deaths.

January 3rd, 2013, 1:40 am

Ali Ferzat

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=458687090846723&set=a.355695941145839.74344.103006823081420&type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=458685824180183&set=a.355695941145839.74344.103006823081420&type=1&theater

January 3rd, 2013, 1:58 am

January 3rd, 2013, 2:04 am

Here is a great short film, which was shown at the 11th Aleppo international photo festival Aleppo.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=549803721713624&set=vb.204975346768&type=2&theater

January 3rd, 2013, 2:08 am

Milad Jokar:

War in Syria: Geopolitics of the Conflict

“What is happening in Syria is no longer about a democratic movement against a dictatorship, nor is it simply a civil war between two camps. Syria has become the theater of a proxy war which is spilling over to its neighbors. Consequently, to focus only on the departure of President Bashar al-Assad is a strategy doomed to failure because it will not solve the conflict. The crisis is spreading far beyond the person of Bashar al Assad. As a result, demanding the departure of the dictator will not achieve a lasting ceasefire to stop the bloodshed and a transition to a brighter political future for the Syrian people.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/milad-jokar/war-in-syria-geopolitics-_b_2378683.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

comment by Ammar Abdulhamid : We should bear in mind, however, while reading this article is that the author Milad Jokar, in his previous article, argued against removing Bashar and called only for a ceasefire, because, the situation in Syria has now become a proxy war. Personally, I agree with analysis in both articles, but not with recommendation the author makes. The author concentrates too much on the geopolitics and fails to understand complicating individual elements: the psychopathy of Assad, and his supporters. Keeping Assad is not simply about swallowing a bitter pill but a poisonous one. We need a ceasefire without Assad in order to pave the way for some representative governance down the road. A choice between civil war and prison is not how one cuts his losses, it’s a choice between two faces of the same nihilistic deterministic coin, and is unacceptable.

January 3rd, 2013, 2:26 am

What’s next for Syria in 2013?

CNN’s Nic Robertson and Nick Paton Walsh, who have reported from inside Syria, analyze the conflict and what the future may hold.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/02/world/meast/syria-2013-outlook/index.html

January 3rd, 2013, 2:40 am

114 MOSSIE

“My psychiatrist – he’s not Syrian and really has no horse in the race”

Not “horse in the race.” That’s not the correct idiom. Instead, say it this way: “he’s not Syrian and he’s got no dog in that fight.”

January 3rd, 2013, 3:11 am

The Syrian constitution of 2012 was given a robust translation by Qordoba. Here is the link to a Scribd version. Here is a link to another translation to English, from Al-Bab.com.

This is the preamble:

Throughout its long history, the Arab civilization, being part of the human heritage, has faced huge challenges aimed at breaking its will and subjecting it to colonial domination. It has constantly been ableto withstand these challenges and rise up to fulfill its role in shaping human civilization through its owncreative abilities.

The Syrian Arab Republic is proud of its Arab identity and of its people forming an integral part of the Arab nation, manifested in ongoing national and regional contributions and an ongoing endeavor to support Arab cooperation towards unity of the Arab nation.

Abiding by righteousness, justice, and international law, the Syrian Arab Republic aims to achieve and maintain peace and international security, both of which it considers to be key objectives.

Over the past decades, the significance of the Syrian role has increased both regionally and internationally, thus resulting in several human and national achievements and fulfilment of aspirations across all areas. Syria also gained crucial political importance as the heart of the Arab world, the confrontation frontline with the Zionist enemy, and the resistance base against domination over the Arab world and its wealth and resources. The prolonged struggle and sacrifices of our people for the sake of independence, progress and national unity has paved the way towards a strong state and strong identification with their Syrian Arab army – the main guarantor and protector of the nation’s sovereignty, security, stability and territorial integrity, forming the basis of the popular struggle for the independence of all their occupied lands.

Through the power of its multiple sects and constituents and its public and institutions and civil organizations, Syrian society has made accomplishments that have proven the depth of its civilization. Its persistence and ability to cope with a changing environment has allowed it to maintain its role and position as a historical catalyst to human civilization.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, Syria has faced many challenges in its effort to develop and modernize amidst difficult regional and international conditions which have impacted its national sovereignty. That is the motivation behind the production of this Constitution – as a basis to reinforce the rule of law.

The completion of this Constitution represents the culmination of the popular struggle for freedom and democracy, and is the people’s real embodiment of their achievements in the face of masssive changes. It is a compass for future advancement, a moderator for its institutions, and the source of its legislation – through a system of fundamental principles: independence, sovereignty, and rule of the people based on elections, political and party-based pluralism, national unity, cultural diversity, public freedoms, human rights, social justice, equality, equal opportunities, citizenship, the rule of law, and independence. The betterment of society and its citizens is the ultimate end to which every national effort is exerted, and preserving their dignity is a statement on the civilization of the country and the authority of the state.

By contrast, here is the preamble to the Canadian Constitution:

Whereas Canada is founded upon the principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law:

Article 3 of the Syrian document:

1. The President has to be part of the Muslim faith.

2. Islamic jurisprudence doctrine is a primary source of legislation.

3. The state respects all religious beliefs and guarantees freedom to perform all rituals provided they do not jeopardize general order.

4. Personal welfare and status of religious sects is protected and respected.

This is nice. Not secular, but hey.

The more interesting parts of the Constitution pertain to the President and his powers.

Article 84

A candidate to the post of the President of the Republic must:

1. Above the age of 40.

2. Have the Arab Syrian nationality since birth and must have parents with the Arab Syrian nationality since their birth.

3. Enjoy his civil and political rights and must not be convicted of an outrageous offense, even if rehabilitated, that may have stripped them from him.

4. Must not be married to a non-Syrian spouse.

— I wonder if the term “Arab Syrian” has a meaning beyond convenience and correspondence to the name of the county. By a strict reading of this article, the President must be Arab, but the term seems to cover every last Syrian (be they non-ethnic Arab). No Christian could be president. Could a Kurd? Or are Kurds also Arabs? (cf the curious construction of SANA phrase Hasaka Arabs).

The most telling of the clauses is 3., where the constitution states that a President “must enjoy his civil and political rights” and must not have been convicted of an ‘outrageous offence’ “that may have been stripped [civil and political rights) from him.”

This is telling, because the ‘civil and political’ rights of Syrians may be stripped upon conviction of certain offences, regardless.

What does this mean in practice — not merely by the letter of the law?

I use the example of proto-political figures. Consider Haytham Mannah, or Michel Kilo (though not a politician), or Aref Dalilah, or Louay Hussein.

Each of these gentlemen lost their ‘civil and political’ rights on conviction of political crimes, as necessitated by the Syrian Penal Code.

That little phrase in English found throughout the Syrian constitution — ‘as established in law’ or ‘as regulated by law’ — it conceals so much.

In my country, rights are absolute. Their abrogation is not possible, except, in the words of the preamble to the Charter of Rights …

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

— the phrase emphasized above is meant to underline that any law that compromises Charter freedoms can be brought to court and challenged — the government must demonstrate in court that any such law comprises a ‘reasonable limit’ within the framework of freedom and democracy.

This can sometimes result in decisions that do not make sense to non-Canadians in every respect.

For example, the laws in Canada that prohibited same-sex marriages were invalidated by the Supreme Court upon challenge. The Court could find no reasonable grounds under the Charter to uphold such laws, and struck them down. Same recently for the ‘bawdy house’ laws. Same for laws prohibiting abortion.

Another oddity (for non-Canadians) is the right to vote and form political parties.

There are no laws that prohibit or regulate the formation or operation of political parties in Canada. The only laws that regulate wholly free parties in elections pertain to affixing a ‘Party ID’ to the candidate in official election materials. The right to affix Party ID to the ballot is subject to a proper filing of the party details: listing its officers, its logo/symbol, presiding officers and its accountant — and by making this public information.

(contrast this to the web of restrictions in Syria’s law)

Another oddity of the Canadian electoral system is that every single person of age and citizenship is eligible to vote: this means every prisoner in every jail is included.

Some here might object to contrasting the Canadian and Syrian basic law. I understand the objections from the US citizens, but for the Canadians here (Visitor, Warren, Mjabali, ZOO, Revenire, etc) it may make more sense.

Consider again the gentlemen named. Note that not one of them has attempted to register and have approved a political party in Syria. The reason is hidden in the Syrian Elections Law. It explicitly disbars those gentlemen from full political activity by virtue of their previous imprisonment: they may not join, form, officiate or be part of a poltical party in Syria. They may not be candidates. They are excluded from a real political life.

This exclusion is codified in the Syrian law on Political parties. In other words, the freedoms guaranteed by the Syrian Constitution on one hand are taken away by the other hand. There is no appeal.

There are many such Catch-22s in the Syrian Penal Code, many many many provisions that cancel out the the guarantees …

Fifty years of control control control, designed to limit power to the Baath and to approved personalities. Fifty years of authoritarian dictatorship.

I wonder if any of the Syrians on this blog can tell us what crimes the gentlemen above were convicted of. Perhaps Revenire can get a day pass from his psychiatric facility and look up the names and figure out who they are — if not Salafist apes and terrorists.

Perhaps. Perhaps not.

January 3rd, 2013, 6:12 am

Funny enough, Batta is married to an english born wife, surely noone cares that she posesses a dual citizenship, yet that normally prohibits Batta from holding his office according to the newly written constitution.

January 3rd, 2013, 6:51 am

Bored truckie swaps his rig for Syria’s frontline

“Mr Fujimoto’s passion has taken him from the dull routine of the highway to Syria, where as part of his latest adventure in the Middle East’s hotspots he shoots photos and video while dodging bullets with zest.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-03/bored-truck-driver-heads-to-syria-as-a-war-tourist/4452056

January 3rd, 2013, 7:36 am

For those who cannot/choose not to watch the atrocity video of the stabbing and stoning death of two unarmed folks in Shabiha custody, Reuters has provided a written description. ZOO, please don’t skip this one, though it may hurt:

Syria video shows stabbing and stoning blamed on Assad militia

If that is not to anyone’s taste, here is a part of ‘A Homs Diary’ by the well-known Twitter activist** Big Al. It is intensely moving, matter of fact, well worth reading. A small excerpt:

November 20 2012:

A strange sound woke me up, not the usual shelling or shooting. I stayed in my bed like I always do when I hear any sound, old or new.

My bedroom door opened up, a couple of armed security forces barged in dressed in their usual uniforms, pointing a rifle at my face and telling me to get up, get my ID, and go with them.

I didn’t ask where they were taking me. I didn’t say a word. I simply got up and walked with them. There was nothing else I could do.

There were at least ten of them inside my house, spread into different rooms. They turned the lights on and looked around.

As I was walking out past my apartment door I noticed how it was broken, and then I saw our neighbors’ door open as well. Other security forces were there, and that made me realise that they didn’t come especially for me. What a relief, since I’ve imagined that they will come drag me this way so many times before, but they were always looking for me specifically in my dreams.

One of them stayed with me and led me out of the building.

It was cold outside but it wasn’t dark anymore. I walked in front of him and saw other civilians like myself being led the same way I was.

I counted the vehicles on my way to wherever he was taking me, and there were at least six. Two long dark green ones, two short green ones, one white pickup truck, and the famous “Assad’s Syria” vehicle.

We arrived to their officer, the one they called “Sir”, and he was the worst looking one of them all.

They all had beards and were talking with the coastal, predominantly Alawite accent.

They took my ID and sent me with a couple of other civilians also in their pyjamas to another street.

On our way I saw them cuffing a guy and dragging him into one of the long dark green vehicles.

I heard shouting from a nearby building, a women’s voice.

I’ve never felt so weak and ashamed in my entire life.

They checked my ID and kept me waiting for a while, and started asking me questions. The same questions I’d been asked a hundred times before: what do you do for a living? Where do you work? Where did you used to work? And so on. Then they told me to go straight home and talk to no one on my way.

I walked home, and saw my parents. They weren’t as scared as I thought they might be. Perhaps we all died a bit inside over the past 21 months.

We sat down, talked, and I told them that they shouldn’t be afraid since I’m always careful. Yes, I lied.

It was 6:25 AM. I had a shooting pain in my gut. Maybe it was the cold weather, or maybe it was fear. I couldn’t tell for sure. I was calm like I always am in such situations, and I considered myself lucky since they didn’t even beat me up this time, unlike as was likely to happen to those who were taken away that day. God be with them and their families.

I then examined the door. It was kicked open. The footprint was clear, and I took a couple of photos to document this “Breaking and entering” which the Syrian “new constitution” forbids.

Old constitution/new constitution, what a joke. We never had a constitution or law. Those people can do whatever they want, and no one can do anything about it. Isn’t that why we went out and shouted “FREEDOM”?

After a cup of tea, and a couple of bathroom breaks, I finally rested from what I’d been through.

I looked out my window and saw the vehicles leave my street at around 8. Looks like I made it, once again.

Later that day I decided I deserved a new treat, and that’s why I baked my very first banana bread ever! The result was a bit of a letdown but I ate it anyway.

At night I heard sounds and cheers, and saw mothers and brothers in the streets welcoming most of those who were taken away that morning. Only a couple of young men weren’t released.

A person is never the same after a trip to any security centre in Syria. You can ask anyone who’s been arrested before. I was taken once, and it did change me forever.

November 21:

At around 11:30 AM, security forces spread in a nearby street and started shooting in the air for a couple of minutes. I received many stories as to why they were doing so at the time, but none made sense to me.

November 26:

Electricity was off most of the day, but the good news is that after months of waiting and hours of standing in line we finally got 200 litres of heating diesel at a fair price. It won’t last long but 200 litres is 200 times better than nothing, and nothing is what thousands of Syrians are getting these days.

November 27:

Again, we barely got power.

November 28:

I was in line to get bread at exactly 4:55 AM, and I was home with some bread at 8:05 AM.

When I arrived home, power had been out for almost an hour. At 8:30, every window in my house was shaking and a very scary sound was all over the city. A maniac fighter jet pilot was raiding at many areas and he was flying low. The sound was horrible and it caused glass windows to shatter in many areas in Homs. The jet kept coming and going and shooting. For the first time ever I was able to see the shots coming down from the sky, but they were too fast so I couldn’t even try to take my Smartphone out of my pocket to film that.

By 9:15 AM the jet was gone, but that’s when shelling started.

We had power back but it was gone once again at 10 AM and it stayed out till 3:10 PM.

3:45 PM: Shelling is back.

3:55: Electricity is gone again till 5 PM then again between 8 and 9 PM.

You can read more blog entries from ‘Big Al’ at his blog: http://bigalbrand.blogspot.ca/

** it would be interesting to read the revenant Revenire’s psychiatrist on Big Al’s entries, given that Revenire shares with the doctor, or so he says.

More interesting would be the reports the semi-fictional psychiatrist gives to his employers, Revenire’s foster parents and guardians.

“Is it okay to bring him home now, Doctor?” “No. I don’t think it will ever be safe to bring him home. He has no conscience and there is no transplant available. We can restrain him with drugs to the point he is managable, but on the whole you would be happier with a pet.”

More likely is that Revenire just made it all up, the allusions to psychiatry. In which case, we have only ZOO the psychologist to offer some understanding of Revenire, perhaps explaining to us why Revenire cannot accept that Assad has made ‘mistakes.’ Perhaps.

If ZOO is finished with his psychological workup on Tara, that is.

January 3rd, 2013, 7:52 am

Hopeful

“one cannot dispute the fact that the “opposition” failed to manage their ‘revolution’ they started and to win it, after almost two years and close to 60,000 deaths” when it had the support of the richest countries in the region ready to pour in their billions, the whole Arab and Western media propaganda and the support of France, Turkey, the UK, the US , Germany and many others as well al Qaeeda and all the islamist extremists in the world.
One wonders what kind of ‘revolution’ that is, that relies so heavily on foreigners and terrorists. No wonder it is failing lamentably and bringing down with it the whole country.

January 3rd, 2013, 8:04 am

141. Juergen

Maybe you should question Ghaliun, Qodmani, Al Khatib, and others leaders of the opposition’s dual secret citizenship.
They are the ones who want to rule Syria, not Asma Al Assad.

January 3rd, 2013, 8:09 am

#60 Visitor

“So next time you should avoid looking to higher levels and refrain from appointing yourself the judge while knowing you do not measure up”

Thanks for the advice, Daddy…

January 3rd, 2013, 8:14 am

WSS

Do you need glasses or just want to play dumb?

“. Have the Arab-Syrian “nationality” since birth”

Kurds, circassians etc… are not Arab but if they bear the ‘arab-syrian’ nationality, they can be president.

Your psychological case is far too advanced for me to help. In Canada, I guess there are good hospitals for that.

January 3rd, 2013, 8:28 am

Zoo prefers Dunya over Al-Arabiya. But he is shy because of this,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/03/258400.html

And that is why he felt he needs another moniker to say that as in his comment @ 132 when he turned from an Ewe to an Apple-Mini.

Apparently, his Dunya is now resorting to prostitutes to improve its credibility.

January 3rd, 2013, 8:29 am

Usually one can tell alot over the intentions, the political climate in a country by reading the constitution,as WSS has shown, its a rather paranoid constitution. Democratic countries trust their citizens, the syrian constitutions sees dangers to the wellfare of the country if the President has a nonsyrian spouse. The funny thing I was pointing at was that the regime ordered this draft and bluntly takes the risk of having an first wife with two passports. I have never seen an constitution which cares even for the wife/spouse of the President, apparently thats an urgent issue for the regime.

I am sure you dont have to travel with an Syrian passport, if one has the Syrian CD passport, it may work, but a travelling Syrian is in most countries, I would say at least an target for a welcome interview by the authorites if he manages to get an visa at all. BTW, Syria is one of the few countries in this world which does not take away the citizenship, even by request of the holder. Thats why Germans, Americans are in Syrian prison, some since years.

January 3rd, 2013, 8:31 am

Moslem Brotherhod activists in rich Arab countries must restrain themselves for now, Morsi needs GCC’s money. In poor countries, no restrictions.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/politics/egyptian-officials-visit-uae-over-brotherhood-arrests

Egypt’s ambassador to the Emirates this week urged Egyptians not to do anything that might harm UAE-Egypt relations.

“We want people to be calm so that in the end it does not backfire on relations between the two countries,” said Tamer Mansour.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/politics/egyptian-officials-visit-uae-over-brotherhood-arrests#ixzz2Gv2fqf4K
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

January 3rd, 2013, 8:34 am

#149 Juergen

“I have never seen an constitution which cares even for the wife/spouse of the President, apparently thats an urgent issue for the regime.”

Have you checked as well the fresh Egyptian constitution?

January 3rd, 2013, 8:36 am

Syria no Kandahar said:

When is Mofaz Alkateb moving to the 80% liberated Syria? Or may be living in Istanbul and having Turkish Kebab every day better than the liberated Azaz,kefernabl,Sarakeb or Abukamal? I guess it is win-win situation : Kebab in Istanbul ,Jaccozi in Aldoha ….. While Syrians are f…d up by Alnusra none-terrorists freedom fighters .

War is The devil. Everyone in it will stray further and further from a normal human being. Both sides have enough blood on their hands. Instead of spraying hatred and fueling revenge, we should try to settle down in peace.

Well, just not a phony and shady one. So far, there is no figure from the opposition side who possesses power, vision and courage to make it happen.

So the end of suffering of Syria is not in sight yet.

The war will still be marching on…

When did you ever hear any of these people (Ghaliun, Qodmani, Khatib, etc.) say he/she wants to rule Syria? When did you ever hear anyone from the opposition says he/she wants any of these guys to be president of Syria?

Again, this is not about the opposition and its leaders – they will come and go. This is about a dictatorial regime that simple cannot continue in the 21st century. People will not tolerate it anymore. The sooner the regime’s supporters recognize this simple fact, the sooner Syria’s agony will come to an end.

January 3rd, 2013, 8:38 am

mjabali said:

Majedkhaldoun:

You see that within the infamous stabbing video there was a Sunni amongst the killers. al-Quran says in this case to make sure before you label others with a bad adjectives.

As for the Alawis; here are two important texts just came out fresh today. Those need to be translated and hope Edgar Allen Poe, or anyone else, would do this.

The first article is a letter to Mo’az al-Khatib, George Sabra and the FSA in general:

http://www.causes.com/actions/1711657?causes_ref=email&template=cause_mailer%2Fweekly_report&utm_campaign=weekly_report&utm_medium=email&utm_source=causes

The other one appeared as an article in AllforSyria website.

http://www.all4syria.info/Archive/65034

Enjoy

January 3rd, 2013, 8:43 am

#152 SNK

Al Khatib is under an intense Erdogan training program to boost him as his “heir” in Syria. He is learning turkish that will become the second language in primary schools in Syria together with mandatory Islamic religions classes and Islamic quizz at the university entrance as it is now in Turkey.
The ‘Turkish model is what they call the ‘Post-Assad’ strategy
It is certainly a more useful training that be in a mall in small Qatar among the microcophalic Sumos.

Obama did not renew his invitation to Al Khatib and Hollande is having second thought of inviting a defender of Al Qaeeda.

If Al Khatib is not welcomed in the EU or the US anymore, Erdogan is more than happy to host him in the same flat as Interpol wanted Iraq’s Tarek Hashemi.
Together and with the advices of the S.ultan and his V.izir, they can also plan “Post-Al Maliki’ strategy.

January 3rd, 2013, 8:53 am

#154

Sorry, the NC is not the ‘opposition’ it is recognized by the US and several countries as ‘sole representative of the Syrian people’, it’s almost a government and pushed by France and the UK the coalition has announced it is working on promoting itself to a government ( until now.. nothing).
The ‘announced ambassador’ in UK is British and in France, he is french…
Al Khatib is not just the ‘leader’ of the opposition. Does it sound normal to you that the ‘leader’ of the Syrian people, even without the title of president be american, german or french?

Now if you think that “they come and go” once they get the power, just look at Egypt. They’ll find any way to stay in power.
This is not Sweden or Switzerland, most countries of the regions are known for taking power by force, Qatar is a a good example. There is no magic..the mentality haven’t changed.
Just hopeful rosy thinking.

January 3rd, 2013, 9:05 am

Zoozoo
You said AlKhatib is
He is learning turkish that will become the second language in primary schools in Syria together with mandatory Islamic religions
Zoozoo, it is a lie, you are becoming a lier.

Mjabali
Those murderers must be killed ,no matter what their religion is,
if we get to civil war,what will happen is different,in civil war innocent will suffer because of their name, tribe, or neighbourhood,the regime is pushing toward civil war,the regime is sectarian,this is the main mistake of the regime,that is why it is important that Alawis overthrow this regime.

January 3rd, 2013, 9:19 am

“This is about a dictatorial regime that simple cannot continue in the 21st century.”

I wonder why you keep repeating that?
It is obvious that the mode of governing will change to become more democratic. After all what happened, do you think Russia and China will tolerate that it remains as before.
Of course it will change but not like magic, it will go by stages.

I have no doubt that Syria will have a more democratic government and this can be achieved better with negotiations, under the pressure from the countries supporting both side rather than with violence and 100,000 more death. The Syrian government got the lesson.

The Bashar Al Assad is such a minor issue in front of what the countries issues are. Sticking to his ‘removal’ at any cost as a prec-condition is childish and non-productive. Why is the opposition so fearful that he stays during the transition? They seem to attribute to him a magical power that we know he does not have. It’s time the opposition stops acting like fearful and revengeful kids and move on for the sake of the Syrian people.

January 3rd, 2013, 9:23 am

Mimo @158

“Zoozoo, it is a lie, you are becoming a lier.”

According to you, I have always been one, no? So what’s new?

Anyways,check the news about Turkey’s ramping re-islamization before accusing me.

January 3rd, 2013, 9:28 am

Zoozoo
Assad is a murderer, he must go,as a precondition to dialogue,and no free election can be done with Assad there,to you Assad is god,to the Syrian he is criminal and must be killed.

January 3rd, 2013, 9:30 am

Ghat Al Bird said:

Mr. Miller either has a very very short memory span or lives in fantasy land. But it also could be that he knows not what he is talking about.

This is the background to America’s involvement by a retired US General…..

In October, 2007, Gen. Wesley Clark gave a speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco (seven-minute excerpt in the video below) in which he denounced what he called “a policy coup” engineered by neocons in the wake of 9/11. After recounting how a Pentagon source had told him weeks after 9/11 of the Pentagon’s plan to attack Iraq notwithstanding its non-involvement in 9/11, this is how Clark described the aspirations of the “coup” being plotted by Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz and what he called “a half dozen other collaborators from the Project for the New American Century”:

Six weeks later, I saw the same officer, and asked: “Why haven’t we attacked Iraq? Are we still going to attack Iraq?”

He said: “Sir, it’s worse than that. He said – he pulled up a piece of paper off his desk – he said: “I just got this memo from the Secretary of Defense’s office. It says we’re going to attack and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years – we’re going to start with Iraq, and then we’re going to move to SYRIA, LLIBYA, SOMALIA, SUDAN and IRAN.”

January 3rd, 2013, 9:34 am

Even as Saleh is no more Yemen president since February 2012, it seems the transition dialog cannot proceed as long as he is in the country.
Will it after he leaves?

Saleh under pressure to leave Yemen before National Dialogue – Yemeni official

03/01/2013
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32414

By Mohammed Jumeh, Arafat Madabish and Hamdan al-Rahbi
London/Sanaa, Asharq Al-Awsat – An official Yemeni source revealed that efforts are currently underway to convince former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to leave the country for a Gulf state, in an attempt to make room for the political transition process

#161

Mimo, nobody is god to me except God.

Bashar has the support of a sizeable number of Syrians who trust him. If he forced to leave, it is like an amputation without anesthesia. It is one more psychological trauma after 21 months confrontation that has put syrians against syrians in a deadly war.

January 3rd, 2013, 9:43 am

Abdullah Gul is the great man of Turkey.. not the arrogant and megalomaniac Erdogan.

We are not assuming a role in the Arab world: Turkish President

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/we-are-not-assuming-a-role-in-the-arab-world-turkish-president.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38263&NewsCatID=338

“From the very onset of the crisis, we have always opted for a controlled and orderly change in Syria. As a result of the escalation of events, we made it clear to everyone that Turkey, in unity with the free world, will support the Syrian people in their demands. But from the very beginning, I have argued that both Russia and Iran should be invited to engage with the transition in Syria to prevent further bloodshed. I believe that Russia in particular should be treated properly,” the president said.

January 3rd, 2013, 9:49 am

Turkey sees exports record with $152 bln

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-sees-exports-record-with-152-bln.aspx?PageID=238&NID=38231&NewsCatID=344

———————-

You notice Assad supporters always criticizing Gulf Arab nations and Turkey, all of which are better and more prosperous countries than Assads Syria. So what is the Assad family’s excuse for dragging Syria into the dumps? He needed funds for his great jihad against Israel?

January 3rd, 2013, 10:03 am

AIG said:

For 11 years Assad had all the power. He could have made democratic reforms, he didn’t. Instead he encouraged jihadists and impoverished 80% of Syria’s population. His whole 11 years in power have been a “psychological trauma” for most Syrians and now that is the excuse used to keep him in power. Pathetic.

Assad had 11 years to reform Syria. Instead he brought ruin to Syria and a sectarian civil war, not to mention that he keeps killing his own people. Calling for him to stay is way beyond ridiculous. It is being detached from reality. Assad is a total and absolute failure. There is no redeeming value in him. The results speak for themselves. Which country in the region is in a worse situation? Which regime was responsible for so many deaths? By any standard Assad is the worst of the worst. Worse than even Qaddafi.

He pursued an horrific internal policy, an horrific external policy for 11 years and he capped it of by fomenting a sectarian civil war. Just for what the regime did in Der’a any leader would go home, not to mention the 60,000 deaths after that.

Asking for him to stay makes a farce of any notion of accountability and shows that the people asking for this are not sincere about democracy. Assad needs to go, now.

January 3rd, 2013, 10:07 am

More on the alleged ‘fatwa’. A lengthy investigation (some excerpts and subheadings below):

How progressive AlterNet and Salon fell for “gang rape” fatwa peddled by Islamophobes

Thu, 01/03/2013

Progressive news organization AlterNet has fallen for and disseminated a story, pushed by Zionist, Islamophobic and Iranian outlets, claiming that a prominent Saudi cleric issed a religious edict authorizing sex-deprived fighters in Syria to rape women there.

Al-Arifi’s denial

Al-Arifi also posted a denial on his Facebook page and on Twitter.

The Twitter denial includes an image of a fake tweet al-Arifi said was circulating online, which was an obvious hoax because it contained far more than 140 characters.

Genealogy of the lurid story

The claim about the “fatwa” was made on Lebanon’s Al-Jadeed channel (New TV) at least as early as December 29. Al-Jadeed does not provide any evidence of the “fatwa” or say when, where or by what means it was supposedly issued. As of now, no one has produced any evidence that the “fatwa” exists, which means that no responsible news organization should behave as if it does.

Effort to discredit Syrian opposition

Zionist and Islamophobic connections

Indian website jumps on the bandwagon

Going viral

Update

Update 2

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/how-progressive-alternet-and-salon-fell-gang-rape-fatwa-peddled-islamophobes

January 3rd, 2013, 10:14 am

Report: Syrian Envoy’s Accusations Exacerbate Strained Ties between Syria, Suleiman

“The Syrian regime has distanced itself from President Michel Suleiman over his indirect criticism of the Syrian ambassador for using the foreign ministry as a launchpad of verbal attacks against Lebanese officials, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Thursday.”

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/66894-report-syrian-envoy-s-accusations-exacerbate-strained-ties-between-syria-suleiman

January 3rd, 2013, 10:16 am

habib said:

It’s funny, the Alawite lead regime turned against Jews and Israel to suck up to the Sunni Arabs and the Palestinian cause.

What did they get in return? A Jewish-Sunni alliance. Imagine if the Alawites had allied with the Israelis intead; the western world would be pro-Assad whatever he did, but the Sunnis would label him a traitor.

January 3rd, 2013, 10:34 am

Dr Majeed mentor:

January 3rd, 2013, 10:38 am

erin said:

It is pathotic that Miss Peggy, calls the Quatari first after leaving the hospital to discuss syria current events, it is a shame on the USA adminstration what is being done.
Clinton has her dirty hand in the hands of the Quatari islamists radicals blood hungry killers. Quatar and KSA, Kuwait and the rest of the GCC are the biggest supporter of Alqaida all over the world.
money, martyers from KSA and Egypt are the one who are fighting the west.
It seems to me that the price of bringing Assad down is connected to the killing of too many jihadists and terrorists in Syria, could be this is the theory why USA hands are tight to the pigs of GCC.
Time only will tell what game USA playing may be after all killing of Syrians is not important to the USA as much as it was Iraq and lybia, but supporting the terrorists in Syria is a red flag for USA therefore let both sides kill each other.
it is a clear game, becuaes if USA wants to kill Assad, it could hanppend long ago.

January 3rd, 2013, 10:53 am