The Issue Of Foreign Intervention – US Calls on Assad to “Step Down Now”. Robert Ford, making a difference (By Ehsani)

As Syria approaches the seven month anniversary of its conflict, the following is becoming clear:

1-    The Syrian military and internal security apparatus is a cohesive group that seems unlikely to disintegrate anytime soon. There is no doubt that some desertions have taken place.  But these have been too sporadic to make a noticeable rupture in the army’s control over the Syrian territory.

2-    The defining moment in the past seven months came on the eve of Ramadan.  Hama was steadily moving away from central control.  The sensitivities of moving the army into Hama on that day were not lost to Damascus. In the end, the risk of waiting was deemed too high. Leaving Hama the way it was for the whole month of Ramadan would have made any attempt to retake the city that much harder to accomplish thereafter.  No one in the Syrian leadership wanted to have another Benghazi in Syria. This is why the tanks moved into Daraa earlier and Rastan just recently.  Damascus will not allow any territory to fall outside of its control.

3-    Armed with a strong and cohesive army that has been able to exert full territorial control over the whole country, the opposition must by now be aware that defeating this regime militarily is unlikely to happen without foreign help.  Syria is not Tunisia or Egypt. The popular uprising that was going to sweep away the Syrian regime was an attractive option in theory. Members of the Syrian opposition saw it as the way forward. In practice, however, it is yet to yield any discernible result.

4-    This leaves foreign help.  Presumably, this  can mean one of three things:

  •  Foreign Boots on the ground.
  •  No Fly-Zone.
  •  Arming internal groups with the hope toppling the regime militarily.

The latter option is precisely why the Syrian leadership has made sure that no territory falls outside its control.  Such an area would simply act as a base and an address for foreign arm shipments and would constitute a Syrian Bhangazi.  Any foreign shipments that have come in so far seem to have been sporadic and light enough not to pose any legitimate strategic risk to the country’s armed forces. Indeed, the Syrian army and security forces are so superior in numbers and firepower that it seems almost impossible for this strategy to ultimately work.  The opposition is unlikely to defeat the army regardless of how many arms it can unilaterally source from outside.

In an exclusive report entitled – War only option to topple Syrian leader, Colonel Riad al-As’aad seems to call for the international community to provide army rebels with weapons and enforce a no-fly zone. He concludes by saying:

“If they don’t give it to us, we will fight with our nails until the regime is toppled. I tell Bashar al-Assad, the people are stronger than you.”

The fact is that the Colonel realizes that arming the rebels from outside needs both a Syrian address (Rastan or jabal al zawye) AND a No-Fly zone.

But what is a No-Fly zone?  The concept seems a little confusing in the sense that the Syrian air force has not exactly been busy fighting the insurgents with chemical weapons (Iraq) or the like.  One can think of this concept as the prelude or the poor cousin of the first option which involves sending foreign boots on the ground.  The No-Fly zone, should it happen, would presumably involve NATO targeting and degrading Syria’s extensive surface to air anti aircraft missiles.

Saddam survived everything that was thrown at him, including a No-Fly zone, for years till the foreign boots showed up.  Once the latter happened, his regime simply crumbled in days.  While the initial western success was intoxicating, what came after was enough to convince even the most hawkish elements in Washington that a repeat of that experiment in Syria now would be incomprehensible.  The country does not have the financial, political or military stomach for this adventure at the moment.

The newly formed Syrian National Council faces a dilemma when it comes to foreign intervention.  Quite simply, the opposition knows that it is nearly impossible to topple this regime without foreign help. Yet, they also know that inviting foreign military intervention into Syria is political suicide. What you get as a result is a muddled policy response and half-pregnant answers.

To be sure, no foreign intervention has been the consistent party line.  During the latest interview with Aljazeera, Mr. Ghalyoun called for “international observers to help protect civilians”. While that does not sound like direct foreign military intervention, it surely is a prelude to one.  What would happen if a team of international observers (UNIFIL?) were shot at or killed? Would the international community have to send real armed forced to protect the observers next?

The Syrian National Council is likely to keep dancing around this issue and avoid commenting on the subject directly. This is because they are in a catch-22 situation.  As this conflict carries forward, the time will come when the SNC will have to face that fork in the road and convincingly describe how it intends to bring the slogan of ”Isqat al Nizam” into reality on the ground.

[end of commentary]

Kurdish opponent of Assad shot dead – Financial Times

Though the exact circumstances surrounding Mr Tammo’s death are unknown, suspicion immediately fell on the regime, and could widen the opposition to Mr Assad’s rule. Protests were said to have broken out in Kurdish areas on Friday night.

“They’re very, very angry,” said Massoud Akko, a Kurdish human rights activist and journalist living in Norway. “He was a very good man, very clever, respected by all Syrian people, not just the Kurdish.”

Mr Tammo was spokesman for one of the Syrian Kurds’ 14 illegal political parties, and was in prison until earlier this year. He was also a member of the recently formed Syrian National Council, the umbrella group of the opposition.

Although there have been anti-regime protests in the Kurdish areas, many expected the community to mobilise more fully than it has so far, given that Syria’s Kurdish minority, which forms nearly 10 per cent of the population, is the only group with a history of serious, organised opposition to the Assad government.

The regime has sought to co-opt the Kurds since protests began by offering citizenship to approximately 300,000 who were left stateless by a 1962 census, and there have been rumours that Kurdish politicians are in dialogue with the regime, but these cannot be confirmed. Mr Tammo was reported to have spoken out against some Kurdish politicians, saying they had “contributed to the weakness of the Kurdish opposition”.

According to Mr Akko, the death of Mr Tammo could be a turning point for the Kurdish community’s participation in the uprising.

“If the death doesn’t take them to the streets, I will be sure there is negotiation between the regime and other Kurdish parties,” said Mr Akko.

Riad Seif, another leading opposition figure, was beaten by gunmen outside a mosque in the Damascus suburb of Midan on Friday, according to opposition activists, and was rushed to hospital.

The US state department described Mr Tammo’s death, together with the beating of Mr Seif as “a clear escalation of regime tactics”.

The UN said earlier this week that 2,900 people had been killed in the regime’s response to protests, which broke out in March. UN experts said on Friday that 187 of those killed were children.

US calls on Assad to “step down now”AFP

WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to “step down now,” warning he was taking his country down a “very dangerous path.”

In a statement, spokesman Jay Carney condemned the killing of Kurdish opposition leader Meshaal Tamo as well as the beating of a prominent Syrian activist, saying it showed “again that the Assad regime’s promises for dialogue and reform are hollow.”

“The United States strongly rejects violence directed against peaceful oppositionists wherever it occurs, and stands in solidarity with the courageous people of Syria who deserve their universal rights,” Carney said.

“Today’s attacks demonstrate the Syrian regime’s latest attempts to shut down peaceful opposition inside Syria. President Assad must step down now before taking his country further down this very dangerous path.”

Tamo, 53, a member of the newly formed Syrian National Council (SNC) opposition grouping, was killed when four masked gunmen stormed his house in Qamishli in the north and opened fire.

His son and another fellow activist in the Kurdish Future Party were wounded, activists said. Kurds are a minority ethnic group in Syria.

Former MP Riad Seif, meanwhile, was also attacked and beaten in the street.

The US State Department earlier charged that the Assad regime was escalating its tactics against the opposition with bold, daylight attacks on its leaders.

“This is a clear escalation of regime tactics,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters, referring to reports of Tamo’s murder.

In the past months, she said: “We’ve obviously had a number of opposition folks arrested. We have had reports of torture, beatings, etc, but not on the streets in broad daylight.

The tactic is “clearly designed to intimidate others,” Nuland said.

Nuland meanwhile welcomed reported remarks from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who told Assad on Friday to either reform or resign.

“That is very positive,” she said, adding that she had not seen the statement.

“But as we have said, we want to see more countries join us not only in increasing the political and rhetorical pressure on the regime, but also tightening the economic noose,” Nuland said.

“And there are more steps that can be taken by countries like Russia to up the pressure on Assad,” she said.

Robert Ford, making a difference in Syria – David Ignatius (W.Post)

If you’re wondering what diplomats can do in an era of pulverizing military force and instantaneous communications, consider the case of Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria. He has been meeting with the Syrian opposition around the country, risking his neck — and in the process infuriating the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Ford is an example of the free-form diplomacy the United States will need as it pulls back its troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s projecting American power quietly — through counseling the protesters and networking — rather than trying to wrap the opposition in the American flag, which would be the kiss of death for them.

I spoke with Ford last week by telephone, which is, at the moment, unfortunately the only way that most U.S. journalists can talk to him. He outlined the basic advice he has offered in meetings with opposition leaders, which is to remain peaceful and resist the slide toward sectarian violence.

Ford summarizes his message this way: “Don’t be violent. That’s crucial. If you do that, you’re playing into the hands of the government.”

And yet, as Ford notes, sectarian killing “is certainly on the upswing” in Syria. It’s a frightening cycle of attack and retaliation, reminiscent of the Sunni-vs.-Shiite mayhem that enveloped Iraq in 2006. The blood feud here is between Syria’s Sunni majority and the Alawite minority that has ruled since Assad’s father took power in 1970.

Wherever he goes, Ford asks practical questions — pressing the activists about incentives for Syrian business or about reforming the government budget. He counsels the embattled protesters against military action — which would only bring on a vicious civil war. He thinks time works against Assad, if protesters can avoid the trap of sectarian conflict.

It’s a narrow ledge that Ford is walking. But it’s good to see an American diplomat in the lead for a change, instead of the U.S. military.

Comments (747)


Ghufran said:

The US is not in the lead when it comes to Syria. My hope is that Russia,China and Egypt may be able to do what others fail,pressuring Asad to leave and convincing the opposition to capitalize on their gains and accept a unity government free from Alasad,his family and the lords of corruption and brutality.

October 7th, 2011, 8:32 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Thank you Alex for your first article,somehow I feel it was Alex who wrote it.

October 7th, 2011, 9:07 pm

 

zoo said:

Do I read that the hardline opposition is a dead end?
It does look like that:
The USA is filling the air with words. The EU has exhausted its sanctions stock. The UN resolution, the only binding one, has been killed. The opposition in Turkey is in a confused state on what to do next.

The only realistic hope is the tough pressure by Russia on Bashar Al Assad and on the Syrian opposition, not the Ghalioun one, to negotiate a ceasefire and accelerate the implementation of the reforms.

I doubt the hardline opposition will accept to be ignored and they may resort to more violent acts to prevent these ‘negotiations’ to proceed and succeed.

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=12429#comment-277370

October 7th, 2011, 9:13 pm

 

ann said:

Syria’s risks mute talk of Libya-style action – October 7, 2011 11:42

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/10/07/ap/middleeast/main20117272.shtml

(AP) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — In shaky videos posted on the web, some protesters in Syria have begun flashing signs appealing for international help. “Where is NATO?” some messages ask amid crackdowns that have claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

The answer: Waiting on the sidelines with other world powers and showing no willingness to open a Libyan-style military offensive against the regime of Bashar Assad.

“No intention whatsoever,” emphasized NATO’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, earlier this week in Brussels.

The reason is a brew of international political complications, worries over unleashing a civil war and plausible risks of touching off a wider Middle East conflict with archfoes Israel and Iran in the mix. In the end, Assad has more powerful friends and carries far more wild cards than Moammar Gadhafi’s Libya, analysts say.

“The Syrian regime is much more capable of causing trouble for the region and its allies,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. “There’s a real risk of a major spillover effect.”

Prime targets are right on Syria’s borders: U.S.-backed Israel and NATO-member Turkey.

Assad and his main Mideast backer, Iran, could launch retaliatory attacks on Israel or — more likely — use proxy Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon or Palestinian militant allies for the job. To the north, Turkey has opened its doors to anti-Assad activists and breakaway military rebels, which also could bring Syrian reprisals.

But some see even greater dangers if Assad falls without a clear successor, such as the transition administration built by Libya’s former rebels.

Syria has an array of competing factions and allegiances, including some Sunni groups falling behind Saudi Arabia pitted against Assad’s Alawite minority with ties to Shiite power Iran. Assad has tried to exploit fears of a bloody unraveling in Syria by portraying himself as the only power capable of keeping peace.

“Israel is more worried if there is civil war,” said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born regional analyst based in Israel. “During the chaos, Iranian-backed factions could take the opportunity to strike Israel. The last thing Iran wants is a Saudi-allied regime emerging in Syria. Iran will not sit by as spectators.”

Assad also still carries favor in Moscow and Beijing, which on Tuesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned Syria for its crackdowns on pro-reform protesters. A divided Security Council puts an effective stranglehold on any discussions about military options.

Like Iran, both Russia and China worry that the downfall of Assad will be a severe blow to their interests in the Middle East.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday defended Russia’s veto, saying the resolution would have opened the door to future resolutions allowing military action. NATO launched its air campaign in Libya after a U.N. resolution authorizing countries to use military force — short of occupation — to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians.

Video clips that appeared Thursday showed protesters in Damascus holding a banner mocking the Russian “bear,” Chinese “dragon” and describing Assad as a bloodthirsty lion — the meaning of his name in Arabic. “Animals of the same kind,” it read.

In Geneva, the U.N.’s human rights office raised its tally of people killed during seven months of unrest in Syria to more than 2,900, including members of the security forces.

Sporadic individual calls for international military action have begun to arise among Syrian protesters. But most protesters and Syria’s opposition leaders have so far resisted the idea. At a rare opposition meeting in Damascus on Thursday, banners read: “Yes to the collapse of the tyrannical security regime” and “No to foreign military intervention.”

Assad’s government permitted the meeting in a possible attempt to show tolerance to some degree of dissent as long as it comes from within Syria.

“We firmly believe that history will bear out which nations were right and which were on the wrong side in this vote,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland after the Security Council stalemate. “Countries have to take responsibility for the decision that they made … and any implications it might have on the ground in Syria.”

Yet no one in Washington or elsewhere is raising the option of airstrikes — such as NATO’s campaign in Libya — or other types of military action to try to cripple Assad’s regime.

Libya shows another likely reason why: Gadhafi’s security forces battled for six months against rebels despite being hammered by NATO strikes, and they continue to fight in pockets a month after the fall of Tripoli.

Syria is believed to have a much stronger and cohesive military than Gadhafi’s. Its arsenal includes Russian-made MiG warplanes and modern air defense systems.

“Syria is not Libya,” said Khaled Mahadeen, a Jordanian columnist and former government adviser in Amman. “Any such action will have serious repercussions across the Arab world.”

Even Israeli officials have not been pressing for Western-led attacks to bring down Assad, though he sides with Israel’s chief enemies — Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza.

Israel is already trying to reshape its policies after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, where the nation’s 32-year-old peace pact with Israel is now being questioned by Islamist groups and others with newfound power. An upheaval in Syria could raise new security questions in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967. For all Assad’s hostility against Israel, he has kept the Golan front largely quiet for decades.

For the moment, the most likely channel for possible outside military help runs through Turkey, where a group of Syrian military defectors have set up a faction called the Free Syrian Army. Its leader, breakaway air force Col. Riad al-Asaad, said “armed rebellion” may be the only path for the opposition.

The military rebels, however, may first need to claim a slice of Syrian territory before they can pitch for Western or Arab aid like the anti-Gadhafi fighters in their de facto capital Benghazi, said the Qatar-based analyst Hamid.

“The Free Syrian Army needs to give the international community an address,” he said. “Benghazi was an address. They need to have a piece of territory of their own to say, ‘This is where we are basing our operations to hold this territory and protect the civilians within.'”

October 7th, 2011, 9:15 pm

 

jna said:

This is a consise and crystal clear summary of the situation in Syria by Ehsani. This quality of commentary, far above most media pundits, proves the merit of Syria Comment blog.

October 7th, 2011, 9:50 pm

 

Alex said:

Majedkhaldoon, I think you got too used to Ehsani writing mostly about the economy, and if you knew how much Ehsani and I argue each day (by email), you would not think that he would ask me to write an article with him.

But I don’ think there is much to disagree with him here. Is there?

October 7th, 2011, 10:02 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

Bachar Al Issa
الآلاف من شباب القامشلي يحيطون بالمشفى حيث يرقد جثمان الشهيد مشعل التمو ويعالج ابنه ورفيقتم من جراحهم الخطيرة
نأمل من نشطاء الثورة السورية الديمقراطية ان يجعلوا من جنازة الشهيد مشعل غدا يوما حقيقيا للثورة الديمقراطية السلمية يوما يتقدم الجنازة قيادة الحركة الديمقراطية الاثورية والنشطاء الاخوة العربي يتقدمون قيادات الحركة الديمقراطية الكردية
يوم تخرج النساء بالآلاف لتتقدم الجنازة التي ستؤرخ لنهاية نظام بيت الاسد
ندعو كل الاصدقاء والاخوة الآشوريين والسريان والعرب والكرد ان يعلنوه في الوطن والمهاجر والمنافي يوما للوحدة الوطنية ونقلة في مسار الثورة الديمقراطية السورية انه يوم الشراكة في الوطن بالفعل وليس بالكلام

ننتظر غدا مئات الآلاف من شباب القامشلي والدرباسية وعامودا وراس العين في شوارع الجزيرةومدنه

October 7th, 2011, 10:30 pm

 
 

Haytham Khoury said:

لحسكة :: الامن العسكري يقيم حواجز على الطريق الدولي الرابط بين
( الحسكة وقامشلو وعامودا وحلب ) ويحاول قطع الطرق بين تلك المدن
وحصار لمدينة الحسكة لمنع مشاركة اهلها بتشييع الشهيد مشعل
التمو وتنسيقية الحسكة الموحدة تتوعد بمظاهرات رغم الحصار

October 7th, 2011, 10:38 pm

 
 

zoo said:

The Turkish military only purpose on the border: No war but stopping possible immigration.
Not very encouraging for the FAS or anyone hoping Turkey will enter or bomb Syria to protect the protesters.

MEHMET ALİ BİRAND interviews Davutoglu:

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was my guest on my 32.Gün (32nd Day) show on Oct. 6.

For a while, the question, “Are we going to war with Syria?” was haunting me. How could it not after the prime minister said he would not “be a mere spectator to what was going on in Syria” and the Turkish Armed Forces started exercises at the Syrian border.

The impression I got from the talk with Davutoğlu was not that a war would erupt or a military intervention was on the table. But it is as such that Assad will not be able to stay in power anymore. Turkey’s concern is the spread of an internal conflict in Syria and that we are faced with a major migration wave. As far as I understand, military measures are more toward obstructing this possible immigration.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=is-there-a-military-intervention-in-syria-2011-10-07

October 7th, 2011, 11:02 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

“A sick world we live in when Steve Jobs has to die of cancer and Bashar al-Assad remains Syria’s cancer,” another tweeted.

October 7th, 2011, 11:13 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

قناة العربية تحاور السياسي الكوردي مشعل التمو

October 7th, 2011, 11:20 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

كلمة المعارض الكوردي مشعل التمو بعد اطلاق سراحه.قامشلو

October 7th, 2011, 11:23 pm

 

zoo said:

Follow-on #11

It would be ironical that Syrian refugees re-occupy the province of Hatay that was part of Syria until 1937. Its population is mostly ethnic Syrians and speak arabic. I would not be surprised if the Syrian government encourages or pushes Syrians to emigrate to Hatay as a way to regain a foothold on a land they still consider as part of Syria. No wonder Turkey is worried of a possible influx. They have 7,500 Syrians tightly kept in detention centers waiting to send them back, I guess they dread to see more coming .. and claiming the land as theirs. A possible reprisal to Erdogan’s promised sanctions on Syria.

October 7th, 2011, 11:25 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

حول توحيد المعارضة السورية 12مشعل تمو

October 7th, 2011, 11:26 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

غضب عام في سوريا بعد مقتل المعارض البارز مشعل التمو.. والأكراد يدعون للتصعيد
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/08/170721.html

October 7th, 2011, 11:31 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

دعوة للمشاركة في سبت الوفاء لتشييع الشهيد مشعل التمو

صامد أنت يا جبل لا تهزك رياح الغدر ولا تثني عزيمتك بنادق الشبيحة ورصاص الأمن صامد يا جبل رغم كيد الكائدين ورغم كل أقنعة الزيف وسكاكين الغدر التي تُطعن في جسدك الطاهر، كذا الجبال لا تنحني إلا لباريها وكذا الرجال صناديق لا تعلموا ما فيها، أقسمنا بمن قبلوك يا جبل، بمن احتموا فيك لنحو أحد عشر ألف عام و خرجوا من رحمك يزفون للأمم قصص الثورة والتضحية أساطيرا من الشموخ و الكبرياء، كوتيين و ميتانيين من الميديين إلى ديركا حمكو و بياندور مرورا بشكفتا دو دري وجبال الزاوية وجبال الأكراد فقلعة الحصن إلى ثوار الغوطة وركن الدين إنه شعب يأبى الركوع إلا لله كما يأبى أن تحكمه ثلة من الشبيحة و المرتزقة و المأجورين.

قف فأنت في حضرة المارد الكوردي إن كنت لا تعلم يا بشار، ألم تصلك أنباء أسلافهم، ألم يخبرك أسلافك عن هذا الكوردي العنيد الذي لا يتوان عن طلب الحرية و الحياة، ألم يعلموك ألا تستبيح شرايين دجلة و الفرات، ودماء من لا يرضى الضيم عنوانا ولا المذلة حياة، ألم تقرأ صحائف الأولين، أيها الهائم على وجهك ألا تدرك ما تفعل، بل لا تدرك أين سينتهي بك القدر أمام هذا السيل الجارف القادم من الشمال، فتهيأ لجولة لن يرحمك فيها أحد، ولن يصفح فيها عنك إنسان. غدا سنزف شهيدنا مكللا بعلمنا، غدا سننثر الورد بألوان الطيف على جسده الطاهر، غدا سنعلن الربيع قبل أوانه.

وفاءا للشهيد نعلن نحن اتحاد تنسيقيات شباب الكورد في سوريا (تنسيقية قامشلو – تنسيقية عامودا – تنسيقية الدرباسية – تنسيقية سري كانيه – تنسيقية الحسكة – تنسيقية كوباني – تنسيقية عفرين – تنسيقية حلب – تنسيقية دمشق) بالخروج و بكل قوة إكراما لدم الشهيد. كما ونعلن الحداد على روح الشهيد لثلاثة أيام في كافة المدن السورية.
وسيتم تشيعه في قامشلو إلى مقبرة الشهداء لرمزيتها لدى الشعب الكوردي ونقلا عن ذويه سيتم الانتقال بجسده الطاهر إلى مدينة عامودا حيث ستشيعه بدورها ومن ثم إلى مدينة الدرباسية كذلك وأخيرا إلى مسقط رأسه في قرية الجنازية حيث سيوارى الثرى وتقام مراسم الدفن والعزاء.
الخلود لشهداء الثورة السورية
الموت للشبيحة و المأجورين

8-10-2011

اتحاد تنسيقيات شباب الكورد في سوريا

October 7th, 2011, 11:33 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

The Sadistic Dictator Bashar Al-Assad Consist Of Only Lies And Massacres Against Unarmed Protesters And Freedom Seekers In Syria 25.03.2011

October 7th, 2011, 11:37 pm

 

873 said:

USA may soon have its hands full, so Israel will have to destroy Syria itself, instead of using America as its proxy to do it for them. Isaiah 17 Destruction of Damascus prophecy has been recited incessently this year by the “pious” zionists-xtian & jew (who should be imprisoned for Hate Speech and incitement to violence in my opinion). But more along those lines…

David’s HAARP weapon has been on HIGH fire upon the Canary Islands causing 10,000 earthquakes since July 17. Weather warfare that could catalyze a tsunami to wipe out the E Coast. Already the zionists are saying it would be “God’s punishment to the world for trying to divide Eretz Israel”. Northcom and NATO are active on the project- not ‘standing down’ as they did for the first one in 9/11/2001. They are even setting up off Cadiz.

The quakes, which have puzzled scientists since their inception, “spiked up radically” when the UN went into negotiations for Palestine Statehood on Rosh Hashanah, and now for Yom Kippur after UNESCO endorsed Palestine Statehood they are reaching danger pitch, as David’s HAARP has been thundering quakes again with escalating intensity.

“Natural disaster”. What airtight deniability.

October 7th, 2011, 11:49 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

هذا هو سبب اغتيال الشهيد مشعل تمو رحمة الله

October 7th, 2011, 11:54 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

حمص تثور لأغتيال الشهيد مشعل تمو 7-10-2011

October 7th, 2011, 11:58 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

For this reason he was killed

October 8th, 2011, 12:00 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

مشعل تمو 07.010.2011 المناضل الشهيد مشعل تمو

October 8th, 2011, 12:02 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

قامشلو في مسائية استشهاد المناضل مشعل التمو7 10 2011

October 8th, 2011, 12:05 am

 

873 said:

Spanish scientists reported that the CO2 monitors around the most dangerous volcanoes were recently STOLEN. There had been 600 instruments stationed around Cumbre Vieja area for early warning system since 1996 and suddenly – gone! Disappeared faster than a pile of WMDs or Niger yellowcake. Add to this fact, that last spring the top US military brass was ordered away from the East Coast and to relocate to WEST of the Mississippi River by July 1st, and Illuminati agents could have some actionable ‘coincidences’ to answer for.

October 8th, 2011, 12:05 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

القامشلي : عاجل : قام مجموعة من الشباب الثائر في مدينة القامشلي بعملية اطلقو عليها اسم عملية التطهير وفاءً لاستشهاد الاستاذ المناضل مشعل التمو و ذلك بازالة صور الساقط بشار و أبيه المقبور من الشوارع و تكسير جميع الأصنام
الله محيي أحفاد صلاح الدين الأيوبي … الله محيي أبطال القامشلي و عامودا

October 8th, 2011, 12:08 am

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

Ehsani quotes US government spokesperson Victoria Nuland saying the US welcomed reported remarks from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev who told Assad on Friday to either reform or resign. “That is very positive,” Nuland said, adding that she had not seen Medvedev’s statement.

Everybody in Syria wants reform of the political institutions. Absolutely everybody! And there’s very little disagreement about what the reforms should be! Most of the reforms have happened already but we’re still awaiting the reform that deletes Article 8 of the Constitution, which is the backbone for all the other reforms. Now, here’s what Medvedev’s statement was: “If the Syrian leadership is unable to complete such reforms, it will have to go, but this decision should be made not by NATO and certain European countries, it should be made by the people of Syria and the government of Syria,” Medvedev said. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/07/world/meast/syria-unrest/

********
PS: It is deeply disgusting to all reasonable people that the US government spokesperson Nuland insinuates and even flatly declares that today’s murder of Syrian Kurdish dissident Tamo was done by pro-regime Syrians. Tamo was murdered by four masked men whose identities are quite unknown. He could’ve been murdered by other dissidents for being a regime informant, perhaps. Or he could’ve possibly been murdered by other Kurds over some internal dispute amongst Kurds, perhaps. It was murder. The Syrian regime does not commit murder, and there is no evidence whatsoever linking the regime to his murder, and the regime has no motive to select him for murder nor I assume even for arrest. I hope the regime is successful in finding the murderers and executing them. Murderers of pro-regime political opinion shall be executed as swifty as murderers of any other stripe!

Allah, Souria, As-Shaab, Assad, ou bas! Sorry about the thick aajami accent. Disgussting shite like the above from the USA is making me more pro-Syrian every day.

October 8th, 2011, 12:37 am

 

Ali said:

Anyone that denies the fact that armed gangs in Syria exist is truly in need of help. These gangs are responsible for the deaths of many Syrian citizens and Security officers and this needs to be dealt with immediately! This has gone too far.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XPv6OAfBfQ&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AluxmaOP6jI&feature=related

http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/07/374113.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook

October 8th, 2011, 12:41 am

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

@26. 873said:
More on this subject matter please, we are compiling it all bit by bit and missing many pieces in the puzzle. Something very sinister is going on, under very top secret and compartmentized plan. It has to do with tectonics scale earthquakes, pole shift, close encounter with a celestial object, definitely aliens, extraterrestrial and subterranean/underwater. Keep posting on this subject, may see the picture of this 6000 pieces puzzle that someone doing a hellllof job keeping secret.

October 8th, 2011, 12:42 am

 

Ali said:

Reports state that Military engineering units in Deir Ezzor province on Friday dismantled two explosive devices weighing around 6 kg each, planted by armed terrorist groups in places crowded with people.

One of the devices was found at Shawakh car stand in Deir Ezzor city while the other was found in al-Mahkameh Street in the city of Bukamal.

A correspondent in the province reported an informed source as saying that a third explosive device blew up in al-Nil Park in the center of the city.

The source said that the device was made up of a gas cylinder filled with explosives and no injuries were reported.

The competent authorities in Deir Ezzor released a law enforcement member who had been kidnapped by an armed terrorist group, the source pointed out.

In another context, a group of gunmen riding a motorcycle attempted to kidnap the mayor of al-Ashareh Municipality in Deir Ezzor. The gunmen were confronted by some citizens and were forced to flee away leaving their motorcycle behind.

In Daraa province, members of engineering units dismantled two explosive devices planted by armed terrorist groups in areas expected to witness gatherings of people in response to online calls for protests last week.

One of the devices weighs 20 kg, while the other weighs 12 kg.

October 8th, 2011, 12:43 am

 

AIG said:

Ehsani,

You are not a military man so you don’t know, but months and months of this police type duty is going to completely wear down the Syrian army. People and equipment are going to wear down and it will be difficult to replace them. Plus, just the cost of fuel for so many vehicles for such a long period of time is prohibitive. I am not saying Assad is going to fall tomorrow. In fact, I plainly said many months ago that it will take a long time. But you are incorrect in assuming that the Syrian army can keep this up forever. My estimate is that in another 6 months or so the number of inoperative tanks and troop carriers will be very high and troop moral will be ultra low.

Bottom line, it is not clear at all that foreign help will be needed to beat the Syrian army. It will slowly but surely grind down to a halt and will not be able to control all of Syria’s territory. It may take 6 months or it may take 2 years, but it will surely happen. That is the nature of the beast. Together with sanctions on the oil sector, this could bring the regime down or weaken Syria to the level of Zimbabwe.

The regime knows this too of course and that is why they want a decisive victory. But that is not in the cards. They are playing whack a mole with the protesters and cannot be at all places at all times. And as time progresses they will be able to be in less places for less time.

October 8th, 2011, 1:06 am

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Well, EHSANI summed it all up. But for details here is a link for an article by this professor:

– Jeremy Salt is associate professor in Middle Eastern History and Politics at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Previously, he taught at Bosporus University in Istanbul and the University of Melbourne in the Departments of Middle Eastern Studies and Political Science. Professor Salt has written many articles on Middle East issues, particularly Palestine, and was a journalist for The Age newspaper when he lived in Melbourne. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.

http://www.rense.com/general94/truthh.htm

October 8th, 2011, 1:32 am

 

Alex said:

AIG
Read this article by Anthony Shadid from June

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11181/1157314-82-0.stm?cmpid=nationworld.xml

I discussed it with Anthony and he assured me he spoke to many reliable sources and experts who agreed that the Syrian army HAD TO evacuate Hama four months ago because of exhaustion and because they could not afford to continue functioning.

Exactly your points.

Funny how ring wing Israelis and anti regime Syrian opposition in Washington always try to promote the same arguments.

Obviously the Syrian army can not continue to police every city “forever”, and obviously Syria will be facing serious economic challenges. But many other countries are having serious financial or social problems. This is a dynamic period that will affect Syria, Israel, Greece, … and many other countries.

How they all deal with it will be something that none of us can predict with such certainty.

October 8th, 2011, 1:53 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

For those opposition dummies ready to judge and solve crimes in seconds
It is just a matter of cheep political gain all the time.Why would the regime even think of killing Mr Timo?not even one gain from such an assassination .in fact opposition and Turkey can gain big time from such a crime:
1-Lighting up Qamishli and Aljazera is a dream for the opposition,Mr Timo’s blood is the oil which the opposition hops it will ignites Aljazera.
2-Kurds have been practically on the fence ,this is an action which is planned to move them inside the fence.
3-Kurdish-Arabic-Christian relationships have been strong,blood is hoped to turn Aljazera into Homs Hell.
4-Igniting Aljazera will stretch the Syrian Army further and will weaken it.
5-Spelling Blood and starting Homs style civil war in border towns with Turkey will be a source for refugees to Turkey and an easy way for Turkey to buy on that to weaken the regime further(especially Christian refugees)
6-With the regime winning in Damascus,Aleppo,Hama,Edlib,Homs,Dara…And with Fridays becoming boring and less than 1%in the streets,and with the winter coming …the (revolution)needed new blood,and a new frontier..devils picked up the Kurdish card.
7-Turkey is a big player in Qamishli .Turkish intelligence is strong in Qamishli.10 years ago the hijacked a Syrian Armenian into Turkey,he was in Turkish jails for many years.Turks can do such an operation with eyes closed.
8-Turks have the blood of at least 30000 Kurds over the last few decades.Turkey up to today can kill or jail any Kurd without any law authority.Actually they kill Kurds in Iraq with every ones mouth closed including Iraq,USA and Europ,This is democracy Turkish style.
9-The regime from day one was very aggressive in trying to win the Kurds to his side,They will never jeopardize all that for killing some one as peaceful as mr Timo.

Opposition Nurds are so sure about the killers all the time.in few seconds dummies like Revlon knew that Alshabiha did it.in fact Erdogan’s mom was killed by Alshabiha.

October 8th, 2011, 2:56 am

 

annie said:

I totally agree with
23. Haytham Khoury said:

For this reason he was killed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ-QyEFHtB0&feature=related

and I wish Aboud was here for a retort to

28. Ya Mara Ghalba; even the ziohasbarites are better at that.

October 8th, 2011, 3:00 am

 

Mina said:

No doubt some museums will miraculously get looted as in Baghdad. It bothers both some fundamentalist Jews and Muslims (the earliest preserved jewish temple, full of paintings and pictures: dura europos
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synagogue_de_Doura_Europos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-Europos )

and the museums showing all the treasures of Arab and Greek paganism. Pure ibdaa’.

October 8th, 2011, 3:31 am

 

873 said:

30. Syrian Nationalist Party said:
More on this subject matter please

SNP,
Here is a bit on ETs Aliens-

Aliens= Elyons from jewish lore. El=Saturn. Thus ELohim, TempLE (house of Saturn) etc etc.

Naval Intelligence vet Bill Cooper, who Bill clinton called ‘most dangerous man in America” before he was assassinated by US govt after he predicted 911 false flag event 2 months beforehand in 2001:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l46n7hEtswg

Carol Rosin- The Disclosure Project
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR4rZ2bD8CE
Pres Reagan
http://socioecohistory.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/president-ronald-reagans-1987-speech-about-ufo-alien-invasion-at-united-nations/

If a tsunami hits the Atlantic rim countries ala Band Aceh, know it was MANMADE.

October 8th, 2011, 3:38 am

 

Mina said:

873 is the last one who has seen the famous al Jazeera pills, obviously.
More seriously, contrarily to the US injunctions, I don’t see any benefit in a replacement of the militaries from the Egyptian gov by any other incompetent and candid team. The situation is far too volatile.
Can’t wait to see an exodus of hundreds of thousands Palestinian refugees go back to their land when the situation in Syria will be completely out of control, Iraqi style. Plus other columns of hundreds of thousands Iraqi refugees obliged to go back home.

October 8th, 2011, 4:41 am

 

Son of Damascus said:

@ 873 post 38
Videos about aliens that have scenes from a Hollywood movie (independence day) juxtaposed next to the falling WTC towers is NOT something that should be taken seriously (Or anything by Bill Cooper as well, who was a wanted criminal that died in a shoot out with the sheriff department)
If you really want to learn about astronomy, and the world beyond Earth I would highly recommend Carl Sagan.
This video that is narrated by him is a very humbling to watch. In short he speaks about how Earth looked like from Voyageur Satellite 4 billion miles away. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pfwY2TNehw

Conspiracy theories are nothing but unproven theories. Don’t believe everything that is fed to you.

Regards
Son of Damascus

October 8th, 2011, 5:00 am

 

uzair8 said:

@35 SNK

‘6-With the regime winning in Damascus,Aleppo,Hama,Edlib,Homs,Dara…’

Aboud would never have let this gem pass without a typical response.

There’s the bait. SNK that was unwise. A red rag to a bull.

October 8th, 2011, 6:15 am

 

Revlon said:

Mr Tammo was not just any activist.

Mr Tammo was a prominent, Kurdish political figure.
The regime has done every thing, and has largely succeeded in appeasing the Kurds into staying largely neutral.

Mr Tammo apparently broke a Kurdish-Regime political deal and stepped over a red line.
The deal was to give the Kurds citizenships and probably to give in to some other demands.
The Kurds in turn would respect a political red line; The sanctity of the regime.

Mr Tammo was not killed by “mistake”
He was not killed by random fire while demonstrating.
He was not killed at home as a result of a burst of anger from an aquaintance or enemy.
He was killed while in hiding!

To take out a political leader of such caliber and of such ethnicity would require a political decision of the highest order. I would argue that even Maher AlAssad would not have taken such a sensitive decision on his own.

The political green light for the execution was given by Thug One The plan was made by his close security circle.
The operation was clandestine and would not have been delegated to the non-professional paramilitias (Shabbeeha).
The security forces have special units for such mission. It is the black shirt security Phalange.

Those who survived the attack need to be given absolute protectionas eye witnesses.

October 8th, 2011, 6:20 am

 

uzair8 said:

Syrian army defectors tell of regime ruthlessness

Saturday, 08 October 2011

When the Syrian army raided his village in the central province of Homs and began shooting at unarmed civilians, Amin knew it was time to join the growing ranks of soldiers defecting to the opposition.

“I was off duty that day in June and I couldn’t bear what I saw,” the 25-year-old lieutenant told AFP, asking that his real name not be used.

“I decided then to send my parents and siblings to a safe area and I slipped across the border into Lebanon.”

Several soldiers who have defected in recent months and fled to Lebanon gave similar harrowing tales, describing a “scorched earth” campaign by the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its much feared “shabiha,” or pro-government thugs, to crush the seven-month popular revolt.

The soldiers showed AFP their army ID cards as proof of their identity.

Amin said that on one occasion, soldiers burst into the house of a suspected activist in his village and shot the man’s wife and daughter in the legs to force them to reveal his whereabouts.

“When the army carries out such operations, the shabiha are then given a free hand to loot and destroy,” he said.

Read more:

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/08/170774.html

[Other selected quotes]

….“If you fail to shoot, then they kill you and tell your family that it was the work of an armed terrorist gang,” said Rami, in his 40s.

…“I saw with my own eyes an unarmed older farmer in a village in Homs province go by on a bicycle and we were ordered to shoot him in the back,” he said emotionally. “He was left there to bleed all day.

….He also said security services often shoot at army units to uphold the regime’s “tale” that armed terrorist groups are behind the uprising.

October 8th, 2011, 6:21 am

 

uzair8 said:

Robert Fisk: Jerusalem can do strange things to your sanity

Saturday, 8 October 2011

So there was this chap, a bearded guy, spectacles, a settler, asking for a lift from Hebron to Kiryat Arba.

And Kiryat Arba is quite a settlement, home to Baruch Goldstein who killed about 50 Palestinians before he himself was killed by the survivors, and Don, our man in Jerusalem – who was driving – said “Are you sure?” and my companion and I, anxious to hear “another point of view”, said “Why not?” and this chap climbed in to the back seat next to me. And as we left Hebron, he pointed to us and said: “Jew? Jew? Jew?”

And I was a bit taken aback and let Don do the talking, and he said: “No.” That kept our mate quiet for a bit. He had a gun in his belt, which I didn’t really like. But armed Palestinians had killed Jewish settlers, so I kept my mouth shut. Then we reached Kiryat Arba and an enormous chap – with an even bigger beard – came to the car window with an equally enormous gun and said we could enter. And this settler beside me said: “The Land of Israel – for Israelis. Arabs. In London.” Well, I see, we murmured. A bit like the Balfour Declaration in reverse, I suppose. “His Majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Britain of a national home for the Arab people …” Well there you have it, I suppose.

Read more:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-jerusalem-can-do-strange-things-to-your-sanity-2367397.html

October 8th, 2011, 6:38 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Bee

SNK
5-Spelling Blood

B L O O D

October 8th, 2011, 6:39 am

 

Ali said:

HOMS:
Karm Al Zaytoon
——————-
50-60 protesters, among them ten armed men who shot fire randomly, which forced the army units to shoot back, killing two of them.. then the numbers of armed men increase and started targeting the houses in the area, one of the houses belong to the citizen “Ali Horani” were they shot an RBG shell at his balcony… no casualties recorded.

Al Khaldieh area
——————–
150-200 protesters started shooting fire at the houses of Al Sabil neighborhood and Karm Shumshum neighborhood where they launched 4 RBG shells at the neighborhood (first one hit a house door, the second hit the third floor of the building, the fourth and fifth hit the street) … our army fought back.

Karm Al Shamy neighborhood
———————————–
50-70 protesters, didn’t last long, as their armed men started shooting fire at a security unit checkpoint.

Bab Sbaa neighborhood
—————————–
100-150 protesters

Jeb Al JAndali
—————-
The area that hid in its houses hundreds of armed men, who tried yesterday attack Iskandaron and Zahraa streets, but our army prevented them.
They went to the streets this Friday fully armed (Pistols, Russian rifles, RBG launchers …) their figures were about 50-70 armed men, while the demonstrators were about 50-70 also.
They also burned a car, as seen in this video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=160316654059316 .

October 8th, 2011, 6:39 am

 

Revlon said:

Sources close to the regime are suggesting that the mutilated body thought of Zeinab’s might be that of the prisoned young school girl Tal AlMalluhi.

Activist are demanding that the regime show her on screen to prove she was still alive.

ناشطون يطالبون بإظهار طل الملوحي على الإعلام

2011/10/08نشر فى: أخبار محلية
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/31166

تسري تكهنات منبعها شائعات بثها مقربون من النظام السوري أن الناشطة المعارضة ” طل الملوحي ” قد تكون هي صاحبة الجثة التي سلمتها السلطات السورية الى آل الحصني على أنها جثة ابتهم زينب، التي عاد وتبيّن أنها حيّة ، ودعا ناشطون السلطات السورية الى إظهار طل الملوحي على الإعلام !

October 8th, 2011, 7:03 am

 
 

Areal said:

REALITY

Nationalistic Opposition Figure Mashaal Tammo Assassinated, His Son Marcel and Companion Wounded by Armed Terrorist Group

An armed terrorist group on Friday afternoon assassinated the nationalistic opposition figure Mishaal Tammo and wounded his son Marcel and Zahida Rash Kilo.

Informed sources told SANA that four gunmen using a black car opened fire from machineguns on Tammo who was invited to lunch at a friend’s in the western district of Qamishli city accompanied by his son and Kilo.

The attack led to the martyring of Tammo immediately, while his son was injured with a gunshot to the abdomen and Kilo was shot in the foot.

People in Qamishli said the assassination of Tammo aims at undermining national unity and civil peace.

Mashaal Tammo was an agricultural engineer who entered the political arena in 1990, establishing the Kurdish Future Party in 2005 with a group of others. He was against the calls by the opposition abroad for interfering in Syria’s affairs and rejected the use of arms.

Tammo had continuously stressed the importance of national unity and comprehensive political, economic and social reforms. He left behind a wife and six son.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/08/374064.htm

October 8th, 2011, 7:42 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ majedkhaldoun

I can tell it wasn’t written by Alex because it actually reads well.

October 8th, 2011, 7:42 am

 

NEW REGIME NEW HOPE said:

“ASSAD SCUMBAG LEAVE SYRIA, LEAVE SYRIA RIGHT NOW!

…YOUR KILLING A LOT OF PEOPLE!

…YOUR FAMILY IS THE MOST DISGUSTING IN THE WORLD…

…YOUR REGIME WILL FAIL, WILL FAIL!”

I wish Assad was confronted like in the video:

October 8th, 2011, 7:46 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ Ya Mara Ghalba

“The Syrian regime does not commit murder”

What are you rambling on about? Hundreds of unarmed civilians have been killed by the President’s army. Get your head out of the sand.

And why do you think it is we have been waiting so long for the removal of article 8? It would seem a pretty simple thing to do, no?

October 8th, 2011, 7:51 am

 

Areal said:

REALITY
Fawwaz al-Bashir Refutes al-Arabiya News on Sheikh Nawwaf al-Bashir Tortured to Death

Sheikh Fawwaz al-Bashir, cousin of Sheikh Nawwaf al-Bashir, denied al-Arabiya news claiming that Sheikh Nawwaf was tortured to death.

In a phone call with the Syrian TV on Friday, al-Bashir said ”We were shocked at a news broadcast by al-Arabiya claiming that Sheikh Nawwaf was killed under torture. It was a real calamity for his family and friends.”

Al-Bashir added that he visited on Friday Sheikh Nawwaf and ascertained that he is safe and sound and the news completely baseless.

Al-Bashir condemned, in the name of al-Bashir family and al-Bakkara clan, the fake news broadcast by al-Arabiya. ”I’ve been trying to contact al-Arabiya by phone since 09:00 a.m. and they told me that they will call me soon, but it didn’t happen,” said al-Bashir.

He said that he intended to call the channel in order to deny the news, but to no avail.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/08/374064.htm

October 8th, 2011, 7:55 am

 

uzair8 said:

Someone posted this elsewhere:

“Russia an honest broker and respecter of nation’s sovereignty-are you serious? What about Chechnya, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan to name but a few?

The only reason the Russians are involved is to provide logistical and tactical support to the Assad regime. Their record demonstrates that they have no ambition for secessionist or independence movements. For instance, this* Wikipedia article about the Black January massacre perpetrated by Soviet troops in Azerbaijan in 1990 is highly instructive.

“the army waged a war on its civilians…the troops attacked the protesters, firing into the crowds… alleged civil disorder was cited as justification for violent intervention by Soviet troops -further confirms that the Soviet Government has demonstrated that it will deal harshly with nationalist movements…[according to Gorbachev] the people of this then-Soviet republic were heavily armed gangs of hooligans and drug-traffickers who were destabilizing the country and quite possibly receiving support from foreign governments.”

It all sounds so depressingly familiar doesn’t it? ”

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_January

October 8th, 2011, 7:56 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ Ya Mara Ghalba

Three questions:

1. If Assad were such a reformer, why did he not entertain the idea of a multi-party polity before 2011?

2. You have made it clear that you would vote for Assad in any future elections (were they to be held). What is it about his ‘manifesto’ that you find so compelling?

3. What significant internal reforms has Assad instigated over the past ten years?

October 8th, 2011, 8:06 am

 

Mina said:

Question, was Tammo Sunni? The name of his son, Marsal, would point to a Christian family, but I am not aware of Christian Kurds. Can anyone explain this to me? I know that there is a heavy Christian population in Qamishli, most of them who came as refugees after being massacred by the Turks in Diyarbakir, once at the end of the 19th c. and once at the same time as the Armenian genocide.

October 8th, 2011, 8:09 am

 

Khalid Tlass said:

As I said before, the majority of Syrians are anti-regime pro-change, but be rest assured we don’t have a too high a majority, I guess its like 60 %.

Look at the demographics of Syria, 65 % are Sunni Arabs, 10 % are Alawis, 12 % are Christians , 10 % are Sunni Kurds and 3 % Druze.

Assuming we have the support of 55 % of the 65 % Sunni Arabs, plus 5 % of Sunnu Kurds. the rest 5 % of Kurds are fence sitters and we need theur support and for that we have to abandon every pretence of being Arab. The 3 % of Druze are also mostly anti-regime, but the problem is the feudal nature of their society, they follow their clan leaders blindly and do whatever they tell them to, and the corrupt Druze clan leaders are all bribed by Assad.

So maximum support we can get is around 60 to 65 % of the population. My guess is MOST Alawis and Christians are solidly pro-regime for their own selfish interests. Its no longer worth it trying to convince them, if they wanted to they would have been convinced by now.

And don’t underestimate the number of Sunni sellouts and brainwashed menhebaks, its quite substantial, I guess 20 % of Sunni Arabs. Usually the staunch secularists are like this and some selfish businessmen. Usually secularism and Islamophobia is stronger among Sunni professional classes like Doctors, professors, engineers, Army officers; but the new generation of Sunni professionals are more religious and more anti-Assad. I repeat, you might find that Sunni menehbaks are even more hardcore in their “love” than the others becoz usually its backed up by ideology ( albeit obsolete).

So pls remember that in all times and circumstances about 30 % of the population will always be against us, and this 30 % have all the resources of the State in their hands. Its gonna be a long fight, and we MUST be extremely violent. This is not like Hama 1982 when the ppl became scared after the massacre, the fear barrier has been broken, we must use low intensity campaign of terror, we will win eventually. And anyway our objective now is simple REVENGE, we want them to feel our pain, just like Hassoun is feeling the pain, and the family of that Alawi doctor in Homs is feeling the pain, we should keep it up, make them cry, fill their graveyards.

October 8th, 2011, 8:17 am

 

Khalid Tlass said:

And I am sick and tired of hearing Armenians and Assyrians cry about being massacred by the Ottoman Turkish Government during the Firts World War. For God’s sake, go to Turkey and cry to Erdogan about it, don;t use it to justify State repression on Sunni Arabs. Turkey is one of the most anti-minority nations in the world and Turks do have a strong anti-minority streak. Most of the oppression on minorities in SYRIA was done during the Ottoman regime which ws ruled by TURKS, not by native Syrian Sunni Srabs, so PLEASE don’t give us any of your tongue. WE didn;t repress you, foreigners did.

October 8th, 2011, 8:23 am

 

Areal said:

REALITY
An officer and a number of law-enforcement members were injured by armed terrorist groups in Douma countryside .

An informed source told SANA that an attack by an armed terrorist group on a law enforcement forces patrol in the countryside of Douma city in Damascus Countryside resulted in injuring a number of the members of the competent authorities which confronted the gunmen, killing three of them.

The attack took place an hour after al-Jazeera TV broadcast a news report on shooting in Douma at the time when the city was quite calm and life was normal.

NOTE
Douma is the place from where BBC’s Lyse Doucet reported yesterday that she saw only unarmed peaceful protesters and where a bomb has been remotely detonated when a engineer tried to defuse it.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/01/372575.htm

October 8th, 2011, 8:30 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ KHLAID TLASS

“My guess is MOST Alawis and Christians are solidly pro-regime for their own selfish interests. Its no longer worth it trying to convince them, if they wanted to they would have been convinced by now.”

My guess is that most Alawis and Christians are solidly pro-regime because of bigoted fools like you. Democracy isn’t about putting the majority in government and saying bugger off to every one else – any fool can do that. It’s about the protection of minority rights. Boy do you have a lot to learn.

October 8th, 2011, 8:36 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

” Usually secularism and Islamophobia is stronger among Sunni professional classes like Doctors, professors, engineers, Army officers; but the new generation of Sunni professionals are more religious and more anti-Assad.”

Stop ranting on about Islamophobia. Not everyone cares about religion in the way that you do. Sure, go to your mosque and pray, but don’t expect that everyone else wants to hear about it.

Would you sharia law in your new Syria?

October 8th, 2011, 8:41 am

 

Aboud said:

Thank you for that well written article Ehsani. However, I am puzzled as to why you did not continue with the America-Iraq analogy to the very end; namely, that it is possible for an army to occupy every city and village, and still end up losing a conflict. Vietnam? Afghanistan? The Iraq war? Hizbollah’s war against Israel?

What we are seeing is the beginnings of a classic guerrilla style war. I cannot count the number of times the army sent its tanks into Baba Amr and other areas of Homs, only for the army defectors they were chasing to slip away, and come back after a few days to rain hell on the checkpoints the army tried to set up. Take a look at Brazil street, you can see signs of abandoned checkpoints. Ditto the one that used to be at the Basman hotel.

In a guerrilla war, the only thing the guerrillas have to do is live to fight another day. Guerrilla warfare does not have, as its aim, the control of a town or hill or village. If the conventional army cannot capture or kill the leadership or a significant portion of the opposing force, all their deployments and maneuvers don’t count for squat. Which is why the regime’s operation in Rastan was such a failure. How could they have had the town surrounded for so long, and yet let their opponents slip away to fight another day.

Guerrilla warfare is *impossible* to carry out without the assistance and cooperation of the local, non-combatant civilian population. The ability for any armed group opposed to the regime to operate, says alot about the ordinary Syrian’s feelings towards the regime.

Foreign armed groups infiltrating an entire country is a nice fantasy, good fodder for Hollywood movies, but in reality such groups cannot stay hidden for long nor operate anywhere near on the scale the regime is claiming. Never in history has such a group, infiltrated from the outside, managed to carry out a prolonged campaign against their target country. Even the Palestinian groups could only manage hit and run attacks inside Israel before they had Gaza and the West Bank to hide in.

No, only a home grown armed opposition, that grew out of the discontent of the local populace, could possibly have killed 700 security men as Buthaina Sha’ban is claiming.

Or is it 1100 as the Baathist deputy foreign minister claimed today? Funny kind of “winning”, when four hundred security men are killed in a matter of 3 weeks. Where were they supposed to have been killed? In Rastan? That would have made then casualties of a fight against their own defected former-comrades.

Or do the menhebaks want us to believe that 400 security men were all slaughtered in Homs within the past 3 weeks? See what happens, the contradictions a narrative based on lies inevitably falls into?

Guerrilla warfare is a very viable option for the opposition. The armament requirements are modest, no land, town or city needs to be held, and it favors the person who is native to the area, unlike the Latakia shabeh sent to control Homs, who ends up needing to ask for directions towards Khaldia and then finds himself instead in Bab Edreb.

In such a prolonged conflict, the more committed side always ends up winning. And it is highly dubious, on just how much a side can rely on the rent-a-shabiha strategy of releasing former convicts and paying them 2000 liras a day to terrorize human rights activists. Mercenaries are never highly motivated.

October 8th, 2011, 8:44 am

 

Areal said:

57. Khalid Tlass said:

we must use low intensity campaign of terror, we will win eventually.

REALITY

700+ dead security people and innocent people is what you can call a PRE campaign of low intensity terror

Car Loaded with Weapons Seized in Homs, Citizen Killed by Terrorist Members
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/01/372570.htm

MY VIEW

You are an invaluable member of this wonderful Syrian opposition.

October 8th, 2011, 8:48 am

 

Aboud said:

Also, a personnel note. Someone (I can’t remember who) described the commentators who spoke up for me during my ban as being my “supporters”. Not so. They are my *friends*, big difference. It would help if people tried not to interpret the whole world through the prism of picture-waving Besho mobs. Even Besho must have some friends somewhere, as shrinking as that group may be.

I am in contact with only two people from this website, but I am truly humbled by the incredible friendship alot of people have shown me here. And not a little bit smug about the fact that the menhebaks are still made uncomfortable by the mere mention of Aboud, even when I haven’t been posting anything 🙂

October 8th, 2011, 8:50 am

 

sheila said:

Dear Ihsani,
You said : “Saddam survived everything that was thrown at him, including a No-Fly zone”. I would like to argue that you are missing two important elements that distinguish the situation in Syria:
1- Syria neither has the massive quantities, nor the good quality of oil that Iraq has. Saddam survived on smuggling oil and selling it for very cheap. Both option are proving almost impossible for Syria.
2- Even though Saddam had several revolutions on his hand, they were limited in scope and conveniently sporadic and not simultaneous. It was the Kurds in the north or the Shiite in the south, while the Syrian regime is facing a massive uprising disrupting life in the entire country that does not seem to let down.
I agree with your analysis that the Syrian regime will not be toppled militarily, but I would like to reintroduce your previous assertion that the economy is going to be the Achilles heal. My previous two points build on that theory. The first removes the main source of income, oil, the second removes the other sources of income including commerce, industry, tourism…etc. The sanctions are going to prove much more effective on the Syrian regime than they were on the Iraqi regime. I agree that the regime will not go quickly and without putting up a fight, but time is against the regime and for the people.

October 8th, 2011, 8:56 am

 

Muhammad said:

Aboud

Good to have you back bro !

I read ALEX last post accusing the opposition of being in the camp of the Israelis and thought that if this is the moderator then sure enough this forum is becoming a cesspit of menhebakism rubbish. I was truly thinking of not visiting this forum any more. Now you are back I’ve already changed my mind!

We are waiting for an update from Homs as well. What do you know about Zainab story ?

In Edleb they have changed both the head of the local Ba’ath branch and the governor. They brought back old shabiha and security officers. At the moment Edleb the city is Hama before the army went in. Even Aljazeera likened the scenes there to that of al-asi square. I guess they are preparing the grounds for the army to come in though. Expect Addounia claiming armed gangs and explosive devices have been found in Edleb soon.

October 8th, 2011, 9:03 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

He he Aboud dear chap.. welcome back 🙂 Don’t change please. Stay the same. Don’t give the moderators here the pleasure. They are humiliating themselves with the stupid censorship, which they call “moderation”.
.

October 8th, 2011, 9:03 am

 

Revlon said:

Dears Ehsani and Alex,

“ Armed with a strong and cohesive army that has been able to exert full territorial control over the whole country”

Asad army is neither strong nor cohesive.
It merely controls civilian neighbourhoods and only whn and where no FSA guerrilla groups exist.
_________________________________________________________________
“This leaves foreign help. Presumably, this can mean one of three things:
– Foreign Boots on the ground.
– No Fly-Zone.
– Arming internal groups with the hope toppling the regime militarily”

I do not believe that foreign military presence on the ground to be either helpful or needed.
__________________________________________________________________
“The No-Fly zone, should it happen, would presumably involve NATO targeting and degrading Syria’s extensive surface to air anti aircraft missiles”

– Taking out air defences is needed as a first step only, in order for the NATO sorties to safely enforce the No-Fly zone, without the risk of being fired at.
– Once No Fly Zone is established , a “Regime Forces Depleted Zone” is sought by taking out the existing command and control centers and heavy weaponry.
– Upon achieving the latter, trickles of defection will gradually transform into disintegration of Asad army.
– Defecting units would have pre-set bases to defect to and reassemble into the all new, and legitimate FSA.
_________________________________________________________________
“Saddam survived everything that was thrown at him, including a No-Fly zone, for years till the foreign boots showed up. Once the latter happened, his regime simply crumbled in days”

This parallel is inappropriate.
Saddam then enjoyed unchallenged, internal political and military control over Iraq.
Asad regime, on the other is under a mortal, internal, political as well as military challenge.
The inevitable, massive army defection from the illegitimate Asad army to FSA units in the “Regime Depleted Zone” should provide the necessary boots on the ground to establish the FSA’s moral and logistical superiority.

Welcome back Aboud!

October 8th, 2011, 9:24 am

 

Areal said:

REALITY
We read numerous report by a western journalist of the “free” press explaining how they crossed the Syrian border with smugglers help, traveled to Homs , hid with members of opposition organizations , saw various armed protesters operating inside the town and came back to the their Western homes.

Why a mere non Arabic speaking journalist is able to do it “safely” and armed people with military background would not be able to do the same.

Some people like the professional terrorists who crossed the Syrian border to Irak to operate inside Irak against the US backed government and coming back to operate inside Syria against the non Saudi backed Syrian government.

October 8th, 2011, 9:27 am

 

annie said:

ABOUD is back ! Pop the champaign bottle(alcohol free of course).

My smile extends from one ear to the other.

Aboud, your guerilla approach makes a lot of sense and it looks like the better and only solution.

32. AIG does not mention guerilla but he comes to the same conclusion.(Bottom line, it is not clear at all that foreign help will be needed to beat the Syrian army.)

I had just read all the other comments and wanted to answer a few
43. uzair8 and 42. Revlon I reproduced your comments on my fb and shall do same with Aboud’s.

60. DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA; you give good answers to
@ KHLAID TLASS but IMHO he is a loss of time.

October 8th, 2011, 9:33 am

 

Revlon said:

من جانبها قالت وكالة الانباء السورية (سانا) ان “مجموعة ارهابية مسلحة اغتالت بعد ظهر اليوم المعارض الكردي الوطني مشعل تمو وأصابت ابنه بجروح”.
واضافت ان “سيارة سوداء مفيمة كان بداخلها أربعة مسلحين أطلقوا النار على المعارض تمو ما أدى إلى استشهاده وإصابة ابنه بجروح”.

SANA says: Assasins of Tammo emerged from a
black car with tinted galss!

Cars with tinted glass is not allowed for private use in Syria; Except for Regime mobsters and their die hard puppets and supporters.

October 8th, 2011, 9:36 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Dear Revlon,

I respectfully disagree with you. Your suggestions are a recipe for a civil war in Syria. Some say that a civil war is already in progress. I’m not sure.
This revolution must remain “Silmiye”. If it turns militant, the only ones who will gain from this, and have the advantages are the militant/political Islamists. They have the best skills to deal with situations like this: best organization and deployment, get weapons, recruit volunteers, raise money (SA anyone?), and mobilize their supporters with a religious zeal. Do you want the Islamists to gain this advantage?

7 months of civil Silmiye struggle is not a very long period of time. What you need is patience and endurance. This junta will crash under it’s own weight and incompetence.
.

October 8th, 2011, 9:45 am

 

sheila said:

Dear #42. Revlon,
You said: “Those who survived the attack need to be given absolute protection as eye witnesses”. What protection?. You have a regime that acts as the prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. You know what is going to happen: the witnesses will either agree to go on SANA and declare the regime innocent from the murder, or they will miraculously perish.

October 8th, 2011, 9:52 am

 

zoo said:

SNK & Mara yah ghalba

I doubt very much that the killing of Tamo has been the work of the regime. I am sure the regime does not wants the Kurds against it. It makes it much more complicated and dangerous. They have already too much on their hand.

Most Syrian Kurds political groups believe that the toppling of the regime will open the door to an invasion by Turkey. They would prefer to compose with Bashar al Assad rather than seeing a Turkish-like government in Syria.

On the other side, the PKK does not want to topple the Syrian regime either. It prefer to use the Turkish-Syrian present antaogonism to put pressure on both government to get more autonomy to Kurds, like Iraq Kurdistan.

If Syria gives such rights to Syrian Kurds, it will trigger a domino effect in Southern Turkey, that Erdogan dreads.
In a way, the PKK and the Kurds prefering Bashar share the same goal.
Tamo, by officially joining the opposition to topple Bashar Al Assad rather then pressing for autonomy, has been seen as a traitor by the Kurdish opposing groups and by the PKK.

His eliminationn may have the following effects.

– The Kurds will press the regime to obtain the autonomy or promises for autonomy. But they will reject its toppling.
– That possibility will threaten the Turks who dread that any kind of autonomy will encourage its Kurdish population to ask for the same.

The government has a grand and delicate game to play here.

In my view it will hint and negotiate that it would grant more autonomy to the Syrian Kurd in exchange for its support against the opposition. That will get Erdogan back on the phone with Bashar Al Assad to prevent this of happening.

In my view the killing of Tamo is the work of the PKK with support from Kurdish groups opposed to the toppling of Bashar al Assad.

October 8th, 2011, 10:18 am

 

Revlon said:

I beleive Russia was compelled to use the veto since they could not find an authority that could pledge to salavage at least a fraction of their existing immense geopolitical and economic advantages in Syria; for the SNC, the most likely candidate to negotiate such deal was still in labour.

The announcement by Russia of the plan to hold talks with a delegation from the SNC on Tuesday indicates that the Russians now believe that the SNC has enough legitimacy to negotiate a deal with, regarding the future of their interests in post-Asad Syria.

Russia stands far better chances in minimising losses of their interests in Syria by becoming a partner in an international effort to topple the regime.

The alternative is to watch NATO and US gradually butt their interests off the Mediterranian and the incensed Syrians burn what is left.

Russia and China are urged to reassess and reverse their policies tword the Syrian revolution, represented by the SNC.
They stand to gain much of what they have lost by quickly initiating a new motion for a strong resolution from the security council, under the seventh article!
______________________________________________________________

روسيا تعلن عن وصول أول وفد للمعارضة السورية إلى موسكو الثلاثاء المقبل
2011/10/08
موسكو (د ب أ)-
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=34932

صرح ميخائيل بوجدانوف نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي بأن روسيا تتنتظر وصول وفدين من المعارضة السورية إلى البلاد.
وأضاف في تصريحات لوكالة “إيتار – تاس” الروسية للأنباء اليوم السبت “الوفد الاول يمثل المعارضة الداخلية والثاني هو مجموعة للمعارضين في خارج سورية الذين أعلنوا في اسطنبول تأسيس ما يسمى بالمجلس الوطني السوري”.
وقال بوجدانوف إن “الاجتماع مع وفد المعارضة السورية الداخلية قد يعقد في الحادي عشر من الشهر الحالي في وزارة الخارجية الروسية إذا تمكنوا من المجئ”.
وفيما يتعلق بالمعارضة الخارجية وهم ممثلون عن المجلس الوطني السوري ، قال :”أعربنا عن استعدادنا لاستقبالهم خلال الشهر الجاري”.
وقال نائب الوزير الروسي إن زيارة وفد المعارضة الداخلية السورية ستتم عن طريق منظمة غير حكومية هي منظمة التعاون مع شعوب آسيا وأفريقيا.
واستطرد بوجدانوف أن “نهجنا يهدف لحل كل المشاكل الناشئة في سورية باجراء مفاوضات سلمية والسير على طريق إجراء حوار طبيعي بين السلطة والمعارضة مع الوضع في الاعتبار عدم استخدام أي عنف”.
وأشار بوجدانوف إلى أن “الكثير من مطالب الجماهير الشعبية في سورية مبررة، والإصلاحات قد نضجت. وحان الوقت للتحرك” ، مؤكدا على أنه “لا يمكن تحقيق الإصلاحات إلا عن طريق الحوار”.
وشدد على ضرورة “بذل قصارى الجهود لإقامة الحوار الوطني الواسع بمشاركة القوى السياسية البناءة في البلاد للحيلولة دون اندلاع حرب أهلية وحدوث عمليات مدمرة سواء كان داخل البلاد او خارجها”.
ومضى بوجدانوف :”إن سورية هي حجر الزاوية للبنية السياسية الشرق أوسطية ، ويؤثر الوضع فيها تأثيرا قويا على عدد من الجوانب الإقليمية الأخرى”.
يشار إلى أن سورية تشهد احتجاجات منذ آذار/مارس الماضي للمطالبة بإصلاحات سياسية وتنحي الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد. وتشير الأمم المتحدة إلى أن عدد النشطاء المؤيدين للديمقراطية الذين قتلوا منذ ذلك الوقت بلغ نحو 2900 قتيل.

October 8th, 2011, 10:20 am

 

zoo said:

AREAL #69

The 850km border is porous… anyone can pass.

October 8th, 2011, 10:21 am

 

sheila said:

Dear #66. Muhammad,
Can you please elaborate on the situation in Idleb?. I have a lot of family there and I am quite concerned.

October 8th, 2011, 10:27 am

 

Areal said:

71. Revlon said:

من جانبها قالت وكالة الانباء السورية (سانا) ان “مجموعة ارهابية مسلحة اغتالت بعد ظهر اليوم المعارض الكردي الوطني مشعل تمو وأصابت ابنه بجروح”.
واضافت ان “سيارة سوداء مفيمة كان بداخلها أربعة مسلحين أطلقوا النار على المعارض تمو ما أدى إلى استشهاده وإصابة ابنه بجروح”.

SANA says: Assasins of Tammo emerged from a
black car with tinted galss!

Cars with tinted glass is not allowed for private use in Syria; Except for Regime mobsters and their die hard puppets and supporters.

REALITY BY SANA

Nationalistic Opposition Figure Mashaal Tammo Assassinated, His Son Marcel and Companion Wounded by Armed Terrorist Group

An armed terrorist group on Friday afternoon assassinated the nationalistic opposition figure Mishaal Tammo and wounded his son Marcel and Zahida Rash Kilo.

Informed sources told SANA that four gunmen using a black car opened fire from machineguns on Tammo who was invited to lunch at a friend’s in the western district of Qamishli city accompanied by his son and Kilo.

The attack led to the martyring of Tammo immediately, while his son was injured with a gunshot to the abdomen and Kilo was shot in the foot.

People in Qamishli said the assassination of Tammo aims at undermining national unity and civil peace.

Mashaal Tammo was an agricultural engineer who entered the political arena in 1990, establishing the Kurdish Future Party in 2005 with a group of others. He was against the calls by the opposition abroad for interfering in Syria’s affairs and rejected the use of arms.

Tammo had continuously stressed the importance of national unity and comprehensive political, economic and social reforms. He left behind a wife and six son.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/08/374064.htm

MY VIEW

I would have expected to read that only government security people and Syrian Army military people are using arms to kill and the FSA is a comedy.

October 8th, 2011, 10:30 am

 

Aboud said:

Muhammad

“We are waiting for an update from Homs as well. What do you know about Zainab story ?”

The regime’s narrative is ludicrous. Zainab’s family is a very conservative one. It is IMPOSSIBLE for her to have been living all this time at a relative’s house, without that relative letting the family know where their daughter was. I mean, even in the West, does it make sense for a girl to run away from her family to another relative, who wouldn’t even have the decency to tell the girl’s family that she was safe and sound, but is a bit pissed off at mummy and daddy so she’ll be away until everyone just cools down.

Also, I was astonished by regime-Zainab’s ID card. Her ID supposedly was issued in 2009, and yet regime-Zainab’s photo looks EXACTLY like the women holding it. I don’t know about you, but when I was 19, I looked significantly different from when I was 16. I’m also amazed at regime-Zainab’s ability to keep the ID card so squeaky clean for three years.

My own card had to be replaced twice because, like over half the people I know, the inflexible plastic card got chipped and cracked over time (which is why military IDs are, more sensibly, flexible). Regime-Zainab deserves an award for the best kept piece of ID on the planet.

Now, we know for a fact that a death certificate in Zainab’s name was issued. When you try to reclaim a body from the security forces, you need *FIVE DIFFERENT SIGNATURES* from *FIVE DIFFERENT MILITARY, MEDICAL AND CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS*. So the parents had every reason to believe what they were told, that it was their daughter they were burying.

“Why a mere non Arabic speaking journalist is able to do it “safely” and armed people with military background would not be able to do the same.”

Because of the nature of the reporter’s work. His work is very low profile, he interviews people, he takes a few pictures. All he needs is a notebook and a room. He is not out and about shooting people and blowing up tanks, a much harder kind of activity to carry out, and stay hidden. Such military activity requires a much more elaborate support system, but one readily available if the insurgent operates within a highly sympathetic population.

Also, like you admitted, the reporter goes back home after a week. An armed gang might possibly sneak in and out a few times, but to keep it up over the course of seven months? You should be screaming for the head of whoever is in charge of border patrols.

Amir

“He he Aboud dear chap.. welcome back 🙂 Don’t change please.”

Well, when people whom I respect a great deal suggest that I may want to review some of my tone and language, even I have to think about their suggestions 🙂

Muhamad

“I read ALEX last post accusing the opposition of being in the camp of the Israelis”

I didn’t see that post. But alot of questions have been asked about my true identity and motives.

Now, I owe it to everyone to come clean. My real name is Emmanuel Goldstein. I am an Englishman, and a socialist, but I had a falling out with the co-founders of the party. I wrote a book called The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, but it is quite hard to get a hold of nowadays.

Sorry if I misled anyone that I was really a Homsi, but it was the only way you guys would have accepted me. You can now indulge in a two-minute hate.

October 8th, 2011, 10:31 am

 

annie said:

One hour ago
Twitter Users for Syria
GREAT NEWS EVERYONE! #NOFLYZONESY IS TRENDING IN THE USA AT THE #2 SPOT! PLEASE CONTINUE TWEETING!! #SYRIA

Why don’t I share their enthusiasm ?

October 8th, 2011, 10:39 am

 

Areal said:

76. zoo said:

AREAL #69

The 850km border is porous… anyone can pass.

REALITY
Thanks to have reduced the size of the problem : The Syrian borders are 850 km long with Turkey ONLY ?

Where did you try to do it ? Golan ?
and then did you board a green bus to Homs ?

If it is so easy ,why all the journalists of the free press are not doing it ?
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/01/turkey-s-haunted-and-dangerous-syrian-border.html
“So you don’t have any problems here with ‘the Arab Spring’? They laughed sourly. “Spring? Does that mean it’s a time when everybody kills each other? What is the Arab Winter going to look like?”

October 8th, 2011, 10:55 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

October 8th, 2011, 10:58 am

 

Revlon said:

Dear Amir,
You said: “I respectfully disagree with you. Your suggestions are a recipe for a civil war in Syria”

There is no risk for civil war!

Sectariansim as a political motive does not exist. Therefore, the risk of civil war along sectarian lines is a fallacy.

Sporadic retaliatory attacks against specific regime agents appear sectarian because the offenders have been most often from the opposit sect; however, informants from all religions and sects have been targetted.

“If it turns militant, the only ones who will gain from this, and have the advantages are the militant/political Islamists. They have the best skills to deal with situations like this: best organization and deployment, get weapons, recruit volunteers, raise money (SA anyone?), and mobilize their supporters with a religious zeal. Do you want the Islamists to gain this advantage?”

You are amongst the majority of observers who are on the outside, in addition to regime supporters anywhere, who believe in or perpetuate such a fable.

Amir: The MB presence in Syria, except in prison cells = 0
The presence of any other organised Islamic group, except in prison cells = 0
4 decades of Baathification and emergency laws have literally eradicated any form or shape of gatherings, under any ieology, let alone Islamic or MB.
Just because someone is religious and pious does not make them inherenly more ept and skillful at using arms!

The use of arms is still largley limited to units of FSA and to small number of groups of activists on the run who use it in self defence.

I actually believe that the plan that I outlined aims to preempt the inevitable rise of random or partly organised arming of civilians.
Enabling the FSA to defend them would negate the reason for civilians to take arms to defend themselves.

October 8th, 2011, 11:03 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Revlon
I support No Fly Zone, but
1) it will need justification,I do not see this justification there yet.
2) it has to be defined ,Where it is going to be?, on part of Syria or all over Syria, if it is going to cover part,which part?
3) the importance of No Fly Zone is
A) test Russian support to the Syrian regime.
B) Moral support to the opposition, and humilliation to the regime.
4) NFZ will freeze the pilots,and ,they need training to stay well ready.
5) probably the NFZ most important effect will be signifying the real resolve of the west in getting involved in this conflict
6) NFZ must be preceded and followed by massive arming of the opposition

October 8th, 2011, 11:12 am

 

Revlon said:

73. Hi sheila:
Dear #42. Revlon,
You said: “Those who survived the attack need to be given absolute protection as eye witnesses”.

I actually meant that they need someone’s help to seek refuge in a neighbouring country.

October 8th, 2011, 11:13 am

 

AIG said:

Alex,

Are you now comparing the economical difficulties Israel will face with those that Syria will face? I find it very strange. Very soon Syria will not be able to export much oil. Where will it get foreign currency? Israel is growing at about 4-5% per year. Syria’s economy is in decline.

It is impossible for the Syrian army to remain in control of all of Syria’s territory if the protests continue many months longer. As in all cases in which I was right, we will just have to wait and see. Again, Assad is not going tomorrow, but the military solution cannot work more than 6 to 24 months into the future. The cost to the Syrian economy and the wear and tear on the Syrian army will be too large to allow the regime to remain sovereign in all parts of Syria. For that, you need the consent of the governed and the Assad regime just does not have it.

October 8th, 2011, 11:19 am

 

Revlon said:

84. majedkhaldoun, I agree. Details need to be sorted out.

On the issue of “Where it is going to be?, on part of Syria or all over Syria, if it is going to cover part,which part?

A dual NFZ along Turkish and Jordanian and better yet a triple one by adding Iraqi border would stretch the Asad army rescouces thin.

October 8th, 2011, 11:21 am

 

Areal said:

79. Aboud said:

“Why a mere non Arabic speaking journalist is able to do it “safely” and armed people with military background would not be able to do the same.”

Because of the nature of the reporter’s work. His work is very low profile, he interviews people, he takes a few pictures. All he needs is a notebook and a room. He is not out and about shooting people and blowing up tanks, a much harder kind of activity to carry out, and stay hidden. Such military activity requires a much more elaborate support system, but one readily available if the insurgent operates within a highly sympathetic population.

Also, like you admitted, the reporter goes back home after a week. An armed gang might possibly sneak in and out a few times, but to keep it up over the course of seven months? You should be screaming for the head of whoever is in charge of border patrols.

REALITY

In #69 , I never admitted that the reporter goes back after ONLY a week and stay hidden , he must be embedded in terrorist operation.

But I could understand he cannot stand the HOMSI wonderland more than a week .

I shall remind you that undercover elite troops are trained to operate in HOSTILE environment for weeks , the same for Al Qaeda terrorists and for the MB which are used to intimidate the population of the quarters where they are hiding.

To my knowledge , no Syrian tank has ever been blown up by unarmed protesters.

October 8th, 2011, 11:27 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Dear Revlon,

I get your point.

If it’s exclusively the FSA under the political guidance and leadership of the NSC, and no other militias are fighting this junta and it’s military wing, then I can agree with you.
.

October 8th, 2011, 11:30 am

 

Muhammad said:

Thanks Aboud

Sheilla

Is your family in Edleb city ?

The city so far has not been entered by the army. There are daily demos. There is an unwritten agreement between the gov and a group of elders to allow demos as long as they don’t pass certain streets or attack gov buildings. Arrests still happen though. This is in contrast the countryside which has seen and still sees a lot of turbulence. cities merely 5 km from Edleb has been attacked by the army.

Early in the events regime propaganda claimed a church was burnt in Edleb which is a lie. Edleb was surrounded by the army and had snipers deployed at one time. It has however seen few casualties. I’m worried the regime has something in store for us now that we are attracting too much media attention. The replacement of the governor and head of local Ba’ath branch is similar to what happened in Hama before it was attacked.

One of the worst atrocities happened near almastomeh few kilometers to the south and early in the revolution. People said approx. 70 were killed when demonstrators from the countryside tried to enter the city. They were massacred on the road. This happened prior to the events in Jisr and most of those killed were from Jabl-Elzawih. This is why Jabl is such a restive area now.

Zaina Erhaim is from Edleb and she has made a recent visit to the city. She is a journalist and writes in Arabic. Check her out here.

http://zaina-erhaim.com/

October 8th, 2011, 11:31 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Aboud
Strange thing, my name is Emmanuel Goldstein too.

Welcome back.

October 8th, 2011, 11:32 am

 

Revlon said:

Aboud,
“Sorry if I misled anyone that I was really a Homsi, but it was the only way you guys would have accepted me. You can now indulge in a two-minute hate”

Chris Wild once questioned your claim to be a Syrian on the basis of your excellent idiomatic English; I am now equally impressed by your incredible awareness of/access to subtle details of life on the ground in Homs.

So what makes you so passionate about the Syrian revolution, Emmanuel Goldstein?

October 8th, 2011, 11:36 am

 

zoo said:

If what Abboud say is true, but who knows?

After the Gay Girl in Damascus, we have now The Jewish Boy in Homs

Welcome to the world of Syrian fantasy…

October 8th, 2011, 11:46 am

 

Revlon said:

SNC delegation is to lobby for freezing membership of the Syrian regime in the Arab League.
Such would hel increase the pressure on Russia to review its position in the security council.

مصدر في المعارضة: سنسعى لدى الجامعة لتجميد عضوية سورية

2011/10/08

روما ( وكالة (آكي) الإيطالية للأنباء

كشف ناشط سياسي سوري معارض أن معارضين سيباشرون تحركاً سياسياً باتجاه جامعة الدول العربية لمحاولة إقناعها بطرح فكرة تجميد عضوية سورية في الجامعة العربية بأسرع وقت ممكن، ومحاولة نيل موافقة أعضاء الجامعة حول هذا الموضوع

وقال المصدر الذي طلب عدم ذكر اسمه لوكالة (آكي) الإيطالية للأنباء “هناك تحركاً لمعارضين سوريين، ينطلق خلال أيام في أروقة الجامعة العربية ومع مسؤوليها وممثلي الدول العربية فيها، في محاولة للحصول على إجماع لتجميد عضوية سورية” من المنظومة العربية

وأضاف المصدر “الفيتو الذي استخدمه الروس يمكن أن ينهار في حال اتخاذ الجامعة مثل هذا القرار، وسترضخ روسيا للإجماع العربي الذي لا يمكن أن تزاود عليه”، على حد تقديره

وأوضح المصدر “المهمة ليست سهلة، وتقتضي التواصل مع مسؤولي الجامعة العربية، والعديد من المسؤولين العرب الآخرين، والنتائج ليست مضمونة لكن هذه المحاولة ليست محكومة بالفشل حكماً”

وطالب متظاهرون سوريون بتحرك الجامعة العربية قبل أن يطلبوا بتحرك المجتمع الدولي بعد أن أقلقهم موقف الجامعة “الحذر والمتردد”، على حد وصفهم
وكان الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي، قد زار سورية مطلع الشهر الماضي وحمل مبادرة لتسوية الأزمة السورية اتفق عليها وزراء الخارجية العرب في اجتماعهم الطارئ بالقاهرة في الثامن والعشرين من آب/أغسطس الماضي. وأحيطت مهمته حينها بالشكوك وخاصة لجهة إمكانية نجاحها في ظل استمرار الحملات الأمنية والعسكرية ضد المحتجين السوريين، وتباعد المواقف بين النظام السوري المعارضة

وعبّر المتظاهرون السوريون وقتها عن انزعاجهم من زيارته رغم أنه جاء بمبادرة قال إنها تهدف إلى “الحد من إراقة الدماء في سورية”. ورفع المتظاهرون لافتات في عدة مدن سورية تندد بزيارته وللتنويه بأن الفرصة أمام النظام السوري “قد نفذت”، وبأن “الانتفاضة السورية لن تتوقف إلا بإسقاط النظام”. وفي نفس يوم زيارة العربي لدمشق، أعلن ناشطون عن سقوط 27 قتيلاً بين المدنيين بـ”رصاص القوات الأمنية” في عدة مدن سورية

October 8th, 2011, 11:51 am

 

Areal said:

FICTION
79. Aboud said:

1.The regime’s narrative is ludicrous.
2.Zainab’s family is a very conservative one. It is IMPOSSIBLE for her to have been living all this time at a relative’s house, without that relative letting the family know where their daughter was. I mean, even in the West, does it make sense for a girl to run away from her family to another relative, who wouldn’t even have the decency to tell the girl’s family that she was safe and sound, but is a bit pissed off at mummy and daddy so she’ll be away until everyone just cools down.

3. Now, we know for a fact that a death certificate in Zainab’s name was issued. When you try to reclaim a body from the security forces, you need *FIVE DIFFERENT SIGNATURES* from *FIVE DIFFERENT MILITARY, MEDICAL AND CIVIL ORGANIZATIONS*. So the parents had every reason to believe what they were told, that it was their daughter they were burying.

REALITY
1. It is Zainab’s account of events. The activists account was more than ludicrous .

2. In the West ( and in Syria ) hundreds of young people are leaving the family home when they reach the age of 18 for various reasons and don’t want their “parents” to know about their whereabouts.

3. The “parents” identified A corpse without any doubt.
Then the authorities issued a death certificate and released the corpse.

CONCLUSION
The family and relatives recognize NOW the girl on Syrian TV as Zainab without doubt
and the free press lost its credibility.

October 8th, 2011, 11:57 am

 

zoo said:

Sirte, the Fort Alamo of Libyan loyalists.

The Libyan ex-rebels have been promising that Sirte will fall soon. Yet they have not been able to. NATO is still ‘protecting’ the civilians by rageously showering them with bombs. After 7 months of continuous bombing, NATO shows it is a serious and military powerful organization that cares to protects civilians while hunting dictators.

Libyans face heavy resistance in Gadhafi hometown
http://news.yahoo.com/libyan-government-forces-launch-big-assault-sirte-104216769.html

SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) – Transitional Libyan government forces swept into Sirte on Saturday in one of the biggest assaults yet on Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown, but had to seek cover when they drew fire from his diehard loyalists.

Fighters with the National Transitional Council (NTC) shouted “Allahu Akbar!” or “God is greatest!” as their force of about 100 pick-up trucks mounted with heavy weapons pushed into a residential district on the southern side of Sirte.

They were forced to scramble for refuge under heavy fire from pro-Gaddafi fighters holed up in an apartment complex, a Reuters reporter on the scene reported. Two NTC fighters were killed and three wounded in the exchanges.

“There is a very vicious battle now in Sirte,” NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil told reporters in the capital Tripoli, where he was meeting visiting defense ministers from Britain and Italy.

“Today our fighters are dealing with the snipers that are taking positions and hiding in the city of Sirte.”
{…}

October 8th, 2011, 11:58 am

 

ann said:

You never mislead me not even for a minute. Not you not even your crew of ids and/or posters on this blog.

October 8th, 2011, 11:58 am

 

Revlon said:

Several operations were carried out today by FSA units in Homs against the illegitimate regime forces.

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom
كتيبة ضباط خالد بن الوليد – قامت بعون الله مجموعة من سرية حمص العدية التابعة لكتيبة صناعة ايرانيه BRDM ضباط خالد بن الوليد بإستهداف مدرعة نوع
بجانب مستوصف العباسية وتم والحمد لله تدميرها بالكامل
الله أكبر

21 minutes ago

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom
كتيبة ضباط خالد بن الوليد – قامت بعون الله مجموعة من سرية حمص العدية التابعة لكتيبة ضباط خالد بن الوليد
بنصب كمين لباص اخضر يحمل شبيحة وعناصر امن
على طريق الكورنيش عند اشارة مدينة الملاهي القديمة بجانب مطعم أبو يوسف
و فاجئوهم الابطال بالاسلحة الرشاشة
وبإذن الله جميعهم بين قتلى وجرحى
الله أكبر الله أكبر

4 hours ago

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom shared أموي مباشر – Omawi Live’s status update.

أموي مباشر – Omawi Live
أموي مباشر #syria •◄ نكرر || حمص الرستن – : عاجل : الرستن: قام الجيش السوري الحر “كتائب خالد بن الوليد”بمهاجمة مقر تابع للأمن السوري والشبيحة في نادي الرستن الرياضي في عملية مباغتة من نوعها أسموها عملية ” مشعل التمو” رداً على اغتياله ،وقاموا بقتل أكثر من /30/ عنصر أمن وشبيحة وكانت هذه العملية استجابة لأوامر الرائد عبد الرحمن الشيخ علي الذي أكد على وحدة دم الشعب السوري . ساهم بنشر الخبر وانقر مشاركة ↓↓
8 hours ago

October 8th, 2011, 12:09 pm

 

irritated said:

Abboud-Emmanuel-Mr Who

I am sorry, but you are burnt. Your credibility is now under zero and your ‘friends’ are stunned and speechless that you have manipulated them like toys with a despicable disrespect during months on such sensitive subjects of death, murder, tortures in their country. For you it was a game, for them life and death.

You are rendering a serious service to the pro-regime who kept on saying that the whole discourse on Syria is a machiavelic manipulation with Israel playing its role. Unfortunately you won’t get the same publicity that The Gay Girl, because you have limited yourself to SC.

I wish you get the same treatment as the hainous one you had recommended for these poor Syrian soldiers.

I spit on your face.

October 8th, 2011, 12:11 pm

 

Revlon said:

ANN, ZOO, and the IRRITATED one: Aboud is pulling your legs!
Check out Emmanuel Bernstein in Wikipedia!

October 8th, 2011, 12:12 pm

 

ann said:

*** MORE VERY SERIOUS TROUBLES FOR OUR TOOTHLESS PAPER TIGER ***

Diplomatic tensions hit Franco-Turk ties – Friday, October 7, 2011

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-to-protest-france-over-8216genocide8217-remarks-2011-10-07

Relations between Turkey and France could be headed for a new crisis after French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested his government could pass a bill criminalizing any denial of Armenian genocide claims, drawing a swift reaction from Ankara.

Turkish Ambassador to Paris Tahsin Burcuoğlu will visit the French Foreign Ministry on Oct. 8 to lodge Ankara’s protest regarding Sarkozy’s comments, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned.

The development came on the same day the interior ministers of Turkey and France signed an important agreement on the fight against terror and organized crime, but the deal has been overshadowed by the eruption of the diplomatic crisis.

Sarkozy, who is currently on a Caucasus tour, visited Armenia on Oct. 6 and urged Turkey to “revisit its history” over the killings of hundreds of thousands Armenians during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.

If Turkey does not recognize the genocide claims and step toward reconciliation, the French president said he would consider proposing the adoption of a law criminalizing the denial of the killings as genocide. An earlier attempt by the French government was rejected by the French Senate in 2009.

Sarkozy intimated that Turkey should make the recognition before the end of his mandate in May next year.

France should face on past, Ankara says

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu instructed Burcuoğlu to express Ankara’s feelings and opinions in a strongly worded message to his French counterpart.

Alongside the diplomatic protest, senior members of the Turkish government harshly criticized Sarkozy’s stance and urged France to confront its colonial past before giving lessons to others.

“Those who will not be able to face their own history for having carried out colonialism for centuries, for treating foreigners as second-class people, do not have the right to teach Turkey a history lesson or call for Turkey to face its history. It will be very beneficial if France confronts its own history, particularly with African nations,” Davutoğlu told reporters Oct. 7.

Turkey could face its own history, but it is also a history of Turks and Armenians living together, Davutoğlu said.

“I consider such remarks [by Sarkozy] as political opportunism, and unfortunately such political opportunism is seen in Europe whenever there is an upcoming election,” Davutoğlu said.

Turkish EU Minister Egemen Bağış also criticized Sarkozy, saying the president would do better to concern himself with extricating France from its economic crisis rather than play historian on the Armenian question. “Our mission, as politicians, is not to define the past or past events. It is to define the future,” he was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency during a visit to Sarajevo.

‘Turkey does not belong in EU’

During his visit to Tbilisi on his tour, Sarkozy reiterated his opposition to Turkey’s accession to the European Union. “France does not see this country [Turkey] in the EU,” he said.

“Turkey has an important role in the world as it has been located in Asia Minor and is a bridge between West and East. But this role [of Turkey] does not cover the EU,” he said.

In the last leg of his Caucasus tour, Sarkozy visited Azerbaijan, a close ally of Turkey, from where he received a cold shoulder for his views on the genocide claims.

Ali Hasanov, a senior official at the Azerbaijani Presidency, said his country did not share Sarkozy’s views on the 1915 incidents, Anatolia reported.

Recalling that Turkey and Azerbaijan’s regional interests were similar, Hasanov said they hoped Sarkozy’s visit would help speed up efforts to solve the Nagorno-Karabkh dispute with Armenia.

October 8th, 2011, 12:13 pm

 

Areal said:

64. Aboud said:

Also, a personnel note. Someone (I can’t remember who) described the commentators who spoke up for me during my ban as being my “supporters”. Not so. They are my *friends*, big difference

REALITY
On a PERSONAL note , maybe they are your friends , but they are more likely to be on the same payroll than you.
Soon you will get the blue slip from the PERSONNEL Section.

October 8th, 2011, 12:13 pm

 

Pirouz said:

Some folks here think the current tempo of SyA operations is unsustainable. I disagree. The SyA is more involved in shows of strength, minor clearing and occupation duties. It is not engaged against anything remotely close to a peer military force. Coming from an Israeli, where conscripts provide a similar level of duties in the occupied territories, this is a surprising contention to make for the more professional elements of the SyA.

Psychologically, I haven’t seen anywhere near the breaking point. When I see troops deserting with their weapons and vehicles, with oversized rebel placards or insignia plastered to ’em, I’ll begin to change this assessment. But I haven’t seen this, as of yet.

You mentioned fuel as a prohibitive factor, and the cost for such. Reportedly, the Iranians are providing cash to help sustain the Syrian military in the field. And you are aware, are you not, that SyA AFVs are transported on carriers to their deployments, right? From there they take up positions, unopposed, perform their duties, then are rolled back onto the carriers, to be transported elsewhere. Low wear and tear, compared to actual mech warfare.

To be sure, the situation is challenging for the SyA, but I would question claims this current tempo is unsustainable. From the evidence available (which is scant, I admit) the protests are not drawing numbers anywhere near they did in the past. And government services are being maintained, sometimes by force but many times not by force. The big variable will be the effectiveness of the promised reforms, due in December. For sure, the SyA can hold back the dissatisfied and armed gangs until such time, I would say this is really beyond dispute.

Good post, Eshani.

October 8th, 2011, 12:17 pm

 

ann said:

*** FROM NEOCON CENTRAL ***

*** “RESPONSABILITY TO PROTEST” THE LATEST NEOCON DREAM INVENTION TO INVADE AND DESTROY ARAB COUNTRIES ON BEHALF OF THEIR BELOVED `israel ***

http://blogs.cfr.org/lindsay/2011/10/07/friday-file-libya-syria-and-the-responsibility-to-protect/

Above the Fold. The UN Security Council witnessed a rare double veto on Tuesday. Both Russia and China voted against a toothless resolution condemning Syria for suppressing anti-government protests. Earlier this year, of course, Moscow and Beijing abstained on the vote to impose a no-fly zone on Libya. Syria is a different matter, however. Damascus has long been a Russian customer and ally—the Russians maintain a naval base at Tartus, Syria—and China worries that ousting yet another Arab dictator might give its citizens similar ideas. Although events in Libya have little connection with Moscow’s policy in Syria, Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin nonetheless invoked them to cloak his country’s veto in virtue, ominously warning of how back in the spring “the demand for a rapid cease-fire turned into a full-fledged civil war.” It will be worth watching whether Churkin’s bait-and-switch accusation gains broader currency. Supporters of the idea of a “responsibility to protect” have to be troubled that Brazil, India, and South Africa all abstained on the Syria vote even though it had been watered down almost to nothingness. (Brazil and India abstained on the Libya vote, which did contain teeth.) So any full evaluation of the wisdom of the Libyan intervention will have to confront the question of whether it has complicated future efforts to get countries to uphold the norm of a responsibility to protect.

October 8th, 2011, 12:29 pm

 

irritated said:

Revlon

I don’t know if he is Mr Goldstein, Mrs Netanyahu or Suzanne Mobarak, but he is an manipulative impostor I can’t trust anymore.

October 8th, 2011, 12:32 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

As guirilla war intensify, demonstrations must get small and short in time, the shabbiha must be raided quickly,suddenly, so the demonstrators must understand they should be ready to disappear quickly,The shabbiha must suffer a lot of casualities,they must be eliminated all.and so the security forces,which I believe are not all of them willing to follow the regime orders,but those who listen to the regime must be eliminated

October 8th, 2011, 12:34 pm

 

ann said:

You’ll have to be a desperate al qaeda Islamist terrorist dreamer to believe aboud and his team’s propaganda.

October 8th, 2011, 12:37 pm

 

Revlon said:

103. Dear Pirouz, I tend agree with you that given the current level and pace of engagement, Asad army is not at risk of falling apart in the short or intermediate future.

Asad army has probably been only partly mobilised.
Units can still work in shifts and be rotated to allow for rest of personnel and service and maintainace of equipment.

Money-wise, the regime is quickly adapting by drawing on the support of/or embezzling the corrupt business associates and by demanding large sums of money for the release of detained activists.

Fuel can still be smuggled across Iraq from Iran or shipped from Iran to Syrian ports via the Suez Canal.

October 8th, 2011, 12:40 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear Muhammad,
Yes. I have relatives in Idleb the city. I also have relatives in Jabal Alzawieh.
Thank you for the information and the link. Zaina is a very good writer.

October 8th, 2011, 12:43 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear Aboud,
Welcome back. I just wanted to point out to you that you are using personnel incorrectly. You need to use personal instead. Personal friends and not personnel friends. Personnel means staff, workers or employees. Personal means individual or own. I hope this helps.
I am glad you are safe. I do not care what they say. I believe you.

October 8th, 2011, 12:48 pm

 

Revlon said:

The statue of Papa falls in 3amouda in the Wake of Tammo’s assasination, and with it any lingering regime hopes for Kurdish neutralisation.

عامودا- لحظة سقوط الصنم مقبور حافظ الاسد8-10-2011http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOJyzx0xixA&feature=player_embedded

October 8th, 2011, 1:04 pm

 

irritated said:

Sheila

“I just wanted to point out to you that you are using personnel incorrectly. You need to use personal instead”

Aren’t you surprised that Abboud-Dr No who has been relentlessly correcting just everyone on english spelling is making such a gross mispelling?

Don’t you wonder if it is really the same “Abboud” you loved that you are addressing your message to?

Go on believing in “Abboud”, he needs an audience.

October 8th, 2011, 1:13 pm

 

Areal said:

110. sheila said:

Dear Aboud,
Welcome back. I just wanted to point out to you that you are using personnel incorrectly. You need to use personal instead. Personal friends and not personnel friends. Personnel means staff, workers or employees. Personal means individual or own.

REALITY

A mere 30 minutes after my note
“On a PERSONAL note , maybe they are your friends , but they are more likely to be on the same payroll than you.
Soon you will get the blue slip from the PERSONNEL Section.”

and 4 hours after the original post
October 8th, 2011, 8:50 am

Sheila finally starts to understand ABOUT , the big JOKE .

October 8th, 2011, 1:15 pm

 

Tara said:

Aboud

Hi. Welcome back.

October 8th, 2011, 1:24 pm

 

zoo said:

Iran tells Turkey: change tack or face trouble
By Robin Pomeroy

TEHRAN | Sat Oct 8, 2011 10:14am EDT

TEHRAN (Reuters) – A key aide to Iran’s supreme leader said on Saturday Turkey must radically rethink its policies on Syria, the NATO missile shield and promoting Muslim secularism in the Arab world — or face trouble from its own people and neighbors.

In an interview with the semi-official Mehr news agency, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s military adviser described Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s invitation to Arab countries to adopt Turkish-style democracy as “unexpected and unimaginable.”

Turkey and Iran, the Middle East’s two major non-Arab Muslim states, are vying for influence in the Arab world as it goes through the biggest shake-up since the Ottoman Empire fell, a rivalry that has strained their previously close relations.

While cheering crowds greeted Erdogan on his recent tour of North Africa, Tehran accused him of serving U.S. interests by opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on street protests and agreeing to NATO’s missile defense.

“The behavior of Turkish statesmen toward Syria and Iran is wrong and, I believe, they are acting in line with the goals of America,” Major-General Yahya Rahim-Safavi told Mehr.

“If Turkey does not distance itself from this unconventional political behavior it will have both the Turkish people turning away from it domestically and the neighboring countries of Syria, Iraq and Iran (reassessing) their political ties.”

Khamenei has dubbed the Arab uprisings an “Islamic awakening,” predicting peoples in the Middle East that have overthrown dictatorial, Western-backed regimes will follow the path Iran took after its 1979 Islamic revolution.

The uprisings have been generally secular in nature, analysts say.

Erdogan’s advocacy of secular Muslim democracy — which he extolled during his tour of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya last month — is far from the message the Islamic Republic of Iran wants spread in the region.

“I think the Turks are treading a wrong path. It might very well be that the path was set for them by the Americans,” said Rahim-Safavi.

“The Turks have so far committed a few strategic wrongs. One was Erdogan’s trip to Egypt and his presentation of the secular model there. This fact was unexpected and unimaginable since the Egyptian people are Muslims.”

While Tehran has publicly urged its close ally Syria to listen to people’s legitimate demands, Erdogan has predicted Assad will be ousted “sooner or later” and is set to impose sanctions on Damascus despite a veto on U.N. action by Russia and China.

But it is Turkey’s decision to deploy a NATO missile early warning system that has most angered Tehran, which sees this as a U.S. ploy to protect Israel from any counter-attack should the Jewish state target Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Rahim-Safavi said trade ties with Turkey — which is an importer of Iranian gas and exporter of an array of manufactured goods — would be in jeopardy if Ankara does not change tack.

“If Turkish political leaders fail to make their foreign policy and ties with Iran clear, they will run into problems. If, as they claim, they intend to raise the volume of contracts with Iran to the $20 billion mark, they will ultimately have to accommodate Iran.”

(Additional reporting by Mitra Amiri and Hashem Kalantari; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

October 8th, 2011, 1:27 pm

 

Sheila said:

Areal,
Wow. You are so smart.

October 8th, 2011, 1:36 pm

 

Tara said:

Sheila honey @ 116, you made me laugh.

October 8th, 2011, 1:39 pm

 

873 said:

Mina,

I dont watch Al Jazeera- never have- so dont know what “pills” issue you are talking about.

40. Son of Damascus said:
@ 873 post 38
Videos about aliens that have scenes from a Hollywood movie (independence day) juxtaposed next to the falling WTC towers is NOT something that should be taken seriously (Or anything by Bill Cooper as well, who was a wanted criminal that died in a shoot out with the sheriff department)
Closet AIPAC are you? LOLOL Cooper was wanted in the same way that any resister is “wanted” by the US govt. While the torturers, water borders, and those killing a few million -here & there- walk free and foist their “Al CIAduh is a threat to the world” conspiracy theory on the rest of us. Drin the koolaid dope, its made for the likes of you.

Better yet, do some hard research on the Bernard Eastland patents, the UN resolutions and conventions on weather warfare (going back to 1976 already) instead of using the tired “you’re all just conspiracy nuts” meme). Grow a brain. Do some investigation- and watch your back if you’re on the wrong coast.

In addition to their box cutters, those Muslim fundamentalists [terrorists] are furiously developing geo-tectonic weapons in their Afghan caves to kill us all?!! A joke if it weren’t so sick.

“Others [terrorists] are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves… So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations…It’s real, and that’s the reason why we have to intensify our [counterterrorism] efforts.” Secretary of Defense William Cohen, April 1997 counterterrorism conference sponsored by former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn.

October 8th, 2011, 1:41 pm

 

Tara said:

Zoo

Don’t you think Ayatollah understands secularism wrong? The government can secular and the people can be as religious as they want to. Where is the contradiction?

Did I tell you I also think he is shy, I one logged on his webpage to send him a link and his contact page was blank.

October 8th, 2011, 1:47 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

I again apologise to ALL , especially to Haytham, I know what I did for the past 2 days was not at all graceful, I have no right to contaminate a blog like this; but please try to understand, I have never initiated a sectarian post unilaterally. Usually I write hateful posts only in response to Islamophobic comments from ppl like SNK, SNP, ANN, PIROUZ, etc. So I would request all to request the moderators to take a hard line towards hateful posts especially Islamophobic and Zionist posts (yes, Amir) so that these things do not happen again.

Something Sheila said earlier, that she would prefer Bashar to my vision of Syria – in my viison, I have never detailed any vioence against any people, nor imrisonment or killing. I have only detailed an apartheid policy against a group of people I believe do not deserve humane treatment. My conviction is based on my experiences for the past 6 months, not my religious beliefs.

On the other hand, in Bashar’s Syria, there is relentles killing, rape, humiliation and corruption, brutality of the worst sort.

So which one do you want Sheila ?

October 8th, 2011, 1:47 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

In # 55 in this thread DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA asks pro-regimers:
1. If Assad were such a reformer, why did he not entertain the idea of a multi-party polity before 2011?
This has been discussed at SyriaComment before. Assad did entertain it on and off over the years. Why didn’t he actually do it? Because he didn’t have to (that’s a non-trivial point). And because it wasn’t entirely clear what the multi-party polity would look like if he created one (it might’ve been dysfunctional in one or more ways; and doubtless he would’ve been unhappy with the whole thing if a religious conservative party won a big share of the vote). Foreign Minister Wallid al-Moallem has said recently that the regime didn’t do it because they were under pressure and distraction the foreigners accusing Syria of murdering Hariri, and other saber-rattling by foreigner powers. I don’t accept that. Presidental Adviser Bouthiana Shaaban said a few months ago that the regime would not have repealed the emergency law, and would not have introduced the reforms of this year, if it hadn’t been for protesters on the streets. The whole country knew that the protesters were unassailably right about the specific things that the regime has now agreed to change.

2. You have made it clear that you would vote for Assad in any future elections (were they to be held). What is it about his ‘manifesto’ that you find so compelling?
See below including point number (10).

3. What significant internal reforms has Assad instigated over the past ten years?
The most significant has been greater opening of the economy to the international marketplace and futher moves away from Statism and socialism. The process is far from finished and is proceeding at a pace of gradual, organic evolution, and certainly not revolution. Ehsani would like it to proceed much faster. There has been a risk that faster pace could cause tumults, dissolutions, hardships, in the economy and then more dangerously in the polity.

# 266 in the previous thread DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA asks pro-regimers: “Why do you think Assad would win a fair election?

Here’s a list of 16 grounds I have for thinking that the regime will easily win the fair parliamentary elections that are in all likelihood to take place in 2012 — fair except religious and tribal parties are banned. The list is incomplete and off the top of my head, in no particular order, some of it recycled, and I think I could expand it if I spent more time on it.

(1) The overall number of people who accepted the invitation to join anti-regime demonstrations was “small” (though no hard number is available).

(2) The educated classes did not join the anti-regime demonstrations. In every country every winning party needs substantial support from the educated classes. In Syria right now there is only one party that has such support. To illustrate, one of the two key reasons why the Muslim Brotherhood party is so much stronger in Egypt than in Syria is that it has attracted substantial support from the educated classes. You know the other key reason. During the past six months the Syrian educated classes had the opportunity to come out and complain about the latter, and they didn’t take it up.

(3) Most of the religiously conservative classes did not join the anti-regime demonstrations. Neither did the clergy; most of the Sunni clerical leadership went on record as anti-tumult and pro-civil-process. Most of the people who attended the mosque on Friday did not attend an anti-regime demonstration afterwards, not even if there was a demonstration conveniently available and on offer to them at the doorstep. Neighborhoods in Damascus with a high concentration of religiously conservative people had only small, and few, demonstrations over the six months. One of the regime’s core constituencies is people who are less religious or who have a more progressive, less doctrinaire, take on religion. So, it is a very big and important achievement that this regime has been able to maintain its support among most of the religiously conservative. Correcting myself, it is more cautious and prudent to say “the religious conservatives consented to the rule of the regime and did not rise up against the regime” instead of “the regime maintained their support…”. Alright, many of them may vote for another party in the elections. But since most of them don’t express alienation against the regime, you shouldn’t expect them to vote en masse against the regime.

(4) No representatives of agricultural or rural interests having been talking up an alternative to the Assad regime. There was very little or no movement of people from rural areas into the towns and cities to participate in demonstrations (despite some fake boasts from the fake revolutionaries to the contrary). Right now there exists no competitor to the regime for the rural vote.

(5) Once the reforms announced by Assad are completed, there will be no major disagreements between Assad and the general Opposition on the structure of the institutions of the State. On social and economic policies, major disagreements between Assad and the Opposition are confined to wings of the Opposition (such as the MB wing), not the whole Opposition. These various wings are known to have only small and slim political support in Syria. The general Opposition does not have a platform and agenda beyond the reform agenda that the Assad regime itself has declared itself in favour of implementing. That is, the anti-regime protests have not created a policy agenda or alternative forward vision that throws the regime on the defensive in the upcoming election.

(6) The demonstrators were predominantly from the poorly educated working class. Most of them did not have an agenda beyond wanting Assad to leave and wanting a breath of fresh air in the country of an unspecified kind. The great majority of the poorly educated working class did not join with them in the anti-regime demonstrations, and all those who didn’t join are likely to follow the lead of the educated classes in the elections. The educated folks will be creating and propagating the discourse of the elections contest.

(7) The various Syrian opposition parties are very weak today, their representatives are barely known or entirely unknown to the Syrian public, and I can’t see a route by which they can make themselves a whole lot stronger by election day. The attempt to unconstitutionally overthrow the regime has discredited swathes of opposition, and has increased the regime’s political support among previously neutral people who strongly desire civil process and no violence.

(8) The city Al-Bab, 50 kilometers northwest of Aleppo, is the eight largest city in Syria. The city Al-Safira, 35 kilometers southwest of Aleppo, is the tenth largest city in Syria. (Source). Those two plus Aleppo (all overwhelmingly Sunni in religion, btw) have had essentially or very nearly zero anti-regime demonstrations during this past six months. Opposition to the regime in that part of the country among the poorly educated working class is truly miniscule. Aleppo is Syria's most populous province. The regime is also very stong in Ladaqia, Tartous and Sweida provinces, and Damascus City. You can appreciate that those regional strengths can be enough to win or nearly win, even if you're not yet agreeing with a forecast of the regime winning almost everywhere.

(9) Everybody in Syria knows that the anti-regime crowd has been lying about security forces atrocities and that the regime has been telling the truth. (Foreigners don't know it, since they don't watch Syrian TV, but foreigners are irrelevant since they won't be voting). More generally, the regime has been able to use its control over Syrian mass media especially TV news to strong effect. The State-controlled TV news puts out good quality products for the most part, which enjoy good credibility with the Syrian public, and have good market penetration.

(10) The next two numbered points are interrelated but distinct. They are both aspects of the spirit of the nation and nationalism. The first is that there will be people who will be voting not so much for the Assad party as for national unity. They want unity and Assad's party is by happenstance the embodiment for it. The Assad party's manifesto is vote for national unity. A vote against Assad's party is a vote for discord and recrimination. (The Putin|Medvedev party in Russia enjoys a similar sort of status, and it also has to put up with dissidents who despise the basics and atmosphere of the unity).

(11) "Syrian society is nationalistic and the Assad regime has got a bone-crunchingly strong grip over how the nation and nationalism is defined. The definition of the nation that the Syrians are nationalistic about is the one developed and nurtured by the regime over decades. It is unchallenged and unchallengeable, and people are rallying around it at this time of stress." Nationalism sells well in national elections and no challenger can outdo the regime in selling nationalism.

(12) (a) The regime is actually in touch with the pulse of Syrian sentiment, and makes it its business to be so. (b) The regime in policymaking is non-doctrinaire, and is responsive to popular sentiment.

(13) The regime's core agenda, modernization, is supported by almost all.

(14) The trade sanctions imposed by the Europeans and Americans have alienated the Syrians, I say, and all winning parties will decry the trade sanctions in the election campaign, and candidates with endorsements from Europe or America won't have a snowball in hell's chance of getting elected, and I say more about the political effect of the trade sanctions at https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=12429&cp=all#comment-277131

(15) Religious and tribal parties are banned in the elections. The permitted parties will be having to pretty much compete head-to-head against the regime on the regime's own territory.

(16) Syrian society is dominated by a sociologically broad Establishment that covers all geographic parts of the country, nearly all religious sects, all age groups, all professional occupations, all big private enterprises, and the State. This Establishment has had only one political party for decades. Today it shows no inclination towards internal dissent or devisiveness such as would create two parties within one Establishment (such as the Western countries have).

Footnote: I've come across many commentators who think the Assad regime has a “narrow base of political support”. E.g. Joshua Landis thinks that “Syria’s chronic failing is that it lacks a deeply shared sense of political community. This explains why such a narrow regime as that led by the Assads….” In next year’s competitive elections we are going to see who’s right and who’s wrong regarding these two radically different interpretations of the same scene.

October 8th, 2011, 2:00 pm

 

Mango said:

http://www.arabvoice.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=25647&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
سجون الولايات المتحده الامريكية تحوي ربع سجناء العالم اجمع ..

الرابط : الولايات المتحده الامريكية
بقلم دالميدا كانيا/وكالة انتر بريس سيرفس
واشنطن, سبتمبر (آي بي إس) – يبلغ عدد السجناء في الولايات المتحدة زهاء 2.4 مليون سجينا -ما يعادل نحو 25 في المئة من كافة السجناء في العالم- إضافة إلي أكثر من سبعة ملايين فرد يعيشون تحت “الرقابة الإصلاحية”. وتعتبر الشركات الخاصة، التي تتولي إدارة أعدادا متزايدة من السجون الأمريكية، المستفيد الأكبر من هذا الرقم، الذي تسعي لرفعه.

وعامة يقضي 13 مليون شخصا في المتوسط جانبا من حياتهم سنويا في نظام الاحتجاز الأمريكي الذي يشمل سجون الولايات، وسجون الأميركيين الأصليين، وسجون الأحداث، والسجون العسكرية والمحلية، ومراكز الاعتقال الأمريكية في الخارج، ومراكز الاحتجاز التي تديرها سلطات الهجرة والجمارك.

وحذرت إلسي سكوت رئيسة كتلة النواب السود، في مؤتمر صحفي في واشنطن في وقت سابق من هذا العام، من أن ميزانية قانون السجناء تعتبر “فلكية” إذ تقارب متوسط 68 دولارا في اليوم للسجين الواحد.
وأشارت ميشيل الكسندر في كتابها “جيم كرو الجديد: الحبس الجماعي في عصر عمي الألوان” أنه رغم إنخفاض معدلات الجريمة، فقد تضاعف عدد نزلاء السجون الامريكية خمسة أضعاف في مجرد عقدين من الزمن، بين عامي 1980 و 2010.
وإعتبرت أن هذا الوضع يبرر ضرورة الحد من معدلات السجن خاصة من منظور دافعي الضرائب وحكومات الولايات والحكومة الفدرالية.
ومع ذلك، فثمة مجموعة من الجهات ذات المصالح المالية الكبري في الإبقاء علي السجون الأمريكية مليئة كاملة بقدر الإمكان، ألا وهي الشركات الخاصة ومساهميها.

فقد أفاد تقرير صدر مؤخرا عن معهد سياسة العدالة الجنائية بأن أكبر شركتين خاصتين للسجون -الشركة الأمريكية للإصلاح و مجموعة GEO- قد حققتا عوائد سنوية مجموعها 2.9 مليار دولار في نهاية عام 2010.
ويضيف التقرير، المعنون “اللعب بالنظام”، أن عدد السجناء المحتجزين في السجون الفدرالية الخاصة قد إرتفع بنسبة 120 في المئة منذ عام 2000، في حين إزداد عدد نزلاء سجون الدولة بنسبة 33 في المئة فقط، في نفس الفترة.

وأشار إلي أنه “بينما تقدم شركات للسجون الخاصة نفسها علي أنها تلبي طلب السوق ليس إلا، إلا أنها قد عملت في الواقع جاهدة على مدى السنوات العشر الماضية من أجل إيجاد أسواق لمنتجاتها”.
وأضاف التقرير “وبما أن عائدات شركات قطاع السجون الخاصة قد نمت علي مدى العقد الماضي، فقد توفرت لها الموارد اللازمة لبناء النفوذ السياسي، وإستخدمته لتعزيز سياسات تؤدي إلى معدلات أعلى من الحبس والسجن”.
ويذكر أن شركات السجون الخاصة لا تخفي أن سر عملها يكمن في التطبيق الصارم لنظام العدالة وإصدار عقوبات قاسية علي المخالفين.
فعلي سبيل المثال، شددت شركة CCA في تقريرها السنوي لعام 2010 علي أن الطلب علي مرافق السجون وخدماتها إنما يتضرر جراء إسترخاء عمليات تنفيذ القانون والتساهل في الإدانة أو تطبيق معايير الإفراج المشروط، أو من خلال عدم تجريم بعض الأنشطة.(آي بي إس / 2011

October 8th, 2011, 2:03 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Ghalba, your post really brightened up this dull evening for me ya know.

@ others – Please scroll to my comments at # 120

October 8th, 2011, 2:04 pm

 

AIG said:

Any free elections in Syria, the Assad regime will surely lose. That is because for free elections you need freedom of speech, and the moment there is freedom of speech, the extent of the regime’s atrocities will come out. People will start speaking about the thousands jailed and missing. People will demand to know what is going on in the prisons. Peopled will talk about the corruption of the regime.

Of course, the Assad regime will therefore never allow real free elections. They cannot afford freedom of speech in Syria. They are fooling nobody.

October 8th, 2011, 2:19 pm

 

Mango said:

Assassinations: part of Israeli psychological mind .
فقد بدأ مع ظهور الحركة الصهيونية، والوكالة اليهودية، ومع قيام دولة إسرائيل، فقد تم اغتيال اللورد موين، وهو لورد إنجليزي يهودي لأنه لم يكن يشجع هجرة يهود بريطانيا إلى فلسطين قبل قيام دولة إسرائيل، وتم اغتيال الوسيط الدولي الكونت برنادوت، في فندق الملك داوود في القدس على خلفية قوله الحقيقة في الصراع الذي تفجر في فلسطين في نهاية الأربعينات بين الفلسطينيين والحركة الصهيونية بمنظماتها الإرهابية مثل اتسل والأرجون وغيرها، بل إن التقارير التي انكشفت على امتداد العقود قد أثبتت بشكل قاطع تورط مجموعات أمنية تابعة للوكالة اليهودية في التنسيق مع الجستابو الألماني باغتيال عدد من اليهود لإثارة رعبهم ودفعهم إلى الهجرة إلى إسرائيل والتراجع عن عمليات الاندماج اليهودي الواسع في الدول الأوروبية التي كانوا يعيشون فيها، ونفس الأفعال حدثت في العراق ومصر حين تم استهداف اليهود لدفعهم إلى الهجرة، وقصة –لافون- في مصر قضية مشهورة جداً.

ومن بين الحلقات الأخطر في تاريخ الاغتيالات الإسرائيلية، استهداف علماء الذرة في مصر وفي العراق التي امتدت لعقود طويلة، ولاحقت هؤلاء العلماء وهم في بلادهم في مصر أو العراق أو ملاحقتهم في العديد من البلدان الأخرى.

أما على الصعيد الفلسطيني، فإن جرائم الاغتيال الإسرائيلية حدث ولا حرج، فلا تكاد توجد عاصمة أوروبية إلا وحدث فيها اغتيال لقادة ونشطاء فلسطينيين بارزين بما في ذلك الحالات التي تمت تحت غطاء المفاوضات الفلسطينية العربية التي ثبت فيما بعد أنها كانت مخترقة بعلم أو بدون علم من الموساد الإسرائيلي.

فجزيرة قبرص على سبيل المثال، اغتيل فيها كمال أبو الخير وأبو صفوت، كما اغتيل فيها مروان كيالي وأبو حسن قاسم والتميمي، وفي باريس تم اغتيال السفير محمود الهمشري ثم السفير الدكتور عز الدين القلق، وفي روما تم اغتيال ماجد أبو شرار ومنذر أبو غزالة، كما تمت اغتيالات لسفراء وقادة بارزين مثل سعيد حمامي في لندن، وسفراء وقادة بارزين آخرين تم اغتيالهم في أثينا، وفي فيينا، وفي بروكسل، بل إن العواصم العربية نفسها لم تسلم من تنفيذ اغتيالات إسرائيلية ضد قادة بارزين مثلما جرى في بيروت عام 1973، باغتيال أبو يوسف النجار، وكمال عدوان، وكمال ناصر، واغتيال أبو حسن سلامة في عام 1977، واغتيال خليل الوزير “أبو جهاد” في تونس العاصمة عام 1988، وهناك إيحاءات قوية بأن الموساد الإسرائيلي كان قد دخل على شبكة اغتيال أبو إياد صلاح خلف، وهايل عبد الحميد “أبو الهول”، وفخري العمري “أبو محمد” في عام 1991 في تونس العاصمة.

أما الاغتيالات الإسرائيلية لقادة ونشطاء فلسطينيين في قطاع غزة والضفة الغربية فهذه تعتبر مسلسلاً درامياً لا يكاد ينتهي، الضحايا كثيرون وبارزون جداً، والوسائل متعددة ابتداء من استخدام طائرات الf16 وصولاً للصواريخ الذكية الموجهة وانتهاءً بالطرود والعبوات الناسفة، أما اغتيال الرئيس الخالد ياسر عرفات وسط احتجازه القسري في المقاطعة في رام الله فذاك حديث آخر.

من هذا السياق الطويل والخطير والمستمر، فإن الإنسان العاقل والطبيعي ربما يصاب بالدهشة عندما يجد أن أحداً يشعر بالمفاجأة لاغتيال الشهيد محمود المبحوح، فالسياق الفلسطيني، سياق النضال الفلسطيني، والقوة الفلسطينية العظيمة، زاخر بجرائم الاغتيال الإسرائيلية، أما إذا كان البعض يبدأ من نقطة الصفر، أو يصدق رسائل الطمأنينة التي تأتي من هنا أو هناك، فهذا أمر آخر ليس من السياق الفلسطيني في شيء.

مسلسل اغتيال العلماء في العراق
بغداد ـ أسامة كامل ـ المسلم | 16/1/1425 هـ
يتواصل مسلسل اغتيال العلماء والأكاديميين العراقيين، إذ تعرضوا خلال الأشهر القليلة الماضية إلى عمليات اغتيال، أو محاولات اغتيال أدت إلى إصابة بعضهم بجروح خطيرة، وقد تم مؤخرا اغتيال الدكتور/ شاكر الجنابي (رئيس جهاز التقييس والسيطرة النوعية) أمام بيته في بغداد، في ظل ظروف انعدام الأمن وشيوع الفوضى والتناحر العرقي والطائفي التي تسود العراق..

ويشير العديد من المحللين السياسيين بأصابع الاتهام إلى ” الموساد ” الإسرائيلي الذي يتولى ملف هؤلاء العلماء، ويقود حملة لاجتثاثهم أو تهجيرهم او اغتيالهم خشية أن يهاجروا إلى دول عربية أو إسلامية، مؤكدين أن ذلك المخطط الإجرامي أصبح أمراً معروفاً ومكشوفاً،وقد أشارت له الكثير من وسائل الإعلام الغربية.

الرعب في الجامعات:
ونتيجة لتصاعد عمليات القتل تملك الخوف والرعب بعض الأساتذة بالرغم من أنه لم يتم إثبات أي علاقة بين هذه الاغتيالات ووظائفهم.
وبحسب مصادر إعلامية فإن العشرات من العلماء والكفاءات العلمية العراقية بدؤوا بالفعل بمغادرة بلادهم للنفاذ بجلدهم من التصفيات الجسدية التي تنفذ أحياناً لأسباب تتعلق بوجهات النظر والآراء السياسية، فضلاً عن أسباب أخرى تتعلق بتدني أجورهم التي يقولون: إنها لا تتناسب مع شهاداتهم العلمية ولا مع الظروف المعيشية.
وكان أساتذة جامعتي البصرة وبغداد قد أعلنوا مؤخراً إضراباً محدوداً عن العمل لهذه الأسباب، كما نظموا عدداً من المسيرات والتظاهرات الاحتجاجية على تلك الاغتيالات، وطالبوا مجلس الحكم بملاحقة المنفذين.
وقال أسامة عبد المجيد (رئيس دائرة البحوث والتطوير في وزارة التعليم العالي العراقية في تصريح نشرته صحيفة (السبيل) الأردنية الأسبوعية الصادرة قبل أيام:”إن 15500 عالماً وباحثاً وأستاذاً جامعياً عراقياً فصلوا من عملهم في إطار الحملة الإسرائيلية”.

ومن جهة أخرى اتهم (الأمين العام للرابطة الوطنية لأكاديمي ومثقفي العراق) هاني إلياس “الموساد” الإسرائيلي بالوقوف وراء اغتيالات العلماء والمثقفين العراقيين.

وقال: إن معظم الضحايا لم يكونوا محسوبين على النظام العراقي السابق مما يجعل أسباب تصفيتهم ترتبط بمخطط يهدف إلى تحطيم مؤسسات العراق الوليدة مشيراً إلى أن “القتلى هم من الأطباء والمهندسين وأساتذة الجامعات والقضاة والمحامين، وهو ما يعزز القناعة بأن الهدف من وراء الاغتيال هو قتل الخلايا النوعية في جسد المجتمع العراقي لمنعه من النمو والتطور”.

الموساد هو المسؤول:
وتتحدث الأوساط الجامعية والعلمية العراقية عن فريق اغتيالات مرتبط بجهاز الاستخبارات الخارجي الإسرائيلي “الموساد”، وقد حمل هذا الفريق اسم “الجيش الجمهوري السري، وقال: إن معظم العلماء والمثقفين وأساتذة الجامعات الذين تم اغتيالهم تمت تصفيتهم في إطار يخرج عن الانتقام الثأري أو تصفية الحسابات.
وقد أجملت سلطات التحالف عدد الذين تمت تصفيتهم في العراق عن طريق الاغتيالات منذ مطلع أيار الماضي بـ1000 مواطن عراقي غالبيتهم من النخبة، فيما قال مسؤول عراقي آخر رفض الكشف عن هويته: ” إن سياسة فصل العلماء العراقيين من وظائفهم وضعت في تل أبيب بهدف الاقتصاص من منفذي برامج العراق العلمية”.
وأكدت أوساط عراقية مطلعة في بغداد أن الموساد الإسرائيلي طلب من المخابرات الأمريكية ترك ملف العلماء العراقيين برمته إلى عملاء الموساد في العراق، مشيرين إلى أن الموساد يريد تهجير هؤلاء العلماء أو اغتيالهم إذا رفضوا التعامل معه.

وكشف (الناطق باسم قوات التحالف) الجنرال مارك كيميت أن حملة واسعة من الاغتيالات استهدفت من وصفهم بـ”ذوي الياقات البيضاء” من الطبقة المتعلمة، وقد نفذتها أيد مجهولة.

صدمة حقيقية:
وأوضح الأستاذ أحمد الراوي (مدير مركز البحوث العربية) الذي قتل أحد أساتذته البارزين في 19 كانون الثاني/يناير “منذ ثمانية أشهر فقدت هذه الجامعة العديد من الأساتذة. وأطلقت على عبد اللطيف المياحي 30 رصاصة حينما كان بصدد مغادرة منزله.
وأضاف الراوي : كان المياحي يحظى بسمعة كبيرة ومحبوباً من طلبته، وكان عضواً في حزب البعث بيد أنه انسحب منذ أكثر من 15 سنة، وجاء مقتله بعد يوم واحد من ظهوره على شاشة إحدى الفضائيات العربية.
وتابع الراوي : إنها صدمة حقيقية ولا نملك أي خيط يدل على الفاعلين، ومهما يكن من أمر فإن الاتهامات والإشاعات خلقت أجواء متوترة في الحرم الجامعي،
وشهدت جامعة المستنصرية مثل باقي جامعات العراق إثر الإطاحة بنظام صدام حسين عملية تطهير، وتم استبعاد كبار المسؤولين البعثيين، كما تم التنديد رسمياً بممارسات النظام السابقة، إلا أن الأساتذة فيها يجمعون على أن هذه الاغتيالات ليست من فعل العراقيين، وإنما هي جرائم تقف خلفها أجهزة المخابرات الإسرائيلية ” الموساد ” الذين ينتشرون اليوم في العراق بصورة مكثفة غير مسبوقة،وتحت عشرات الأسماء والعناوين.
الدكتور/ خالد السحار (نائب عميد الكلية العلمية)، قال : “نعيش وقتاً بالغ الاضطراب يعكس الفوضى التي غرقت فيها البلاد. يفترض أن تظل الجامعة بمنأى عن التوتر السياسي والديني غير أن الوضع ليس كذلك للأسف”.

تصفية حسابات:
ويضيف نائب العميد الذي يصف نفسه بأنه “مستقل نجح في تفادي كافة العثرات في العهد السابق” أن “الوضع تقريباً تحت السيطرة بيد أن التوتر لا يزال قائماً. لدينا هنا كل التيارات: أنصار الولايات المتحدة والمتعاطفون مع النظام السابق، والذين ينتظرون جلاء الوضع، وأضاف أن المشاحنات السياسية أو الدينية يمكن أن تستخدم ذريعة لتصفية حسابات شخصية.

وقال محمد الجوران (رئيس نقابة الطلبة المستقلين) التي أنشئت بعد الإطاحة بنظام صدام حسين: “إن عمليات القتل هذه تعد مواضيع حساسة”، وأشار إلى أول أستاذ قتل أمام الجامعة في 10 أيار/مايو، وقال: “كان معروفاً بقناعاته البعثية وبقسوته الشديدة مع الطلاب” في حين نفت أرملته أن يكون متورطاً في قضايا سياسية أو عشائرية”.

ويقول أستاذ طلب عدم كشف هويته ،أكد أنه تلقى مؤخراً ظرف تهديد يحتوي على رصاصة الحياة لا تساوي الشيء الكثير حالياً في العراق، وأحمل هذه التهديدات على محمل الجدية الكاملة وأنا واثق أن إسرائيل وعملاء الموساد هم الذين يقفون وراء ذلك.

مجرد أقاويل:
ومن جهة أخرى وصف (وزير العلوم والتكنولوجيا العراقي) رشاد مندان عمر ما تردد عن هجرة العلماء والأكاديميين العراقيين إلى الخارج بأنها مجرد أقاويل.
وأشار في تصريح له نشر مؤخراً إلى أن وزارته” ترعي العلماء وتعطي لهم الأهمية وتوفر الجو الديمقراطي للحوار معهم ؛لأنهم ثروة البلد الوطنية، مؤكداً أن العلماء العراقيين متفائلون بمستقبل العراق، ويبحثون عن فرصة ليساهموا في بناء العراق الجديد.

وطالبت الشبكة العراقية لثقافة حقوق الإنسان والتنمية بملاحقة قتلة الأكاديميين والعلماء العراقيين وتقديمهم إلى العدالة.
وقد أحدث اغتيال المياح هزة عنيفة في الوسط الجامعي، حيث اعترف الكثير من الأكاديميين في تصريحات صحفية أنهم باتوا يشعرون بأنهم جميعاً مستهدفون وأنهم سيفكرون من الآن فصاعداً ألف مرة قبل أن يعلنوا عبر وسائل الإعلام عن وجهات نظرهم الصريحة إزاء مستقبل الوضع السياسي في العراق

October 8th, 2011, 2:33 pm

 

zoo said:

Tara #119

I have many reservations about Iran’ system of Vilayat Vaqeeh, so I don’t necessarily agree with many of Ayatollah Khamenei’s views on the application of a similar religious system in countries with different history, culture and ethnic-religious composition.

Yet, I doubt Khamenei has in mind to have Al Azhar clerics in Egypt ruling the country. I just think these are just words aimed at deflating the influence Sunni Turkey is trying to have in the Arab world, that could stir dissidence in Iran.

As for Iranians, they have always had authoritarian regimes. They never tasted full freedom of expression in their country.
The Pahlavi ruled ruthlessly Iran for more than 50 years, trying to make it secular by force. As a result they got the Islamic revolution because the average Iranian, (like many average moslems in arab countries) who are fundamentally religious and practising rejected the excessive liberalization US made that the Shah was trying to impose.

The Islamic republic is 32 years old and the country has achieved much more in education (eradication of analphabetism), scientific, artistic, self-sufficiency and military progress than during the Pahlavis or the previous Shah. In other areas, there are no success stories, unfortunately.

I think Iranians need more time to invent a system that suits them all. There are a lot of debates in Iran about that. Yet, while progressing slowly, the system is still holding on to its basic tenets.
One the reason is the short-sighted US’s foreign policies in the region that does not seem to change at all in 33 years!

Imagining that old countries can just change into a perfect system, with the snap of a finger because Hillary Clinton or Cameron or Sarkozy think so, is a fallacy.

October 8th, 2011, 2:36 pm

 

zoo said:

#121. Ya Mara Ghalba

Excellent analysis, thank you

October 8th, 2011, 2:44 pm

 

Dale Andersen said:

Welcome back, Aboud. We missed your revolutionary fervor around here. Even the regime suckups (The Ann Club) missed you.

I need an address from you so I can ship you an elephant gun and an RPG. I picked them up at a gun sale in Michigan.

I filed off the serial numbers…

October 8th, 2011, 3:08 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Welcome back Aboud.

I was going to say it was ‘business as usual’ and ‘lol @ the Menhabeks’ but kind gentleman Revlon put them out of their misery (lol). 😉

October 8th, 2011, 3:10 pm

 

Dale Andersen said:

Memo To: ZOO

RE: “…eradication of analphabetism…”

Is that word derived from anal?

October 8th, 2011, 3:11 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

(3) : تحقيق موسع عما يجري في حمص التي يريد النظام اغتيالها بالطائفية ؟؟
بواسطة
admin2
– 2011/10/08نشر فى: غير مصنف
مراسل المحليات : كلنا شركاء
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/31171
تحقيقنا هذا قاس جدا ..وصادم ..ولم نكن لنخوض فيه لولا المصاب ..فحمص صاحبة أقدم كنيسة – أم الزنار – حمص أبو عبيدة وخالد والاتاسي..
حمص التي قهرت كل من أراد شرا بها وبفسيفسائها من كل الطوائف المتحابة ..يراد لها الآن أن تموت ..بيد الطائفية ..
لكنها ما كانت ولن تكون إلا حمص التي كل الدروب تؤدي إليها ..
صباح يوم الثلاثاء 4/10/2011 الزهراء تغلي عن بكرة أبيها ..تجمع يكبر في ساحتها ..أنباء عن اختطاف قريبة برهان غليون في جب الجندلي الحي الذي أغلبه من الطائفة السنية الكريمة والقريب جدا من الزهراء الحي الذي يقطنه الأغلب من الطائفة العلوية الكريمة ..وانتشار بيان ينسب إلى الثورة عن تهديدهم باختطاف فتيات مقابل إرجاعها ..
الدعايات تكبر عن اختطاف أكثر من سرفيس على الخط البارحة ..والمختطفون ينزلون المحجبات منه ويتركون بداخله غير المحجبات ..ويذهبون بالسرفيس إلى جهة غير معروفة ..
أحدهم يتقدم بمعلومة مهمة من شبكة أخبار حمص عن أن هناك نفق تحت جامع الرفاعي يؤدي إلى بيت في حارة ثانية حيث تختطف البنات وتغتصب ..
يسكته آخر وهو يسب عمار إسماعيل وجيشه الالكتروني ..: كل هالبلاوي اجتنا من شبكاتهم وجيشهم الالكتروني مو شاطرين غير بالكذب والعلاك ولاد ؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟
يتدخل آخر ويطلب منهم الانتظار لعودة الشباب الذين ذهبوا للقاء المحافظ .. فالدولة لن تكون راضية بهذا التسيب ..وهم سيأخذون حقنا ..ويعيدون الأمن لنا ..
يتدخل آخر ..وهو يسخر : لك يا محلى إياد غزال قدام هدا المحافظ .. صحيح كان فاسد ..بس ما كان طرطور متل هدا المحافظ وكان بعرف يخرس و يضب الأمن والفروع الأمنية ..
بعد قليل .. يجتمع سائقوا الباصات الصغيرة التي تعمل على خط الزهراء وما حولها (الزهراء والعباسية والسبيل والمهاجرين والأرمن والإسكان العسكري ) التي تجمع الطائفة العلوية الكريمة والإخوة المسيحيين .. ويقررون الإضراب عن النقل حتى تحل المشكلة الأمنية ..
يعود عدد من الشباب الذي كان عند المحافظ بوجوه مكفهرة ..
وينقلون لهم عدم اهتمام المحافظ بالموضوع واستخفافه بطلباتهم ..
قاللنا : شو أنا ماني فاضي غير لبناتكن ؟؟ بدكن بناتكن روحوا جيبوها من اللي خطفوهن ؟؟ الدولة عندها مشاكل اكبر من هيك ..يقولها أحد الشباب نقلا عن لسان المحافظ ..
دقائق وتنتشر القصة ..يجتمع أغلب رجال الحي في الساحة ..مسلحين بأسلحتهم الفردية ..
تنتشر قصة اختطاف جديدة ..باص آخر فيه معلمتان من الحي قد خطف البارحة .. وأنهم اغتصبوا المعلمتين ..
الساعة الرابعة عصرا .. التأزم في قمته ..أكثر من خطة للهجوم على الأحياء الأخرى تطرح ..
يصل الشيخ :أحمد حسن وهو أحد موقعي البيان المشهور في التبرؤ من أفعال النظام ..
يخاطب الجمع طالبا الهدوء .. : إنكم تفعلون ما يريده النظام ..يريدكم أن تقاتلوا إخوتكم وهو يتفرج ..
أنا سأدخل بيتي ولن أرفع سلاحا في وجه أحد ..أنا اعرف خصمي ..وليعتقلوني ..من يقف وراء هذه الأعمال هو الأمن سواء بتخطيطه أو بسكوته .. والأحياء الأخرى مثلنا مكلومة ببناتها وشبابها …؟
لا يكاد ينتهي من كلامه حتى تظهر أخبار جديدة ..
المختطفون الخمسة عشر عادوا بعملية كبيرة للجيش كما كتبت شبكة أخبار حمص ..وبينهم المعلمتان ..وقد أنكرتا كل ما قيل عن الاغتصاب والتعذيب ..
إحداهما قالت إن من اختطفهم لهم بنات مخطوفة ولم يؤذوهم أبدا وأخبروها أنهم ليس لهم مشكلة معها أو مع غيرها لكنها الوسيلة التي أجبروا عليها لاستعادة بناتهم …
يهدأ الحي وينفض الجمع وراء الشيخ إلى بيوتهم ..
ويمضي نهار مرعب آخر ..
هذه الحادثة التي ذكرناها بكل تفاصيلها ..تحدث كل يوم بأغلب أحياء حمص ..ومن كل الطوائف …ولا أحد حتى اللحظة يحدد من المجرم ومن القاتل ومن الذي يخطف ويغتصب ؟؟؟
فهل هذه حمص ؟؟
قبل أكثر من خمس سنوات كتب الطالب في جامعة حمص وأحد شبابها المعارضين حاليا ً .. مراسل قناة الدنيا السابق في حمص وابن الزهراء وأحد الموقعين على بيان التبرؤ من أفعال النظام من الطائفة العلوية الكريمة – الشاب :يامن حسين – كتب المقالة الشهيرة ( إذا كنت بوذيا .. فلا تقترب من جامعة البعث )
http://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=56902
والتي كلفته رسوب سنة في الجامعة وتحقيقا أمنيا فظيعا .. يحذر فيها من طائفية مقيتة يرعاها النظام في جامعة حمص وتبدو بوادرها في كافتريات الجامعة العتيدة ..

قبلها بسنوات منعت كتب عديدة لشيخ كبير من مشايخ العلوية في حمص من الحيدريين ..وهم الغالبية من الطائفة العلوية بحمص .-والفرق بينهم وبين علويي الساحل الذين يدعون بالكلاذيين الذين يعتقدون بأن عليا كرم وجهه يظهر في الشمس بينما الحيدريون يرون أنه يظهر في القمر هذا الشيخ هو الشيخ :أحمد حيدر ..وأهم كتبه كتاب مشهور له اسمه _ ما وراء القمر – هذا الشيخ من كبار مشايخ العلويين الحيدريين في سوريا وهو من المواخسة … وهو عم اللواء المغضوب عليه من حافظ أسد – علي حيدر – بعد أن كان من أساسيي مذبحة حماة .. وهذه الأبحاث الدينية من الجرائم التي يمنعها النظام ..ويحاصر من يذكرها ..
هذا بعض من محاصرة النظام لحمص طائفيا .. قبل الأحداث وهو الآن يعيد استثمارها كما يخاف الكثير من الطائفة الكريمة بحمص اليوم .. كما يذكر البعض من أهل حمص بصمت ..وخوف ..
وهو بذلك يصل غالى أن يضرب عصفورين بحجر واحد ..احدهما ضد من يحاول أن يجعلهم منافسين له في الطائفة الواحدة وثانيها ضد معارضيه من الطوائف الأخرى ..
ولذلك كانت أول الجرائم في أحد الأحياء العلوية الحيدرية قبل خمس أشهر .. حين قتل أحد ضباطها هو وأولاده بطريقة بشعة جدا ..دون أن يكون له أي خصومة مع المعارضين أو الموالين للنظام .. هذا الحدث كان قبل اعتصام الساعة بحمص بيوم واحد .. وقد روجت شبكات النظام له بطريقة طائفية سيئة جدا ..كان لها الدور الأكبر في احتقان أهل هذه الأحياء ومحاولات الانتقام ..
هذه اللعبة لم يلعبها النظام عند العلويين فقط ..
بل لعبها عند السنة أيضا ..فرغم ادعائه قربه من التيار الصوفي ودعمه له لأنه تيار البوطي وحسون والتيار الذي يقف في وجه المد السلفي أو الوهابية كما يدعي النظام .. بل إن مشايخ هذا التيار كانوا من الحاضرين في زيارة وزير الأوقاف المشهورة الى حمص بعد دخول الجيش إلى درعا حيث طلب من المشايخ دعم المشروع الإصلاحي للرئيس وطلب منهم تهدئة النفوس والتحاور مع المتمردين الذين سماهم المغرر بهم من الذين تديرهم السعودية والعرعور وأنهم يريدون نشر الوهابية في حمص .. وصارت المواقع المعروفة للنظام تروج لإمارة سلفية بحمص ..وعن أمير سلفي لديه مروحية وله اتصالات مع ضباط كبار بإسرائيل ..ويخطف النساء ويتزوجهن ..
وحين صدقه هؤلاء المشايخ وعلى رأسهم الشيخ الصوفي المعروف : أسعد الكحيل شيخ الطريقة الرفاعية بحمص واحد المقربين من أحمد حسون ووزير الأوقاف والذي سمح له النظام بالترويج لقناة الصوفية ولحفلات إنشادية عامة بحمص ..على عكس محرمات قوانين البلاد التي كانت معروفة منذ الثمانينات ..
بدأ أعوان النظام يروجون الشائعات عن اسعد الكحيل وأنه مخبر للأمن ..بعد أن صارت فيديوهاته تملأ مواقع الثورة وهو يشارك في اعتصامات المعارضة بحمص ..ولم يصدقهم الكثير ..فاضطروا ليمنعوه هو وعدد من مشايخ حمص مثل الشيخ الدالاتي المشاركين في المظاهرات من الخطابة .. ولم ينفذوا هذا القرار الذي أصدره مدير أوقاف حمص ..ليعتقلوا الشيخ الكحيل في 20/8/2011 …
يحدثنا أحد كبار العاملين في مشفى حمص .. لدينا اليوم 4/10/2011 أكثر من سبعين جثة في المشرحة ..ثلاثون منها غير واضحة المعالم .. لأنها مشوهة ومقطعة ..
نسأله بصدق من يفعل ذلك ..
يجيب بحذر وخوف:..هذه لا يفعلها أناس أصحاء ..بصراحة ليسوا المتظاهرين ولا الجيش …لا يمكن أن يفعلها إنسان صحيح ..
يتهرب من الجواب ..
نلح عليه أكثر يحدثنا عن مدمني أنواع محددة من حبوب الهلوسة .. يمكن أن تظهر لديهم هكذا حالات .. مثل الشخصية المناهضة للمجتمع.. يقول :إن علماء النفس يطلقون مصطلح الأمراض النفسية والاجتماعية على جميع الحالات التي تتضمن القيام بسلوكيات تخالف نظم المجتمع وقوانينه والتي تنطوي على خلل في البناء النفسي للشخص ومن أهم سمات هذه الشخصية الضعف في الحس الأخلاقي والنضج الانفعالي ..و الفئة التي تقوم وتمارس هذه السلوكيات تتسم بعدم الاتزان الانفعالي وعدم الالتزام بنظم المجتمع وقوانينه إضافة إلى وجود مجموعة من الصراعات النفسية وآليات الدفاع التي تعتبر ديناميكية حركية في شخصها وتشمل هذه الحالات الإجرام والإدمان والسرقة والتخريب والاغتصاب وجميعها تنضوي على سلوك لا اجتماعي كما تصنف على أنها أمراض نفسية اجتماعية معتبرا أن من يقوم بعمل إجرامي أو تخريب أو تمثيل بالجثة هو شخص عدواني ومجرم وحين يقوم بالجرم فانه لا يتأثر من الناحية النفسية كون الأنا الأعلى التي تمثل الضمير والوجدان الأخلاقي لديه ضعيفة.
نسأله من تتهم ..
يحدثنا عن الكثير من الذين راجعوه في عيادته الخاصة من أهالي المدمنين للمخدرات ومروجيها الذين خرجوا بالعفوين الذين أصدرهما الرئيس .. حيث كانوا مرعوبين من تصرفات أبنائهم ..وماذا يتصرفون بعد أن بلاهم الرئيس بإخراج مدمن من السجن ..يحاول ضرب أمه واغتصاب إخوته تحت تأثير الإدمان ؟؟
ويحدثنا بخوف وهو يهمس خشية أن يسمعه أحد عن أن أكثر من امرأة من أمهات هؤلاء حدثته أن ولدها تغيرت أحواله بعد خروجه من السجن وصار يأتي بالمال ..ويحدثهم أنه يعرف كبار ضباط البلد وأنهم يجلسون في مزارع قريبة من حمص ..وظيفتهم قمع المظاهرات ..واختطاف أولاد بعض الميسورين وابتزازهم ..
وأنهم لا يقفون في أي حاجز لأن كلمة السر العملياتية توزع على زعمائهم ..
يضيف ربما يكون ما قالته المرأة مبالغ فيه وربما يكون صحيحا ..وربما أنهم صاروا يعملون لحسابهم الخاص في جماعات وظيفتها الخطف والسرقة وابتزاز الناس .. وحوادث الاغتصاب التي صارت طبيعية جدا في هكذا أجواء ..
ثم يضيف ..هناك أحياء معروف أنها للبدو الذين يعملون بتجارة الحبوب المخدرة وهي أحياء كانت الدولة لا تستطيع دخولها في عز هيبتها ..فكيف الآن ..؟؟
ويؤكد أنه هذه العصابات لها دور كبير بين الشبيحة الآن .. وهم يعملون لمن يدفع أكثر ..ولو لم تكن الدولة ستستفيد من خدماتهم لما أخرجتهم من السجن بعد أن اعتقلت معظمهم قبل الأحداث في أكبر عملية أمنية في حمص ..؟؟؟
و يحدثنا فنان مشهور وصاحب فعالية ثقافية في حمص :
الوضع الاجتماعي عموما سيء للغاية والتوتر الطائفي خصوصا بين العلويين والسنة .. عمليات الاختطاف والاغتيال باتت خبرا عاديا منذ أسبوعين .. أن تجد جثثا في شوارع الأحياء المتوترة صباح كل يوم وبمعدل عشرة جثث أيضا بات خبرا عاديا..
الأحياء المتوترة في المدينة : باب السباع وتجاورها المريجة وباب الدريب والقلعة وسوق الحشيش .. الخالدية وتجاورها البياضة ثم دير بعلبة .. بابا عمرو وتجاورها الانشاءات .. الغوطة وتجاورها الوعر
وهذه الأحياء بمجموعها تشكل ثلثي المدينة ديموغفرافيا على الأقل..
المدينة تعيش حياة شبه طبيعية من التاسعة صباحا وحتى الثالثة ظهرا .. مع عدم دخول لسكان المناطق العلوية إلى الأحياء السنية وحذر سكان المناطق السنية من دخول الأحياء العلوية .. الأحياء ذات الأكثرية المسيحية بسبب توضعها الجغرافي بين الطائفتين المتصارعتين تلتزم الحياد والحذر وتحاول حتى الآن عدم الدخول في اللعبة الطائفية رغم محاولات زجها بها واغتيال البعض منها … آسف لتركيزي على المشكل الطائفي ولكني أنقل لك الواقع..
المدارس في الأحياء المتوترة تداوم بنسبة الثلث فقط … الأهالي نقلو أولادهم إلى مناطقهم وإلى مدارس الريف الذي يعود أصلهم له .. المصانع الخاصة ومنشآت مدينة حسياء الصناعية سرحت ثلثي عمالها .. الصيدليات والعيادات ومحلات الأكل تفتح حتى السادسة مساء على الأكثر .. القمامة تملأ الأحياء المتوترة ولا وجود للبلدية التي تقوم بواجبها في أحياء : عكرمة .. الحضارة .. وسط المدينة .. كذلك الاتصالات يتم قطعها من وقت لآخر في الأحياء المتوترة وأنا أسميها المعاقبة … الحواجز تفصل بين أحياء المدينة وعلى مداخلها السبعة وأولويتها تفريق المظاهرات وعدم تلاقيها لذلك تجد كل حي يتظاهر ضمن الحي ومساء … التأفف بات واضحا بين مختلف فئات الشعب..
المناطق المتوترة في المحافظة وحسب الأكثر توترا : الرستن حوالي ستون ألف .. تلبيسة حوالي أربعون ألف مواطن .. تلكلخ حوالي خمسون ألف .. الحولة تجمع قرى( تلدو وكفرلاها وتلدهب وعقرب ) حوالي المئة وثلاثين ألف مواطن .. منطقة القصير والقرى التابعة حوالي المئة ألف .. تدمر حوالي السبعون ألف .. منطقة المخرم حوالي السبعون ألف .. وهي جميعها ذات أغلبية سنية..
الزهراء هو حي ذو أغلبية علوية وهو الحي الذي قتل فيه الضابط وولده ومثل بحثتههم في اليوم السابق لاعتصام الساعة منذ خمسة أشهر .. وقام مجموعة من شبابه بمبادرة وأصدروا بيان عن الطائفة العلوية وعدم تبنيها لأعمال النظام ومنهم ( يامن الحسين ) مراسل الدنيا السابق بحمص وهو صديق فارس الحلو .. والشيخ : احمد حسن هو من مشايخ الطائفة العلوية وخطب في أهالي الحي ناصحا بعدم تبني أفعال وعدم الانجرار إلى اللعبة الطائفية..
لا دليل قاطع على أن من يقوم بعمليات الخطف أو الاغتيال أو التخريب والسلب هم هؤلاء المشمولين بالعفو أو الشبيحة أو الأمن .. لكن الأكيد أن الجيش لا يقوم بذلك ولا المتظاهرين ويوجد عناصر غريبة عن المدينة من لا أعرف !.. ربما الثلاثة معا .. بالنسبة للمحافظ فلا شيء بيده عمليا تم تعيينه ليسترضي الخواطر .. ولو بقي سابقه لكان وضع المدينة أفضل لأنه رغم جميع عيوبه كان صاحب قرار ولا يحب الدم ولا يأتمر لرؤساء الفروع
الخلاصة : حمص على حافة انفجار كبير قادم ..
فمن ينقذ حمص قبل أن تغرق ؟؟؟

October 8th, 2011, 3:12 pm

 

Atheist Syrian Salafist Against Dictatorships (ASSAD) said:

I can’t believe how you guys have fallen for K. Tlass’ BS! The guy is pulling your leg, having you on, taking the piss…whatever you want to call it. And if he was for real, then hell no, we would most definitely NOT be better off with Assad & his mafia in place; we WILL HAVE our change and democracy and will put LAWS in place to deal with people like KT.

But this KT chatter has forced me to digress. I would like to discuss with the other liberals on this blog the differences between the so-called internal opposition and the SNC. Does anyone know when this newest internal opposition grouping هيئة التنسيق الوطني come into being? How come they went out of their way to insert the word ‘co-ordination’ in their name? It sure looks like an attempt to sow confusion in the minds of the public to make them think they are part of لجان التنسيق المحلي who are the real revolutionaries and who have used that name the very start of organized protests (around April).

I understand that the main sticking point that keeps this group from accepting/joining the SNC is the request for non-military intervention. But without international pressure I have not heard any details of how this “internal” opposition group is going to achieve change, given that they also reject dialog with and “reform” of the existing regime.

http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=138250

Good to have Aboud back and I look forward to hearing Homs news from him.

October 8th, 2011, 3:12 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

132. Atheist Syrian Salafist Against Dictatorships (ASSAD) said:

“we WILL HAVE our change and democracy and will put LAWS in place to deal with people like KT.”

Well there are alrEAdy many laws by the Assad mafia to “deal” with “people like me”. People like me have been brutalized, oppressed like anything for the last 45 years. We have been picked off just because of our beliefs and have been rotting in prisons or dying a torturous death. If the new regime will continue the opression, then how is it a qualitative change for “people like K.T” ??

October 8th, 2011, 3:22 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Aboud,

Welcome back. You’re the heart and soul of the Syrian revolution. You don’t mince words, you know Syrians deserve better, and you don’t make excuses.

873,

Where did you learn so much about geotectonic weapons?

Dale Anderson,

What is an elephant gun? I don’t think there are elephants in Syria.

October 8th, 2011, 3:44 pm

 

ann said:

Syria mulls joining Customs Union – Oct 8, 2011

Interview with Assistant Syrian Foreign Minister Abdul Fattah Ammoura

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/08/58392675.html

Moscow is kickstarting Days of Syrian Culture Monday. The opening closely follows a visit by Assistant Syrian Foreign Minister Abdul Fattah Ammoura.

He was speaking in an exclusive interview with The Voice of Russia.

What were the agenda and the outcome of your Moscow talks?

The agenda was focused on plans for Syria to join the Customs Union that already embraces Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. I hope this third round of talks about the matter will prove conclusive, allowing Syria to enter the Union and enjoy the benefits of free trade within it. The Syrian side also praised Russia and China for vetoing the Western-tabled Security Council resolution on Syria. It sees this veto as a milestone marking the end of an era in which the West profligately sucked resources from the developing world.

What if any is Syrian action to counter the Western slander against Syria?

Syrian diplomats are knocking on all doors for friendship, understanding and support. They find these in Russia, China and countries in Asia and Latin America. These countries tell the world the truth about Syria. The Western networks do not, and often serve their paymasters by spreading lies about my country.

Is there any progress on plans to secure international help for upgrading the port facilities in Tartus?

The issue will be under discussion during a Moscow visit by my country’s Finance Minister in the coming days. All aspects of the Tartus project will be looked into, including joint operation of the port.

Will there be reciprocal Russian visits to Syria at the same level?

A regular dialogue between the two countries is an absolute must, and it is already under way. Delegations have been shuttling back and fourth for many weeks. A deputy Russian FM, who visited Syria recently, proved a fluent speaker of Arabic. We were on the same length with him on all important international issues, as well as the chosen communication medium. We both saw the truth about Syria eye to eye.

October 8th, 2011, 3:45 pm

 

Areal said:

121. Ya Mara Ghalba said:

1. If Assad were such a reformer, why did he not entertain the idea of a multi-party polity before 2011?

REALITY

The Syrian government did try to implement the idea.

The big problem was ( and still is ) the Muslim Brotherhood.

The government tried first to negotiate the inclusion of the MB in the Syrian political scene on the Turkish “secular” model
but it failed for some reasons which are not relevant now in this discussion.
The MB joined the “opposition” in 2005.
The government then tried to find a legal way to exclude the MB .
It is not so easy , the MB can create a apparently non religious front end party or use independent candidates , etc .
[ Some western countries experienced the problem with terrorist groups which revived with another name right after their dissolution by authorities]
The government thinks it has found the winning formula with its new party law.
Looking at the reactions from the Opposition activists , it may be right.
To date , only a few new parties have been registered.

The remaining secular opposition still hopes to topple the government by using armed forces from its bases in Turkey.

October 8th, 2011, 3:46 pm

 

NEW REGIME NEW HOPE said:

Mr Assad and co. Soon the hunters will become the hunted.

1 hour 19 minutes ago – Libya

‘Tunisia has arrested a colonel in the former Libyan intelligence service, hiding out in a rented house in a remote town after Gaddafi’s fall, the official TAP news agency says.’

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/libya-oct-8-2011-2126

October 8th, 2011, 3:51 pm

 

ann said:

So-called revolutionary forces in Syria inspired by US – expert

Oct 8, 2011

Interview with Vyacheslav Matuzov, President of the Russian Society for the Promotion of Friendship and Business Ties with Arab Countries.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/08/58323974.html

I’ve been talking to various analysts. Some of them were telling me that Russia’s and China’s use of the veto power in the UN is a large mistake because the Arab street and the Arab community tend to see it as a support for Mr. Assad’s regime. Do you agree with this stance?

When I heard words that were pronounced by the American representative in the UN and the Security Council, Suzanne Rice, I was surprised by non-diplomatic language the American representative in the UN used, when she characterized the position of other colleagues in the UN Security Council. She used accusations and blaming. They cannot use such words because it’s an independent position of the Russian Federation, independent from the American policy, independent from the American point of view.

And when it was repeated by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, on the same theme and Hillary Clinton even forgot she doesn’t represent the opinion of the Syrian people, so she blamed the Russian Federation and China in the name of the Syrian people. I was astonished by such lack of diplomacy and political conscience in American diplomatic circles. It was not a diplomatic way to deal with other colleagues during the discussion of hard issues on the international level. I think that the US leadership feel themselves comfortable in the unilateral world. They consider that they give orders to other heads of state to get rid of their posts as the president of this or that state.

It is unacceptable from moral, political and from juridical point of view. It is unacceptable because the world opinion is not the American opinion. There are states that are against American policy towards Syria – India, China, the African continent, Brazil – so we can say that the western position, authorized by the Americans, is not acceptable for others. Dictate can be feared in Tunisia, in Libya but not in Russia. I think they make a big mistake using this language.

I see that Syria is a very complicate problem and Russia is not inclined to support opposition leaders not because they are against the Syrian leadership or the government but because any interference from outside into Syria’s internal affairs is unacceptable from the legal point of view. It was absolutely clear from the words of Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s representative in the UN – and I fully support his position, which was pronounced in his speech during the discussion.

Mr. Matuzov, how justified is the statement that this position of Russia and China undermined their positions in the Middle East?

I can say that it’s undermining American geopolitical policy and I can say that this policy is to be regarded more thoroughly than the Syrian government’s position. America proclaimed the necessity to reconstruct fully and completely the Middle East, to construct on the ruined states a new political-geographical map of a big and new Near East. We heard it from Condoleezza Rice in the days of George W. Bush. But neoconservative thinkers that was explained by Francis Fukuyama in his very well-known article about the neoconservative moment where he described the position of American neoconservative forces towards the Middle East and the US’s international policy. I think those are the ideas that were plainly and very obviously explained in Democratic Realism, an article in The National Interest magazine.

I think it’s absolutely unacceptable for any other political establishment in any country – in Russia, in China and even in developing countries of the third world. I think it’s an egoistic, unilateral position that can be rejected on the level of the UN. I think it’s the main point of contradictions between Russia and the US, which explains that neoconservative forces in the US are again facing the world after they lost presidential elections in the US, when Barack Obama was elected the president of the US and his speech in Cairo addressed the Islamic world.

Now, a new neoconservative wave in the American international policy is fixed on the so-called Arab revolutions, but they are known in the Arab world as coups d’état and maybe in the Islamic world too, because they have spread to such countries of the region as Iran and I don’t exclude that even a member of the UN will in the end of this geopolitical operation of the US undergo the same restructuring of its territorial integrity.

As far as I understand you have been to Syria recently. What are your impressions?

There were 24 Russian political analysts, journalists and public figures that visited Syria on the invitation of the Syrian government. They gave us an opportunity to see some cities that were very widely known from world press – Hama, Homs, Latakia. We visited those cities and I can say that we didn’t’ notice any ruins in the streets. None of the houses were destroyed, only governmental centers were destroyed –the main police department and some others. All villas, all cottages were absolutely untouched.

So I can say that the so-called revolutionary forces in Syria are inspired by the position of the US and their declaration to support them, the demands to throw over the Syrian government. Among those forces we also see some terroristic organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood that were killing people. The latest case of their killing was the great Mufti of Syria, who was killed by unknown people belonging to this organization.

I can say that hundreds of police officers and servicemen were killed by the so-called “peaceful demonstrators.” It is not a peaceful demonstration and Russia understands that. When they called on the Syrian government to calm down and treat demonstrators in a peaceful way, the same thing was told to the opposition leaders, but the US rejected such kind of approach and demanded Russia to support their position and to throw over the legal Syrian government. It’s unacceptable from any point of view – moral, legal and political.

October 8th, 2011, 3:53 pm

 

Areal said:

130. Dale Andersen said:

Memo To: ZOO

RE: “…eradication of analphabetism…”

Is that word derived from anal?

REALITY

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/analphabetism

Please can you spare us your barely literate remarks.
You are self slandering a well known Danish name.

October 8th, 2011, 4:00 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Four European embassies were entered by protesters today.London,Geneva, Vienna, and Proxel.

A.P. I thoght Jewish do not get to the internet on Yom Kippur.

Do we believe Saleh will leave in few days? I doubt it, dictators lie.but if he follow up and do what he said he will do,resign, Assad will be the only president dictator left.

October 8th, 2011, 4:23 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear #120. Khalid Tlass,
From your several apologies, I am going to venture to say that deep inside you are a decent person who is absolutely furious from what is happening in Syria and is lashing out against anything that he can think could be the reason. I want you to know that we are all furious, including the menhebaks, for different reasons. But Khaled, words do hurt. All I want you to think about (at the risk of sounding like your mother and getting a lot of snide remarks form the smart alecs on SC), is the following:

Ali bin Abi Taleb was asked once: “if there is one thing that you wish for, what would it be?”. He said: “I would like to have the neck of a giraffe“. His friend asked in bewilderment: “but why? What would that do for you?”. His answer was: “I want every word I say to go through a very long passageway before it comes out of my mouth“.

You asked me: “So which one do you want Sheila ?”. The truth is: I want neither.

October 8th, 2011, 4:26 pm

 

Syrialover said:

# 121. Ya Mara Ghalba

Thoughtfully and eloquently argued. I respect that even if I don’t agree with your conclusions.

Let’s just remember the famous American election slogan “it’s about the economy, stupid”

It applies every time to every election everywhere, always. It’s also fuelling the Arab Spring uprisings.

And if a genuine oppostion uses that slogan in a true election, the Assadists, with their mantle of economic illiteracy, corruption and government-by-gunpoint, would have to bring out the tanks and helicopter gunships in full force to keep power.

AIG # 124 is also right about what could be unleashed if free speech and information flowed.

October 8th, 2011, 4:33 pm

 

Aboud said:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH OMG I can’t believe the menhebaks actually fell for the “Emmanuel Goldstein” post AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA oh dear sweet God it was worth it to be away for a whole week just to see that happen 🙂 Epiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiic fail you guys. This is gonna be a classic thread in the history of Syria Comment.

I mean, come on, “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism”? Seriously? Not one of you has ever read 1984? Never mind, I’ll be happy to educate you. You people really should widen your horizons beyond Besho worship 🙂

October 8th, 2011, 4:45 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Turkey the unfortunate. From zero problems with neighbors, to zero neighbors with no problems.
.

October 8th, 2011, 4:46 pm

 

Aboud said:

From 1984

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

And the Baathists are taking Orwell’s lessons to heart 🙂

October 8th, 2011, 4:47 pm

 

Aboud said:

Dale

“I need an address from you so I can ship you an elephant gun”

I’m afraid Waleed Mu’allem doesn’t venture out to Homs much these days 🙂

October 8th, 2011, 4:50 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ Ya Mara Ghalba

Just read your piece. One of the better comments from the pro-Assad camp. Let me just compose a response.

October 8th, 2011, 4:56 pm

 

Aboud said:

This described the menhebaks when they scream chants for Besho;

“At this moment, the entire group of people broke into a deep, slow, rhythmical chant of “B-B! B-B!” – over and over again, very slowly….

It was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by the means of rhythmic noise.”

How could Orwell have seen so clearly, so long ago. Astonishing.

🙂

October 8th, 2011, 4:57 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Aboud, greaaat to see u back, *hugs*, did u get arms training with the FSA this week ? You should have.

Btw the Rastan siege was a total failure, it took them 6 DAYS to control a town of 80,000 people and they’re gloating about it, they couldn’t kill any senior leader, they just destroyed a few poor houses on the outskirts to rubble, whats better, they dare not set up checkpoints all over for fear of FSA sniping at them.

What are the situation about the checkpoints in Homs ?

October 8th, 2011, 5:00 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Ghalba is a real charmer, don’t ya’ll think so ?

October 8th, 2011, 5:02 pm

 

jad said:

Syria closed the Turkish border:

أفادت وكالة “أنباء الاناضول” أن “سوريا تغلق معبر تصيبين الحدودي مع تركيا”.

October 8th, 2011, 5:14 pm

 

Syrialover said:

Dammit, I have to agree with AIG again in his #32 post about the costs and inevitable wearing down of security infrastructure in Syria.

I am assuming it comes from his close encounters inside the IDF. Whatever, it rings very true.

Alex #34 might be right about the regime’s strategy. But like everything it does the outcome will be driven by incompetence, waste, corruption and junk judgement. And further shrivelling of a badly starved economy.

And even if Iran fools around on the edges with fuel assistance, its own disastrously inadequate refining infrastructure and inefficient under-producing oil industry don’t make it much of an ally.

Mismanagement of Iran’s oil is among the causes and symptoms of the economic and social tinderbox Bashar’s best buddy Ahmadinejad is sitting on – he couldn’t afford to have the Iranian population catch him siphoning off fuel to Syria for too long. Remember the “what about us?” outcry back home when he helped Hizbollah rebuild infrastructure in Lebanon?

October 8th, 2011, 5:20 pm

 

Tara said:

Syrialover

Hi.is it true that Iran’s oil refining infrastructure is inadequate and inefficient? I have heard a contradictory assessment on SC. I think that would make a big difference of how much Itan can help Bashar..

October 8th, 2011, 5:24 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

The news from Iran that they threatened Turkey with bad consequences if they act against Syria,along with the news previously that mentioned about threats from Assad to Davituglo,all indicate that they expect Turkey to do something against Syria in the next weeks.
Turkey is expected to declare a buffer zone, this will be followed by Syria to use military planes,then NFZ will be issued

October 8th, 2011, 5:27 pm

 

Ghufran said:

من قتل مشعل تمو؟
الجواب السهل هو النظام
الجواب الحقيقي لا نعلم
رأيي الشخصي ان النظام ليس له مصلحه الان في إشعال مناطق الأكراد و زيادة أعدائه
لا تتسرعوا في الحكم و تصنعون زينب ثانيه

October 8th, 2011, 5:29 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Majed, we should stop expecting help from liar traitor Turkey and / or Saudi Arabia. We will do this ourselves, Insha’Allah.

October 8th, 2011, 5:31 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ 121. Ya Mara Ghalba

Ok, so on point one we are pretty much in agreement: the protestors are the impetus for the promised political reforms. This would not have happened without them.

The educated class in Syria is fairly small, for that reason I don’t see why they will play an important role in any forthcoming election. One vote, one person.

“ The educated folks will be creating and propagating the discourse of the elections contest.”
I don’t think you will find much agreement between Assad’s party and a newly formed opposition. It’s not going to be a debate about autocracy versus democracy; it’s going to be a debate about corruption, nepotism, economic policy, free trade, foreign policy, education etc. There are so many areas in which the new party can differentiate itself from the government.

You point out that the opposition is unknown in Syria, which is true, but you then go on to claim that it is a weakness; it isn’t. The opposition’s greatest strength is that they are new. The strategy of any newly formed opposition should be to point out the failings of the current government, and there are many (Zeyzoun Dam anyone?). I am sure that when people are presented with a credible plan for getting this country back on track they won’t be voting for Assad.

October 8th, 2011, 5:34 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Btw, just saw a video of a demo in KSA. People were holding up posters of Khomeini and other Shia religious leaders, they were also brandishing firearms while shouting “silmiyah”. King Abdullah should wipe out these ARMED TERRORIST GANGS motivated by a FOREIGN POWER ( you know who)

October 8th, 2011, 5:37 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Majedkhaldoun,

That’s correct, religious Jews do no “work” on Saturdays and holidays like Yom Kippur. Flipping a switch or pushing a keyboard is considered work. So you can see, neither AIG, Amir, or myself are very religious; we’ve all posted today.

I am fasting however, and I have a terrible headache.

October 8th, 2011, 5:44 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ SYRIA LOVER

And if a genuine oppostion uses that slogan in a true election, the Assadists, with their mantle of economic illiteracy, corruption and government-by-gunpoint, would have to bring out the tanks and helicopter gunships in full force to keep power.

You’re spot on. The opposition should simply point out the government’s deficiencies.

October 8th, 2011, 5:44 pm

 

Tara said:

Ghufran

The murder of Mashaal Tamo has the regime name written all over the crime. The link Haytham Khouri posted last night was what convinced me with the regime’s culpability.  It is a simple pattern recognition.  The regime is so retarded and driven byالغل و الحقد that it does not calculate or even care about consequences.  The regime is out there to kill or revenge anyone VOCAL.  This is their criteria even if eventually it will get them to dig their own grave.  Ibrahim Qashush, Ali Firzat, Ryad Seif are all examples.   Fortunately for the Syrian people, Bashar’s average IQ is what will bring him down. 

October 8th, 2011, 5:49 pm

 

ann said:

U.S. urges Moscow to join ban on arms to Syria – Oct 8, 2011

The U.S. State Department urges Moscow to join the ban on arms shipments to Syria. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said Friday that Moscow should take more serious steps to exert pressure on official Damascus

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/08/58367926.html

The U.S. State Department urges Moscow to join the ban on arms shipments to Syria. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said Friday that Moscow should take more serious steps to exert pressure on official Damascus.

Previously, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that the Syrian leadership must undertake sweeping reforms in country, and failing to do so – it will have to step down.

At the same time the Russian leader stressed that this decision is not up to NATO or separate European countries, but only the people and authorities of Syria.

October 8th, 2011, 5:49 pm

 

ann said:

Calling Assad ‘illegitimate’ is the wrong way – Russia`s deputy foreign minister – Oct 8, 2011

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/08/58378035.html

Referring to the Syrian President Bashar Assad as ‘illegitimate’ won`t help in resolving the crisis in the country and will just put Syria on the brink of a civil war, Russia`s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said addressing The Dialogue of Civilizationsforum in Rhodes, Greece.

‘Promoting democracy is one thing, while toppling the regime is another’, Mr. Bogdanov said. He added, however, that Russia is not opposing the UNSC resolution on Syria and is ready to continue the talks on the issue with the western partners.

The Russian diplomat also said that Russia plans two meeting with the Syrian delegation in Moscow this month.

Bogdanov stressed that Russia insists on a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria, through reforms demanded by the society. (TASS)

October 8th, 2011, 5:53 pm

 

ann said:

Syrian embassy mobbed – Oct 8, 2011

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/08/58381667.html

A crowd of extremists has mobbed the Syrian embassy compound in Vienna. The attack was part of a rally organized overnight by unknown protesters gathered outside the mission.

The police officer guarding the mission reported the attack and when a police unit arrived at the site the protesters ran away. 11 were detained though and later told police they had rallied in protest against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

October 8th, 2011, 6:02 pm

 

ann said:

Russian, Chinese veto averted another Libya – Medvedev

http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/10/07/58342223.html

The Western-tabled Security Council resolution on Syria did not rule out intervention, and the Russian and Chinese veto on it averted another Libya.

Speaking at a session of his National Security Council in Moscow Friday, President Medvedev said Russia will continue to use its powers as a permanent member of the UN Security Council for vetoing similar resolutions in the future.

He also said Syria raises concerns, but the crisis in it cannot be resolved under international pressure on the Syrians.

October 8th, 2011, 6:05 pm

 

sheila said:

To #121. Ya Mara Ghalba,

You said: “The most significant has been greater opening of the economy to the international marketplace and futher moves away from Statism and socialism. The process is far from finished and is proceeding at a pace of gradual, organic evolution, and certainly not revolution”. I would like to contend that the only reforms that happened in Syria under Bashar are those that help somebody in the regime make a lot of money. If this is the Chinese model of gradual change, can you explain why China was able to achieve so much more, in the same period, than Bashar? Not withstanding the fact that China as a country is far more complicated than Syria.

I would like to go over your points:

1- You said:”(1) The overall number of people who accepted the invitation to join anti-regime demonstrations was “small” (though no hard number is available)”. Very disputable. Taking into consideration the brutal crack down on dissent in Syria, I would like to argue that the number of demonstrators in the streets is amazingly high (though no hard numbers are available). With the understanding that upon leaving your house you might never come back. That makes one demonstrator, too many.
2- You said: “(2) The educated classes did not join the anti-regime demonstrations“. Very wrong. University students are demonstrating across the country, lawyers, doctors and engineers have staged many demonstrations and sit-ins. The Diaspora, mostly educated, are vehemently against the regime. I do not know where you get this idea. Examples abound: in Homs, the Attasis the Jandalis and the Sbais to name a few. My family alone, which counts in the thousands all highly educated and mostly against the regime.
3- You said: “(3) Most of the religiously conservative classes did not join the anti-regime demonstrations“. Wrong again. Religious conservatives in the Sunni community are staunchly anti regime. You said: “Neither did the clergy; most of the Sunni clerical leadership went on record as anti-tumult and pro-civil-process“. Wouldn‘t you have done the same when your neck is on the line?. Wrong again. Even with the brutality, many clergy men announced their disgust with the regime. You said:” Most of the people who attended the mosque on Friday did not attend an anti-regime demonstration afterwards, not even if there was a demonstration conveniently available and on offer to them at the doorstep”. True when you know you might very well be killed, arrested or tortured. You said: “since most of them don’t express alienation against the regime, you shouldn’t expect them to vote en masse against the regime”. But who can express anything in Syria without fear of severe repercussions?.
4- You said: “(4) No representatives of agricultural or rural interests having been talking up an alternative to the Assad regime“. Of course. Who dares talk about an alternative to the Assad regime?. We know their names: either murdered, in jail, or fled the country. You said: “There was very little or no movement of people from rural areas into the towns and cities to participate in demonstrations (despite some fake boasts from the fake revolutionaries to the contrary)”. Wrong again. There were many attempts to do so. Muhammad just mentioned the one in Idleb that resulted in the killing of 70 demonstrators trying to enter Idleb from the villages to participate in demonstrations. All cities today are enclosed in and protected by check points, precisely to stop the rural areas from pouring into the cities.
5- You said: “(5) Once the reforms announced by Assad are completed, there will be no major disagreements between Assad and the general Opposition on the structure of the institutions of the State”. What reforms?. Is he going to arrest his cousin Najib for torturing children?. Is he going to prosecute his cousin Makhlouf for racketeering? Is he going to issue an arrest warrant for his uncle Rifaat for crimes against humanity? And is he going to go after all the regime thugs for embezzlement?. No reform is meaningful without rooting out corruption and rooting out corruption means throwing all the regime members in prison. This will result in Assad not being able to stand for elections being a convicted felon.
6- You said: “(6) The demonstrators were predominantly from the poorly educated working class. Most of them did not have an agenda beyond wanting Assad to leave and wanting a breath of fresh air in the country of an unspecified kind”. I would like to venture to say that the breath of fresh air that these people want is of a specified kind. It is called dignity.
7- You said: “(7) The various Syrian opposition parties are very weak today, their representatives are barely known or entirely unknown to the Syrian public, and I can’t see a route by which they can make themselves a whole lot stronger by election day”. This depends on when election day is and on whether Syria is still under the Assad regime. You said: “The attempt to unconstitutionally overthrow the regime has discredited swathes of opposition”. May I ask: how do you constitutionally overthrow a dictator?. I would give Syrians more credit than that, even the ones you are accusing of being poorly educated. Even the illiterates get it.
8- You said: “(8) Aleppo (all overwhelmingly Sunni in religion, btw) have had essentially or very nearly zero anti-regime demonstrations during this past six months”. Nearly zero is not true. There has been many demonstrations, however not at the scale of other cities. Aleppo is boiling under the surface and I assure you that the majority of the city would never vote for Assad in a free election.
9- You said: “9) Everybody in Syria knows that the anti-regime crowd has been lying about security forces atrocities and that the regime has been telling the truth. (Foreigners don’t know it, since they don’t watch Syrian TV, but foreigners are irrelevant since they won’t be voting). More generally, the regime has been able to use its control over Syrian mass media especially TV news to strong effect. The State-controlled TV news puts out good quality products for the most part, which enjoy good credibility with the Syrian public, and have good market penetration”. This one renders me speechless. No one I know in Syria believes Syrian TV. Everyone I know in Syria knows what is going on and what atrocities the regime is committing. Even those that are pro regime, are aware of how bad the regime is and are only supporting it because of their fear of the unknown.

I am really tired by now. You exhausted me. Have you lived in Syria?. Do you know or understand the meaning of the word dignity?. This is what it all boils down to. Years and years of being trampled on in every aspect of life. Humiliation in every possible way. Syrians have had enough. The only way Assad will win an election is if he is still in power when it is held and we all know why.

October 8th, 2011, 6:08 pm

 

Son of Damascus said:

@873 post 118:
you said am a : “Closet AIPAC are you? LOLOL Cooper was wanted in the same way that any resister is “wanted” by the US govt”
So the fact I don’t believe in Bill Cooper’s BS makes me an AIPAC sympathizer!! Or is it because I told you to check out Carl Sagan (who was an agnostic). Either way excellent deduction! Yeah I am the one drinking the cool-aid.

You told me to do my own research, that I do. I have a hard time believing you do any actual REAL research, because you fail to see that on the internet anyone can post whatever BS they want, and claim it as fact without any actual proof (i.e SANA, ADDUNIA, Bill Cooper…). Even when it comes to such obvious things as a poorly made video on youtube that uses a clip FROM A HOLLYWOOD MOVIE AS PROOF of alien interference on Earth!!

Good to see Besho and gang have the conspiracy theorist in their camp, whats next the Muamarah is an alien conspiracy? What the Salafi/Zionist/Wahhabi/CIA conspiracy is not enough? Did some alien probe you with the information of the Muamarah? LOL

thanks for the laugh

Son of Damascus

October 8th, 2011, 6:13 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

When I think of a dinasty like Assad´s what fascinates me more is the greed and the blindness that converge in a group of people every some years in every place of this world. When Assad uses force and bribery to keep himself and its allies in power they act for self protection but for greed too. Sometimes they justify their acts on the basis of protecting themselves but other times they just act on greed and ambition, blind of what will happen to them or to their sons in the future. Rationally Assad cannot think that syrian people will stand forever under a dictatorship, things always change, shit happens. So when he is acting as a dictator he is killing his own figure in future history and probably by killing his syrian citizens he is killing his own sons and daughters too. So by trying to protect himself he is comitting suicide.

October 8th, 2011, 6:29 pm

 

ann said:

Kurdish Parties Condemn Assassination of Opposition Figure Mashaal Tammo by Terrorists

Oct 09, 2011

http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2011/10/09/374306.htm

QAMISHLI, HASAKA, (SANA) – Kurdish parties on Saturday condemned the assassination of the nationalist opposition figure Mashaal Tammo at the hands of armed terrorist groups.

In a statement which SANA got a copy of, the parties said that this crime aims at instigating sedition and undermining the stability of Hasaka Province.

The Kurdish parties called upon the Kurds to be aware of the purposes of this crime, calling upon the competent authorities to reveal the perpetrators of this crime as soon as possible.

Head of the National Initiative for Syrian Kurds Omar Aussi said that the assassination of the nationalist opposition figure Mashaal Tammo is within the framework of the conspiracy against Syria.

In an interview with the Syrian TV, Aussi added that the assassination was executed by external sides and armed terrorist groups in the country in the context of eliminating the political, academic and religious prominent figures and instigating sedition between the Kurds and the state.

He stressed that after those external sides and the armed terrorist groups failed in fulfilling their scheme, they resorted to the acts of destruction, chaos and sabotage.

He pointed out that Kurds, as all the Syrians, will not be deceived by such acts, highlighting that the Kurds are patriots and with the reform program.

Earlier, body of Tammo was escorted from Qamishli city to the town of al-Janaziah after being assassinated by an armed terrorist group.

Governor of Hasaka Province Mu’za Salloum, attending the ceremony, said that “This crime committed by the armed terrorist groups aims at undermining the stability of the province that has been stable and calm since the beginning of the events.”

An armed terrorist group on Friday afternoon assassinated Tammo and wounded his son Marcel and Zahida Rash Kilo.

Tammo had continuously stressed the importance of national unity, comprehensive political, economic and social reforms and rejection of the calls of foreign interference in the Syrian internal affairs. He left behind a wife and six sons.

October 8th, 2011, 6:29 pm

 

kubbeh said:

Eshani,
Lets assume that the army can put the whole of Syria under military control. OK, then what is their next step?
How do you bring about civil obediance and compliance from a state of “military control”?
The plain fact is that the minute the army leaves cities like Homs, Hama or Daraa, the people will be back on the streets.
The regime is locked in catch 22: They can’t let the army leave their positions since they will loose control, but as long as the army is still there Syria can’t return to normallacy.

October 8th, 2011, 6:33 pm

 

Tara said:

Sandro

What puzzles me the most is not Bashar’s action, rather Asma and her close family. Bashar is the son of a mass murderer so crime is in his family but Asma isn’t. I indeed have crossed path with Asma many years ago. I would have never though that she will end up that way. Not so much her marriage to Bashar, rather her apparent acceptance of what has come of Bashar. She comes from a “traditional” family. A mother from Damascus and a father from Homs. She was born in England so democracy is not a foreign concept to her. For greed and power to corrupt people like this is beyond my comprehension although I bet this is rather naive to say. The history is full of similar examples. Unfortunately her education did not make her fair better than the Tunisian former hairstylist.

October 8th, 2011, 6:46 pm

 

Tara said:

Bronco

I would have liked if Robert Ford attend Mashaal Tamo funeral service. No?

October 8th, 2011, 6:49 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

Ali Farzat and Riad Seif have been attacjed by shabbiha because they previously offered interviews to al Arabiya or other channels telling the truth about the regime. We cannot probe who killed the kurdish leader, etc. But it would be a good strategy for the regime to destroy leaders who could become against them if things kept worsening. Who killed Kamal Joumblat, Dany Chamaun, Hobeika and many others when Lebanon was under control of Syria… exactly. Many of them were not declared enemies fo Syria, but had something in common, they were dangerous of traison and under suspect. Absolutism, when in danger, has no need for sectarian or tribal leaders who can think by themselves. The regime will create need puppet leaders if they need to.

October 8th, 2011, 6:49 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

I have a question.
Should we impeach Obama for orderng to kill American citizen,AlAwlaki, without a trial.?
I bekieve Obama made a mistake.

October 8th, 2011, 6:51 pm

 

Son of Damascus said:

@ Sheila
I must say that I like your level headed responses, and always look forward to reading your posts.
I just hope the ill-informed read your posts, and come out with a better understanding of what the thawrawgieh are really asking for.
I don’t know what religious denomination you come from (Nor do I really care to be honest), but thank you for keeping the discussion on the issues at hand rather than sectarian BS.
I come from a Sunni background but never identify myself by my religion, I like the old saying (I cant type in Arabic for lack of dual language keyboard 🙁 )
: La tasaloo 3any Thahabi, mathhabi, wa thahaaby. In short it translates to don’t ask about my gold, my religion, and my coming and going. (Note am not sure the source of the saying, or if I remember the wording correctly, but the gist is the same nevertheless).

Regards

Son of Damascus

October 8th, 2011, 6:55 pm

 

Aboud said:

Dear God, not the “nothing is happening in Aleppo” myths yet again? If the regime wasn’t concerned about Aleppo, why have there been so many arrests there? Why are half the regime’s shabiha and security men up in and around Aleppo? And I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; I’ve lost count of the number of doctor, lawyer an engineer sit ins in Aleppo that were brutally broken up by the regime.

The regime cannot be described as being “strong” in any city it has to send tanks into to quell demonstrations. In every city where the security forces temporarily withdrew from, massive demonstrations came out; Latakia, Dar’a, Hama, Baniyas, Telkelakh, Homs, Idlib, Deir el Zour. All were subsequently invaded on a scale larger than anything the Syrian army launched in the 1973 war.

And it never fails to amaze me, how certain people are satisfied with the tiny crumbs the regime has passed off as “economic reforms”. So we now have ATMs and private universities? Yipeeee, Syria is now where Jordan and Lebanon were in the mid 90s. Geeesh people, are your expectations so low?

The regime will never allow free and fair elections. Heck, even an independent press, like the Lebanese have, might as well be the apocalypse to Besho.

The Baathists would rather rule rubble, than be equal citizens in a prosperous and free society. To them, a country which they don’t rule, no matter how impotent and feeble, is not worth living in.

And yet again, the regime apologists would have us believe that “armed gangs” murdered a human rights activist. Meshaal Tamo was in hiding for three months…*from the regime*. His funeral was shot at and people killed…*by the regime’s thugs*. The only people who did not pay their condolences were any representatives *from the regime*.

Whoever is advising Besho, must really have it in for him. I cannot think of anyone more hell bent on his own destruction and that of his family.

October 8th, 2011, 7:16 pm

 

Aboud said:

You guys want to see what a bad Al-Dunya action movie looks like? Check this out

October 8th, 2011, 7:19 pm

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Some posters here should just be doing mehshi with 20 garlics and ribs,.They discus events in stupid way,no evidence no analysis.They think politics like mehshi:rice,garlic,ribs

October 8th, 2011, 7:24 pm

 
 

873 said:

167. Son of Damascus said:
@873 post 118:

FOX News and CNN arent research. Go look up the Eastland patents instead of calling names. Read THEM, then ask an expert what they mean. Read the testimony by the scientist/son of Alaska Congressman who first alerted the science world to the issue. HAARP first main facilities were built in Alaska. Read the EU condemnation of weather warfare and throw in some scientific papers on scalar weapons.

On the lighter, so-called conspiracy side– Before the VIPs pulled out last spring they left a little wink for those on the coast of east central Florida, Brevard County. This past spring government posted tsunami signs all along our beaches. Never been done before and was thought to be a joke- not anymore.

Strange to post these signs for the first time ever, this spring, a couple of months BEFORE the Canary Islands start having record numbers of earthquakes [in mid July]. Guess those Elyons are giving The Olympians a heads up? LOLOL
(photo is genuine and the tsunami signs are still up on the beaches)
http://i761.photobucket.com/albums/xx260/coopercrew/tsunami-zone-0323.jpg

Is Defense Sec Cohen a ‘conspiracy nut’ too? Sure, we know. Al CIAduh made the jump from box cutter technology in their Afghan caves to physics geniuses overnight!
“Others [terrorists] are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves… So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations…It’s real, and that’s the reason why we have to intensify our [counterterrorism] efforts.” Secretary of Defense William Cohen, April 1997 counterterrorism conference sponsored by former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn.

October 8th, 2011, 7:41 pm

 

ann said:

Zoe Holman: Long-divided opposition fails to bury the hatchet

October 09, 2011

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/31b0d15f-9dfb-4263-b5ab-d68f72905806.aspx

The establishment of a 140-member Syrian National Council may be the best hope yet for creating a united front to oppose the regime of President Bashar Al Assad. But the very size and diversity of the body, while potentially providing its strength, could also be it undoing if members of the long-divided opposition are unable to put aside their differences.

“This attempt is unique,” said Yaser Tabbara, a US attorney and member of the council’s steering committee. “It is the most systematic, scientific effort to form an opposition that is united and independent at its very core. “People who have been divided for over 50 years have decided to put politics aside and work on creating a neutral platform, without baggage or personal ambition,” he commented.

Since the uprising against the Syrian regime began in March, there have been several attempts at creating a formal representative body that would constitute a serious opposition to Assad. Most efforts have been thwarted by geographic, political or ideological differences.

The newly formed council, however, includes members of the Local Co-ordination Committees, the groups that have been driving the protest on the ground. The council also includes exiled representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood and signatories to the 2005 Damascus Declaration, a landmark statement of unity by opposition members. “The members are well recognised and have excellent relationships inside and outside Syria,” Tabbara said.

The lawyer said it took three months for all the opposition parties to reach an agreement on forming the council. Still, the failure of previous opposition movements to present a united front against the Assad regime leads many observers to take a wait-and-see approach. “I am not sure in the end how different this council is,” Salwa Ismail, a politics professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, said. “It is already contested, with different groups on the ground and abroad saying it is not representative.”

Some leading members of the opposition-in-exile old guard, such as Michel Kilo, who heads the National Committee for Democratic Change, are not included on the recently released list of members. Most agree that the greatest challenge facing the council will be to unite the numerous opposition groups that exist outside of Syria.

“The problem right now is that we have groups outside who don’t know each other, with a history of division spanning 40 to 50 years in which all activists were persecuted ruthlessly by the regime,” Ismail said. “Almost 100,000 political prisoners were taken over this period and the regime led a successful campaign in dividing people and generating mistrust,” he continued. “It takes a long time to overcome that.”

But with human rights groups estimating that the civilian death toll from the conflict has exceeded 3,000, the need for the opposition to present a united front is more pressing than ever. “International governments want some kind of transitional council, like in Libya, that they can recognise and deem legitimate,” Christopher Phillips, an analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Middle East team, said. “The difference is that the opposition in Libya was locally-based and organised.

October 8th, 2011, 7:49 pm

 

jad said:

What is going on?
Syria closed the Jordanian border couple hours after closing the Turkish borders:

الحكومة السورية تغلق معبر النصيب التابع للاردن

October 8th, 2011, 7:57 pm

 

Tara said:

Zoo

Do you think the Egyptian will receive the SNC well? Are the going to be bold enough to be the first to recognize it and give it legitimacy?

October 8th, 2011, 8:10 pm

 

Husam said:

They are just sending a message politically. Will the close Iraqi border remains to be seen.

October 8th, 2011, 8:11 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear Son of Damascus,
Thank you for your kind words. I am just like you, a Sunni Muslim who does not really view or value people according to their religious believes or ethnicities. I am a daughter of Aleppo, but have family all over Syria and the world.
Take care.

October 8th, 2011, 8:19 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear Tara,
Being able to make good mehshi is nothing to sneeze at, doing so and having a beautiful mind is priceless. Thank you Tara for your valuable contribution to SC.

October 8th, 2011, 8:26 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

سهير الأتاسي – رسالة الهيئة العامة للثورة 07-10-2011

October 8th, 2011, 8:27 pm

 

son of Damascus said:

@873 post 180:

Fox, nor CNN are my sources. Am actually a big Tesla fan, who is considered the grandfather of HAARP and the Eastlund Patent (developed by Bernard Eastlund). However the relevance is reality.

All these conspiracy theories are pure fantasy, with nothing in the way of evidence to back them up.

Why is it that not a single radio scientist supporting these claims? Not ONE!

Where are the formulas and equations, the data and calculations that prove these claims? They don’t exist.

First of all because no one making these crazy claims has the abilities to come up with such scientific documentation, and second of all because – it is pure fantasy!.

Whats next Ron Hubbard electrometer is real!.

By the way can you back up the origin of those tsunami signs, from the picture there is no evidence that shows its actually Florida.

In case you don’t know what evidence actually means here is the definition by way of The Oxford English Dictionary (I hope they are a good enough source for you):
The available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.

The more theories you post, the more it shows your lack of knowledge. Which really amounts to you blaming the whole world for Besho’s faults.

I really don’t know how you made the correlation between HAARP and the whats going on in Syria, you sir/mdm have a vivid and I must say somewhat amusing imagination. I guess thats what helps you sleep at night, while Besho and Co. keep killing and torturing civilians.

By the way can you see the fact everything I said above about HAARP believers can be said pretty much word for word about Besho lovers.

Its been fun poking holes in your theories.

Son of Damascus

October 8th, 2011, 8:30 pm

 

ann said:

Iraq, siding with Iran, sends essential aid to Syria’s Assad

Sunday, 09 October 2011

http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23793:iraq-siding-with-iran-sends-essential-aid-to-syrias-assad&catid=7:iraq&Itemid=29

The Washington Post

By Joby Warrick

More than six months after the start of the Syrian uprising, Iraq is offering key moral and financial support to the country’s embattled president, undermining a central U.S. policy objective and raising fresh concerns that Iraq is drifting further into the orbit of an American arch rival — Iran.

Iraq’s stance has dealt an embarrassing setback to the Obama administration, which has sought to enlist Muslim allies in its campaign to isolate Syrian autocrat Bashar al-Assad. While other Arab states have downgraded ties with Assad, Iraq has moved in the opposite direction, hosting official visits by Syrians, signing pacts to expand business ties and offering political support.

After Iraq sent conflicting signals about its support for Assad last month, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke firmly against regime change in Syria in an interview broadcast on Iraqi television Sept. 30. “We believe that Syria will be able to overcome its crisis through reforms,” Maliki said, rejecting U.S. calls for the Syrian leader to step down. His words echoed those of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who weeks earlier proposed that Syrians should “implement the necessary reforms by themselves.”

On other issues as well, the Maliki government in recent months has hewed closer to Iran’s stance — Iraq, for example, has supported Iran’s right to nuclear technology and advocated U.N. membership for Palestinians — as the U.S. military races to complete its troop withdrawal over the coming months.

Few policy objectives are more important to Iran than preserving the pro-Tehran regime in Syria, longtime Middle East observers say.

“This is Iran’s influence, because preserving the Assad regime is very much in Iran’s national interest,” said David Pollock, a former adviser on Middle East policy for the State Department during the George W. Bush administration. “Iran needs Iraq’s help trying to save their ally in Damascus.”

U.S. officials acknowledged disappointment with Iraq over its dealings with Assad, while noting that other Middle East countries also have been reluctant to abandon Assad at a time when the outcome of the uprising remains uncertain.

“The Iraqis should be more helpful, absolutely,” said a senior administration official involved in Middle East diplomacy.

Some of the proposed financial deals with Syria, however, “turn out to be a lot of talk,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly discuss sensitive issues.

U.S. intelligence officials predict that Syria’s uprising will eventually topple Assad, most likely after the mounting cost of sanctions causes the business elite to turn against him. But the timeline for change is far from clear.

The Obama administration hailed a decision in August by three Persian Gulf Arab states — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain — to recall their ambassadors to Damascus to protest Assad’s violent suppression of anti-government demonstrators. And Turkey — like Iraq, a major trading partner with Syria — has repeatedly denounced the crackdown and has established Syrian refu­gee camps and hosted meetings of opposition groups.

Iraqi leaders also have criticized Assad’s brutality, as, indeed, Iran’s Ahmadinejad has done in public remarks. But Iraqi officials have refused to call for Assad’s ouster, or accept Syrian refugees, or even offer symbolic support for the anti-Assad opposition. Instead, the Iraqis have courted trade delegations and signed pipeline deals with Syria.

“Iraq is sending a lifeline to Assad,” said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert and author of “In the Lion’s Den,” a portrait of Syria under the autocrat.

Middle Eastern experts note that Maliki — a Shiite Muslim who lived in exile in Syria for nearly 15 years — has strategic and sectarian reasons for avoiding a direct confrontation with Assad. Members of Iraq’s Shiite majority and Syria’s ruling Alawite Shiite sect share a common worry about Sunni-led insurgencies. Some Iraqis fear that a violent overthrow of Syrian Alawites will trigger unrest across the border in Iraq.

But other experts say Iraq’s support for Syria underscores the influence of Iran, which has staked billions of dollars on ensuring Assad’s survival. Pollock, the former State Department adviser, said Iraqi leaders fear repercussions from Iran and its Syrian protege as much they covet increased revenue from trade.

“Iran is certainly important behind the scenes, and the Iraqis know the Iranians are looking over their shoulders,” said Pollock, now a researcher for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank.

Pollock noted that Iranian-backed cleric Moqtada al-Sadr — a firebrand Iraqi Shiite with tens of thousands of devoted followers — has publicly backed Assad, calling him a “brother.” Iraqi leaders know that hostility toward Syria could invite reprisals against politicians and ordinary civilians in Baghdad, or perhaps against the estimated 1 million Iraqi refugees living in Syria, he said.

Still, U.S. officials have privately expressed disappointment over Baghdad’s reluctance to take a more forceful stance against Syrian brutality, which millions of Iraqis witness daily on Arab-language cable news networks.

Only in mid-September, after six months of worsening violence, did the Iraqi government issue a statement that appeared to call for Assad’s ouster. In that statement, on Sept. 20, Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Moussawi was quoted as telling New York Times reporters in Baghdad that Iraq had privately urged Assad to step down. “We are against the one-party rule and the dictatorship that hasn’t allowed for free expression,” Moussawi was quoted as saying.

But less than 24 hours later, the Iraqi government began to backpedal. The same spokesman, Moussawi, told reporters on Sept. 21 that Iraqi leaders had never called for Assad’s resignation and said he had been misquoted. “It was neither the nature nor the followed discourse of the Iraqi government to intervene in the affairs of other countries,” Moussawi said.

Maliki’s broadcast interview Sept. 30 reflected a further retreat. While calling for an end to violence, the prime minister rejected regime change as destabilizing and said the crisis should be resolved gradually through reforms.

Assad has survived by relying on hard-currency reserves and Iranian loans to maintain subsidies for Syria’s military and business elites, ensuring their continued loyalty and preventing the further spread of the country’s pro-democracy uprising, which took hold in March.

Faced with international sanctions — including a new European Union ban on oil imports — Syria also has found support from Iraq and other neighbors as it scrambles to refill its hard-currency coffers, now hemorrhaging at a rate estimated at $1 billion a month.

Iraq and Syria, which share historical and cultural ties, have long been trading partners, and smuggling in border towns has generated immense profits even during times of war. Scores of private traders regularly ferry tons of diesel fuel and other goods in vans and pickup trucks, specially modified with heavy suspensions that cause their backsides to jut out like monster trucks at a car show.

Officials in both countries are cracking down on the black market in favor of legitimate ventures, particularly in the energy field. In early August, as other Arab countries were recalling their ambassadors to Syria, Iraq put on an unusual tour for 100 of Syria’s top government and business leaders. The visitors, led by Syria’s trade minister, were shown factories and refineries and applauded by Iraqis eager to cut deals with their Syrian neighbors.

The week-long visit yielded a new pact designed to boost a soaring bilateral trade that already tops $2 billion a year and will solidify Iraq’s status as Syria’s biggest trading partner. Iraqi Trade Minister Khayrullah Babakir, praising the pact, spoke of a new focus on “empowering the private sector in both countries.” There was no mention of sanctions, or of the Syrian uprising.

October 8th, 2011, 8:33 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Sheila,

I would like to see women in politics, rather than women cooking great ma7shi.
.

October 8th, 2011, 8:49 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Akbar,

I had the impression that you are an American Haredi boy…
.

October 8th, 2011, 8:52 pm

 

sheila said:

Amir,
Please read 178. My post # 186 was a direct response.

October 8th, 2011, 9:02 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Sheila,

I did understand that you were responding, and it wasn’t my intention to offend you or Tara. Just wanted you to know that I think that too little women choose to go to politics.
.

October 8th, 2011, 9:15 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Jad
A scared clueless regime is what is going on. A criminal plan against the Syrian people by those who were supposed to protect them.

October 8th, 2011, 9:28 pm

 

ann said:

Al Jazeera..Qatar, Turkey and Syria..Whats next! – 2011-10-09

http://en.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNO=14055

The coverage of Al Jazeera over the last few months gives us food for thought on how issues and alliances are changing in the Arab world, particularly in regard to relations between Turkey, Syria and Qatar. Taking the example of Syria, it was somewhat strange to note that despite the supplications of protestors to cover their story, Al Jazeera acted as if nothing were happening at first. It was only after the withdrawal of the Qatari Ambassador from Damascus and the negative outcome of Ahmet Daoud Uglu’s visit to Syria that the channel changed tack and the Syrian issue became its hottest headline news.

Then there is the interesting question of the slant Al Jazeera took on the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The channel played a major role in getting the Arab world to see him in a positive light. The starting point was when the Prime Minister walked off stage after an angry exchange with Shimon Peres during a panel discussion on Gaza at the World Economic Forum Davous 2009.

However, since then, any attentive follower of Al Jazeera would have notice the well directed propaganda that has surrounded the image of Erdogan. The increase in his popularity in Arab countries could well be due to the way the channel had orchestrated his appearances, making sure that he was constantly in the news and focusing on what the Arabs may have missed or more pertinently, by pointing out what they have never seen in their leaders.

Today, it seems that Qatar and the gulf monarchies are starting to realize that behind the new Turkey there is a project which is not at all like the one they had in mind. The imminent scenario will not be a Sunni crescent to face the proclaimed Iranian threat. Some have started to apprehend that in the oncoming climate, not even the Sunni monarchies will be safe and change for everybody will be the operative phase. This brings us to the question of “who is good and who is bad”? Turkey or Iran? Another new dilemma that many are starting to question is whether Turkey is a real enemy of Israel. Many are doubtful, especially after the decision of the Turkish government to deploy a missile defense system aimed at protecting NATO members from the threat of Iranian missiles, according to the Iranian explanation.

Since Wadah Khanfar, the former director, left Al Jazeera, not only has news output about Erdogan dropped, but it has also changed its slant and the channel doesn’t promote his hero image anymore. Reading between the lines this could mean a new era for Al Jazeera and Turkey where the channel will seek new allies and give its backing to old friends. Maybe they think Qatari-Saudi relations would be a better bet. One hypothesis is that new alliances will start to appear as many have recently started to worry that Erdogan’s ambition is somehow incontrollable. Some have even said that he already sees himself standing on the Castle of Aleppo, delivering a speech to what is called the Sunni’s world (a symbolic reference to the era of the Ottoman Empire).
This would justify the latest doubts regarding the Turkish desire to back up the Islamic parties to catch power in most of the Arab countries.

The imminent future will be filled with new moves, tactics, politics and behavior. Maybe there will be less pressure on the Syrian regime. Perhaps we’ll see a convergence of Iranian-Qatari relations? Some critical voices to the Qatari role in Libya could represent a foreshadowing of a coming conflict in the future among many protagonists of the political arena.
It’s possible, but above all, we Jordanians should analyze changes carefully in order to guarantee a vital role, solid position and rebuilding of our political alliances based on our national interests.

October 8th, 2011, 9:51 pm

 

Ali said:

Nine Security Personnel Martyred, 26 Injured in Clashes with Terrorist Groups in Hama

Oct 09, 2011

HAMA, (SANA)- Nine security members, including a first lieutenant, were martyred, 26 others were injured in clashes on Saturday with armed terrorist groups in al-Mazareb area in Hama governorate.

An official source told SANA correspondent that a security forces patrol suspected the presence of armed groups stationed in one of the farms in the mentioned area.

“When the patrol members took a move to arrest the gunmen, they opened fire on the security personnel using machine guns and handmade grenades, and a clash erupted, which” the source added, “resulted in the martyrdom of nine security members and the injury of 26 others.”

The source pointed out that the security forces managed to arrest the armed groups’ members and seize large amounts of machine guns, ammunition and handmade grenades.

October 8th, 2011, 9:57 pm

 

Tara said:

SNK

Nearly 40 percent of your posts are about Tara and the rest is about Aboud.  Let me make it easy for you: stop obsessing about me.  GIVE UP! I have no interest in carrying a conversation, an argument, or a discussion with you.  None whatsoever.  Sorry but you just do not interest me. Ok?
And by the way if you wrote down every single thought you ever had you would get an award for the shortest story ever.  

And by just way, mehshi is not my only speciality, just an FYI. 

October 8th, 2011, 9:57 pm

 

ann said:

Syrian General: Syria will Firmly Confront Destabilization

09/10/2011

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=99197

DAMASCUS- on Saturday, Minister of Defense Gen. Dawood Rajiha said that events taking place in Syria are not new; rather they are an expansion of challenges throughout the past few years including calls for foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs with the aim of destroying the homeland and making it give up its principles.

“The war being launched against Syria has been manifested in different forms, particularly through the media fabrication of facts with the aim of misleading the public opinion and the exploitation of the UN and all the international forums to open the door to foreign interference under the pretext of human rights and defending freedom and democracy,” added Gen. Rajiha, Deputy General Commander of the Army and the Armed Forces.

Gen. Rajiha was speaking at the graduation ceremony of a new batch of students from the Military Academy, representing President Bashar al-Assad, General Commander of the Army and the Armed Forces.

The Minister pointed out that the conspirators depended on operational tools on the ground, which are represented by armed terrorist groups integrated by criminals who have been targeting military cadres and scientific and intellectual figures, in addition to spreading chaos and sabotage.

He underlined that the current events will not prevent the political leadership from going forward in the reform and development process through a wide package of laws and decrees which would enable Syria to become at the forefront of democracy in the region.

“Going ahead with the reform package, we will firmly confront all those who want to tamper with the security, stability and unity of the homeland,” the Minister added.

October 8th, 2011, 9:58 pm

 

Ali said:

Reports state that the authorities in Homs governorate on Saturday morning dismantled an explosive device containing 5 kilograms of TNT.

The device was planted near the “old garage” turnabout opposite the Mills Establishment branch on the main road to Hama, a location known for heavy traffic.

The military engineering units in Homs also dismantled a number of handmade explosive devices planted by armed terrorist groups in different places in al-Rastan area.

The devices, of different shapes and sizes, were distributed randomly in the middle or on the side of some roads, in agricultural lands and near housing buildings.

The explosive devices were equipped with a timer in order to kill the largest number of people and cause wide damage to public and private properties.

October 8th, 2011, 10:01 pm

 

Chris W said:

Interesting that Iraq supports the Syrian gov’t. Presumably they can see what Turkey cannot, that the collapse of Syria would be horrific for her people and her neighbours. Only one ‘interested party’ stands to benefit (although real peace would benefit them more, if only they weren’t too blind to see), whom the Iraqis would recognise…

October 8th, 2011, 10:31 pm

 

ann said:

Palestinians Pursue Backdoor Statehood Strategy – October 7, 2011

http://www.algemeiner.com/2011/10/07/palestinians-pursue-backdoor-statehood-strategy/#

With a bid for full recognition of statehood still sitting in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the UN’s Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) gave its initial approval to recognize Palestine as a member state. The move is an attempt to bypass a UNSC veto of Palestinian statehood by the United States, but will also result in an end in American aid to UNESCO.

Against the will of the United States and several European countries, UNESCO’s 58-nation executive board approved recognition of Palestine as a full-fledged member of the group. The recognition also automatically grants acknowledgment of a Palestinian state, as a necessary criterion for membership in UNESCO. In effect, Wednesday’s move would mean that Palestine would be deemed a state in some of the UN’s affiliate organizations, without any formal recognition by the UN’s governing body.

If UNESCO’s full membership approves the Palestinian bid, the body’s stance will be in direct contravention of American law. Existing legislation mandates a cutoff of money to any UN agency that grants “full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.”

Currently, the United States provides 22% of UNESCO’s funding.

“Membership would allow Palestinian officials to seek the protection of Palestinian historical sites by the cultural organization,” which “would create further conflict with Israel,” The New York Times reports. “For instance, some of those sites are in east Jerusalem, which Israel has annexed.”

“We hope and pray that the Unesco authorities will realize — and the Palestinians will realize — that there is a very high price to be paid, in American participation in Unesco,” said Nimrod Barkan, the Israeli ambassador.

October 8th, 2011, 10:31 pm

 

ghufran said:

Tara,
the Kurdish parties have not yet pointed a finger at who might be responsible for Timmo’s murder. some Kurds accused the regime but some accused Turkey. One may also point out to the possibility of an inside job. I hope the truth will come out,I find it hard to believe that the regime,desperate to divide the opposition,will kill a guy who was a moderate Kurd by all standards and was opposed to foreign intervention.
Idiots in the security and Shabeeha establishment are able to commit that crime but it is just does not make sense,Haytham may have convinced you but I am still skeptical.
The current environment in Syria is perfect for revenge and assassinations. Anybody who gets killed will be considered a martyr and either the regime or the opposition will be blamed. I expect more assassinations and I am afraid the targets will include ordinary citizens and moderate figures on both sides who are standing in the way of the extreme elements in Syria.

October 8th, 2011, 10:42 pm

 

louai said:

THE KURDISH FLAG !!

Seven arrested in Syrian embassy protest in London
(AFP) – 10 hours ago
LONDON — Police said Saturday they had arrested seven protesters outside the Syrian embassy in London, including three men who climbed onto the roof of the building and waved the Kurdish flag.

The trio were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage after mounting the roof of the entrance of the embassy, where they waved the red, white and green Kurdish flag with a sun emblem on it, according to television pictures.

They did not breach the security of the building, a police spokesman said.

Three other men and a woman were also held for criminal damage as about 50-60 people joined a protest outside the embassy, he added.

The demonstration coincided with a mass rally in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. About 50,000 people gathered for the funeral of Meshaal Tamo, a Kurdish opposition figure killed on Friday.

Syrian security forces killed at least two mourners and wounded several others when they fired on the crowd in the city of Qamishli, activists said.

A demonstration was also held at the Syrian embassy in Vienna, where 11 people were arrested for invading the building and protesting on the embassy balcony overnight, Austrian police said.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jI-sXMcZJblcUDr_SYhMm1mwIGyw?docId=CNG.35938e723ad2fcbcb70c6292de0e98b4.1e1

October 8th, 2011, 10:43 pm

 

ghufran said:

Jordan yesterday
عمان- ‘القدس العربي’ ـ من بسام البدارين: شهدت الساحة الأردنية الجمعة نقطة تحول دراماتيكية في مسار الحراك السياسي بالشارع، عند نزول الجبهة الوطنية للإصلاح برئاسة المخضرم أحمد عبيدات لأول مرة إلى الشارع للتظاهر كتفا إلى كتف مع قادة حركة الأخوان المسلمين.
وسيمنح هذا التشابك غير المسبوق بين مجموعة عبيدات، كرمز وطني كبير يطالب به الشارع عمليا، وبين التيار الإسلامي، زخما إضافيا لمسيرات الحراك الشعبي التي تطالب علنا بإصلاح النظام، حيث ظهر عبيدات رئيس الوزراء ومدير المخابرات الأسبق جنبا إلى جنب في مسيرة ضخمة وسط عمان بعد صلاة ظهر الجمعة.
ويعكس هذا الظهور تقاربا لافتا حصل في الفترة الأخيرة بين عبيدات والإسلاميين، حيث يسير الطرفان باتجاه التوحد في برنامج عمل سياسي معارض يعزز الإصلاح وهو ما لا يعجب المعارض البارز ليث شبيلات، الذي دعا الأردنيين الخميس وقبل مغادرته البلاد في رحلة خاصة، كما تردد إلى تجاهل ‘أصنام المعارضة’ على اعتبار أنهم جزء من المشكلة والحصول على أوراق الاعتماد من مجموعات الشباب في الشارع.
ويعتقد على نطاق سياسي واسع أن كلام شبيلات يتقصد نخب المعارضة التقليدية في التيار الإسلامي والجبهة الوطنية للإصلاح. لكن الجديد في مشهد الحراك ان الجبهة الوطنية للإصلاح، وهي الإطار الذي يقوده عبيدات منذ أشهر دعت الجمهور هي بنفسها لأول مرة الى تظاهرة سلمية وسط عمان تطالب بأن يصلح النظام نفسه.
ومن الواضح ان بصمات عبيدات وكبار أركان جماعة الأخوان المسلمين في مسيرات الجمعة ساهمت في زيادة جرعة الحماسة في الشارع، فارتفع سقف الهتافات وتجاوز الكثير من الخطوط التي كانت تسمى حمراء في الماضي، حيث انطلقت بالتوازي مسيرات واعتنصامات بنكهة الإسلاميين وعبيدات في سبع محافظات على الأقل.
وعبرت هذه الحماسة عن نفسها ببيان يحدد بالاسم قائمة سوداء لفاسدين كبار يطالب الشعب بمحاكمتهم وهتافات ضد الحكومة الحالية والبرلمان من طراز’ عالسكراب.. عالسكراب .. البخيت والنواب’ والسكراب في اللهجة الدارجة هو المكان المخصص لبيع الخردة والماكينات المتعطلة.
كما استعار الحراك عبارة اشتهرت بسورية تقول بصوت جماعي’الموت ولا المذلة’.
وتم إطلاق اسم ‘جمعة اجتثاث الفساد والبلطجية’ على مسيرات واعتصامات الجمعة، في الوقت الذي تترقب فيه الأوساط السياسية المحلية ‘خطوات الملك’ بعد استقالة خمسة أعضاء من مجلس الأعيان فضلوا الاحتفاظ بجنسيتهم الثانية بدلا من البقاء في الموقع العام، امتثالا لنص دستوري جديد يمنع ولاية مزدوجي الجنسية أثار ولا زال يثير عاصفة من الجدل.
ولم يعرف بعد سقف الخطوات الملكية المقبلة وسط توقعات بإعادة تشكيل مجلس الأعيان وحرب فتاوى دستورية يشارك بها فقهاء القانون، وكانت أبرزها الفتوى التي حظر فيها مرجع قانوني مهم، هو الدكتور محمد الحموري، على مزدوجي الجنسية الاحتفاظ بمواقعهم الوزارية والعامة حتى لو تنازلوا عن جنسياتهم الأخرى، فيما أعلنت وزارة الخارجية أن السفارات الأجنبية غير ملزمة بفتح بيانات معلومات رعاياها للتدقيق في جنسياتهم امتثالا للنص الدستوري الجديد.

October 8th, 2011, 10:55 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

الشباب الكورد في ( ديريك)
================
تدعو جميع جماهير ديرك للخروج في مظاهرة جماهيرية وذلك يوم الأحد 2011/10/9 الساعة العاشرة صباحاً احتجاجاً واستنكاراً لاغتيال المناضل الكوردي المعارض مشعل تمو وشهداء تشييع جنازته …. واثناء تشييع جنازته تم اطلاق النار على المشيعين من قبل اجهزة النظام وسقط شهيدان جديدان وعدد من الجرحى….. لقد تمادى النظام في القمع والقتل والأرهاب وآن وقت رحيل…ه….

October 8th, 2011, 11:27 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

سؤال غير برىء من مواطن يريد أن يكون بريئاً: لماذا تم تشييع سارية حسون بجنازة رسمية، وصورته كاميرات احترافية. ولماذا يشيع مشعل التمو تحت إطلاق رصاص الأمن على المشيعين، وتصور جنازته بكاميرات الجوالات.مع أن الشهيدين قتلا برصاص العصابات المسلحة كما تقول قنوات الاعلام الصادق (اي القناة السورية وقناة الدنيا.؟؟؟؟؟)

October 8th, 2011, 11:30 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

Dear Ghufran@202:

This was the second attempt on Mishaal Tammo life. Further, the perpetrator of his killing sabotaged the procession of his funeral by killing two and wounding many, which means they are not afraid of any pursuit or punishment or rather above any pursuit and punishment. I leave the rest of the interpretation for you.

October 8th, 2011, 11:35 pm

 

SALAH ADDIN said:

TARA

The way I see it, SNK was not impressed with your analysis/opinion that Tammo was assassinated by government/regime operatives.
Ghufran and others have provided more compelling arguments on why not to jump to such conclusions as yours.
SNK must have been more impressed by your description of your stuffed grape leaves, which by the way sounded delicious, than your opinion on who are Mr. Tammo’s killers.
I am sure you can take the heat, and that is why you can stay in the proverbial kitchen.
If SNK were obsessed and fascinated by anyone, it would be 3ar3oor and his meat grinder, and REVLON and his fatiha and Damascus not to become Kandahar.
You have been a prolific poster but most of your recipes must be taken with a grain of salt.
Just a thought.

October 8th, 2011, 11:40 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

اضرب

October 8th, 2011, 11:43 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

جنازة مهيبة للشهيد المعارض مشعل تمو 8-10-201

October 8th, 2011, 11:46 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

مشعل تمو وداعا يا بطل

October 8th, 2011, 11:51 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

عامودا تدمير صنم المجرم الكبير حافظ الأسد 8-10-2011

October 8th, 2011, 11:57 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

لقطات من تشييع الشهيد مشعل التموالثورة السورية شباب الدرباسية

October 9th, 2011, 12:00 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

لقصير 8/10 العرب والأكراد إيد واحدة ويلعن روحك ياحافظ

October 9th, 2011, 12:02 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

سندس سليمان
الان ومنذ 10 دقائق فقط عدت من امام السفارة السورية في برلين (ليلية السبت الموافق 8/10/2011 )
حيث قامت مجموعة من السوريين باقتحام مبنى السفارة السورية في برلين بعد ان استطاعوا خلع الباب الرئيسي للسفارة ودخلوا داخل المبنى الذي تشبه مناعته مناعة القصور وقاموا بتمزيق جميع صور المجرم بشار الاسد التي كانت معلقة على جدران السفارة وكان السفير موجود حيث يقيم وعائلته في الطابق العلوي من مبنى السفارة وصعد … الشباب اليه في الطابق العلوي وصبوا جام غضبهم عليه وجها لوجه نعتوه بانه خائن وانه عميل الاستبداد ولم ينبث السفير ببنت شفة بل وقف مطأطأ الرأس ووجهه الى الارض وقد قام شباب اخرون بتوثيق كل ماحدث واكيد ستنشر الصور والفيديوهات في مواقع متعددة وبعدها جاءت مدرعات من البوليس الالماني الذي تعامل بمنتهى الانسانية خاصة بعدما اخبرهم الشباب بانهم لايريدون ان يتسببوا باية حالة عنف ، ثم طلب البوليس منهم الخروج فخرجوا بعد مشاورات بعد ان كانت جميع صور بشار الاسد ممزقة في الارض ووضع علم الاستقلال على الجدران وبعد خروج الشباب الى خارج المبنى بقوا حوالي ساعتين يهتفون لشهداء سورية مؤكدين على وحدة الشع…

October 9th, 2011, 12:05 am

 

zoo said:

Tara

It does look that the blog is falling again in the teenager’s
game playing that you have been missing and calling for. Have a good laugh with your friends.

October 9th, 2011, 12:16 am

 

Tara said:

Salah

Good job. Not bad at all. I liked the style. I must admit I do not read all posts on SC and I’ve not read you before. I run a painfully busy life… In the kitchen that is… I will add you to the list of posters I read.

October 9th, 2011, 12:18 am

 

ann said:

Christians fear Islamist pressure in Egypt – 9 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/christians-fear-islamist-pressure-egypt-164823245.html

CAIRO (AP) — On her first day to school, 15-year-old Christian student Ferial Habib was stopped at the doorstep of her new high school with clear instructions: either put on a headscarf or no school this year.

Habib refused. While most Muslim women in Egypt wear the headscarf, Christians do not, and the move by administrators to force a Christian student to don it was unprecedented. For the next two weeks, Habib reported to school in the southern Egyptian village of Sheik Fadl every day in her uniform, without the head covering, only to be turned back by teachers.

One day, Habib heard the school loudspeakers echoing her name and teachers with megaphones leading a number of students in chants of “We don’t want Ferial here,” the teenager told The Associated Press.

October 9th, 2011, 12:19 am

 

Tara said:

Zoo

Where were you all day?

October 9th, 2011, 12:20 am

 

bronco said:

#72. Tara

“I would have liked if Robert Ford attend Mashaal Tamo funeral service. No?”

I would have liked that too. But Heckle was too scared as many Kurds are not particularly friendly with an ally of Turkey and many support Bashar Al Assad. Hillary told him not to.
He better stick to Moslem Brotherhood’s funerals. They are in the best terms with Hillary these days.

Anyway now he got his confirmation, he can take it easy and go to the Opera instead.

October 9th, 2011, 12:29 am

 

Tara said:

Bronco

It would be interesting to watch Ford\’s activities from now on to see if his “heroic” visits were indeed a show he put to the congress to get
confirmed.

Whyvare youbsaying Giath Matar was MB? You have any evidence? Also did you read Ann\’s link in 218? It said that itbis rare case in Egypt. I hope the government take it seriously and fire the teachers responsible.

I am just curious, do they force Christian girls in Iran to ware the hijab too?

October 9th, 2011, 12:39 am

 

Ali said:

During a funeral in the city of Duma terrorists fired at the mourners and attacked a law enforcement checkpoint located in the neighborhood… An eight-year old child was martyred. 3 law enforcement personnel injured.

A pro-government family was found slaughtered by the terrorists in the city of Taftanaz… The father, the mother and their three children.They were all slaughtered as a punishment because of their support for the Syrian president Bashar Al-Asad.

October 9th, 2011, 12:39 am

 

Ghufran said:

Haytham,
I am just tired of all the lies,the polarization and the killings. The question is not whether we need to change the regime or not,the question is how.
The other issue is how to handle armed thugs who are loyal to whoever pays more. The old story that every murder in Syria is committed by the government is not believable any more.
الله يرحم الشهيد مشعل و يلعن من قتله أيا كان

October 9th, 2011, 1:07 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

تكريس مفهوم الانتماء الوطني السوري في الوعي والسلوك الاجتماعي من خلال تمتيـن أواصر الإخوة التاريخية والشراكة بين كافة قوميات ومكونات المجتمع السوري, وان يكــــون الحوار السياسي السلمي طريقا وحيدا لبناء الوحدة الوطنية كحاضنة للتنافس السياسي الحر .
من أواخر ما قال الشهيد البطل مشعل تمو .. غفر الله له وأسكنه فسيح جناته .

October 9th, 2011, 1:07 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

حيوا الثوار العرب من صنعاء الى حلب – توكل كرمان

October 9th, 2011, 1:09 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

Write a comment…

Nadia Carlos
انت مسلم ..مسيحي ..ام انسان ?
هل تعتبر نفسك في المقام الاول مسلم اومسيحي او من باقي الاديان الاخرى ، اوانسان ?
هل تعتبر انتماؤك الى الدين اولا اوالى الانسانيه في المقام الاول ، ثم الدين ?
ان الاجابه تحدد مدى رؤيتك للعالم والتفاعل مع الأخرين ، اذا كان انتماؤك انساني باديء الامر ، سوف تحترم حقوق الآخرين بغض النظر عن اديانهم ، اما اذا اعتبرت الانتماء الديني اهم من كل شيء اخر ، وتفضل الشخص الذي يشاركك نفس المذهب الديني ، وحتى ان كان ليس من مواطني بلدك ، على الشخص الذي تجمعك معه صلة المواطنه وحب الوطن ، اذن انك تكون اخترت السير بطريق تسوده المخاطر الطائفية والكره للأخر ، وسترى نفسك وحيدا مع تعصبك المذهبي وستتورط ربما في نهايته في العنف والكره والاقصاء !

October 9th, 2011, 1:12 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

اغتال شبيحة النظام الاسدي باوامر من اسيادهم المناضل الكردي السوري مشعل التمو ,في جنازة تشييعه خرج مائة الف عربي وكردي واشوري يهتفون بسقوط نظام الاسد وبسلمية الثورة وبالتاخي بين الاديان والقوميات.
هذه هي ثورة الشعب السوري السلمية التي ستطيح بالطغاة والارهابيين الدمويين وتبني سورية الجديدة الديمقراطية المدنية الحرة

October 9th, 2011, 1:14 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

لى من تبقى من شرفاء في منتصف الطريق
by Rafik Helou on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 4:27pm

ليت الخائفين يلزمون الصمت، عوضا عن أن يضعوا في أفواهم تفاهات النظام

مثل الخطر الأسلامي ،المؤامرة على سورية، الحرب الأهلية، الاقتتال الطائفي،

و خطر الفراغ السياسي، و ليتهم يكفون عن إتهام كل من يحاول شيئا بالمتاجرة بالثورة

..

نحن نفهم الخوف، و من أجدر منا بفهم هذا الشعور الذي يجتاح الإنسان

حتى أصغر خلاياه؟ ومن منا لا يفهم أن يكون المرء مهددا في لقمة عيشه وحياة عائلته

وفي وجوده ككل, من قبل نظام من أشرس الأنظمة الديكتاتوريه التي عرفتها البشرية؟

..

و لأننا نفهم الخوف و إن كنا قد كسرناه، فنحن نطلب من الخائفين السكوت لبعض من

الوقت، و من المؤكد ان الشعب سيقدر لهم كل موقف أخذوه يوما ما ضد هذا النظام ،

بالكلمة أو بالفعل. عليهم أن يختاروا الأن، بين تخليد مواقفهم وتضحياتهم السابقة في سجل

النضال الطويل الذي مهّد للثورة, أو الدخول في قوائم العار للذين ساندوا النظام بشكل

مباشر, أو بشكل ملتو بغيض قائم على التخويين والتشكيك و احباط العزائم و المغالطات التي لم تعد تقنع حتى اصحابها

..

يعرف القاصي و الداني، والمواطن البسيط قبل المثقف، ويعرف النظام نفسه,

أن هذا النظام لا يُحاوَر، وأنه ماض في القتل الى أن يسقط

..

يعرف القاصي و الداني، والمواطن البسيط قبل المثقف ، أن هذا النظام لو

تركته في مكانه ألف عام، لن يحرر الأرض، لن يبني نهضة، لن يضمن مستقبل أطفال، و لن

يقيم اقتصادا يحصننا ضد المؤامرات

..

يعرف القاصي و الداني، والمواطن البسيط قبل

المثقف ، أن لا خوف من الفراغ السياسي لاننا نعيش الفراغ السياسي ، فبعد أن ألغى كل

أشكال السياسة ، عزف النظام نفسه عن السياسة ،و لم يعد يكلف نفسه عناء الأدلجة، فغابت

عقيدة البعث إلا في المناسبات، وصار يحكم بالجزمة ، وبالجزمة وحدها

..

يعرف القاصي و الداني، أن مشكلة الطائفية لا تحل بالإبقاء على النظام

الذي زرعها و أستثمرها

..

كان النظام وما يزال هو أكبر مؤامرة حُبِكَتْ لإبقاء هذا الوطن ضعيفا،

منقسما، مقعدا، تابعا و مهددا، و الشعب مسلوب الحقوق ومنتهك الكرامة و فاقد الثقة

في قدراته.

كانت المؤامرة، و ما زالت ، هي النظام، هذا النظام.

أقبعوا في خوفكم واتركوا شباب هذه الثورة يبنون غدا أخر . الغد الذي

عقدوا العزم على دفع ثمنه من دمائهم. مغالطاتكم قد تأخر مسيرة الثورة بعض الشيء ،

و ولكنها ماضية الى غايتها بكم أو بدونكم. و هذا المارد لن يعود الى فانوسه يوما ..وهو لم

يخرج منه لتحقيق رغباتكم..بل رغباته

..

وهو ما لم تفهموه بعد

October 9th, 2011, 1:15 am

 

Revlon said:

رياض الشقفة: لم نسمع من تركيا إلا تصريحات.. ونريد أفعالا أقلها الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني وطرد السفير السوري

2011/10/09
الشرق الأوسط
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=34994

تجهد حركة «الإخوان المسلمين» في إبعاد تهمة «التطرف» التي تقول إن النظام يلصقها بها ويستعملها كـ«فزاعة» لإخافة الآخرين وقطع الطريق على الإخوان. ويؤكد مراقبها العام رياض الشقفة أن الإخوان حركة «تنبذ العنف» وتطالب بدولة مدنية في سوريا وبأنها ستخضع لنتائج العملية الديمقراطية، معتبرا أنه «حتى الغرب بدأ يكتشف الآن أن التخويف من الإخوان كان فبركة».

ورأى أن «الغرب يريد الآن أن يسمع الرأي في الإخوان من الإخوان أنفسهم بعد كان يسمع الرأي من الآخرين». لكنه نفى وجود حوار مع الولايات المتحدة حتى الآن، متحدثا عن حوار غير مباشر مع الاتحاد الأوروبي.
وأكد الشقفة في حوار أجرته معه «الشرق الأوسط» في مقر إقامته في اسطنبول: «إن حركة الإخوان لم تختلف عن الثمانينات»، معتبرا أن أحداث حماه «كانت استثناء»، قائلا: «ما جرى كان عدوانا من النظام علينا. لم نكن من افتعل العنف، كانت مرحلة استثنائية اعتدي فيها علينا وجرى ما جرى من أحداث». وشدد على عدم واقعية «المخاوف لدى الأقليات من وصول الإسلاميين إلى السلطة»، طالبا من البطريرك الماروني بشارة الراعي أن «يقرأ التاريخ حتى يعرف كيف أن المسلمين متسامحون مع بقية الطوائف».
وأكد الشقفة أنه لا وجود تنظيميا للإخوان في سوريا، قائلا: «لا وجود لنا على الأرض تنظيميا. نحن فقط داعمون. قد يكون أنصارنا مشاركين مع الناس، نحن جزء من هذا الحراك، لكننا لا نتواجد تنظيميا على الأرض. مؤكدا أن التحذير من وصول الإخوان إلى السلطة هو «من فبركات النظام وكل الأنظمة الديكتاتورية الذين يحاولون إرضاء الغرب بإخافته بالإسلاميين. مؤكدا أن الإخوان مع دولة مدنية يكون فيها أي مواطن جزءا من المجتمع مهما يكن دينه، وله حقوقه وعليه واجباته، وله حريته في ممارسة شعائره. كاشفا عن اتفاق داخل الإخوان، مفاده أنه حتى لو نالوا الأكثرية في المستقبل وحق لهم أن يحكموا وحدهم، فلن يفعلوا بل سيتشاركون مع الجميع حتى يشعر كل واحد أنه يشارك في الحكم. وفيما يأتي نص الحوار:

* كيف تنظرون إلى مجريات الأمور في سوريا؟
– أنا متفائل جدا بأن الانتفاضة السورية سوف تصل إلى أهدافها، وقناعتي هذه نابعة من إصرار الشعب السوري. الشباب لن يعودوا إلى بيوتهم إلا بعد تحقيق ما يصبون إليه. فالشعب مصر، رغم كل القتل والقمع على عدم التراجع لأن «الرجعة فجعة»، فالرجوع لن ينتج إلا زيادة في القتل والتنكيل والإرهاب الذي يمارسه هذا النظام.
أملنا هو الاستمرار في المظاهرات السلمية، ونؤكد على كلمة السلمية.

* ما هي خططكم لإسقاط النظام؟ نحو 7 أشهر مرت الآن ولم تحققوا ما تصبون إليه؟
– هناك بعض المؤشرات، كالانشقاقات التي تحصل في الجيش. في الجيش شرفاء كثر، وكلما زاد القمع زاد ظهورهم. وأنا أتوقع أن تزداد تلك الانشقاقات مع استمرار القمع. لسنا نحن من فجر هذه الثورة، فالشعب هو من فعل، وإصراره سيسقط النظام إن شاء الله.

* أنتم، الإخوان المسلمين، كنتم العنوان الرئيسي الذي حمله النظام مسؤولية التحركات..
– لا وجود لنا على الأرض تنظيميا. نحن فقط داعمون. قد يكون أنصارنا مشاركين مع الناس نحن جزء من هذا الحراك، لكننا لا نتواجد تنظيميا على الأرض. وكل ما نقوم به هو الدعم السياسي والمعنوي والإعلامي، ونقوم بالدعاء، وأحيانا بعض الدعم اللوجستي. فالناس التي تنتفض على النظام بحاجة إلى من يشد أزرها. هناك آلاف الشهداء والمعتقلين والمهجرين، وعوائلهم بحاجة إلى الدعم لكي يعيشوا وترتفع معنوياتهم. لا يوجد أكثر من هذا. فلا تنظيم لدينا في الداخل لكي ننظم ونقود وما إلى هنالك.

* المقربون من النظام يحذرون من وصولكم إلى السلطة، فهل هم محقون في ذلك؟
– هذا من فبركات النظام وكل الأنظمة الديكتاتورية الذين يحاولون إرضاء الغرب بإخافته بالإسلاميين. وهذه الفبركات انتهى دورها ولم تعد تنطلي على احد. نحن منذ عام 2004 أصدرنا برنامجا سياسيا حول كيفية الحكم في سوريا وأي بلد آخر. نحن مع دولة مدنية يكون فيها أي مواطن جزءا من المجتمع مهما يكن دينه، وله حقوقه وعليه واجباته، وله حريته في ممارسة شعائره. وحتى لو أخذنا الأكثرية في المستقبل وحق لنا أن نحكم لوحدنا، لن نفعل، بل سنتشارك مع الجميع حتى يشعر كل واحد أنه يشارك في الحكم، وهذا متفق عليه. حتى الغرب بدأ يكتشف الآن أن التخويف من الإخوان كان فبركة. الغرب يريد الآن أن يسمع الرأي في الإخوان من الإخوان أنفسهم. في البدء كان يسمع الرأي من الآخرين والآن يريد الغرب أن يسمع من الإخوان مباشرة.

* تقول إن موضوع الحكم متفق عليه، مع من؟
– هذا متفق عليه من داخل الإخوان. نحن الفزاعة، وهذه الفزاعة رأيها أن لا تقصي أحدا، وأن تتعامل مع جميع المواطنين على نفس السوية. هذا رأي الإخوان الذين يخوفون الناس منهم وبهم.

* هل من اتصالات مع الولايات المتحدة أو دول الغرب الأخرى؟
– لا يوجد اتصالات مع الولايات المتحدة أو حوار حتى اليوم. هناك حوار يجري مع الغرب من ضمن جمعية سويسرية للحوار الإنساني. هذه الجمعية تعمل على الحوار بين الإخوان والغرب. وقد طلبت هذه الجمعية من كل فريق من الإخوان حول العالم إرسال مندوب. وقد فعلنا. وتجري هذه الجمعية حوارات حول فكر الغرب والإخوان. لكن لا يوجد اتصالات مباشرة مع الغرب.

* ما الذي اختلف في الإخوان منذ أحداث الثمانينات وحتى اليوم؟
– حركة الإخوان لم تختلف، أحداث الثمانينات حالة استثنائية. الإخوان منذ إنشائها على يد الدكتور مصطفى السباعي رحمه الله، هي حركة منفتحة على المجتمع. في العهود الديمقراطية شاركت في الانتخابات ودخلت في المجالس النيابية.
موضوع الديمقراطية أصيل عندنا.
أكثر من ذلك، في حماه اذكر أن قائمة الإخوان المسلمين كان فيها شخص مسيحي يدعى إيلي نصور كان ينزل في القائمة دائما.
ما جرى في الثمانينات كان عدوانا من النظام علينا.
لم نكن من افتعل العنف، كانت مرحلة استثنائية اعتدي فيها علينا وجرى ما جرى من أحداث.
الآن نحن كما كان منشئ الحركة منفتحون على دولة مدنية، وملتزمون العملية الديمقراطية أي نقبل بنتائج الانتخابات، وننبذ العنف.

* أتقول أن وثيقة عام 2004 ليست انعطافة في تاريخ الإخوان؟
– ليست انعطافة، بل تأكيد. قد لا تكون هناك دراسات جديدة حول هذا الموضوع، لكن مؤسس الحركة كانت لديه كتابات كثيرة في هذا الموضوع.

* يقال إن الأقليات في سوريا ستكون في خطر في حال وصول الإسلاميين فيها إلى السلطة؟
– الطوائف الأخرى، هم شركاؤنا في الوطن.
كما ذكرت سابقا عن النائب ايلي نصور الذي انتخب في حماه، علما أن حماه منذ الأساس هي مدينة متدينة حتى إنه كان يقال إن أعضاء حزب البعث فيها هم «إخوان مسلمين»، بمعنى أن التدين كان طاغيا فيها. لكني لم أكن أشعر أيام الديمقراطيات أن جاري كان مسيحيا.
والدي كان شيخ الشافعية في حماه، وقد تعرفت على مطران حماه في منزلنا. كان يزورنا في عيدنا ونزوره في أعيادهم.
من أوجد الشرخ هو هذا النظام، وأنا أظن أنه لو حكم الإسلاميون ستعود روح التسامح إلى المجتمع.
ومنذ فترة قريبة عقدنا في القاهرة ندوة شارك فيها مسيحيون وعلويون، وأصدرنا بيانا مشتركا لهذه الغاية نؤكد فيه على التعايش بين الطوائف وأننا كلنا أبناء وطن واحد لا تفرقة بيننا.

* لكن هناك مخاوف وهذا ما عبر عنه المسيحيون، وتحديدا البطريرك الماروني بشارة الراعي وبطريرك الروم الأرثوذكس أغناطيوس الرابع هزيم! – أنا أطلب من البطريرك الراعي أن يقرأ التاريخ حتى يعرف كيف أن المسلمين متسامحون مع بقية الطوائف. هذا النظام هو من كرس الطائفية.

* ألا ترى أن مخاوف الطوائف الأخرى مبررة؟
– ليست مبررة. النظام يريد أن يخيف الآخرين لقطع الطريق على الإخوان.
* لماذا برأيكم يتخذ المسيحيون هذا الموقف؟
– لا أعرف، هذا ما يجب أن يسألوا عنه. لو جرى بيننا حوار لقلنا لهم إنه ليس هناك ما يبرر هذه المخاوف. وأتمنى أن يجري بيننا حوار. فارس الخوري كان أهم رؤساء الوزراء في سوريا وقد كان رئيسا للحكومة 3 مرات. ولأنه كان كفوءا، فقد قدمه المسلمون عليهم في السلطة.

* ما هي دقة ما يشاع عن انقسامات وخلافات في داخل الإخوان؟
– لا يوجد انقسامات. الخلاف في الرأي طبيعي في كل الأحزاب والتنظيمات. لكن في نهاية المطاف المرجعية هي مجلس الشورى وما يقرره نسير عليه جميعا.

* ما هي طبيعة العلاقة بين الإخوان في سوريا وبقية التنظيمات الإخوانية؟
– هي علاقة تكامل وتشاور وتنسيق وتبادل الأفكار، لكن لا يوجد بيننا روابط تنظيمية.

* وماذا عن العلاقة مع تركيا التي يقال إنكم حصانها الأسود؟
– نحن لسنا حصانا لأحد.
قرارنا مستقل، ونتعاون مع الجميع ومنفتحون عليهم.
هناك حوارات بيننا وبين الأتراك، ينصحوننا ونضعهم في صورة أوضاعنا لا أكثر.
لا أحد يستطيع أن يلزمنا برأي ومرجعنا الوحيد مجلس الشورى، وهم لم يحاولوا أن يفرضوا علينا شيئا.

* ما الذي تستطيع تركيا أن تقوم به بالنسبة للوضع السوري؟
– نحن نستمع إلى تصريحات رئيس الوزراء رجب طيب أردوغان بأن النظام في سوريا فقد شرعيته وبأن الوضع في سوريا قضية داخلية.
لكننا لم نر بعد شيئا على أرض الواقع. نتمنى على الأتراك القيام بنشاط دبلوماسي لتأمين الدعم للشعب السوري.
ونتمنى أن تقوم تركيا بالعمل على عزل هذا النظام، فلا يجوز أن يبقى نظام يقتل شعبه ممثلا في المجتمع الدولي كأي نظام آخر.
يجب على الدول أن تسحب سفراءها وتعزل هذا النظام حتى يتوقف عن عمليات القتل. بقاء الدول متفرجة وإطلاق تصريحات ليس لها أي ترجمة على أرض الواقع أمر لم يعد مقبولا.

* ما هو وضع المعارضة السورية الآن بعد إنشاء المجلس الوطني؟
– هذا المجلس كان مطلبا وطنيا داخليا، ومطلبا دوليا أيضا. الشعب السوري كان يلح على المعارضة للتوحد، والمطلوب من المجلس الوطني أن يتحرك لدعم الثورة في العالم بقوة. كانت الوفود السورية التي تذهب إلى دول العالم تواجه بنداء واحد هو «اتفقوا وتوحدوا» الآن وقد فعلنا هذا، سنرى مصداقية الدول التي كانت تطالب بوحدة المعارضة.

* ما هو المطلوب من هذه الدول؟
– أن تعترف أولا بالمجلس الوطني، فهذا من شأنه أن يرفع معنويات الشعب ويؤثر على معنويات النظام سلبا.

* تريدون الاعتراف بالمجلس ممثلا شرعيا ووحيدا؟
– نعم، ممثلا شرعيا ووحيدا للشعب السوري. فهذه الدول تقول إن النظام فقد شرعيته، فمن إذن يمثل الشعب فيه؟ لنضرب مثلا تركيا، كونها الجارة وأقرب الناس إلى سوريا. أردوغان قال أكثر من مرة إن النظام فقد شرعيته. نحن نقول للأتراك إننا فعلنا ما علينا بتوحيد المعارضة وننتظر منهم خطوات إيجابية أقلها الاعتراف.

* الاعتراف بما يعنيه من طرد السفراء؟
– نعم، فتح مكتب شرعي للمجلس وإقفال السفارة السورية. وكل ما من شأنه أن يثبت أن المجلس هو من يمثل وأن النظام فقد شرعيته، حتى يتوقف عن القتل.

* لماذا غابت «هيئة التنسيق» عن المجلس الوطني؟
– لقد دعيت هيئة التنسيق إلى المجلس، لكنهم لم يحضروا. هم معارضة، ونحن نحترم رأيهم. الخلاف بيننا وبينهم هو أنهم يرون ضرورة إبقاء الحوار مفتوحا مع النظام. أما نحن في الإخوان وفي المجلس الوطني، فنرى أن هذا النظام لم يعد يصلح للحوار. إنه فاقد للشرعية، وحتى للأخلاق والمبادئ. هم ما زالت أيديهم ممدودة للحوار مع النظام رغم رفضه لهم. النظام يجري الحوار مع نفسه فقط.

*هناك من اتهمكم في المجلس بأنكم تتلقون تمويلا أميركيا..
– تعودنا على هذه الاتهامات والفبركات من أبواق النظام، أما أن يستخدمها بعض المعارضين، فهذه قضية تلفت النظر. نحن لا نباع ولا نشترى وتمويلنا من ذواتنا، ومن رجال الأعمال المؤيدين. هذه اتهامات لا نقف عندها ولا نلقي إليها بالا. ونتمنى على المعارضين الذين يلقون بها إذا كانوا صادقين مع أنفسهم أن يتجنبوا اتهام الآخرين من دون دليل.

* رفعتم شعار «الحماية الدولية»، فكيف يمكن أن يترجم هذا المطلب على أرض الواقع، في حين أنكم تصرحون برفض التدخل العسكري الخارجي؟
– الأمر يحتاج إلى مختصين، ويجب أن يحال الموضوع إلى لجان قانونية مختصة لبحث كيفية تعامل المجتمع الدولي مع نظام يقتل شعبه.

* لا يبدو أن هناك أملا كبيرا في مساعدة من الخارج، في ظل الموقف الروسي والصيني؟
– نحن ما زلنا في بداية الطريق. ننتظر من الدول الأخرى المصداقية بالاعتراف بهذا المجلس لأنه سيكون ضربة قاسية للنظام. سنشكل وفودا تجوب العالم كله تطرح قضية الشعب السوري وتطلب الاعتراف.

* ما حجم التجاوب العربي معكم؟
– إلى الآن لا تجاوب. هناك بعض التصريحات التي نقدرها كتصريح الملك عبد الله والتصريحات القطرية. لكن إلى الآن لم يتلق الشعب السوري الدعم من أحد.

* تتحدثون عن سلمية الثورة، لكن هناك من في المعارضة من يطالب بالثورة المسلحة باعتبارها الدرب الوحيدة لإسقاط النظام؟
– نحن نصر على سلمية الثورة. السلمية أكثر جدوى، فتسليح الثورة من شأنه أن يؤدي إلى حرب أهلية ويسقط ضحايا كثرا، كما قد يؤدي إلى تدخل خارجي لا نريده. ونحن نظن أنه إذا كان العالم صادقا ومنسجما مع مبادئه ومارس ضغوطا حقيقية على النظام فسيؤدي إلى إسقاط النظام إن شاء الله.

* وما هو دور «الجيش السوري الحر» إذا؟
– الجنود الذين انشقوا عن الجيش النظامي يدافعون عن أنفسهم بمواجهة هذا الجيش. دفاع المنشقين عن أنفسهم حق مشروع، لكن أن يشارك الشعب أمر غير مقبول. لقد سألتنا مجموعات من الشباب المتظاهرين عما إذا كان عليهم الالتحاق بالمنشقين، فأجبناهم بالنفي. ونحن نحذر الناس من الانسياق وراء العمل العسكري.

October 9th, 2011, 1:29 am

 

Revlon said:

A message from al-Assad!

08/10/2011
By Tariq Alhomayed

http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=26857

Despite Syrian denials of the Iranian Fars News Agency’s report – quoting a senior Arab official speaking on the condition of anonymity – that President Bashar al-Assad threatened Turkish Foreign Minister [Ahmet Davutoglu] that it is within his capability to “set fire” to the entire region in 6 hours, we can suppose that al-Assad’s message has reached its intended recipients in our region.

Of course, Davutoglu has also denied this news, however what is clear – and this is most important – is that this news report is a Syrian – Iranian message to the region and the West, aiming to warn everybody against providing any help towards the toppling of the al-Assad regime.
This is because this news was not reported by any western or Arab news agency, even though it is attributed to a “senior Arab official”, rather it was reported by an Iranian news agency!

To summarize the Iranian Fars News Agency report, al-Assad had shocked Davutoglu by calmly asking him for his “opinion as a diplomat, as to why international powers known for their hostility towards Damascus are hesitating with regards to repeating the Libyan experience in Syria?”
According to Fars News Agency, Davutoglu asked al-Assad “is there any specific message you want me to transfer to Ankara?” to which al-Assad replied “the message that I come with is not just for Ankara, for but many countries, and I want you to transfer this message word for word…if a crazy measure is taken against Damascus, I will not need more than 6 hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv.”
Al-Assad also said that Damascus would call on Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch “an intensive rocket and missile attack on Israel the likes of which the Israeli spy agencies cannot even imagine.”
The Syrian President then reportedly said “all these events will happen in [the first] three hours, but in the second three hours, Iran will attack US warships in the Persian Gulf, whilst the Shiite’s in the Gulf will attack European interests, killing Americans and Europeans around the world.
The Shiites in the Arab world will become a Fedayeen suicide force attacking every available target, as well as hijacking Middle Eastern airplanes.”

The Fars News Agency also reported that al-Assad told Davutoglu that “the US knows that we helped it topple the Saddam Hussein regime because this is what we wanted…and that Syria is the reason that they are embroiled in Iraq today.”
He said “if we wanted to kill thousands of US soldiers we would have done this without hesitation, however Syrian policy has always been one of caution and not playing all our [political] cards at one time” adding that “Damascus is playing [the political game] with good humor.”

I am convinced, as I said above, that even though Davutoglu himself denied this news report, as did the al-Assad regime, the intention behind the Iranian Fars News Agency publishing this report was to send a clear message to the Gulf States and the West, and it enough to consider what happened, and is happening, in al-Awamiyah in Saudi Arabia, or the [Shiite] movement in Bahrain, and so on.
We have become accustomed to this game of media leaks from Iran, whether this is via their own numerous news agencies or television [news] channels.
We have also become accustomed to the al-Assad regime sending messages via certain Lebanese newspapers, and we saw this throughout the famous “S – S initiative” negotiations between Saudi Arabia and Syria over the situation in Lebanon.
However the question that must be asked today is: has al-Assad’s message reached those concerned in the region? We hope so!

October 9th, 2011, 1:37 am

 

ann said:

Protesters want world to know they’re just like us – 10 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/protesters-want-world-know-theyre-just-us-163045706.html

What led Abdullah Pollard to the protests, just months after he became a U.S. citizen, was no less than the dashing of his American dream.

Pollard, 58, came to the United States from Trinidad in 1996, and became a citizen in June. “I didn’t feel empowered as an immigrant,” he said at Wednesday’s march, where he volunteered as a marshal. “Now I am a citizen, and I want to stand up for the downtrodden.”

A father of three adult kids, Pollard was laid off in April from his job in telecommunications. He’s looking for work again but said it’s hard at his age. He feels let down by a country where, he said, “both political parties march to the same drummer — the powerful corporations.”

“You leave your own country and you expect things to be better in America, a step or two up from what you left back home,” he said. “And then there’s this rude awakening.

“America is just not what it used to be.”

October 9th, 2011, 1:42 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

The Mehshi politician thinks that it it is ok to go to the beach and swim and not get wet,it does not work that way.This is the Internet and you are siding with a movement which has almost completely distructed my country and you are trying to neutralize me.you actually spread hate on this site(let us not talk to this guy,let us talk to this guy).you and the people you support will take Syria to dark ages.When you are 100%sure who the killers of mr Tammo are give your evidence otherwise don not spread your lies,we are sick and tired of lies and don’t expect to have the comfort of spreading them without evidence with no challenge .MB and opposition are the most benifited by this killing but a have no evidence so I will just stop and eat mehshi.

October 9th, 2011, 1:52 am

 

Revlon said:

Females of any age are cautioned and advised to stay home and avoid security checkpoints; They risk being assaulted and raped, even if accompanied by male family members!

Disclaimer!
Those who require video confirmation of the attacks and rapes, independant investigation, and and a jury verdict need to skip the rest of this post.

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom

نهيب بالأخوات في سوريا : رجاء القراءة الى النهاية الموضوع بغاية الاهمية..
==============================​========
التزام المنازل وعدم الخروج وحدهن أو حتى مرور الحواجز الأمنية بالليل
ولو مع أزواجهم أو أخوتهم وتجنب استخدام سيارات الأجرة، بسبب اطلاق
الشبيحة و السماح لهم بالاغتصاب و الاعتداء على أعراضنا.
وفيما يلي بعض حالات الاغتصاب الواقعة في الأسبوعين الأخيرين:

ريف دمشق و حمص و ريفها و اللاذقية: أكثر من أربعة و عشرين حالة اعتداء
جنسي على أطفال مدارس في ريف دمشق (الغوطة الشرقية) و ثلاث حالات اغتصاب
لفتيات من دوما و حالة اغتصاب في حرستا، حالة اختتطاف فتاتين من دمشق،
خمس حالات اختطاف مستمر إلى الآن لفتيات في حمص كانت زينب الحصني أحداها،
و حالات أخرى في اللاذقية.. و من المؤكد حتماً أن ما خفي أعظم، و بكثير

(نقلاً عن إحدى صديقات الضحية) ريف دمشق: دوما الأربعاء 5-10-2011
نص المحادثة مساء الجمعة:
اغتصبت فتاة قبل البارحة الساعة 1 ليللا عند حاجز في دوما من قبل 4 حيوانات!!!!
مع انه الفتاة كانت مع عائلتها لكن تم ضرب الأب
والاعتداء على الفتاة
يعني وصلت القصص انه عم يعملوا هيك بالشارع

(نقلاً عن معلمة الصف) دمشق : مساكن برزة : مدرسة التجارة الثانوية
للإناث : الأربعاء 5-10-2011
قامت مجموعة من الطالبات في الاستراحة الأولى الساعة 11 بالهتاف لإسقاط
النظام وانضم لهن مجموعة من الطالبات وفقدت الآنسات السيطرة عليهن ،
فقامت الإدارة بالاتصال بالأمن ، فاقتحم المدرسة العشرات من رجال الأمن
المدججين بالسلاح ، قاموا بالاعتداء على البنات بالضرب والسب والشتم
والكلام البذيء ، وطلبوا من الطالبات من بنات شبيح ان يكتبن لهم اسماء
اللواتي قمن بالهتاف ، وقاموا باعتقال 5 طالبات بعد ان اعتدوا عليهن
بالضرب والسب والإهانة أمام زميلاتهن وهددوا البنات بالاعتداء عليهن
جسدياً وجنسياً

(نقلاً عن أحد أبناء المنطقة من الناشطين على الشبكة) ريف دمشق: دوما: 27-9-2011
خرجت الطفلة (تحفظ الأهل على ذكر الاسم واللقب لما لهذا الموضوع من
حساسية بالغة ) وهي طالبة في المرحلة الإعدادية من سكان دوما ومن أصلاب
أهلها الأصليين ، من بيتها إلى مدرستها لتتعرض إلى عملية اختطاف واغتصاب
قبل وصولها إلى المدرسة
وقد تم العثور عليها بين البساتين المحيطة بالبلدة بحالة صحية حرجة جدا
وعليها آثار الاعتداء والضرب المبرح وتمزيق الثياب والانهيار .

(نقلاً عن أحد أبناء المنطقة من الناشطين على الشبكة) حرستا: ريف دمشق: 29-9-2011
جرى الاعتداء ليلاً على عائلة محافظة عند أحد الحواجز الأمنية و تم ضرب
الأب و سحب الفتاة و اغتصابها من أكثر من عنصر

و قصص اخرى يشيب لها الرأس من هول ما نسمع عن هؤلاء المجرمون الذين يسمون “الأمن”

بالنهاية نقول للرجال الصامتين و الخائفين: هل تنتظرون لتنتهك أعراضكم
حتى تقولوا …لا للظلم….لا للاجرام….؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟؟

October 9th, 2011, 1:54 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@Ghufran #223:

Certainly, not every murder is committed by the regime. However, this one seems to be committed by people who are not afraid from anything.

October 9th, 2011, 2:00 am

 

Revlon said:

Light stuff!
https://www.facebook.com/photo​.php?fbid=10150333851031247&se​t=a.180661131246.127991.177024​61246&type=1

أحد الشباب كان معتقل بأحد فروع المخابرات بالشام
فاإيجى الضابط ليحقق معو مشان الفاسبوك فقالوا للشب : اعترف
فرد الشب : بشو سيدي
قالوا : انك انت اللي مخترع الفاسبوك
فرد الشاب : لا والله يا سيدي هادا واحد حمصي اللي اخترع الفاسبوك مو من عنا بالتنسيقية
المهم غاب الضابط شوي ورجع كان طالع عالتلفزيون خبر وفاة ستيف جوبز الجندلي اللي اخترع الأي فون وانو أصلو حمصي
فرجع الضابط عغرفة التحقيق وقالوا : بدك هلأ تعترف انك انت اللي اخترعت الفاسبوك
لان الحمصي طلع مخترع الأي فون مو الفاسبوك

October 9th, 2011, 2:14 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Revlon
Prior to your terrorist movement cases like this were very rare.Now thanks to your Islamic rats terrorists you have turned some parts of Syria into hell.you take all the credit for that.
You do sound happy when you bring news and lies like that,don’t you?
Over the last few weeks you have been telling us of killing 30 to 40 soldiers every day with great happiness!! don’t they get funerals? And how come you don’t even care when 30 soldiers are dead?don’t you think they are syrians?are they all evil?why?because they have not defector to Turkey? Don’t you have family in Syria, a nephew or a czn ore a neighbor in the army?you don’t mind if they all get killed if they don’t join the Turkish based
Defectors? This is horrible,you are worse than the regime,you have no mercy and you have so much hate and poison in you that all you want is to bite any Syrian who is against you.

October 9th, 2011, 2:16 am

 

Revlon said:

Officer Othman Mooosa, security-in-charge of the office of Maher AlAsad has been reportedly executed by two agents in side M AlAsad’s Palace in Dummar, Damascus!

أموي مباشر – Omawi Live
أموي مباشر #syria •◄ تنسيقيات دوما >> نقلا عن احد ضباط الجيش السوري الحر خبر عاجل : مقتل الرائد عثمان موسى ( أحد مدراء مكتب ماهر الأسد و المسؤول الأمني عن حماية القصر ) داخل المقر الكائن في دمشق – دمر ( التوسع آخر مساكن الحرس الجمهوري ) قصر ماهر الأسد في تمام الساعة 8.30 مساء يوم الجمعة 7/10/وصلنا من مصادر موثوقة تؤكد نبأ مقتل الضابط المذكور داخل المقر بطلق ناري نافذ في الرأس و هروب كل من العنصرين ثائر نمر و ابراهيم ناصر إثر وقوع العملية .
an hour ago

October 9th, 2011, 2:32 am

 

Revlon said:

A light poetry break!

تنسيقية شباب عندان الاحرار

شعر :: أحمد مطر – جرأة مواطن عربي !

قلتُ للحاكمِ : هلْْ أنتَ الذي أنجبتنا ؟
قال : لا .. لستُ أنا

قلتُ : هلْ صيَّركَ اللهُ إلهاً فوقنا ؟
قال : حاشا ربنا

قلتُ : هلْ نحنُ طلبنا منكَ أنْ تحكمنا ؟
قال : كلا

قلت : هلْ كانت لنا عشرة أوطانٍ
وفيها وطنٌ مُستعملٌ زادَ عنْ حاجتنا
فوهبنا لكَ هذا الوطنا ؟
قال : لم يحدثْ ، ولا أحسبُ هذا مُمكنا

قلتُ : هل أقرضتنا شيئاً
على أن تخسفَ الأرضَ بنا
إنْ لمْ نُسدد دَينَنَا ؟
قال : كلا

قلتُ : مادمتَ إذن لستَ إلهاً أو أبا
أو حاكماً مُنتخبا
أو مالكاً أو دائناً
فلماذا لمْ تَزلْ يا ابنَ الكذا ترآبنا ؟؟

… وانتهى الحُلمُ هنا
أيقظتني طرقاتٌ فوقَ بابي :
افتحِ البابَ لنا يا ابنَ الـ…
افتحِ البابَ لنا
إنَّ في بيتكَ حُلماً خائنا !!!

October 9th, 2011, 2:36 am

 

Mina said:

Everytime there was an attempt for a positive step (a speech announcing reforms, the UN veto…) there is an event coming that changes everything and turns the atmosphere to very dark. It has been so since April, and this time it is the Tammo killing.

I see that all the school friends of Tara have been called to click on green thumbs. These FB users are happy to have new apps to play with all the time.

Instead of closing SC, maybe we could simply continue to send to Alex and Ehsani the links to articles on Syria, but keep the whole website as an archive, without a comment section. I simply don’t believe that Syrians can be greeting themselves, laughing and rejoicing at every killing.

October 9th, 2011, 2:40 am

 

Mina said:

Revlon’s comments are disgusting. Half of it is proved false with 24h, and the rest is more or less rumours. The spreading of rumours of rapes has been very much trending in Egypt too, and was carried all along by al jazeera. It is a cheap way for the MB to reach the deepest fears of people, I suspect.

What is the use of thumbs up and down when people start rating “where have you been?”

October 9th, 2011, 2:55 am

 

Mohamed Kanj said:

SAUDI ARABIA SENDING ARMY TANKS AND BATTALIONS TO CRUSH PRO DEMOCRACY PROTESTS

October 9th, 2011, 2:56 am

 

ann said:

Hypocrisy At Its Most Naked – OpEd – October 8, 2011

http://www.eurasiareview.com/08102011-hypocrisy-at-its-most-naked-oped/

Russia and China’s veto of the UN Security Council resolution which condemned Syria over its brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters and contained a weak reference to the possibility of sanctions against Damascus proved (again) one thing – that despite torrents of soaring rhetoric to the contrary by our leaders, international politics is not about doing what is right and in the best interests of all nations and peoples, it’s only about the short-term, short-sighted, political self-interest of leaders and their governments. And the statement by U.S. ambassador Susan Rice, described by the New York Times as “one of her most bellicose speeches in the Council chamber”, was pure, unadultered hypocrisy at its most naked.

But let us first of all be clear about the meaning of hypocrisy (hypocrite is from hypokrite, the ancient Greek for actor). The definitions of hypocrisy are “a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not… the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.” The synonyms for hypocrisy are “cant… dissembling… insincerity… piousness.” The antonyms are “genuineness… sincerity.”

If I was contributing to the updating of dictionaries, I would add another definition of hypocrisy – American foreign policy.

In her statement after Russia and China had vetoed and before she walked out of the Council chamber, Susan Rice said: “The United States is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security.”

This is, of course, the same Susan Rice who will cast the U.S. veto to kill the Palestinians’ bid for Security Council recognition of their statehood (if the bid gets to the Security Council). It is apparently of no concern to her and her master that the Security Council has utterly failed, time and time again, to address the criminal policies of the Zionist (not Jewish) state of Israel, policies which present a far more urgent moral challenge and growing threat to regional peace and security than what Bashar al-Assad’s monster regime is doing in Syria.

Rice also said: “Today the courageous people of Syria can now see who on this Council supports their yearning for liberty and universal human rights and who does not.”

Quite so, madam ambassador, but is it of no concern to you that almost the whole world (of peoples not governments) is aware of who on the Security Council supports the Palestinian yearning for liberty and universal human rights and who does not?

If there was a Nobel prize for hypocrisy, Susan Rice would have to be added to the list of nominees for it along with President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. (Question: What do those two gentlemen have in common? Answer: In the context of targeted assassinations, it can be said that both are cold-blooded killers).

On another matter… The jury in my mind is still out on the question of whether or not professor Shlomo Avineri, the Polish-born Israeli political scientist, is a hypocrite. His most recent article is in Ha’aretz with the headline No realistic chance of permanent Middle East peace. The following is its opening paragraph.

“In his speech to the UN General Assembly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas once again made a common Palestinian mistake: a Palestinian leader does not have to persuade the nations of the world, but rather the Israelis. A Palestinian state will arise only if the Palestinians convince the Israelis that they are indeed ready to live in peace and mutual recognition.”

In theory that makes a lot of sense, but it ignores the fact that most Israeli Jews have been brainwashed by Zionist propaganda and, as a consequence, need to feel threatened, need to believe they are the victims and not the oppressors. Put another way, most Israeli Jews do not want to believe that the Palestinians (the vast majority of them) have long been ready for peace on terms which any rational government and people in Israel would have accepted with relief.

That being so, there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of peace unless and until an American president has the freedom and the courage to use his leverage to compel Israel to end its occupation of all Arab land grabbed in 1967.

October 9th, 2011, 2:58 am

 
 

Adam Neira said:

Prayers for Syria.

Outside military intervention is not an option. All the Syrian factions are going to have to agree to a cessation of violence. The country is an important piece of the Middle East jigsaw puzzle. It should be a platform of stability, order, benevolence and expansiveness. The GDP of the nation can grow by more than 5% p.a. from 2013 onwards if things calm down. From the current base of $5,043 per capita this could rise to $32,000 p.a. by 2050.

October 9th, 2011, 3:42 am

 

syau said:

Revlon,

Have you considered mentioning the rapes of over 400 Syrian women and girls in the Turkish ‘refugee’ camps? I think not, because as unfortunate as it is, it actually did happen unlike the fabrications you enjoy posting.

Why dont you ask yourself that after seven months, and a massive amount of money being poured into this foreign funded revolution of terror, attempts to divide the country and topple the government haven’t and wont been realised, because the MAJORITY of Syrians support President Assad and support him in leading reforms?

Wake up to yourself. Syrians will not allow this terror movement you support take over their country. Although it may be hard for you to accept, the terrorist organisation who calls themselves the Muslim Brotherhood does not belong in Secular Syria.

October 9th, 2011, 3:58 am

 

MNA said:

Tara @ 171

“Sandro

What puzzles me the most is not Bashar’s action, rather Asma and her close family. Bashar is the son of a mass murderer so crime is in his family but Asma isn’t. I indeed have crossed path with Asma many years ago. I would have never though that she will end up that way. Not so much her marriage to Bashar, rather her apparent acceptance of what has come of Bashar. She comes from a “traditional” family. A mother from Damascus and a father from Homs. She was born in England so democracy is not a foreign concept to her. For greed and power to corrupt people like this is beyond my comprehension although I bet this is rather naive to say. The history is full of similar examples. Unfortunately her education did not make her fair better than the Tunisian former hairstylist.”

I agree history and life in general is full of similar examples. I bit you that you would have never believed it in million years for Tara to be calling for sanctions, no fly zone, foreign intervention etc.. against her own country. People make all the justification to justify their own positions.

October 9th, 2011, 4:02 am

 

Mina said:

As usual the expats commenting from their sofa in the US are following Lebanese news more than the Syrian and Iraqi ones.
Here are two good articles from SANA English:
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/09/374286.htm
(on Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in Palestine and Jerusalem, Atallah Hanna, supporting reforms and confronting the external conspiracy to destabilize Syria)
and
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/10/09/374276.htm
on the necessity of dialogue (but did you notice, everytime there is a big event planned, some rumours of shaykhs having been killed, or some actual killing of important figures take place and make it impossible.
I suggest the dialogue should be by phone and through the internet, to avoid the traps of the so called “friends of Syria abroad”.

I still believe that Maher’s people and a bunch of criminals in the mukhabaraat have “nothing to lose” and will fight it to the end instead of ending up in a jail, but that Bashar never gave orders to shoot of the protesters. Ford and others presence is actually a caution to protect Bashar.

October 9th, 2011, 4:08 am

 

Mina said:

MNA

Don’t be fooled, Tara is a “sock puppet”, and a honeytrap. Nothing of what he writes could be written by a woman. The mere insistance on “shoes”, “kitchen”, “my kids”, “shopping”, “ballerine”, “Iranian women”, should alert you.

It showed up straight when the so called Lesbian of Damacus blogger (another sock puppet, see http://bookmaniac.org/chasing-amina/ ) disappeared from screens. Some students get an income this way.

Just go through his posts since April and you will be amazed at the number of contradictions.

October 9th, 2011, 4:14 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Occupying Syrian embassies in Europ and lifting up Kurdish flags on them is a clip in the future of what is coming to Syria .Same applies to lifting Kurdish flags in mr Tammo’s funeral.MB and Opposition puppets should be ready to face the new reality:Syrian politics are dirty…from the get go Kurds are declaring this country as Kurdistan ,what are you going to do ?how can Alisslam be the resolution her?Put your heads in the sand and blame it on Assad..Kurds are separatist by nature,in all the countries they live in.Kurds HATE MB,they also hate Turkey,killing mr Tammo by whoever is not going to create Kurdish-Turkish-MB love.Historically many Kurds are no religious and high percentage of kurds were communists,so naturally any religious Islamic movement will not be a good match for them.Kurds in Syria want what Iraq Kurds got:Pashmarka,flag,parlaman….almost a country inside a country …that is just short term..long term they want the big Kurdistan

October 9th, 2011, 4:45 am

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

I have no idea why you guys are obsessed with Tara,
On the other hand
SNK, it’s the regime thats ruining your country. It killed off competition in markets, multiple freedoms, encouraged corruption, augmented the brain drain etc…
How do you think we felt when we saw rami makhlouf illegally taking over the milk industry in late 2010?? Or the fact that rami is building tall hotels in areas where 3 floors is maximum? Or when raid seif was imprisoned for speaking out on the telecom bid, or when we have difficulty finding a place to park because some military officer reserved 6 places for him, or when our high school curriculum is still from the 80’s, I could go on for hours. But I hope you got my point, the assadists ruined our country, all what your seeing now is the anger of a myriad of syrians asking for change besho can’t deliver.
All,
What ghufran is saying could be very true,
We automatically jump to conclusions when some one is killed and blame the regime, I’m very careful after zeynabs story, however why were 5 plus mourners killed by the regime?? I mean fine, the regime could’ve not killed timo but why did they kill his mourners? If I was a murderer denying I killed some one I are wouldn’t kill people at his funeral. A new motto is appearing all over revolution pages on facebook : غباؤكم ينصرنا. Which literally means your idiocy is making us win.

October 9th, 2011, 4:50 am

 

Mina said:

SGNLD
How do you see the region in 5 years? Could anything emerge from a local revolution, from some local events? Aren’t the destiny of Iraq Syria and Lebanon, not to mention Turkey, Iran and Jordan, linked?

Why should the Arab spring be limited to the non-alined? Why not hoping for a Kurdish spring and a Palestinian spring?

Do you really think the West will admit a Kurdish and a Palestinian spring, now that the djinn is out of the box? Wouldn’t the MB, on the ground, and the UN, on the borders, be a way to keep a hand in the future design of the area?

October 9th, 2011, 4:55 am

 

Mina said:

Very interesting picture of a pro-Syrian revolution demo in Lebanon:

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/10/portrait-of-usama-bin-laden-in-tripoli.html

(nice portraits of Aroor and Ben Laden, for those who still think no one knows who is Aroor)

I start to regret Bush, he would have bombed Wesal TV a long time ago.

The interview of Haytham Manna also passed unnoticed in this comment section:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria%E2%80%99s-manna-ghalioun-and-trinity-successful-revolt

And a special link for Akbar Palace, about the use of water in Palestine
http://www.btselem.org/jordan_valley/water

Hamster: you live in Lala land, next time there is a 51 versus 49 percent election in Canada, call for a no fly zone and I’ll bring you weapons. There was NOT 50 percent of the population in the street in March or April, and most places in Syria live a normal life.

October 9th, 2011, 5:18 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

It is all in the Family

I still believe that Maher’s people and a bunch of criminals in the mukhabaraat have “nothing to lose” and will fight it to the end instead of ending up in a jail, but that Bashar never gave orders to shoot of the protesters. Ford and others presence is actually a caution to protect Bashar.

So you are either living in your own little piece of LALA land, or you are protecting a pathetic man who can’t even rule over his little kid brother to protect the people of his own Syria Al-Assad farm. I am impressed by how much you men7ebbak love Syria and wish her well if this is the type of person and dysfunctional family you want to continue ruling Syria in the name of stability. What a shame, I thought you are rational person. I am disappointed.

Speaking of disappointment, if you are betting the farm on Bashar, I can tell you from now, you will lose, and he will surely disappoint you. He is the master of disappointing people, especially those who try to really help him. Nothing good can be expected from a confirmed narcissist like him. The man can’t even take a stand against a cousin whose actions can be said to have started the whole debacle for the mafia family, or probably he just doesn’t want to. Either way, he is an unfit fool.

Finally, ever asked yourself, who is ANN?….

Garlic

SNK from previous thread

You don’t need more garlic. G… bags like you self generate their most important product.

Ever since you showed up, you have never failed to find an opportunity to mention, teenage-like, all sorts of bodily functions and body wastes. What level of education do you really have? Most of those who clicked thumbs up for this type of messages are hypocrites who would probably reprimand their own toddler or teenage child if their verbal communication included some of the imagery you have constantly used. But here, in the safety of internet perceived anonymity, proud pseudo intellectuals on your side have been all the happy to indulge your immature body-functions obsessions.

And by the way Mr. Genius, its is betho’s tanks and soldiers who are distructing the country, not the protesters.

So, Mr. body functions, it seems now you have found a new enemy in the Kurds of Syria. What an arrogant generalization the kurds are separatists . Well, the man of whose murder you have been trying very hard to weasel your beloved “stability” regime out was no separatist, he was far more Syrian than your chauvinist Baathists and their mindless supporters and I would argue far more deserving of leading Syria than the narcissist fool your words try to protect.

October 9th, 2011, 5:19 am

 

873 said:

SNP,

Sorry so late with this. Here is a video with former long time Forbes Mag far east asia bureau chief Benjamin Fulford on Haarp and Fukushima. The pointed, targeted pounding of vulnerable terrain in the run up to 3/11/11 follows the exact pattern of Haarp’s pounding of El Hierro if you compare the graphs. But Hierro 10,000+ earthquake swarm suddenly began in mid July out of nowhere. (At least in Japan it was explainable due to Japan’s extreme seismicity- Canaries have never been in that extreme geo-risk category). There have even been plasma balls spotted above Teide, Hierro and La Palma- but every single one of those videos has been removed.
Odd, just like the CO2 monitors
Word is that Canaries have mini haarp installations too.

October 9th, 2011, 5:36 am

 

uzair8 said:

Was the AJE live Syria blog hacked by Syrian Electronic Army?

One comment:

“Time of the hacking death is 9:48 GMT, the hacking lasted for 15mins. Wow…that will go down in history….NOT!!!”

October 9th, 2011, 5:37 am

 

some guy no longer in damascus said:

“SGNLD
How do you see the region in 5 years? Could anything emerge from a local revolution, from some local events? Aren’t the destiny of Iraq Syria and Lebanon, not to mention Turkey, Iran and Jordan, linked?”
it really depends on how things are going, if syria isnt dragged into the abyss by the regime, syria could have a great future. we could learn alot from the turks. most of these nations are linked to each other, and having stable, democratic and civil states will encourage each other.

“Why should the Arab spring be limited to the non-alined? Why not hoping for a Kurdish spring and a Palestinian spring?”
because of our leaders( all arabs) awful management , the Palestinians are weak, we failed them the most. and syria DAB wont be able to support them. perez said it in 2006:” the syrian army is old and weak” as for the kurds,
im all for greater autonomy in Kurdish inhabited areas but with a common foreign policy, this however is not why the people in the arab dominated areas are asking for, but if this revolution succeeds , it wont be taboo if some kurdish activists ask for autonomy( kinda like a catalonia-spain situation) no one will punish them.
“Do you really think the West will admit a Kurdish and a Palestinian spring, now that the djinn is out of the box? Wouldn’t the MB, on the ground, and the UN, on the borders, be a way to keep a hand in the future design of the area?”
i really beleive the west wants a kurdish state( with great opposition from turkey) , it will serve the divide and conquer policy great, imagine what a syria with an israel in the south and a kuridstan with an Israeli alliance in the north will look like.
as for Palestine, im very pessimistic about their situation, because we arabs failed them. all we can do is provide the limited support we can.
everybody,feel free to criticize me.
on another note:
i cant believe people fell for aboud’s Emmanuel goldstein, has any one read any George Orwell?? he is like the best author on autocratic states. read his 2 amazing books 1984, and animal farm.
if you dont like reading, watch the movie V FOR VENDETTA.

October 9th, 2011, 5:55 am

 

uzair8 said:

Words of Wisdom: Be with Allah

By Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi

To all people involved in the Syrian and Arab revolutions; to political leaders struggling for their peoples and to all Muslims under oppression:

This is the right time to come back to Allah, the time to repent and return to Him and the time to beseech Him; as this is the key to our relief and the means for us to be given the authority of our ancestors and be true heirs to them. “Who else will answer the call of the distress, lift hardships and appoint you as inheritors of the earth?”*

Everyone should know that adversities are results of our sins and that repentance is the way to remove them. We need to also remember that all things are under the power of Allah. We have to take action as He commanded us yet with reliance on Him and after returning to Him and believing that He is the only one who could benefit or harm us, not this man or that. This was clearly stated by the Greatest Prophet, our master PBUH when he said, “You should Know that if all people tried to extend to you a favour, they would not be able to extend but what Allah predestined for you; and similarly, if all people tried to cause you any harm, they would not be able unless Allah predetermined it against you.
So be with Allah through reliance, with His Decree through contentment with it; with His command by executing it and with His creation by having mercy on them. Do not let means and actions stop your belief that Allah is the Creator of the causes and the effects; nor allow people’s harm to you make you obsessed with them.

Allah suffices for you, if you stand at His door as a servant, as He clearly promised, “Is Allah not enough for His Servant?” Read the rest of the verse to find the answer to your current dilemma “and they intimidate you with others who are far less powerful than Him.” So, do not fear other than Allah as long as you are a true servant of Allah: If you are with Allah, Allah will be with you; if you run to Allah, you will be safe from everything else; if you seek support with His Signs you will superior

In as much as calamities reveal man’s true mettle and virtue; they demonstrate the essence of his belief, contentment, and reliance. This is one of the most important purposes of adversities as Allah Almighty said, “We will try you to reveal who amongst you truly struggles and is patient; and to disclose your states – to others.” Then Allah says, “the unbelievers who prevent people from the path to Allah, disobey the Messenger, after guidance was made clear to them, will not cause any harm to Allah; Allah will foil all their misdeeds.”

http://www.facebook.com/shaykhabulhuda

October 9th, 2011, 5:56 am

 

uzair8 said:

This is interesting. Shaykh Yaqoubi supports the revolution even though he belives what follows will be worse. Listening to some Scholars one could become confused.

Sheikh Imran Hussein who specialises in end-time prophecies etc warns of these uprisings even calling revolutionaries of Libya as ‘cattle’. Sheikh Nazim also questions what the revoltionaries are calling for (other than Islam) and warns that what will follow would be worse although he does say the leaders should step down if the people dont want them.

See next post:

October 9th, 2011, 6:14 am

 

uzair8 said:

Q & A on the Mahdi and the Sufyani

Muhammad Idrisi asks: Is there any ease after this hardship or problems will increase till the advent of imam Mahdi, enlighten us may Allah reward you with every good. Please make du’a for us; and how to be of the soldiers of the Mahdi, if we live till his time. And what is the way to attain true love for the Family of the Prophet not as a claim?

Answer of Shaykh… Al-Yaqoubi, may Allah preserve him:

Time if full of unrest and hardships; the Sufyani has not yet appeared and Allah is the one who knows; imam Mahdi will emerge only after him; yet between the two, there are wide wildsin which the Jewish people would have power over the land of Sham, which is part of the job of the coming Sufyani. If I had the choice, I would have withdrawn from all public activities; but the dress of shari’a puts on us the obligation to support the oppressed and clarify the rulings, even if we know through the reality that what comes after is worse. Having knowledge of the Divine decree to be should not prevent us from following the command of the shari’a; so long as Allah put us in the position of fatwa, admonishment and guidance. Remember these words, as we rarely express it in this clear way.

http://www.facebook.com/shaykhabulhuda

October 9th, 2011, 6:15 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

PEACE REFUSING HAMSTER
You have refused peace,that is not so (hamstry),that is ok.no more peace,you are selecting as a hamster the same way your scorpions friends in the opposition path: no peace.Do you get happy when you see Kurdish flags on your countries embassies,is that a friendly act? You clearly have no insight at all about the Kurdish politics and you are living in a deep hole and have no idea of what is going on on the surface of the earth.
You don’t argue subject and all you care about is to insult your opponents with collateral issues.you know very clearly that Syria last year was much better than this year,can you guarantee to me that once your Erdogan puppets gets installed in Damascus it is going to be better.your friend Revlon the snake should go in history is the biggest liar,he knows and you know that Syria before you destroyed it was very safe country,you could walk in the street in the middle of night with any money on your pocket and no one will bother you.Rape,Hijacking,cutting heads…are all introduced by your terrorists friends.you are going no where and this Syrian nightmare will be behind us,and Syria will be better and stronger.

October 9th, 2011, 6:16 am

 

Mina said:

Uzair 257
I was waiting for something like that. I have a Yemeni friend, slightly ikhwanjiyya, and she is in Sanaa now. She sounds very surprised that with all of them praying like crazy since january and who basically have not since the age of 5 ever missed a fard prayer, that still Allah did not grant them a success.
You were probably among the people who thought that if the Palestinians were in such a misery, it is because they deserved it?

Kullu ma taqtarib bi madhhab, tabta’ad min ad din
kullu ma taqtarib bi din , tabta’ad min Allah.

October 9th, 2011, 6:25 am

 

uzair8 said:

@261 MINA.

I do believe that we deserve the leaders we get. Our religion warns us of this.

About Palestine (Jerusalem). It could be that muslims strayed from their religion and God Almighty took away from them unity, power, security and Jerusalem. A once mighty power now finds itself in humiliation with Jerusalem snatched away from us.

October 9th, 2011, 6:35 am

 

Mina said:

Uzair
“Our religion” is an answer that excludes a lot of people.
Strange that no one is interested in discussnig Haytham Manna ‘s statements about the so called council.

sgld

i quote you
“it wont be taboo if some kurdish activists ask for autonomy( kinda like a catalonia-spain situation) no one will punish them.”

ah ah, not even the Turks? you prefer to forget they bomb Kurdish ‘activists’ on the Iraqi side of the border every week.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2011/Oct-09/150831-turkish-police-block-mass-kurdish-protest.ashx#axzz1aHOevTpn
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3193612.html
(hard to find an article with the actual number of dead and casualties:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/21/Turkeys-war-against-Kurds-could-widen/UPI-52911316622817/

in paragraph 1 you praise the Turks as a model to follow (in the deification of Ataturk or whoever you’ll find?)
in paragraph 3 we are more cautious about the Turks
in paragraph 4 you seem to have no clue about the Palestinian efforts engaged on the international scene since they announced they were going to candidate for a seat at the UN, last winter.

October 9th, 2011, 6:40 am

 

Revlon said:

د . موفق السباعي : عبثية الثورة السلمية مع قاتل مجرم سفاح مصاص الدماء

2011/10/09
د . موفق السباعي
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=34997

إنه لشئ طيب ، وعمل جليل وعظيم ، أن ينطلق الضعفاء والمقهورون والمظلومون والمستعبدون ، فيكسروا قيود العبودية ، ويحطموا أغلال الذل والهوان ، ويمزقوا استار الخوف ، ويتحدوا طغيان الطاغوت ، واستبداده وجبروته ، ويقولوا له ولجنوده وزبانيته ، بصوت عال وبالفم الملآن ، نريد الحرية ، نريد العزة ، نريد الكرامة ، الموت ولا المذلة ، ثم يتلقى هؤلاء الأحرار ، هؤلاء الشرفاء ، هؤلاء الأبطال ، الرصاص الحي بصدور عارية ، وأيد خاوية ، لا تحمل سوى لافته الحرية ، والعزة والكرامة ، فيسقطوا مضرجين بدمائهم الطاهرة الذكية .

وأن يتكرر هذا المشهد البطولي الخارق يوما بعد يوم ، وأسبوعا بعد أسبوع ، وشهرا بعد شهر ، ولسبعة أشهر ، وشلال الدم يزداد في التدفق والجريان ، والطاغوت يزداد في الإجرام والتنكيل ، والتمثيل في أجساد الشهداء الأبرار ، ولا يرعوي ، ولا أحد في هذا العالم يأخذ على يديه ، ويوقفه عن التمادي في الإجرام ، وسفك الدماء ، والتعذيب ، والقتل ،

هذا المشهد المتكرر ، يتطلب إعادة النظر في نهج هذه الثورة السلمية ، التي إذا ما استمرت بهذا الشكل ، تصبح ثورة انتحارية .

إن الثورة السلمية مؤثرة ومفيدة ، حينما تحدث ردة فعل مناوئة للطاغوت ، من قوة محلية أو اقليمية ، أو دولية ، تضغط عليه وتجبره على الرحيل ، كما حصل في الثورة الإيرانية في عام 1979 وفي الثورة الرومانية في عام 1989 والتونسية والمصرية في عام 2011 .

وبعد إطلاعي المفصل على هذه الثورات الأربع من مصادر مختلفة ، وجدت أن أعظم ثورة ، بل هي الثورة الوحيدة ، التي نجحت في خلال أسبوع واحد فقط ، ولم يسقط فيها من الضحايا إلا ألف شخص أو يزيدون قليلا ، وأحدثت تغييرات وتحولات جذرية في المجتمع الروماني من نظام شيوعي استبدادي ، إلى نظام ديموقراطي ، وهي الثورة الوحيدة التي تمكنت من إعدام الطاغية تشاوسيسكو وزوجته فورا بعد محاكمة ميدانية سريعة ، وليس كما في مصر ، تجرى محاكمة طويلة لحسني ، وقد لايصدر حكم بالإعدام أبداً ، وأذكر في ذلك الوقت أن الأسد الأب قد استنفر كل قواته على أهبة الإستعداد ، تخوفا من انتقال شرارة الثورة إلى سورية ، غير أن هذه الشعلة سقطت في البحر المتوسط قبل أن تصل إلى سورية مع كل أسف مع أن الإحتقان ، والغضب الشديدين ، والتعبأة العامة في النفوس ، كانت قوية ، لأن مذابح حماة كانت حديثة العهد ، لم يمض عليها سوى سبع سنوات فقط ، ولكن قدر الله تعالى كان ألا يحظى جيل تلك الأيام بشرف الثورة ، وذلك فضل الله يؤتيه من يشاء من عباده .

ولمن يريد أن يمتع ناظريه ، ويشفي غليله برؤية كيفية إعدام تشاوسيسكو وزوجته ، ويحلم ويصمم ، ويصر على إعدام بشار وجميع أفراد عائلته ، صغارا وكبارا ، رجالا ونساء ، دون أي تمييز ، فالمجرم يجب أن يُستأصل هو وجميع جذوره ، ولو كانوا أطفالا ( ولا تأخذكم بهما رأفة في دين الله ) فكما قتلوا أطفالنا ونساءنا ، فالحكم الإلهي يقتضي القتل بالمثل ، فتقتل أطفالهم ونساؤهم ، ولو تعلقوا بأستار الكعبة ( واقتلوهم حيث ثقفتموهم ، وأخرجوهم من حيث أخرجوكم ، والفتنة أشد من القتل ) ، قلنا لمن يريد أن يمتع ناظريه ، فليضغط على هذا الرابط

http://el3sery0.p2h.info/vb/showthread.php?t=1255

وبالمقارنة بين الثورة الرومانية والسورية ، نجد أن هناك عاملين أساسيين ، أديا إلى نجاح الثورة الرومانية بسرعة منقطعة النظير ، وبتكلفة قليلة هما:

1- خروج الشعب بأكمله في المظاهرات ، وخاصة في العاصمة بوخارست ولمدة أسبوع كامل بالرغم من أنها بدأت في مدينة تبعد عن العاصمة 350 كم تدعى تيميشوارا.

2- إنضمام الجيش بأكلمه إلى المتظاهرين بعد أيام قليلة من المظاهرات ، وهو الذي أصدر حكم الإعدام في تشاوسيسكو وزوجته ونفذ هذا الحكم فورا .

هذان العاملان – مع كل أسف – غير متوفرين في سورية إطلاقاً ، حيث أن أكثر من نصف الشعب لا يزال يتفرج على إخوانه يذبحون ، وهو يأكل ويشرب ، ويتمتع بالنزهات والنوادي الليلية ، والملاهي وخاصة في قلب دمشق وحلب ، اللتين تشكلان الثقل الأساسي والمفصلي في قوة الثورة ، فلو أن هذا العامل لوحده توفر للثورة السورية ، لأحدث فرقا كبيرا ، ولأسرع في انتصارها ، غير أن سبعة أشهر من المذابح والجرائم ، لم تهز قلب هذه الفصيلة من المخلوقات الخائفة المرعوبة ، الجبانة المشبعة بحياة الذل والعبودية ، وما أعتقد أن سبعة أشهر أخرى ، ستحرك فيهم ساكنا خاصة ، وأن زعيمي هاتين المدينتين البوطي وحسون ، قد طبع على قلبيهما ، فمن باب أولى أن يطبع على عامة هاتين المدينتين ، علاوة على أن معظم الجيش السوري منحاز إلى الطاغية ، وهو الذي يقوم بقتل الشعب ، وهدم البيوت على رؤوس أصحابها.

والذي يتأمل الثورات العربية الثلاث – التي قيل أنها نجحت – بتحليل دقيق ، ورؤية ثاقبة ، ونظرة عميقة ، يجد أن الثورة الليبية هي الوحيدة التي انتصرت ، بشكل كامل على الطاغوت البائد ، واقتلعته من جذوره ، وتسعى الآن ، إلى تطهير ليبيا من كل رجالاته وأعوانه ، بينما – للأسف – في تونس ومصر ، لم يُقتلع إلا الرأس ، ولكن جذوره لا تزال تنمو ، وتتكاثر وتفرخ ، ولم يتغير إلا شئ بسيط ، فلا حياة نيابية حصلت ، ولا رئاسة وزراء منتخبة حصلت ، ولا رئيس جمهورية منتخب حصل ، بالرغم من مضي أكثر من ثمانية أشهر على التغيير .

فإذا كان السوريون يطمحون ويتطلعون إلى زوال رأس النظام فقط ، مع بقاء جذوره ومخلفاته وفضلاته ، كما حصل في تونس ومصر ، فيا خسارة الدماء التي سالت ، والضحايا التي قتلت ، والمعتقلين الذين عذبوا ، ولا يزالون يعذبون ، والمهجرين الذين شردوا من ديارهم وأوطانهم ، خاصة وأن جذور النظام متشعبة ، ومتغلغلة في أعماق الأرض السورية ، أكثر بمرات عديدة مما هي في تونس ومصر

October 9th, 2011, 6:41 am

 

Mango said:

attention to 254. 873
الأسلحة المناخية و الزلزالية عمل بها في 1976 في الاتحاد السوفياتي
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEiGmt1QFfY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jV6Dhza2G0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gzOS9qSBQA
من قبل العالم السيد جباروف الذي أغتيل بسلاحه الشخصي في جنوب أفريقيا و مساعده المقيم حاليا في تل أبيب
بعد انهيار الاتحاد السوفياتي تبنت الولايات المتحدة فكرة H A A R P و
أنجزتها في موقع مناسب في الاسكا , و عملت بعدها على استخدامها عدة مرات في هاييتي و تسببت بحدوث موجات حر و حرائق في موسكو حيث التهمت النار المحاصيل الزراعية في روسيا العام الماضي !

October 9th, 2011, 7:01 am

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

Mina,
You are right.
So let me correct myself,
We have a lot to learn from turkey because it is better, albeit it is not 100 percent right.
This is why I recalled the Spain-Catalonia situation. A lot of catalans are asking for independence and the central government in Madrid isn’t bombing them.
Do you agree?
Im very conscious about the recent Palestinian efforts, but what good are they. Israel doesn’t abide by international law, so even if Palestine does gain statehood, it won’t change much or at all. No nation recognizes the golan as Israeli but it is still infact a part of Israel.
Let me repeat my self: the Israelis have to be more thankful to the Arab dictators than to their “IDF”‘ , american support, and their ethnic democracy .

October 9th, 2011, 7:14 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ uzair8

“About Palestine (Jerusalem). It could be that muslims strayed from their religion and God Almighty took away from them unity, power, security and Jerusalem. A once mighty power now finds itself in humiliation with Jerusalem snatched away from us.”

You are an example of everything that is wrong with the Middle East today. This fatalistic attitude that everything is in the hands of god and that “what will be will be”, is a big part of why the region is so underdeveloped. Religion should be a private matter, it should not form the basis of policy making.

I don’t think you realise just how pathetic you sound.

October 9th, 2011, 7:33 am

 

Mina said:

SGNLD
The difference being that Catalonia and Spain are both part of a bigger entity called Europe (this is what I point at when I say can we solve the ME problem without bigger entites.. in a way that’s in process now with the Syria-Iraq-Iran agreement), and otherwise they might well have the same kind of relation as the Basquese ETA and Spain. At the moment, Catalonia is probably better off with being part of Europe and keep a hope of recapitalisation of its banks.

As for Palestine, it will make a big difference. It means the possibility to put complaints in international courts. But no doubt the newspapers did not insist on that. It means the drawing of land, waters, and international waters (the hot issue since oil was discovered in the sea off Gaza).

Uzair,

I’ll return your point: God is punishing the Muslims for the poor status they have ended up giving to women (while I do believe that in the 7th century, Islam was actually offering laws that were quite feminist, compared to what was the legal situation of women in Hidjaz-Ethiopia-Yemen at the time). The zulm that the society is witnessing of itself ends up as a self-imposed zulm…

Jad,

You mentioned yesterday the closing of the Jordan and Turkish borders: hopefully, it might be a step to arrest the squad that has killed Tammo? Or it is a way to prevent more death-commandos to get in (now that we see every positive step, such as the Brics + Russia/China at the UN, followed by an escalation).

October 9th, 2011, 7:44 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Safe Place

SNK
You obviously have not been reading local press and newspapers before the uprizing. Crime rates, especially violent crime was on an alarming rising trend in Syria. Armed robberies were increasing substantially, rape incidents, especially of younger girls, was on the rise, and theft was becoming a common issue every day along with murder. All of this after Betho inherited a country that was so repressed by his dad that the rate of crimes committed by the citizens was among the lowest in the world. Crimes committed by the protected members of the Mafia have always been under reported if at all.

Under the Assad Mafia, especially during the enlightened x-box years, Syria earned a high place regionally as a major concern country for human trafficking as well as a key hub for drug trafficking. Abuse of foreign domestic workers by high society was/is rampant, and social fabric has become more fragile than the shroud of Turin. In the meantime, when a big drug bust happen, news would sure to surface that someone in the mafia and their extension was not receiving their greedy cut. Later, your safe regime released all of the violent criminals and drug smugglers, hence swelling the ranks of Shabbee7a by thousand violent offenders with no moral compass.

So spare us your indignation and Don’t go yapping about how safe syria was. Safe neighborhoods were those where drug kingpins and regime big shots had their own guards. Even then, the residents needed protection from the guards themselves, especially those guarding drug kingpins in Aleppo. Your regime has received these kingpins as pillars of Aleppo Society. Off course it would, the cousins of its head are the biggest of kingpins in the country. As I said before, it is all in the family.

Here is a little piece about your Safe Syria.

Crime Wave in Northeast Syria
Syria Media Report, 15-May-09
By IWPR – Syria Press Monitor
15 May 09

High unemployment rates are leading to an increase in crime in the northeastern province of Al-Hasaka, said a May 10 article on the All4Syria website.

The website predicted that crime rates could increase further if unemployment continued to rise.

After visiting a criminal court for minors and police stations in the area, the article’s author Hasan Baro said he was shocked by number of crimes recorded so far this year.

Law enforcement officers told him they were so overwhelmed by the work that they could not go home and rest during the holidays.

Policemen said petty thefts of bicycles, sheep and goods were common, as well as more serious armed robberies.

Baro explained that a severe drought affecting farming areas for the past few years has made it difficult to find jobs, prompting the current crime wave.

The author accused the government of failing to invest in development projects in Al-Hasaka, adding that official neglect of drought-hit villages had forced many people to leave.

Before you yapp about All4syria,
Here is anotherone showing how destructive to the social fabric of a country is living under the Assad’s safe Tyranny for 40 years.

Many Children Reportedly Victims of Violence

15-Oct-09
By IWPR – Syria Press Monitor
15 Oct 09

A recent survey by an official body showed that a large proportion of children in Syria were victims of various forms of physical and moral violence, an October 10 article in the pro-government magazine Black and White reported.

The survey conducted by the Syrian Committee for Family Affairs showed that around 83 per cent of the 4,000 children interviewed were subjected to physical violence.

The magazine did not give the age range of the sample nor how the survey was conducted.

More than half of those children had been slapped, pulled by the ear, hit on the soles of the feet or kicked several times.

The study revealed that it was mainly the children’s parents who practiced violence against them starting with fathers, then brothers and mothers. Some teachers also adopted violent attitudes towards their students.

At least 46 per cent suffered from marks on their bodies and 18 per cent had been wounded and more than a third had bruises or swelling as a consequence of physical violence, the survey said.

It added that 83 per cent of the children were first subjected to violence at an early age.

Also, more than a quarter of the children surveyed were victims of sexual harassment, the study said.

Some children suffered from verbal abuse, being occasionally severely scolded, cursed or treated with contempt and disdain, it added.
———–

In conclusion, don’t go yapping about us not discussing issues. We have done so many many times, but you, drunk with the cool aid of the myth and lie of a reformer bully, refuse to see the reality. I always wonder what kind of blinders you guys here on SC are you using in addition to a strangely concocted image of modernity and a selfish, detached from society image of what a decent country should look like.

October 9th, 2011, 7:51 am

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

#142 Syrialover (who sounds like a straight-up anti-Syrian) says: “It’s about the economy, stupid”. It applies every time to every election everywhere, always. It’s also fuelling the Arab Spring uprisings. And if a genuine oppostion uses that slogan in a true election, the Assadists…. [will lose the election].

#157 DFGIB says in a similar vein: “I am sure that when people are presented with a credible plan for getting this country back on track they won’t be voting for Assad.” I’ve already explained why I disagree with that full sentence from DFGIB, but let me reiterate that the sentence’s first half is still very hypothetical. To illustrate:

Date 6 Oct 2011. A organization called “National Coordination Body to the forces of Democratic and National Change in Syria”, in a statement read out by its secretary-general Hassan Abdul-Azim, said it espouses the principle of national democratic change and a transition to a parliamentarian democratic leadership, and has stepped up its demands to topple the “security and tyrant regime.” The statement went on: “It’s too late to talk about reforming the regime due to its insistence since the eruption of the uprising to use violence and security and military solutions… in addition to brutal torture and wide arrests.” Banners inside the meeting hall read, “yes to the collapse of the security tyrant regime,” and “No to foreign military intervention … no to violence and no to sectarianism.” http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/06/c_131177091.htm

Thus, that organization is (a) still sincerely thinking that ordinary Syrians can be talked into going out onto the streets in very big numbers to chant for unconstitutionally toppling the regime, (b) still not talking about competing in next year’s parliamentary elections, and (c) still not talking about the economy. I say it’s a recepie for total failure.

I also insist, and I trust the regime and its security forces to insist, that the only way we’re going to have “Democratic and National Change in Syria” is by the 2012 parliamentary elections followed by the 2014 Presidential election.

The election is not going to be about the economy because, for one thing, the Opposition is devoid of fresh and saleable economic ideas; and in the unlikely event they did come up with something worthwhile and popular, the regime would appropriate it for itself. On questions of the economy, nearly all of the captains of industry are (and are going to be) supporting the Assad’s party. So are the Trades Unions. When we have the captains of industry, the trades unions and the government all reading out of the same prayer book, and we have an opposition with no real experience in economic development matters, I can’t see how the Assad’s party could get beaten on that issue. But anyway the election is not going to be about the economy. All signs say the Opposition is going to emphasize “tyranny” and “corruption”. (I already posted on this board some months ago about the regime’s exposure to the corruption allegation, but the post does not come up at google search — why not?).

Of the seventeen points I made at #121 above, here’s my favourite:

(17) Syrian society is dominated by a sociologically broad Establishment that covers all geographic parts of the country, nearly all religious sects, all age groups, all professional occupations, all big private enterprises, and the State. This Establishment has had only one political party for decades. Today it shows no inclination towards internal dissent or devisiveness such as would create two parties within one Establishment (such as the Western countries have).

As I see it the parlimentary election campaign will consist of sundry semi-anonymous and semi-disreputable dissent parties campaigning against the Establishment party. With that view, I must expect the Establishment party to win by at least as wide a margin as Mubarak’s party used to win by in Egypt under somewhat similar circumstances.

That reminds me of a totally different point, coming to mind by mention of Mubarak’s Egypt. I assume you know the place the MB and similar parties had in Egypt’s political landscape over the years. I now believe Syria’s political landscape is not going to see the appearance of a similar thing, because the Syrian Establishment — specifically the better educated Sunnis, who are the sole arbiters of this matter, I believe — have “opted for secularism to promote national unity”. A quasi-religious party would lack support from the society’s Establishment and would carry the millstone of sectarianism around its neck. Syria’s Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun recently said this year’s new legal ban on religious political parties is harmless to religion, a view with which I fully agree. You may well say that just because the Establishment has accepted that this is going to be Syria’s way, it does not follow that the wider masses have or will accept the same. You could be right. But I believe the masses will follow the Establishment. More fundamentally, I believe an Establishment is established.

October 9th, 2011, 8:02 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Regretting the killing of Mishaal Tammo, the regime released Nawwaf Al Bashir

October 9th, 2011, 8:04 am

 

Revlon said:

A father seeks refuge in Turkey; His 16 year old son undergoes torture in a regime’s prison, while his other 13 year old boy went hiding.

تحقيق :أب سوري يفر الى تركيا بعد سجن احد نجليه واختباء الاخر

2011/10/08
انطاكية /تركيا /رويترز/
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=34944

مع ايداع احد نجليه السجن في سوريا واختباء الاخر ادرك ابو محمد البالغ من العمر 45 عاما ويعمل صائغا ان الشرطة السرية التابعة للرئيس السوري بشار الاسد تتعقبه لذلك ودع زوجته قبل اسبوعين واغلق
متجره وفر الى تركيا

وابو محمد مجرد واحد من الاف السوريين الذين فروا عبر انحاء الحدود منذ بدأ الاسد حملة دموية على الاحتجاجات المناهضة للحكومة قبل سبعة اشهر وقصته ليست فريدة
وقال ابو محمد //اتيت لانهم بدأوا يقتفون أثري// في اشارة الى قوات الامن السورية
واضاف //لم يتبق شبان في سوريا فهم اما في السجن او فروا الى دول اخرى النساء والمسنون فقط هم من تبقوا في القرى//

ويقول انه منذ ترك منزله في اللاذقية على الساحل الشمالي لسوريا قرب الحدود التركية لم يتحدث الى زوجته لان خطوط الهاتف مراقبة وابنه البالغ من العمر 13 عاما مختبئ في مكان ما في سوريا

وقال ابو محمد انه لم يكن امامه من خيار سوى الفرار بعدما اعتقلت قوات الامن ابنه البالغ من العمر 16 عاما خلال احتجاج مناهض للحكومة وعذبته

واضاف ابو محمد //اخذوا طفلي ولم يسمح لي بزيارته الا مرة واحدة لم اتعرف على وجهه بسبب التعذيب اضطررت للفرار الى تركيا//
وكان مكتب حقوق الانسان التابع للامم المتحدة قال يوم الخميس ان عدد القتلى في سوريا ارتفع الى اكثر من 2900 منذ بداية الاحتجاجات المطالبة بالديمقراطية في مارس اذار ويقول نشطاء ان الافا اخرين اختفوا او سجنوا

والصحفيون الغربيون ممنوعون الى حد بعيد من تغطية الاحداث في سوريا لذلك يصعب الحصول على تأكيد مستقل لعمليات القتل وروايات القمع الوحشي

وتنفي حكومة الاسد بشكل عام اي تقارير عن انتهاكات حقوق الانسان وتقول انه ليس امامها من خيار سوى استعادة القانون والنظام
وبدت الكابة على وجه ابو محمد لكنه كان حريصا على التخلص من همومه وهو يصف مشاهد قوات الامن وهي تقتل الرجال والنساء رميا بالرصاص في بلدته

وقال //رأيت بعيني رأسي امرة تقتل بالرصاص بينما كانت تنشر الغسيل خارج نافذتها لقد شاهدت اشخاصا يقتلون بالرصاص لدى خروجهم من المسجد بعد ادائهم الصلاة
//هؤلاء الاشخاص لم يكن معهم اسلحة وكانوا ابرياء تماما الجنود السوريون دخلوا قرية بدباباتهم وبدأوا اطلاق النار دون سابق انذار//
ويحتمي ابو محمد في احد المخيمات الحكومية الستة في اقليم هاتاي على الحدود السورية والذي يشترك سكانه في الروابط الثقافية والعرقية مع جيرانهم العرب

وتقول الحكومة التركية انه يوجد نحو 7600 سوري يعيشون في المخيمات حتى مطلع الاسبوع ولا تشير تركيا اليهم على انهم لاجئون بل تصفهم //بالضيوف// قائلة ان بوسعهم المجئ والذهاب كما يشاؤون
وفي حين تحاول الحكومة ابعاد وسائل الاعلام عن المخيمات للحفاظ على امن السكان سمحت لرويترز بدخول نادر الى احد المخيمات الاسبوع الماضي
وينام الرجال والنساء والاطفال في المخيم الذي يؤوي نحو الف شخص في خيام نصبت داخل مبنى مهجور في حين تعمل الخيام المنصوبة خارجه كفصول دراسية مؤقتة ويجري توفير التعليم من المستوى الابتدائي الى الثانوي
وداخل احد الفصول ردد الاطفال قائلين //مرحبا كيف حالكم// باللغة التركية التي تعلموها حديثا واغلب المدرسين من المنطقة المحلية لان كثيرا من سكان اقليم هاتاي الذي كان جزءا من سوريا في وقت من الاوقات يتحدثون كلا من التركية والعربية
لكن بينما يخرج الاطفال للعب في الفناء في الخارج متناسين فيما يبدو محنتهم يجلس الرجال على المقاعد في احباط وملل

واحضر ابو ماجد /46 عاما/ اسرته بأكملها من جسر الشغور في شمال سوريا بعدما بدأت الشرطة التردد على منزله يوميا محذرة اياه من مغبة المشاركة في الاحتجاجات
وقال ابو ماجد //عندما بدأت الاحتجاجات كانوا بأتون الى منزلي كل يوم ويقولون /اذا شاركت في هذه الاحتجاجات فسنودعك السجن/ فاض بي الكيل واتيت الى هنا
//الوضع في سوريا سيء جدا بالامس كان الجيش يطلق النار عشوائيا على الناس//

وابلغ ناشطون وشهود هذا الصيف عن قيام قوات الامن التي تستخدم قنابل الغاز المسيل للدموع وطائرات الهليكوبتر باطلاق النار على الحشود في جسر الشغور وابلغت الامم المتحدة عن عمليات اعتقال عشوائية في المنطقة
ووصل ابو سيف وهو طالب جامعي من اللاذقية عمره 24 عاما الى المخيم قبل نحو اربعة اشهر وناشد المجتمع الدولي بوقف العنف في بلاده
وقال //اتيت لان الاسد وانصاره يقتلون الجميع حتى الصبية والابقار والحمير

//يجب الا يظل العالم صامتا القذافي فقد شرعيته في عيون المجتمع الدولي في 16 يوما لكن لم يحدث شيء بالنسبة للاسد بعد سبعة اشهر//

October 9th, 2011, 8:19 am

 

Mina said:

Sorry for preaching in the desert, but HAYTHAM MANNA GAVE A LONG INTERVIEW TO AL-AKHBAR.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syria%E2%80%99s-manna-ghalioun-and-trinity-successful-revolt

Syria’s Manna: On Ghalioun and the Trinity of a Successful Revolt

By: Othman Tazghart

Published Saturday, October 8, 2011

Syrian opposition activist Haytham Manna speaks about the “trinity” of a successful revolution in Syria, his take on the newly formed Syrian National Council and his recent fallout with prominent dissident Burhan Ghalioun.

Othman Tazghart (OT): What are your reservations about the recent Istanbul conference? Why have you refused to join the Syrian National Council formed as a result?

Haytham Manna (HM): This Council is the result of an initiative by a group whose identity is connected to one ideology. It was not authorized by the political opposition or the youth movement inside the country. This group spent 55 days promoting the need for such a council on the basis that it will bring the revolutionary youth out of this crisis, solve all their problems, and facilitate material help, international recognition, a no-fly zone, and so on. Over the last month and a half, there have been repeated attempts to introduce Libyan vocabulary into the Syrian revolution. The people who have done this are professionals, they do not belong to any known political group. They call themselves ‘independents’ or the ‘Independent Islamic Movement.’ This group has sought to impose their plan on everyone else from the beginning and they failed in their first two attempts in Istanbul.

There was a joint attempt by all the major political groups to form a ‘National Syrian Alliance’ that would include the real political forces within the country. But the Istanbul group tried to weaken this alliance by appealing to some of its members to join the National Council instead. They claim that the difficult part is forming the council, after which the world would recognize them and facilitate miracles, allowing the revolution to carry on and succeed, while reinforcing the role of the youth in it. Sale of this illusion went hand in hand with attempts to takeover the unified consensus work being carried out between various political movements. It gave the National Council a specific ideological coloring, where the Islamists were granted 60 percent of council membership, when their real weight within the opposition is a fraction of that.

Moreover, this council lacks modesty, because those who formed it assert that they represent the majority in the revolution, including the coordinating committees. They claim that they will save the revolution and change the course of history. This will certainly reflect negatively on them when people discover their real size, the limits of their representation, and their modest means; with all due respect to some who have supported them.

OT: Do you think that making Dr. Burhan Ghalioun, a man with genuine credibility, the president of the council will help guarantee against such pitfalls as militarization of the uprising or foreign intervention?

HM: I have said several times, particularly during my last visit to Tunisia, that the Tunisian revolution gave us three basic principles. The first is the peaceful nature of the revolution. The second is the absence of the idol. There are no idols or individual leaders, only working groups who offer democratic solutions and think in a collective manner and seek consensus and pluralistic mechanisms that respect the efforts of these people while limiting their power. The third principle is the secular nature of the collective movement. This trinity for me is pertinent when it comes to Syria. I do not believe that any one person, whoever they are, can prevent all mistakes, especially when his position changs several times in the last few days. We want to escape the individual dictatorship of Arab rulers, so it does not make sense to devote our work to dictatorship and individualism.

OT: You have close ties with Dr. Burhan Ghalioun. From the beginning of the protests in Syria you have agreed on the peaceful and secular nature of the revolution. What are the reasons behind the differences that have arisen between you lately?

HM: There were no differences until the last meeting in Berlin. Dr. Ghalioun had promised to attend the meeting of the National Coordination Committee in Berlin and we were waiting for him to arrive. We were surprised to find that he had changed course to Istanbul, with no apology, explanation, or even prior notice. We have not spoken since that day. I think that Dr. Ghalioun owes us an explanation. We need to understand why we should offer all these concessions to the Islamists in Istanbul when we are a country with 26 sects, creeds, and ethnic groups.

This means that this is a country where the relationship between religion and the state cannot be dealt with lightly. The Syrian Revolution of 1925 held that “religion is for God and the homeland is for all.” Today, minorities do not play an effective role, so we need a secular discourse to gain their confidence. The Syrian people are believers, but they don’t want any religious ideology to influence their constitution or their future. I wish that Dr. Ghalioun would not take that line. After the Hama massacre in the 1980s, Said Hawa, a major thinker in the Muslim Brotherhood, tried to explain the failures of The Fighting Vanguard, their military wing. He concluded that “the Syrian people love freedom, the republic, and democracy.” I hope that some people do not forget this lesson.

OT: Some are asking, is your opposition to the National Council because of the Muslim Brotherhood’s presence in it or because of the size of the representation they were given?

HM: It is well known that I worked hard to rehabilitate the Muslim Brotherhood with the other political parties in Syria. I facilitated their reconciliation with several political groups. I was one of the most prominent defenders of Islamist prisoners. Therefore, I have no problem with them. I see the Islamists as part of the political geography of all Islamic countries, not just Syria. But I believe that at most, 10 percent of Syrian society supports the Muslim Brotherhood. I do not understand why they are clambering for more representation.

I hope that they will be wise and rational enough to see that it is not in their interest or the interest of the revolution for them to exaggerate their role in the Syrian uprising. It is the dictatorship that is inflating their role to scare off international support. They’re serving this purpose by exaggerating their role at conferences and in the media.

OT: In one of your statements, you described the group who prepared for the Istanbul conference as the “Syrian Washington Club.” There is also talk of American funding of this meeting. What are the motives for this? Is it related to a specific political agenda?

HM: The American administration lost its battle with Hezbollah in Lebanon and with Iran over nuclear power. It is now seeking to turn the Syrian revolution into a sort of proxy war against Iranian influence in the region. It is no secret to anyone that America absolutely does not want to support a revolution which seeks secular democratic change in the Arab world. The democratic Syrian revolution is a true revolution, not a proxy war. There was definitely American funding behind the Istanbul group, official and unofficial. There was also funding from the Arab Gulf states. But I believe that money does not make or break a revolution. It affects revolutions negatively by reinforcing opportunism and conspiracy and weakening the role of the genuine fighters in certain phases. Money cannot change the course of history.

OT: Do you think that the Istanbul meeting and the National Council are in breach of the consensus document signed in Doha?

HM: Istanbul was a complete cancellation of what was agreed upon in Doha. In Doha, it was agreed that the Syrian National Alliance was the prime organizer of all efforts to later set up a Syrian political council. The agreement dictated that leadership for the national alliance should include the most significant political forces, on condition that greater weight be given to the opposition inside the country.

But this was circumvented when the Istanbul meetings were revived, after two failed attempts, by attracting some groups who are poorly represented at home, such as the Muslim Brotherhood and the Damascus Declaration signatories. The Brotherhood’s role in the revolution has been restricted to media work and sending aid, and the Damascus Declaration is no longer the force it once was. Moreover, the most prominent intellectuals behind the Damascus Declaration are now part of the National Coordination Committee and have not joined the Istanbul group.

OT: Are there differences between the Doha agreement and the Istanbul meeting on the issues of arming the revolution and foreign intervention?

HM: I have always sought to develop basic principles on which all the opposition agrees. We began by announcing the Oath of Dignity and Rights on June 17 as a supra-constitutional text that includes the basic principles of the Second Syrian Republic. This is definitely rejected by a large proportion of the Islamists, which is why this essential text was replaced in the National Council by a loose declaration. The National Council’s declaration is not based on a clear political program. All matters were left ambiguous so that each participant could explain them as they wished. One person speaks of military intervention, the other about humanitarian intervention, and another says no to foreign intervention in any form. For us, our program is clear, our loyalties are clear, and our demand for the downfall of the regime is clear. All these matters had been agreed on and there is no ambiguity or disagreement.

OT: How do you view the position of the opposition now? Do you think that differences within it are a type of democracy? Or do they deepen divisions and undermine the unity of the opposition?

HM: The Algerian Revolution was successful despite the fact that there were two separate liberation movements. This means that unity for unity’s sake is not a logical or rational program for change. We cannot accept agreement on any basis, just to preserve unity. The primary objective is a political program and finding common ground to conduct our work. I do not see this as the problem. It is the right of those who joined the National Council to try. Let them see for themselves how far this experiment can go. As for me, I believe it is my duty today to create a strong, civil, national, democratic axis, as it is the only guarantee for the revolution’s success. If the revolution becomes Islamicized, it will fail; if it becomes sectarian, it will fail; and if it becomes militarized, it will fail.

October 9th, 2011, 8:23 am

 

Revlon said:

أموي مباشر – Omawi Live

أموي مباشر #syria •◄ وصلتنا أنباء موثوقة من مصدر عسكري على أرض الواقع في ادلب : الانشقاقات وتبادل اطلاق النار الذي يحصل هناك فوق التصور حتى ان الجيش السوري لايعلم من انشق ومن لايزال معه وانه بعد التسريح الذي حصل في بداية الشهر الجاري صار الجيش في اضعف احواله↓↓..

2 hours ago

October 9th, 2011, 8:33 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ Ya Mara Ghalba

“Thus, that organization is (a) still sincerely thinking that ordinary Syrians can be talked into going out onto the streets in very big numbers to chant for unconstitutionally toppling the regime, (b) still not talking about competing in next year’s parliamentary elections, and (c) still not talking about the economy. I say it’s a recepie for total failure.”

Ok, I just want to make something very clear. Assad may have all the trappings of government, but we both know he lacks legitimacy; he wasn’t democratically elected. So all this talk about how protestors wanting to topple the government is unconstitutional is a load of rubbish. It might well be unconstitutional, but please, the constitution supports a one-part dictatorship, it’s hardly the Bill of Rights. This is what people find so infuriating about your position. You turn a blind eye to what is obvious: the President should not have been locking up political dissidents. I have a friend who spent five years in jail for seeking to set-up an opposition party. He’s not a religious nut, he just thinks the country has been poorly managed.

October 9th, 2011, 8:37 am

 

Revlon said:

20 unarmed, civilian Martyrs, including a 12 year old boy fell vicims to Jr Wa2dulfitnah operation today.
AlFati7a upon their souls,

May God bless their families with solace and empower them with patience.

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom

بلغ عدد شهداء يوم السبت 8/10 عشرون شهيدا :
ريف دمشق :
1- الشهيد امين ياسين خبية من مدينة دوما
2- الشهيد اياد المبيض 26 سنة من مدينة دوما
3- الشهيد عبد الكريم محجوب أبو محمود من مدينة دوما إستشهد متأثراً بجراحه
4- الشهيد محمد الصايغ في مدينة الضمير استشهد تحت التعذيب
حماة :
5- الشهيد جهاد واصل الحسين 25 سنة من قرية جبرين
6- الشهيد مأمون فايز الحسين من قرية جبرين
7- الشهيد عبد المعين السراج ابو رماح
ادلب :
8- الشهيد صلاح طعمة من سهل الغاب التويني
9- الشهيد خلدون محمد ياسين من سهل الغاب التويني
القامشلي :
10- الشهيد إسماعيل عبد العزيز حاجي
11- الشهيد فهد جمعة
12- الشهيد جمال العمر، 67 سنة
13- الشهيد الطفل محمد فواز
14- الشهيد محمد صالح عبدي
15- الشهيد جمال حسين حسين من قرية ناف كوره
16- الشهيد اسماعيل عبد العزيز من عامودا
حمص :
17- الشهيد الطفل عبد المنعم أحمد الكفت سنة12 من دير فول
18- الشهيد عبد الناصر سليم الجندلي من دير بعلبة
19- الشهيد طلال الترجمان استشهد تحت التعذيب
20- الشهيد عبد الناصر سليم النكدلي من دير بعلبة

قال الله تعالى : { وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ }

2 hours ago

October 9th, 2011, 8:45 am

 

Revlon said:

ثلاثة تطورات بارزة في الأزمة السورية

الأحد 12/11/1432 هـ – الموافق 9/10/2011 م
مركز الجزيرة للدراسات
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F44AAD70-17F3-48C2-91B8-45A2329C232A.htm?GoogleStatID=24

بمرور الأسبوع التاسع والعشرين، تشهد المواجهة الطويلة بين الشعب السوري ونظامه الحاكم ثلاثة تطورات بالغة الأهمية، سيكون لها أثر بالغ على مجريات الأزمة الطاحنة التي تعيشها سورية:

تزايد معدلات الانشقاق في الجيش العربي السوري، ونزوع متزايد للضباط والجنود المنشقين إلى خوض مواجهات مسلحة مع قوات الأمن والجيش التي تهاجم الأهالي والمحتجين في المدن والبلدات السورية.
تفاقم الأزمة الاقتصادية – المالية لنظام الحكم.
نجاح المجلس الوطني المنعقد في اسطنبول في توسيع دائرة عضويته، لتضم القطاع الأكبر من قوى المعارضة السورية في داخل وخارج البلاد.
فيما يلي محاولة لقراءة كل هذه التطورات الهامة، وما يمكن أن تتركه من أثر على سياق الثورة السورية والأزمة التي تلفّ البلاد.

انشقاقات وتوجه للعمل المسلح
تدهور أوضاع سورية الاقتصادية
الإعلان عن تشكيل المجلس الوطني الموسع
دلالات واستنتاجات

انشقاقات وتوجه للعمل المسلح

شهدت الانتفاضة السورية، منذ منتصف الصيف، دلائل متفرقة على توجه لحمل السلاح ضد قوات الأمن والجيش. ولكن هذا التوجه ظل مقصوراً على مجموعات صغيرة من السوريين الذين حركتهم على الأرجح دوافع الثأر والغضب. ولكن الاشتباكات المسلحة التي اندلعت منذ محاولة قوات الأمن والجيش اقتحام مدينة الرستن في 27 سبتمبر/ أيلول، والتي استمرت لأربعة أيام، تؤشر في صورة كبيرة إلى بروز بُعد العسكرة في الانتفاضة الشعبية السورية. الحقيقة أن القوات المهاجمة لم تستطع في النهاية اقتحام الرستن إلا بعد حشد مئات الدبابات والعربات المصفحة، وإيقاع دمار كبير بالمدينة ومنازل الأهالي. وتفيد تقارير دوائر المعارضة السورية أن أعداد القتلى تجاوزت المائة.

تعتبر الرستن ومحيطها العشائري منطقة ذات طابع خاص من حيث علاقتها بالجيش السوري، إذ تذكر تقارير أن 17 ألف ضابط وجندي على الأقل من العسكريين ينحدرون من الرستن وجوارها، مما يجعلها واحدة من أهم الخزانات البشرية للجيش السوري. والمؤكد أن العناصر المسلحة التي واجهت اقتحام الرستن تنتمي في أغلبها إلى ما بات يعرف بالجيش السوري الحر، المشكل من جنود وضباط منشقين خلال الأشهر القليلة الماضية، قرروا الانضواء في كتائب منظمة لحماية الأهالي من هجمات قوات الجيش والأمن وميليشيات النظام القمعية. ونظراً للعلاقة الخاصة بين منطقة الرستن والجيش، وأن أعداداً كبيرة نسبياً من المنشقين هم أصلاً من أبناء المنطقة، فربما كان اختيار الرستن لإظهار مقدرة الجيش السوري الحر على المواجهة أمراً منطقياً.

بيد أن ثمة مؤشرات على أن المواجهات المسلحة لا تقتصر على الرستن، فهناك مواجهات مشابهة، وإن على نطاق أضيق، اندلعت في الوقت نفسه في منطقة حماة. وكانت أخرى شبيهة قد سجلت في مناطق أخرى من سورية، لاسيما في ريف دمشق وريف إدلب ومنطقة الحدود السورية – اللبنانية. بعض الاشتباكات نجم عن هجمات خططت لها مجموعات مسلحة، وبعضها الآخر عن هجمات الجيش على مواقع يعتقد بأن الجنود المنشقين تحصنوا فيها، وثالثة اندلعت تلقائياً بفعل انشقاقات جديدة في صفوف الجيش.

على أن منذ بداية الانتفاضة السورية ووسائل إعلام النظام تروج لوجود جماعات إرهابية مسلحة تنشط في أنحاء البلاد، ولكن تلك الادعاءات في الواقع استهدفت تسويغ عمليات القتل والقمع الدموية التي استخدمها النظام ضد جموع المواطنين المحتجين. الحقيقة أن حركة الاحتجاج السورية انطلقت سلمية ولا تزال في تجلياتها العظمى كذلك. المتغير الطارئ على الانتفاضة الشعبية كان حركة انشقاق الضباط والجنود الذين لم تستطع ضمائرهم احتمال الأعباء الأخلاقية والدينية لقتل شعبهم.

بدأت الانشقاقات المعلنة عن الجيش بخروج الملازم أول عبد الرزاق محمد طلاس يوم 6 يوينو/ حزيران. وبعد ثلاثة أيام أعلن المقدم حسين هرموش انشقاقه هو الآخر، وقد أثارت عملية القبض عليه من الاستخبارات السورية مؤخراً قدراً واسعاً من الجدل. وفي 3 أغسطس/ آب أصدر العقيد رياض الأسعد، أرفع الضباط المنشقين رتبة، البيان الأول للجيش السوري الحر في إشارة إلى توجه الجنود المنشقين لتنظيم أنفسهم.

طبقاً لتصريحات العقيد الأسعد (رويترز- 30 سبتمبر/ أيلول)، فإن تعداد الجنود والضباط المنضوين في صفوف الجيش السوري الحر بلغ 10 آلاف عنصر. هذا رقم كبير بالطبع وليس هناك من طريقة للتأكد من حقيقته. ولكن تقديرات أخرى تشير إلى أن تعداد المنشقين المنضوين تحت راية الجيش الحر لا يتجاوز مئات من الجنود انضمت إليهم مئات أخرى من الأهالي المدربين. ولكن هذا لا يمنع أن تكون أعداد المنشقين قد وصلت فعلاً إلى آلاف من الجنود والضباط لم يتخذ جميعهم قرار الانخراط في صفوف الجيش الحر بعد.

في سورية، كما في معظم أنحاء المجال العربي، ليس من الصعب الحصول على السلاح، لاسيما إن كان المسلحون ضباطاً وجنوداً عملوا في القوات المسلحة حتى وقت قريب، وكانت حاجتهم للسلاح تتعلق بعمليات أقرب إلى نشاطات حرب العصابات. ولكن استمرار المواجهات المسلحة واتساع نطاقها سيتطلب توفير إمكانات مادية متزايدة ليس من الواضح كيفية توفرها.

تدهور أوضاع سورية الاقتصادية

في حديث لصحيفة الغارديان البريطانية (29 سبتمبر/أيلول) أشار مدير سلسلة من الفنادق بمدينة دمشق إلى أن فنادقه كانت محجوزة تقريباً بأكملها في فبراير/شباط الماضي لعدة شهور قادمة، لكن كل تلك الحجوزات ألغيت خلال أسابيع من اندلاع الانتفاضة الشعبية.

ويعتقد أن قطاع السياحة السوري، الذي يدرّ على البلاد ما يقارب 8 مليارات دولار في العام قد أصيب كلية بالشلل. حتى السوريون المغتربون لم تعد سوى قلة ضئيلة منهم ترغب في قضاء إجازاتها السنوية في بلادها.

ولا يمثل قطاع السياحة سوى مؤشر واحد على الانحدار السريع الذي يعاني منه الاقتصاد السوري بعد مرور أكثر من ستة شهور على الانتفاضة الشعبية. ففي أغسطس/آب الماضي قال حاكم البنك المركزي السوري (رفضت واشنطن منحه تأشيرة دخول مؤخراً للالتحاق باجتماعات البنك وصندوق النقد الدوليين) إن البنك أنفق زهاء بليوني دولار حتى الآن للدفاع عن قيمة الليرة السورية (من رصيد لا يتجاوز 16 مليار دولار من الاحتياطي الوطني). ولكن الواضح أن جهود البنك المركزي ليست كافية للحفاظ على وضع الليرة التي يتم تبادل 73 منها لشراء اليورو الواحد في قطاع العملات الخاص، بينما السعر الرسمي لا يتجاوز 66 ليرة لليورو.

وتكاد حركة الدولار تتوقف كلية، لداخل وخارج البلاد، في مؤشر للتراجع الكبير في حجم التبادل التجاري استيراداً وتصديراً. وكانت وزارة التجارة والاقتصاد قد فرضت حظراً على استيراد السيارات وعدد آخر من السلع الكمالية، في محاولة لوقف استنزاف رصيد الدولة الاحتياطي من العملات الأجنبية (سرعان ما تراجعت عنه خشية من الأثر التضخمي الهائل للعقوبات الغربية). ولكن المشكلة أن مثل هذا التدهور الاقتصادي يوقف نشاطات الآلاف من رجال الأعمال الذين لم يزل أكثرهم أقرب إلى وجهة نظر النظام منهم إلى وجهة نظر المحتجين. ويقول ناشطون معارضون ومراقبون من داخل البلاد إن العمل في الموانئ السورية الرئيسية وصل إلى أدنى مستوياته على الإطلاق. وبالرغم من أن الدولة لم تزل تدفع رواتب موظفيها بانتظام، فقد فرضت مؤخراً ضريبة إضافية عليهم لدعم ميزانيتها.

بيد أن العبء الأكبر على واردات الدولة سيأتي من العقوبات الاقتصادية والمالية ثقيلة الوطأة التي فرضتها الولايات المتحدة ودول الاتحاد الأوروبي. أحد أبرز العقوبات يتعلق بوقف استيراد النفط السوري الخام، الذي سيبدأ مفعوله في منتصف شهر أكتوبر/تشرين أول الحالي. والمعروف أن سورية تنتج حوالي 400 ألف برميل من النفط يومياً تصدر منها 150 ألف برميل. هذا رقم ضئيل بالطبع بالنظر إلى حجم سوق النفط العالمية، ولن يترك حظره أثراً يذكر على هذه السوق. ولكن بالنظر إلى أن تصدير هذه الكمية من النفط يدر على الميزانية السورية 6 مليارات دولار سنوياً، فمن السهل تصور أثره. أما ادعاء المسؤولين السوريين سهولة وجود أسواق أخرى لتصدير النفط فلا يبدو أن هناك ما يؤيده، إذ أن النفط السوري من النوع الثقيل الذي لا توجد مصافي نفط مؤهلة لاستخدامه سوى في عدد من الدول الأوروبية.

من المبكر بالطبع القول إن الاقتصاد السوري في طريقه إلى الانهيار أو أن مقدرات الدولة قد جفت كلية. ولكن حجم الاقتصاد السوري صغير نسبياً، ولا يتجاوز أكثر من مائة وقليل من المليارات.

وبالرغم من أن تقارير مبكرة أفادت باستعداد إيران لتقديم عون مالي أو قرض للنظام السوري بعدة مليارات من الدولارات، فإنه لم تتوفر حتى الآن أدلة تؤكد هذه التقارير. مهما كان الأمر، وحتى إن كانت إيران تعتزم تقديم مثل هذا الدعم، فمن المؤكد أن المساعدات الإيرانية ستظل محدودة وقاصرة عن مواجهة أعباء النظام السوري. سورية على أية حال دولة بأربعة وعشرين مليوناً من السكان وليست منظمة سياسية.

الإعلان عن تشكيل المجلس الوطني الموسع

يتعلق التطور الثالث في الساحة السياسية السورية بالإعلان في مدينة اسطنبول (الأحد 2 أكتوبر/تشرين أول) عن تشكيل المجلس الوطني السوري في صيغته الموسعة التي تضم القطاع الأكبر من قوى المعارضة والحراك الشعبي بما في ذلك: الهيئة الإدارية للمجلس الوطني التي عملت طوال شهرين من أن أجل تحقيق هذا الإنجاز الكبير، إعلان دمشق، الإخوان المسلمون، التجمعان الرئيسان للتنسيقيات، عدة قوى كردية، شخصيات سورية ليبرالية معارضة بارزة مثل برهان غليون. سيضم المجلس زهاء 230 عضواً تتشكل منهم أمانة عامة من 29 عضواً يمثلون كافة الكتل والتوجهات التي انضوت تحت مظلة المجلس، وهيئة رئاسية من سبعة أعضاء يتداولون رئاسة المجلس لفترة زمنية محددة.

كتب بيان الإعلان عن المجلس بلغة راديكالية ومسؤولة في آن، مطالباً بتغيير جذري وشامل في نظام الحكم ومؤكداً على استقلال سورية ورفض التدخل الأجنبي العسكري. ولكن بيان المجلس أكد في الوقت نفسه على مسؤولية المجتمع الدولي في الحفاظ على حياة السوريين الذين يتعرضون للموت والاعتقال والتعذيب على يد قوات النظام العسكرية والأمنية.

خلال ساعات من الإعلان عن ولادة المجلس، الذي لم تكتمل هيئاته القيادية بعد، انطلقت المظاهرات المؤيدة له في كافة أنحاء سورية، لتستمر طوال اليومين التاليين، ورفعت مظاهرات يوم الجمعة شعار “المجلس الوطني يمثلني”. وبذلك يكون الشعب السوري قد حسم الجدل حول مسألة تمثيل الثورة وتوحيد قوى المعارضة. كما صدرت عبارات ترحيب بالمجلس من الناطقين الرسميين باسم الحكومتين الأميركية والفرنسية. ويعتقد أن دولاً غربية، إضافة إلى تركيا وبعض الدول العربية، ستؤسس خلال الأسابيع القليلة القادمة علاقات اتصال وعمل وتشاور مع المجلس.

وليس ثمة شك في أن تشكيل المجلس يشير إلى نجاح قوى المعارضة، بخلفياتها الإثنية والفكرية والطائفية المختلفة إضافة إلى مجموعات الحراك الشعبي المحلية، في تجاوز عقبة كبيرة أثارت دوماً الكثير من الأسئلة حول ما إن كان بإمكان الثورة السورية أن تتقدم للعالم بعنوان سياسي يتمتع بثقل تمثيلي مقنع. وقد كانت غيبة مثل هذا الجسم التمثيلي مصدر ارتياح كبير للنظام والملتفين حوله.

الآن يجدر بالنظام أن يستشعر قلقاً إضافياً بفعل هذا التطور، قلق لا يقل عن إخفاقه في قمع واحتواء الحراك الشعبي المتسع.

دلالات واستنتاجات

لم يكن خافياً من البداية أن سورية ستكون واحدة من أصعب حلقات ما بات يعرف بالربيع العربي، ومحاولة الشعوب العربية صناعة تغيير تاريخي تحولي في حياتها السياسية. مع نهاية أغسطس/آب بدا وكأن كفة ميزان القوى قد مالت لصالح الحراك الشعبي. ولكن حملة قمع غير مسبوقة طوال الأسابيع التالية، في سياق من الصمت والتجاهل العربي والدولي، أعادت الأوضاع إلى ما كانت عليه في منتصف أشهر الصيف: حركة شعبية غير قادرة على إطاحة النظام الحاكم، ونظام عاجز عن اجتثاث أو احتواء الحركة الشعبية. ما أدى إليه هذا الوضع الارتدادي كان اتساع الفجوة بين الشعب والنظام وتوليد حالة من القنوط في أوساط القوى الشعبية، في وقت تجاوز عدد ضحايا الثورة الثلاثة آلاف قتيل ومائة ألف معتقل.

هذا هو السياق الذي يدفع الثورة السورية إلى وجهة عسكرية، بمعنى التخلي عن الطابع السلمي المطلق للثورة والتوجه إلى حمل السلاح للدفاع عن النفس. التجلي الأهم والأبرز لهذا التوجه يتمثل في تنظيم الضباط والجنود المنشقين عن الجيش، والذين تزداد أعدادهم في صورة متسارعة، أنفسهم كقوة مقاتلة.

ليس من السهل بعد تقدير المدى الذي يمكن أن يصل إليه هذا التطور في مجريات الثورة السورية، أو قدرة الجيش السوري الحر على الصمود. ولكن في حال اتسع نطاق هذه الظاهرة فلن تساهم فقط في انهيار النظام ومؤسسات القمع التي يرتكز إليها، ولكن أيضاً في تفاقم المسألة الطائفية، فالمؤكد أن كل الضباط والجنود المنشقين حتى الآن هم من المسلمين السنة.

من جهة أخرى، وفي مقابل تصاعد حملة القمع الدموي التي يتعهدها النظام، والتي نجحت حتى الآن في منع التظاهرات من تكرار ظاهرة مئات الألوف التي عرفتها حماة في منتصف الصيف ومنع رياح الثورة من الوصول إلى وسط مدينتي دمشق وحلب، فإن خسائر النظام على الصعيدين الاقتصادي والسياسي تبدو فادحة. تشير التقديرات إلى أن الاقتصاد السوري في طريقه للانكماش هذا العام بمعدل 2 بالمائة على الأقل. أما إيرادات الدولة المالية فستتعرض لضربات مؤلمة بفعل: انهيار السياحة، تراجع معدلات الإنتاج والتصدير، العقوبات المفروضة على النفط السوري، كما على نشاطات شركات ومؤسسات سورية مملوكة لمقربين من النظام.

أما على الصعيد السياسي، فقد نجحت قوى المعارضة والحركة الشعبية في تأسيس مجلس وطني موحد، مما سيسهم في المزيد من عزلة النظام. وإن كان الفيتو الروسي–الصيني المشترك ضد مشروع القرار المقدم لمجلس الأمن الدولي ضد سياسات النظام السوري يعني أن الموقف الدولي لم يزل عاجزاً عن تقديم عون ملموس للشعب السوري، فذلك لا يجب أن يكون مصدر ارتياح كبير للنظام في دمشق. هذا الفيتو ليس سوى توكيد جديد على انقسام القوى الكبرى من المسألة السورية، وليس على تحسن المناخ الدولي للنظام. ما ينبغي مراقبته الآن هو مدى استعداد الدول العربية للتعامل مع المجلس الوطني السوري.

October 9th, 2011, 8:59 am

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

“specifically the better educated Sunnis, who are the sole arbiters of this matter, I believe — have “opted for secularism to promote national unity”.

If everyone is given the vote then it is no longer important what a small elite think. Their vote counts no more than someone else’s.

You mention Mubarak, but I would proffer Erdogan as a better example. All that needs to happen is for some moderate figure to follow his lead. The one complaint you hear time and time again on the streets of Syria is that there is no longer a middle class. These industrialists that you speak of are despised by the average person. And let’s be clear here, it is the average person that matters because there are many more of them than there are rich industrialists.

I can think of some policies for an opposition party:

National service for everyone. You don’t get to go to Dubai for a few years and then come back. Neither can you pay some General USD 10,000 to get out of it.

Everyone pays tax, even rich industrialists.

A free press. That means that you can not only criticise ministers, but also the President. And we don’t want to hear all this crap about how someone has ‘weakened the country’s resolve’ or some other rubbish. A culture of investigative journalism needs to be encouraged.

An overhaul of the education system; an English literature exam should not be multiple choice.

Again, all the opposition has to do is point out the many failures of the current government. You say that Assad will be able to appropriate the opposition’s polices. Yes, he could do, but not with any credibility. Why would you vote for someone who has failed so miserably in the first place?

October 9th, 2011, 9:03 am

 

Som guy no longer in damascus said:

Mina,
I was not discussing whether it is good to secede or not, I was discussing about the right to demonstrate , exert efforts and ask for secession. The Turks are hosti

October 9th, 2011, 9:15 am

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

Mina,
I was not discussing whether it is good to secede or not, I was discussing about the right to demonstrate , exert efforts and ask for secession. The Turks are hostiLe about this issue, but the spaniards acknowledge the right for catalans to gather in favor of secession.
About Palestine,
How many UNSC resolutions are anti Israeli? What did Israel apply of them? Even if the international court did rule in favor of Israel, they would dispute thisJust like the golan.

October 9th, 2011, 9:22 am

 

Husam said:

1) Crossed the Beirut-Damascus border like a charm last week. No hostility, no stories, same old. No one, I mean no one gets checked. There is no random checks (ie. US-Canada border), no intelligence, etc… The bathroom was a hole in the ground, no running water at all, no towels, no soap. Floor was full of crap and bugs. What a shame, the worst public toilet in the smallest town in Cuba is far cleaner. We are in the stone-age people.

2) If they know that the Turkish Intelligence, Terrorists, Mosad, Bandits, etc… are in Syria wouldn’t they set up check points along the border and be more vigilant at the very least? Seriously, I can’t figure us out.

3) I am 100% sure that there are a hundreds foreign operatives inside Syria, it is so easy to get in/out. I mean why smuggle a stereo on a donkey when you can smuggle anything right pass the incompetent bunch. Timo death could have been done by anybody. You guys (Majed, Revlon, etc…)are giving too much credit to the Regime. They were lost then, and they are even more lost now. Anyone could have done it.

4) I visited Turkey right after, and it blew me away. I am still in awe. Istanbul is NYC, L.A and Dubai all in one. What they have managed to do in the past 10 years is remarkable. Anyone who visited it lately knows what I am talking about. I still can’t get over it. The ottomans are coming back. I mean shit, if Arabs from KSA to Morocco can’t do anything right… send our clowns to Turkey for a few courses man.

5) All regime supporters: I agree that everyone will try to splice Syria into pieces. But, how can you defend such backwardness, abuse of people, and 40 years of Tyranny? And how can you sit down with such a mobster-family and negotiate with those who pushed Syria back a century?

October 9th, 2011, 9:29 am

 

Tara said:

MNA @246

No, not physical international intervention. It is not the way to do it. I never did and will never do.

You are absolutely right. Not in a million year…I would’ve even entertained the idea. The difference here MNA is the moral motive. Assad’s motive is power and greed. My motive is to save our people.

MINA

You asked me about the movie I liked giving me the impression that you are “the expert” on Iranian film making. I ignored you first then I told you what I liked the most. You made no comment. Apparently, you do not know what I am talking about. An expert would not have missed “The Willow Tree”. You are not an expert and probably you have not watched any movie.

October 9th, 2011, 9:32 am

 

Tara said:

Majed khaldoun

غباؤكم ينصرنا. Is the quote of the day.

The release of Nawwaf al Basheer and the murder of 5 mourners in Tamo funeral are yet other evidence that point to the killer.. Thug one that is.

This regime times and again prove its inferior intelligence in handling the crisis…unless Basahar advisor is a revolutionist in disguise determined to bring him down.

October 9th, 2011, 9:57 am

 

irritated said:

Husam

“Istanbul is NYC, L.A and Dubai all in one. What they have managed to do in the past 10 years is remarkable”

That is a very personal point of view that I certainly not share.
For a city that is a living historical museum, I don’t think it is anything of a “remarkable” achievement to make it look NYC, L.A or the monstruous Dubai.

October 9th, 2011, 9:59 am

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

Husam,
Yes the borders are poorly managed, and at the beginning of the crisis they would demand we open our laptops and they would search for files with” syrian govrment, Muslim brother hood, revolution” im serious. One of my friends had to correct them when they searched for goverment instead of government. I hope you noticed the luxurious duty free owned by none other than 7arami makhlouf? It’s such a contrast! Shitty facilities to do your customs but rami’s duty free is squeaky clean. Doesn’t that tell you something? Public services aren’t looked after but their enterprises are given excellent care.
Istanbul is light years ahead of Syria, it’s my favorite European city. This is why I say we can Learn a lot from the Turks.

October 9th, 2011, 10:00 am

 

sheila said:

To #202. Ghufran,
I completely agree with your assessment. It is impossible to tell who is killing whom in Syria today. The worst part is that no investigation will be credible, because it will be carried out by the regime, who happens to be a party in the conflict. It also uses torture and intimidation that renders its investigations worthless and without a shred of credibility. This is typically the best case scenario for independent observers, who can shed a light on these crimes. But the regime will not allow those free access and we all know why. The regime has committed and is still committing so many crimes that independent observes can uncover, that it becomes nonsensical for it to avoid being accused of a crime it did not commit to open the door and expose all those other crimes that it did commit and no one is actually even aware of yet.

October 9th, 2011, 10:08 am

 

zoo said:

Syria warns (countries) not to recognise opposition, vows reform

{…}
“Foreign Minister Walid Muallem warned that Damascus will retaliate against any state which recognises the Syrian National Council (SNC), formed in Istanbul in late August and uniting the key groups opposed to Assad’s rule.

“We will take significant measures against any country that recognises this illegitimate council,” Muallem told a news conference, as the newly formed opposition group lobbied for support in Cairo where the Arab League is based.

The SNC groups the Local Coordination Committees (LLC), an activist network spurring protests in Syria, the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood as well as Kurdish and Assyrian groups.

One of its members, Kurdish leader Meshaal Tamo, was assassinated on Friday, sparking the condemnation of the United States, France, the European Union and Turkey. Damascus blamed the assassination on a “terrorist” group.

“There are groups carrying out acts of violence in Syria and who have killed a great number of martyrs. The West speaks of a peaceful revolution and does not admit these groups exist but arms them anyhow,” Muallem said.

He also issued a thinly veiled warning to Turkey which condemned the assassination as a “loathsome” act. “Syria will not stay with its arms crossed. If Turkey throws us a flower, we will send them one back,” he said.
{…}
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=syria-warns-not-to-recognise-opposition-vows-reform-2011-10-09

October 9th, 2011, 10:15 am

 

irritated said:

Sheila

“This is typically the best case scenario for independent observers”

Who do you suggest: Mehlis, Bellemare, Palmer? I wonder where you would find “independent” observers.

October 9th, 2011, 10:19 am

 

Mina said:

Tara 281
You are so funny. Did you swap job with another student since April? In April, when Jad and me mentioned you Iranian cinema, you answered you had never watched an Iranian movie! Just check for your old April posts.
Your job here is just to bring “Iran” almost everyday, and of course, to pretend you are a Syrian woman in the US.

October 9th, 2011, 10:21 am

 

irritated said:

Some guy not in Damascus

“This is why I say we can Learn a lot from the Turks”

Yes, especially jailing journalists.

“Out of all countries, Turkey has the highest number of journalists jailed in the world. And it beats its closest rivals, China and Iran, by a double margin.”

October 9th, 2011, 10:28 am

 

Mina said:

Husam,
Do you think the Istanbul miracle would have been possible without hundred thousands of Turks working mainly in Germany, Switzerland, France, and having sent a lot of money home in the last 30 years, plus generations in and out Turkey now speaking fluent German and English?

Sheila,
I disagree. I think such enquiries are taking place and details sent to the embassies. For example about Tammo’s killing, we can be sure that the witnesses and the person injured who was with him has described if the attack came from a car or not, inside his house or not. The rubbish we read in the Western newspapers often start from bad translations.

October 9th, 2011, 10:30 am

 

zoo said:

Tunisia Islamists storm university over veil ban

“Islamists stormed a university in Tunisia on Saturday after it refused to enrol a woman wearing a full-face veil, a staff member said, highlighting tensions over religion that are likely to dominate an election later this month.”

{…}
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=tunisia-islamists-storm-university-over-veil-ban-2011-10-09

October 9th, 2011, 10:31 am

 

jad said:

Now it’s more clear why mr makeup attacked Ghalyoun, he had the order from his master, mwafaq and sons. who’s motto is ‘let’s kill the children’, thye wants someone as blood thirsty as them to call for more killing, especially women and children:

——————————————–
“ولمن يريد أن يمتع ناظريه ، ويشفي غليله برؤية كيفية إعدام تشاوسيسكو وزوجته ، ويحلم ويصمم ، ويصر على إعدام بشار وجميع أفراد عائلته ، صغارا وكبارا ، رجالا ونساء ، دون أي تمييز ، فالمجرم يجب أن يُستأصل هو وجميع جذوره ، ولو كانوا أطفالا ( ولا تأخذكم بهما رأفة في دين الله ) فكما قتلوا أطفالنا ونساءنا ، فالحكم الإلهي يقتضي القتل بالمثل ، فتقتل أطفالهم ونساؤهم ، ولو تعلقوا بأستار الكعبة ( واقتلوهم حيث ثقفتموهم ، وأخرجوهم من حيث أخرجوكم ، والفتنة أشد من القتل )
————————————

Here is the masterpiece by sayed mwafaq alsibai against Ghalyoun:

إلى الأخوة جميع أعضاء المجلس الوطني السوري ( عامة )

إلى العضو برهان الدين غليون ( خاصة )

والى الأحرار من قوى المعارضة الشريفة

بخصوص لقاء غليون مع احمد منصور فأحب أن أقول لغليون:

لا يعجبنا إطلاقا كلامك ولا لقاؤك ولا طريقتك في الحديث ولا أفكارك ولا رؤياك ( إن كان هناك رؤية أصلا ً).

وان كان ممثل المجلس الوطني لسوريا جمعاء مهزوز ومتردد وبدون خطة عمل وغير واثق من نفسه فهذه مصيبة …

هل فعلا تعتقد انه لا يمكن أن يكون هناك رئيس للمجلس غيرك ؟؟

هناك الكثير من الأحرار الذين نثق فيهم ، فلا داعي لهذه الطريقة في الحديث عن نفسك .

وهنا أريد أن أناقش غليون ومن نصّبه على المجلس فيما يخص هذا اللقاء في نقاط سريعة:

1- أستاذ علوم اجتماعية فما دخله بالسياسة؟

2- احمد منصور: فضيتوا المجلس وروحتوا ليه بدون ماتنتخبوا الرئيس واللجان الفرعية؟

غليون: حسب التنظيم … هذا يعتبر موجود ضمنا !!! يعني الرئيس واللجان بيتشكلوا لحالهم !!

3- احمد منصور: هل سيعلن الاسبوع القادم في القاهرة عن اسم الرئيس واعضاء اللجان؟

غليون: أتصور ….

منصور: ماتتصورش …

يعني اذا مذيع استطاع الضغط عليك… فماذا ستفعل أمام رئيس دولة صغيرة ناهيك عن دولة كبرى ؟

4- كل حديث غليون : أظن – اعتقد – أتصور – ربما ….

5- غليون ( متأكد وواثق ): لسنا قلقين من مسألة الاعتراف بالمجلس وننتظر اعتراف الدول العربية ( تأكيد )

وعندما حشره منصور قال غليون: هذا لا يعني إننا سنحقق ولكني أتصور إنهم سيعترفون بنا.

شو غليون حتى اللي كنت متأكد فيها رجعت وقلت أتصور !!!

وهزي يا رجلين.

6- لما سأله منصور عن انضمام علويين للمجلس – طاش حجره. هدئ من روعك يا غليون…. وجاوب بطريقة سياسية احترافية ببساطة كنت جاوبت: نحن لا ننظر للشعب السوري على أساس الطائفية والجميع مادام انه مواطن سوري شريف هو عضو في المجلس.

7- غليون: لدينا دعم وهو موجود !!!

منصور: أي دعم هذا ؟؟

حتى غليون ما قدر يكون صريح ويستغل الفرصة بطلب دعم العالم السياسي والإنساني والأخلاقي.

9- غليون: ما عندي تفسير للموقف الروسي والصيني في مجلس ..!!! لكن ليش رئيس مجلس؟؟

10- غليون: هناك دول قطعوا العلاقات مع النظام .. (سحبوا السفراء) منصور: سحب السفير ليس قطع علاقة ..

غليون: هو شكل من قطع العلاقة … ارتبك ..

منصور: لا يعني قطع علاقة … يعني إذا ممثل سياسي ما بيعرف الفرق بين قطع العلاقات السياسية وكيف أشكالها !!!

11- منصور: الشعب يكافح وانتم تطلبون ..

غليون: المجلس خدمة للشعب السوري ( يعطيك العافية مستر غليون عالهخدمة فضلت علينا والله ).

12- غليون: نحن نكافح من اجل انتزاع الحــــكـم … وبعدين عدلها نكافح من اجل إسقاط النظام … قلي عــاد أيهما الصح ؟؟؟

13- غليون: كل الثورات في التاريخ سلمية !!! …

شو هالحكي يا سياسي ؟؟؟

مش هنحكي بالتاريخ وين الثورة الليبية اللي قبل كم يوم !!!

14- منصور: هل تشجعون على الانشقاق ؟؟

غليون: نحن نشجع الجيش بأكمله على أن يلتزم بقضية وثورة الشعب – يعني حتى كلمة انشقاق مش راضي يقولها غليون باشا ولا راضي يشجع على الانشقاقات !!

15- غليون: نحن نطالب الجيش السوري بان يتوقف عن القتل ونراهن عليه… لا انشاء الله هيسمعلك الجيش!!!

16- منصور: كيف تراهنون على الجيش ؟

طبعا غليون ارتبك ولا رد.

17- منصور: هل عندك رؤية عايزين ايه من الجيش؟

غليون: طبعاً عايزين الجيش يوقف مع الشعب .

منصور: ازاي بقى؟

غليون: هو المسؤول !!

ايه بتؤمر معلم غليون هنخبرهم.

18- غليون: المجلس سيتعامل مع ظاهرة الجيش الحر التي لم يخلقها المجلس ليضعهم ضمن استرايجية العمل الثوري !!!

ايه ارفعهم فلقة ياغليون .. والله ان كان انت هتعمللهم الاستراتيجية لا والله حررنا البلــــد.

19- منصور: هل وارد لديكم في المجلس التعامل عسكرياً في اطار الانشقاقات المتزايدة؟

غليون: لا !!!

ومصر انه لا يشجع الانشقاقات … ولا نريد تفكيك هذه المؤسسة الوطنية … كتيرعاجبتك هالمؤسسة ياغليون وبدك اياها ماتتفكك؟

20- غليون: حلب لم تخرج بسبب حجم القمع واحتلال الساحات والشوارع !!!

شو هالحكي الفارغ … يعني مابتعرف ترد

21- منصور: هل ترغبون بزيارة الجامعة العربية وتقديم طلب للدعم كما حصل مع ليبيا؟

غليون: لا !!! سنقوم بمشاورات ونحن لسنا مع التدخل العسكري والشعب سيحرر الأرض بنفسه!!!

يعني لا بدك دعم الجيش الحر ولا أصلا معترف فيهم كيف هتحرر البلد ؟؟ أنا أرى إن غليون من عوامل تأخير نجاح الثورة.

22- غليون: نريد حماية المدنيين بالتضامن الإنساني واحترام حقوق الإنسان؟
وحينما يقر لنا بحقنا في الحماية سنفاوض على طريقة هذه الحماية !!!…

عيش ياجديش معانتو ليلنا طويييييييييييييييل ؟

منصور(زهقان): وكيف هتكون الحماية؟
غليون: لجان امم متحدة ومراقبين دوليين …

منصور: معنى ذلك سيبقى النظام وعندك معادلات خطيرة في الطرح ؟ والله كشفتو يااحمد منصور وطبعا غليون ماعرف يجاوب وغير الموضوع!!!!

23- منصور: رؤيتكم ضبابية والليبيون كانوا واضحون.

غليون: الشعب يتعرض لحرب معلنة وجزء منها إبادة وسنتشاور مع الأشقاء حول وسائل حماية المدنيين … وين خطة عملك ياغليون؟

24- غليون: الجيش السوري تركيبته مخابراتية والجيش لم يعد جيش وهو منخور !!!!

يعني قبل شوي قلت بدك تصلح الجيش وتخليه يوقف مع الشعب وهلا ْبتقول انه مخابراتي ومنخور !! حيرتنا

25- غليون: يجب في مرحلة من المراحل أن ينهار هذا النظام وان لم ينهار هناك مشكلة !!! …

يالله نجتمع وندعي ينهار النظام مشان ما تصير مشكلة لغليون !!!

26- وفي حديث غليون عن السفراء الذين لم ينشقوا صار يدافع عنهم وطاش حجره وخربط بزيادة !!!

والله جن منصور منه

27- غليون: شكلنا المجلس حتى يمكن استقبال المنشقين .!!!

يا رجل إذا أنت مش معترف فيهم أصلا وماعم تدعوهم للانشقاق فعلى أي أساس هتستقبلهم؟

28- غليون: اعتقد وأتصور إنني مرشح لرئاسة المجلس ولا اعتقد انه لي منافسين وأنا مرشح بالتزكية !!!

والله إن كان الشعب السوري ما فيه غير غليون باشا للتزكية معناتو خلينا نرجع بيوتنا أحسن.!!!

29- غليون حول الدعم المالي: نحن شعب نصفه في الخارج .!!! يارجل مين بيصدقها هاي؟

30- غليون: لن اترك الجامعة والثقافة مهنتي الأساسية وأنا ألبي الواجب الوطني وساترك العمل السياسي حين سقوط النظام ..

طيب ممكن أستاذ غليون تترك السياسة لغيرك باعتبارك اعترفت انك مش سياسي وخليلنا واجبك الوطني بالثقافة أحسن؟

وشو بدنا فيك إذا تركت العمل السياسي أو لا ؟
بيهمنا تعهدك الخطي بعدم الترشح لأي منصب سياسي في الدورة الأولى بعد إسقاط النظام.

31- حينما سأله منصور عن سيناريوهات الثورة؟
لم يعرف أن يجيب وأجاب في وادي آخر.!!!
يعني حتى سيناريوهات ما عندك؟؟

32- في الختام سخر منصور منه وقال له: شكرا لاحتمالك هذه بروفة حوار رؤساء … الله يسترنا من هيك رئيس .

بقلم المعارض سيد موفق السباعي

October 9th, 2011, 10:31 am

 

Revlon said:

In April, Jr asked for a few weeks to finish off the uprising.
Last week, he told AlHus things have become quiet in Syria.
Now, Jr feels comfortable that the crisis will be over by year end!
He hinted to the danger of car bombs!
He described Erdogan as an empty character!

الأسد «المرتاح لنهاية المحنة نهاية السنة» يلمح إلى خطر السيارات المفخخة ويصف أردوغان بـ «الشخصية الجوفاء» ويتحدث عن موقفين في السعودية

2011/10/09
الرأي
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=35024

غالباً ما كانت تصح على العلاقات اللبنانية – السورية نظرية «الاوعية المتصلة» لشدة «التداخل» السياسي والامني والاجتماعي «التاريخي»، الذي اخذ في العقود الاربعة الاخيرة شكل «التدخل» من طرف واحد يوم دخل الجيش السوري لبنان في النصف الثاني من سبعينات القرن الماضي ولم ينسحب الا في ابريل من العام 2005.

هذا «التداخل» بين العاصمتين (دمشق وبيروت) التي تفصل بينهما المسافة الاقصر على الاطلاق بين عواصم الدول المجاورة في العالم، يجعل المجريات السورية حدثاً لبنانياً بـ «امتياز». وها هي بيروت وكأنها «حديقة خلفية» لحراك يتصل برمته بما يجري في «الشقيقة» التي لطالما ادارت دفة الاوضاع في لبنان.

وها هي بيروت تضج باحاديث لزوار قصدوا دمشق والتقوا الرئيس السوري بشار الاسد، وبعمليات استطلاع ديبلوماسية متعددة الجنسية، وتقارير عن «آخر التطورات» ومآلها في الكواليس السياسية، وبضوضاء اعلامية ترتبط بالاوضاع على الحدود «السائبة»، وحوادث التوغل والتهريب وما شابه.

حلفاء سورية وزوّارها ينقلون صورة متفائلة عن «صمود الاسد» و«استرداده زمام المبادرة منذ مدة واجهازه على البؤر الارهابية التي لم يبق منها الا فلول في الرستن تتحصن بالاهالي الامر الذي يحتاج لبعض الوقت للتخلص منها»، وعن معاودته الامساك بالاوضاع تماماً في مهلة لا تتجاوز نهاية السنة الحالية.

والاسد، الذي يحرص على اظهار قدرته على تجاوز المحنة في الداخل ومع الخارج، قال لزواره ان «المرحلة المقبلة قد تشهد اغتيالات وسيارات مفخخة»، لكنه أبدى اطمئناناً الى امكان التحوط من اي مسلسل للاغتيالات والحد من الخسائر «الامر الذي قد لا يكون متاحاً تماماً في مكافحة السيارات المفخخة الاكثر قدرة على احداث الاضرار».

وينقل الذين التقوا الاسد انه غير قلق من الاوضاع الاقتصادية في بلاده التي تتمتع بحدود مشتركة مع اكثر من دولة عربية حيث تشكل متنفساً لـ «مبادلات شعبية» تتيح الحد من الازمة العابرة خصوصاً مع وجود احتياطي كافٍ من القمح والسلع الحيوية الاخرى، اما بالنسبة الى العملات الصعبة فالمسألة غير مقلقة.

والاسد «المرتاح» في عيون زواره يقفل الابواب تماماً على اي مبادرة حتى من «اصدقائنا الروس»، وهو الموقف عينه من المبادرة العربية التي وقفت عند حدود «رفض التدخل في الشأن الداخلي»، كما لا يعترف بوجود معارضة لا في الداخل ولا في الخارج، والحوار الوحيد عبر المحافظات وما سيفضي اليه من مؤتمر مركزي.

ويفاخر الاسد بأن سورية ستعود الدولة العربية الأهمّ، وهو غير آبه بمواقف الدول العربية مما يجري في بلاده، «ففي السعودية موقفان احدهما اكثر عداء، والعلاقة مع بعض الدول لا بأس بها في حين ان دولاً اخرى مشغولة بأوضاعها».

وعندما يقارب الرئيس السوري الموقف التركي، يأخذ على رجب طيب اردوغان «الشخصية الجوفاء» عدم الوفاء بعدما شكلت سورية العلمانية تغطية له في صراعه كتيار اسلامي مع الجيش العلماني في تركيا «التي بالكاد تستطيع مواجهة أزماتها والمصاعب الداخلية التي تواجهها».
وما ينقل عن الاسد حيال الاوضاع في بلاده ومستقبلها يخضع في بيروت لـ «التدقيق» في ضوء مقاربات اخرى «من الشرق والغرب»، فالتقارير الديبلوماسية الغربية و«تحليلات» الموقف الروسي تتقاطعان عند القول ان سورية لن تغادر عين العاصفة في امد قريب لكنهما تفترقان في استشراف طبيعة المرحلة المقبلة و… نهايتها.

في التقارير الغربية التي «تتداولها» بيروت ان واشنطن التي تعمل على دفع المركب السوري نحو التغيير من الخلف حسمت خيارها حيال النظام في سورية حين دعا الرئيس باراك اوباما «نظيره» السوري الى التنحي، وهي صارت مهتمة بمرحلة ما بعد الاسد ونظامه بعدما فقد شرعيته.
وفي تقويم لـ «الحال السورية» الراهنة عكسته مصادر غربية ان نظام الاسد، غير القادر على التقدم الى الامام عبر وأد الاحتجاجات وغير القادر على التراجع في اتجاه الاصلاحات، يصارع عبثاً من اجل البقاء، وهو يفيد في محاولة تطويل عمره من الخيمة الروسية ـ الصينية.
ورغم ان المعارضة السورية المتعاظمة اخذت شرعية شعبية وتحظى بتعاطف دولي، بحسب المصادر عينها، فانها غير قادرة على حسم الصراع نتيجة عنف النظام من جهة ومصاعب انتزاع موقف عربي ودولي حاسم لتدخل من النوع الذي يؤازرها لاحداث عملية التغيير.

وفي تقدير هذه المصادر ان التطور الاهم الذي من شأنه قلب «التوازن السلبي» في سورية الان هو حدوث انشقاق كبير في الجيش، الامر الذي يُفقد النظام اداته الاهم ويفتح الطريق امام تشكيل جيش رديف موالٍ للمعارضة على غرار التجربة التي شهدتها ليبيا.

وبحسب المصادر نفسها، فان التحول الممكن في مجريات الازمة السورية داخلي في الدرجة الاولى لان الولايات المتحدة غير مستعدة للتورط في تدخل عسكري واوروبا الاكثر حماسة تريد قراراً عن مجلس الامن الدولي، وتركيا «المتمهلة» ستكتفي في المرحلة المقبلة بأداء مزدوج يقوم على ضغوط متزايدة على الاسد واحتضان اكثر للمعارضة.

وتعتقد المصادر الغربية ان ايران التي تُكثر من نصائحها للاسد بضرورة وقف العنف وتنفيذ الاصلاحات تضخّ «مقويات» للنظام في سورية الذي يشكل لها «دفرسواراً» لا بديل منه للعبور الى شواطئ المتوسط، لكنها اكثر عقلانية من انجرارها الى حرب بـ «توقيت لا تختاره» لحماية نظام الاسد.
والتقدير الغربي عينه ينسحب على قراءة موقف «حزب الله»، الذي من المستبعد جنوحه في اتجاه اي مغامرة «لن تنقذ الاسد وتضع الحزب في مواجهة شرسة مع المجتمع الدولي في الوقت عينه، الامر الذي يعرض صعود نفوذه الداخلي في لبنان للانتكاسة».

غير ان الانظار تتجه، وفي ضوء «الفيتو التاريخي» الروسي – الصيني في مجلس الأمن، نحو موسكو التي تشكل «الدرع» الواقية لنظام الاسد من الاحتضار السريع تحت وطأة الضغط الداخلي والخارجي وتطوره في اتجاه التجربة الليبية التي اطاحت بالقذافي في نهاية المطاف.
وفي بيروت، المفتوحة النوافذ على الشرق والغرب، تجري تحريات حثيثة لسبر اغوار الموقف الروسي المثير للجدل نتيجة الانطباع عن تحوله غطاء لعمليات القمع ضد الشعب السوري الذي لا يتورع وفي كل يوم جمعة عن حرق العلم الروسي في شوارع المدن «المتمردة».

شخصية لبنانية سياسية فكرية «مخضرمة» التقت اخيراً السفير الروسي في بيروت بناء لطلب من مواقع قيادية في ديبلوماسية الكرملين للوقوف على قراءة «صديق عتيق» لما يجري في سورية و«مناقشته» في خيارات موسكو ودورها.

وهذه الشخصية الآتية من «الحرب الباردة» الى رحاب العصر و«ربيعه العربي» سمعت من السفير الروسي شرحاً لموقف بلاده القائم على «هواجس» اكثر مما هو وليد لعبة المصالح «وسط انطباعات غير مقنعة ومبنية على مغالطات تتعلق بالانتفاضة في سورية وطبيعتها وقواها المحركة».
اما تلك الشخصية فأسمعت السفير الروسي قراءة مغايرة تزاوج بين المبادئ والمصالح لموقف روسي افتراضي يكاد ان يفقد موطئ القدم في المنطقة بعدما تأخر كثيراً في تأييد الانتفاضة الليبية ويمانع في الاعتراف بوجود حركة احتجاج تغييرية في سورية.

وقال الماركسي «الشغوف» بالانتفاضة التاريخية للشعوب العربية لـ «الراي» أنه استنتج من حواره مع الديبلوماسي الروسي ان الكرملين أسير الاعتقاد بان المتشددين الاسلاميين يحركون الشارع العربي، لاسيما في سورية التي قد تتجه نحو تغيير في اتجاه نظام عصبه التيار الاسلامي.
ويخشى الروس – انطلاقاً من هذه «المعطيات» – ان يشكل وصول المتشددين الاسلاميين الى السلطة في غير دولة عربية رافعة لتيارات مماثلة من دول القوقاز، التي تعتبرها موسكو خزاناً لقلق يقضّ مضاجعها منذ تنامي النزعة القومية بعد سقوط الاتحاد السوفياتي.

فات على الروس – بحسب الشخصية اللبنانية – اننا في العالم العربي امام «اسلام جديد» يتماهى مع «الاسلام التركي»، وهو ما لمسه في حوارات اجراها اخيراً مع قيادات بارزة في الحركة الاسلامية كالغنوشي في تونس ومسؤولين في «جماعة الاخوان» في مصر، فالجميع مع دولة مدنية تعددية، الشريعة فيها «احد» مصادر التشريع.

وفي تقدير الشخصية عينها ان روسيا المؤهلة لان تكون دولة عظمى لا تتصرف على هذا الاساس كونها لم تستكمل عملية التغيير في الداخل، ولا هي تطلق دينامية ايجابية في التعاطي مع مشكلات الخارج، ما يحولها احياناً قوة سلبية، على غرار موقفها الراهن من الثورات العربية.
ولعل ما لم يقله السفير الروسي في بيروت على مسامع ضيفه قاله يفغيني بريماكوف عندما تحدث عن الابعاد الداخلية لموقف موسكو من الازمة السورية، مشيراً الى ان فلاديمير بوتين المقبل على انتخابات تعيده الى الرئاسة يفيد من «الحساسية» الشعبية المفرطة في بلاده تجاه الاميركيين.
هذا يعني ان شعور الشارع الروسي بان الاميركيين «يستبيحون» الشرق الاوسط، يجعله خلف بوتين الذي لطالما «اشتغل» على النزعة القومية لدى الروس.

ماذا بعد…
عرض ما تضمنته تلك «المحاضر غير الرسمية» عما يدور في «العقل» السوري والاميركي والروسي يفضي الى القول: ان «التوازن السلبي» في سورية مرشح للاستمرار الى امد غير قصير، ما يرجح حظوظ سيناريوات بدأ التداول بها، ومنها ذاك الذي يعيد الى الذاكرة نموذج كوسوفو الذي من شأنه القفز من فوق مجلس الامن ولعبة ال?يتوات فيه، فالاجماع الدولي «المنقوص» قد يتحول «تحالفاً دولياً – اقليمياً» يأخذ المبادرة لتدخّل ما بعدما بلغت فاتورة الدم في سورية حتى الآن نحو ثلاثة آلاف قتيل.

October 9th, 2011, 10:32 am

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

Irritated,
Do I have to repeat my self?
They’re better than us in nearly every aspect, I didn’t say they’re right. They’re better, not the best since they’re close to us, they can help us out.
Understand me now?

October 9th, 2011, 10:34 am

 

Tara said:

Ya Mina

True. I never was interested in watching Iranain movies before. But how many times I should tell you it was not you or Jad who got me interested. Nothing you say, Mina, can get me interested. It was someone else to whom I have lots of “affection”. Still, you did not answer my question. Did you like it to or you do not know what I am talking about.

October 9th, 2011, 10:38 am

 

Revlon said:

أيها الكبار .mp4

October 9th, 2011, 10:50 am

 

sheila said:

To #247. Mina,
You said: “As usual the expats commenting from their sofa in the US are following Lebanese news more than the Syrian and Iraqi ones”. May I ask: are you in Syria?
You also said: “Here are two good articles from SANA English”. SANA and good article is an oxymoron.
The difference between the pro and the against regime is that the pro regime used to watch Aljazeera and Alarabiya and applaud them for their coverage when it fit their views. Now they are totally against these two because they are not saying what they want to hear. The against regime crowd always knew SANA for what it really is: regime propaganda machine. This did not change and will never change until this regime is gone.
You said: “I still believe that Maher’s people and a bunch of criminals in the mukhabaraat have “nothing to lose” and will fight it to the end instead of ending up in a jail, but that Bashar never gave orders to shoot of the protesters”. I would love to believe this. I never thought he would be capable of something like this, however, Bakkour said that all orders that he received were signed by Bashar. Then again, his signature could have been added without his knowledge or approval.

October 9th, 2011, 10:50 am

 

Mina said:

Sorry Jad, I didn’t follow that. Could you elaborate?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/iraq-siding-with-iran-sends-lifeline-to-assad/2011/10/06/gIQAFEAIWL_print.html

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/08/c_131179951.htm

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/08/c_131179951.htm

Tara, I haven’t see the Willow Tree but whenever it will play I’ll go. Just check Paper planes by Farhad Mehranfar and Offside by Jafar Panahi if you have a chance, both great.

October 9th, 2011, 10:53 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

In Israel it’s illegal under the law to abuse a child. Not even a parent slapping or any other physical or verbal abuse. Children are taught at kindergarten and at school that if a parent or any adult person abuses them, they are encouraged to dial 100 (Israeli 911), and file a complaint. At first it looked an extreme measure, but today Israeli parents are afraid to slap their kids. Just as it should be.
.

October 9th, 2011, 10:57 am

 

uzair8 said:

@267 Digging for gold in Basra Said:

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=12447#comment-277662

With all due respect I dont think my attitude is ‘what will be will be’. Also I am not fatalistic.

On the one hand we recognise where we as a nation (muslim ummah) have gone wrong and take responsibility. At the same time we realise that this does not mean we accept dictatorship, occupation etc. We must also rectify ourselves and mend our ways.

The problem is that we complain about our state but we cant be bothered doing anything about it.

In Islam the specific warnings are there but do we take heed? Then we have the nerve to complain.

Sheikh Yaqoubi is a Syrian scholar and supporter of the revolution yet he is also fulfilling his duty and reminding us of the causes and solutions of our problems.

October 9th, 2011, 11:04 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Mina
How young are you? I would guess 23.

October 9th, 2011, 11:05 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

رسالة ياحيف من طفلة بريئة إلى بشار الأسد

October 9th, 2011, 11:16 am

 

jad said:

Mina,
The MB’s used Ghalyoun to be the president of the SNC as a secular and educated face just to get western publicity and when he starts showing his secularism and rejection of violence they flipped against him and they start this massive web based/twitter/FB campaign against him as president of the SNC by showing him weak and not fit to be a president of the council.
(rev is an example of those on SC and here is another example from the FB:
“المعارضة الإسلامية للنظام السوري:
ألحظ عدداً من وسائل الإعلام المحلية والعالمية عندما يقدمون العلماني الفرنسي الإقصائي المتعجرف ” برهان غليون ” للحديث .. يفخمونه .. ويُطرونه بألقاب المدائح والعجائب .. فيبدأون بعدِّ إنجازاته العلمية والأكاديمية .. ومؤلفاته القومية والاجتماعية .. إلى آخر قائمة المدائح والإطراء .. وكأنه فريد عصره .. علماً أن الرجل كل ما يمكن أن تقول في علمه وثقافته أنه أتقن العلمانية الفرنسية إلى درجة التضلع، ليتقيئها في بلاد المسلمين .. مما يُشعرِك أن هناك جهات خفية دولية ومحلية تعمل في الظل والخفاء يريدون أن يفرضوا هذا الرجل فرضاً وبالقوة .. على الثورة السورية .. كقائد وممثل لها .. في صورة رئاسة المجلس الوطني السوري .. الذي يعدونه لرئاسته والتكلم باسمه .. على أنه خيار سوريا الوحيد!
كل هذا المكر والكيد .. لكي يصرفوا الطابع الإسلامي عن الثورة .. وأن يصرفوا الثورة عن توجهها الإسلامي .. [ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللّهُ وَاللّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ ]الأنفال:30″

MB’s supporters don’t believe in anything nonviolence, for them the more blood spelled the better, they celebrate every Syrian soul we loos forgetting that we are loosing our best youth without looking for the any other options.
They don’t support the nonviolence movement that many Syrians are actually prefer, Mm. Razan Zaytouneh is a promoter of a nonviolence movement, Haytham Manna is another figure (I posted his interview about his position on SNC), those two with many others are attacked and put aside for no reason but their peaceful ideas, I know for fact that they are pressing and intimidating Razan to take their side of taking arms but she is still resisting, they want to repeat the Lybian scenario, they think that only by force and more killing they succeed.
In Damascus there is a silent nonviolence revolution is going on, it is using reason, creativity and logic instead of rifles, knifes and kidnapping.
It’s called الحراك السلمي السوري, it’s extremely smart and peaceful but because it’s so quite without casualties the media is ignoring it and the violence side is attacking and trying to dismiss and push it aside.

Haytham,
Please elevate your posts to your educational status, you can say the same thing but smarter

Enforced Disappearances Week – أسبوع الاختفاء القسري – 01
http://youtu.be/HVYrUnTwCZA

October 9th, 2011, 11:33 am

 

jad said:

One more thing Haytham, don’t ever use children or kids in your propaganda, it’s WRONG, keep them out of it.
لا لتجييش الأطفال

I forgot to put the link of the Syrian Nonviolence Movement
http://www.alharak.org

October 9th, 2011, 11:47 am

 

Mina said:

Jad,
Thanks. This was not in the Haytham Manna interview, which must have taken place before.

Sheila,
I was alluding to the fact that the Lebanese Maronite Bishop had been commented here, but not this one. You can’t simply dismiss Sana. The BBC is just as bad, remember about the killing of Awlaqi “US-Born”.. how to distance from a bad guy? He was simply a US citizen.
Most articles about the Palestinian bid, or about the king of clowns, Tony Blair, as a “Quartet envoy” are worse than any Sana article (I mean, SANA is really trying to make progresses; Syria is already in a phase of transition). I am not in Syria right now but I call people quite often and hopefully I’ll pay them a visit quite soon.

Haytham Khouri,
I am really doubtful about your intentions since last week when you posted a letter supposedly received from someone in Syria with full names and locations.

October 9th, 2011, 11:49 am

 

Tara said:

Zoo @ 291

I find it pretty difficult to have an opinion in regard to refusing to admit a full-face veiled women to universities.

First of all I do not believe this is a religious ” duty”. You do not have to cover the face in Islam. Second, on personal level, I must admit that I feel a bit uncomfortable seeing a women under complete black niqab. I think women who were the niqab are either forced by the tradition or if not forced, they are displaying an extreme form of self expression. Nevertheless, on the other hand, people should be free to express themselves the way they see fit and personal preference of others should not be imposed on them to deny them their rights.

October 9th, 2011, 11:50 am

 

Muhammad said:

On a lighter note yesterday Syrian TV broadcast this little gem of an interview:

http://www.sana.sy/ara/336/2011/10/09/374319.htm

So essentially, this ultra-conservative, extremist, salafist, blood thirsty, and child eating terrorist provide “sexual services” for his even more conservative and extremist shiekh. Add to the irony that his surname is “Saleh” which means good and is used to refer to him. He is called “The good terrorist” throughout the article.

When will you menhebaks learn to lie properly ? Not much time left for the fall of the regime … Can you not make even one believable lie ?

October 9th, 2011, 11:50 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Ya Tribal,

You whine about the Syrian MB. What about those long years that Syria hosted, supported and armed the Palestinian MB? If it’s good for the Palestinians, why is it not good for Syrians?

I would call it a poetic justice.
.

October 9th, 2011, 11:55 am

 

irritated said:

Some guy Not In Damascus

Obviously you have only visited briefly Istanbul.

Go to the small non-touristic cities and villages then report if they are better than us. I don’t think they are. The villages and small towns are very backward compared to Syria’s.

Until 1983, the country was a military dictatorship. The military kept control of the country after it became a ‘democracy’ to ‘protect’ secularism. It is only in 2003 that the AKP was able to neutralize the military’s interference in the country political life.

Therefore it took 20 years of internal political struggle from the official announcement of a democracy in Turkey (in 1983) to enter a more harmonious phase of economically and politically development.

It is to early to say if the can sustain their growth that has becoming increasingly dependent on their exports and on their controversial and shifting political alliances.

A good example to follow for Syria? I am not so sure.

October 9th, 2011, 11:56 am

 

zoo said:

Tara #306

I have no opinion either, but in Tunis some seem to have strong ones, that’s the problem.

October 9th, 2011, 11:59 am

 

Mina said:

Tara

It’s a little more than that. Today about 500 persons in Tunis have tried to burn the TV station which has broadcasted yesterday PERSEPOLIS, a cartoon by the Iranian-French director Marjan Satrapi, and a debate on religious fundamentalism.

October 9th, 2011, 12:12 pm

 

Tara said:

Amir

I disagree with your opinion in regard to mehshi and politics or any other profession for that matter. You made it sound that they are two contradictory things. They are not. You can do both. Although, there are literally less than 2 percent girls in my specific field of work in the US, as it is perceived to be “difficult and unusual for women”‘ I never took as much pride in my professional success as I take in my ” domestic” skills raising children to their full moral and intellectual potentials. This is what in my opinion distinguish Syrian women. Family comes first.

October 9th, 2011, 12:17 pm

 

jna said:

299. Amir in Tel Avivsaid:

In Israel it’s illegal under the law to abuse a child. Not even a parent slapping or any other physical or verbal abuse. Children are taught at kindergarten and at school that if a parent or any adult person abuses them, they are encouraged to dial 100 (Israeli 911), and file a complaint. At first it looked an extreme measure, but today Israeli parents are afraid to slap their kids. Just as it should be.

reply: http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/15245946

October 9th, 2011, 12:22 pm

 

zoo said:

Tunisia Salafists ‘attack private TV station’

Around 300 Tunisian Salafists on Sunday attacked the headquarters of a private TV station that aired a French-Iranian film and organised a debate on religious extremism, the channel said.
{…}
http://news.yahoo.com/tunisia-salafists-attack-private-tv-station-134900972.html

Note: The film is “Persepolis” a french-iranian film, by Marianne Satrapi, an iranian exiled cartoonist living in Paris. The film in form of a cartoon, is critical about radical Islam in general and very critical of the excesses of the Islamic revolution in Iran.

October 9th, 2011, 12:25 pm

 

Tara said:

Mina

Hopefully, Syria after Bashar will be a model for all the middle east in regard to true secularism and separation of religion and state, however in a culturally sensitive environment. I am very much against fundamentalism of any sort. People who use violent measures in enforcing their fundamental views in a law-abiding country should be brought to justice.

October 9th, 2011, 12:27 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Until 1983, the country was a military dictatorship.

That means they are at least 30 years a head of Syria in sociopolitical development, among other things.

October 9th, 2011, 12:32 pm

 

Ghufran said:

Jad, I and few others were attacked because we said that the islamists are simply putting up a show to look democratic and civilized by allowing seculars to be leaders on paper only to be sidelined and even removed,politically or physically,later.the same can happen inside Syria.
If you allow militant islamists in they will gradually kick everybody else out,they have a lot in common with the ruling regime in Syria. Watch out guys and choose friends carefully,religion and politics produce a toxic hazard.

October 9th, 2011, 12:34 pm

 

annie said:

299. Amir in Tel Avivsaid:

In Israel it’s illegal under the law to abuse a child. Not even a parent slapping or any other physical or verbal abuse. Children are taught at kindergarten and at school that if a parent or any adult person abuses them, they are encouraged to dial 100 (Israeli 911), and file a complaint. At first it looked an extreme measure, but today Israeli parents are afraid to slap their kids. Just as it should be.

Beautiful ! A pity it only applies to Jewish citizens

http://youtu.be/QRHqU8H1CVk

October 9th, 2011, 12:49 pm

 

ann said:

Syria warns countries not to recognize opposition – 1 hr 16 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-warns-countries-not-recognize-opposition-124808666.html

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s foreign minister warned the international community Sunday not to recognize a new umbrella council formed by the opposition, threatening “tough measures” against any country that does so.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem did not specify what measures Damascus might take. But he went on to say that countries that do not protect Syrian missions could find their own embassies treated in the same way.

“We will take tough measures against any country that recognizes this illegitimate council,” al-Moallem said without elaborating on what type of reaction it might bring.

The Syrian National Council, announced last week in Turkey, is a broad-based group which includes most major opposition factions. No country or international body has recognized it so far as a legal representative of the Syrian people.

Bourhan Ghalioun, the opposition council’s most prominent official, said he expects the organization will be recognized “in the coming few weeks.” Al-Moallem’s comments came as the council was scheduled to hold two meetings Sunday, one in Cairo and another in Stockholm.

Damascus appears concerned that if the Syrian National Council is recognized by the international community, it could play the same role as the National Transitional Council in Libya that ultimately overthrew longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Syria’s top diplomat was speaking during a joint news conference with a delegation from the left-leaning ALBA bloc of mostly Latin American countries, which includes Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia. The ALBA officials were visiting Damascus to express solidarity with Syria and met Sunday with President Bashar Assad.

State-run news agency SANA quoted Assad as telling the delegation that Syria aims to make political reforms then end armed presence. But past promises of sweeping reforms have not been carried through and the opposition says they will accept nothing short of his departure.

“The foreign attack on Syria escalated after the situation started to improve because what they want is not reforms but for Syria to pay a price for its stances against foreign schemes in the region,” SANA quoted Assad as saying.

Assad was apparently referring to sanctions imposed by the U.S. and several European countries on his regime because of the crackdown. Assad insists the unrest is being driven by terrorists and Islamic extremists acting out a foreign conspiracy to fracture Syria.

Assad is facing the most serious challenge to his authority since he took power 11 years ago. The uprising against his regime began in mid-March amid a wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that has so far toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad has reacted with deadly force that the U.N. estimates has left some 2,900 people dead.

Al-Moallem criticized European countries where Syrian missions have recently been stormed by protesters, implying that Damascus might allow foreign delegations to be attacked in turn.

“If they don’t provide security to our missions, we will treat them the same way,” he said.

A group of protesters broke into the Syrian embassy in Berlin and two other Syrian diplomatic missions in Germany and Switzerland late Saturday and early Sunday in what appeared to protests against the killing of a Kurdish opposition leader.

He also criticized the U.S. and the French ambassador to Syria, who have condemned the regime’s crackdown and visited tense areas outside Damascus angering authorities.

“We don’t interfere in their business the way some of them do in Damascus,” he said.

Last month, U.S. ambassador Robert Ford and several colleagues from the embassy were pelted with tomatoes and eggs as they visited an opposition figure. U.S. officials said the assault was part of a campaign to intimidate diplomats investigating Assad’s repression of pro-reform demonstrators.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of Kurdish mourners gathered in a northeastern city for the funeral of five people killed by security forces, a rights activist in the area said.

Mustafa Osso added that more than a 100 security agents in uniform have deployed in the main square of Qamishli ahead of the funeral, as unrest builds in the majority-Kurdish region.

Amateur videos posted online by activists showed scores of people marching in streets said to be in Qamishli and chanting anti-Assad slogans.

“The people want to execute the president,” chanted the crowd that was carrying a black banner and Kurdish white, green, red and yellow flags. “Assad is the enemy of God.”

Sunday’s procession came a day after more than 50,000 mourners marched through Qamishli to mourn prominent opposition figure Mashaal Tammo. Security forces fired into the crowds, killing five people.

Tammo was assassinated Friday.

The turnout Saturday was by far the largest in the Kurdish northeast since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad’s autocratic regime seven months ago.

Al-Moallem described Tammo as a “martyr” and blamed a terrorist group for his death because the Kurdish leader stood against any foreign intervention in Syria.

October 9th, 2011, 1:27 pm

 

ghufran said:

people who want Syria to follow the Turkish model needs to remember that the army was in charge for a long period of time and remained very influential in Turkey’s politics until lately. A similar path means that Syria can embrace political and democratic changes without losing law and order. The key word here is change without blood shed and chaos. Some people just do not get it.

October 9th, 2011, 1:35 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Martyr Meshaal Temmo, who was murdered by the regime thugs on Intervention. Translated from elaph. The interview was published on September 3rd, 2011.

Arabic Version of the full interview

English translation


Q. Are you with or against outside interference? What is the best form of intervention and support?

Answer:
Generalization is also rejected here, because it aims to blind us to the fact of global interdependence. On the one hand, we now say that the world is now a small global village, in the sense of emphasizing the depth and size of human interdependence, how can then one think of this interdependence as an outside intervention?

It may be that a direct military intervention is unacceptable, but there are many political, economic, and security forms that can be deployed to support the Syrian Revolution to protect civilians because the issue of protecting civilians from genocide is not a domestic issue but an international matter, a matter of Chapter VII of the Charter the Security Council. One must not confuse things, there have been interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo, Libya, Rwanda and in many other places of tension, and in each case the intervention was done differently. The issue is linked to the most appropriate manner that is compatible with international law, with which to protect civilians from the oppression of the Syrian security and military authoritarianism.

October 9th, 2011, 1:38 pm

 

Mango said:

http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/568700/
قال نيقولاي سوركوف الخبير في شؤون الشرق الأوسط في معهد موسكو للعلاقات الدولية إن موسكو قادرة وجاهزة للقيام بدور الوسيط خصوصا أن لديها اتصالات مع القيادة السورية وممثلي المعارضة، لكن هناك أمر آخر يتعلق بمدى استجابة النظام السوري لهذه المفاوضات.

واستبعد الخبير الروسي أن تكون الوساطة الروسية تدخلا في شؤون سورية الداخلية، مشيرا إلى أن موسكو أكدت مرارا رفضها لأي تدخل خارجي في شؤون سورية.
http://arabic.rt.com/main_news/news/568655/
دبلوماسي روسي: موسكو قد تكون ساحة للحوار بين دمشق والمعارضة السورية
قال ميخائيل بوغدانوف نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي انه لا يستبعد ان تقترح القيادة الروسية على السلطات السورية والمعارضة عقد لقاء تمهيدي بينهما في موسكو من اجل فتح الحوار.

وقال بوغدانوف في مقابلة أدلى بها لوكالة “نوفوستي” الروسية للأنباء نشرت يوم الاحد 9 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول ان المسؤولين الروس قد يتقدموا بمثل هذا الاقتراح خلال استقبالهم لوفد من المعارضة الداخلية السورية من المقرر أي يصل الى روسيا يوم الاثنين.

وقال: “نحن لم نتقدم بهذا الاقتراح رسميا حتى الآن، لكني لا أستبعد هذا الامر. لماذا لا؟ نظن انها ستكون خطوة بناءة”.

وأوضح الدبلوماسي الروسي الذي التقى بمراسلة الوكالة أثناء مشاركته في أعمال الدورة التاسعة للمنتدى الاجتماعي العالمي “حوار الحضارات” في جزيرة رودس اليونانية، ان الرسالة الرئيسية التي تبعث بها موسكو لجميع الأطراف في سورية هي ان القضايا التي تواجهها البلاد حاليا، تراكمت على مدى سنوات طويلة، ولذلك لا يمكن حلها بدفعة واحدة، خاصة إذا تم اللجوء الى المواجهة. ولذلك أشار بوغدانوف الى ان الطريق الوحيد لحل الأزمة هو الحوار السياسي الواسع بمشاركة جميع القوى البناءة في البلاد من السلطات والمعارضة.

وتابع قائلا ان الحوار بين السلطات والقوى السياسية المحلية يجري داخل سورية على مستوى المحافظات وليس على مستوى الدولة بأكملها، لان قيادات هذه أو غيرها من الأحزاب المعارضة تخشي من الملاحقة والاعتقالات، فهناك هناك نقص في الثقة بالنظام. وفي هذه الظروف،عندما لا تستطيع قيادات هذه الأحزاب ان تصل الى دمشق للمشاركة في المفاوضات، قال بوغدانوف ان من الممكن التفكير في إجراء لقاءات تمهيدية في الخارج. وتابع قائلا: “أظن، إذا أخذنا بعين الاعتبار علاقاتنا مع كلا من الشعب السوري والسلطات السورية فمن الممكن ان تكون موسكو ساحة للقاءات”.

روسيا تدعو الأطراف السورية للتخلي عن جميع أشكال العنف
شدد بوغدانوف على ان روسيا تدعو الأطراف السورية للتخلي عن جميع أشكال العنف بعض النظر عن الجهة التي تقوم بها والأسباب التي تبررها بها.

وقال: “مطالب السكان شرعية، طبعا. ونحن ننطلق من ان القيادة السورية والرئيس بشار الأسد يفهمان هذا”، ولذلك أعلنت القيادة السورية برنامج إصلاحات عميقة وجدية، كما تبنت إصدار قوانين جديدة تهدف الى دمقرطة الحياة السياسية بأكملها في البلاد.

وأعاد بوغدانوف الى الأذهان التصريح الأخير للرئيس الروسي دميتري مدفيديف بشأن سورية، مؤكدا ان الاصلاحات ونتائجها وحدها من شأنها أن تؤكد ان القيادة السورية كفؤة حقا وتأخذ على عاتقها المسؤولية الكاملة عن أقوالها امام شعبها.

وقال نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي ان الحديث يدور في الوقت الراهن عن زيارة وفدين من المعارضة الداخلية والخارجية الى موسكو، لكنه لم يستبعد ان تستقبل موسكو قريبا وفودا أخرى.

وأعاد الى الأذهان ان المسؤولين الروس ينتظرون زيارة وفد المعارضة الداخلية السورية يومي 10 و11 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول، موضحا ان الوفد سيضم 5 أو 6 أشخاص يمثلون أحزابا معارضة مختلفة داخل سورية. وأضاف ان زيارتهم تنظمها جمعية التضامن والتعاون بين شعوب آسيا وأفريقيا التي يترأسها ميخائيل مارغيلوف. وتوقع بوغدانوف ان يعقد مارغيلوف الذي يترأس أيضا لجنة العلاقات الخارجية في مجلس الاتحاد الروسي (مجلس الشيوخ) لقاء مع الوفد، كما لم يستبعد تنظيم لقاء مع نواب روس. وقال ان وزارة الخارجية الروسية ستستقبل الوفد 11 اكتوبر/تشرين الأول.

وقال ان الوفد الأول سيضم عددا من السياسيين البارزين بينهم علي حيدر رئيس الحزب السوري القومي الاجتماعي وقدري جميل ممثل الجبهة الشعبية للتغيير والتحرير في سورية الذي يقوم بتنظيم هذه الزيارة.

وفيما يخص الوفد الثاني الذي سيمثل المعارضة الخارجية، قال بوغدانوف ان وزارة الخارجية الروسية تأمل في أن يصل الوفد الى موسكو بعد يوم 20 أكتوبر/تشرين الثاني وقبل نهاية الشهر الجاري. وتابع قوله ان الخارجية الروسية تنتظر الآن من المعارضة إرسال القائمة النهائية لأعضاء الوفد، كي تساعدهم في الحصول على تأشيرات الدخول. وردا على سؤال حول من سيترأس الوفد الثاني، قال الدبلوماسي الروسي ان الجانب السوري سيقرر هذا المسألة.

كما كرر بوغدانوف انه يعتبر الدعوات في وسائل الإعلام الى الإعلان عن عدم شرعية الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد، تمثل موقفا هداما وخرقا سافرا لمبدأ عدم التدخل في شوؤن الدول. وأشار الى ان هذه الدعوات لا يمكن أن تأتي بشيء إيجابي بالنسبة لمسألة إجراء الإصلاحات أو بدء حوار ذي مردود وناتج بين السلطات والمعارضة.

المصدر: وكالة “نوفوستي” الروسية للأنباء

October 9th, 2011, 1:42 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Ghufran, I for one find your posts highly provocative. To hell with your “peaceful change withour bloodshed”. Tell that to the security bosses whop run the regime. We have had eniugh bloo shed of our own, and now we are out for their blood. People like you should just shut up, otherwise when the regime will depart – as it wil sooner or later – ppl like you will find themselves in a very uncomfortable position indeed, with people like me in charge of the street. I feel terrible speaking so rudely to you Ghufran, you being elder to me, but I just can’t help it. Why don’t you ask your relatives in the Army and security forces to stop the bloodshed ?

October 9th, 2011, 1:43 pm

 

Mango said:

مظاهرات الغضب الشعبي العارم في امريكا تتعاظم 08/10/2011 4:29 PM

الآلاف من الغاضبين احتلو وول ستريت في نيويورك للتعبير عن غضبهم من النظام المالي الامريكي ,فيما اعتقلت الشرطة اكثر من 200 متظاهرا من حركة “اكوباي ذا وول ستريت الاحتجاجية “.

المسؤلون في مدينة نيويورك اكدوا ان المحتجين في وول ستريت يضرون بالسياحة والإقتصاد في الولاية للأسبوع الثالث وذلك بسبب مخيماتهم في حديقة لور مانهاتن.

مارغو ليفيريت، من المنظمين في حركة اكوبي وول ستريت تقول :”“إن العالم في حالة من الفوضى الرهيبة، ولا أحد يعرف بالضبط ما الذي يمكن عمله الان ولكنني مقتنعه ان المحتجين محقين بمطالبهم “.

المظاهرات التي ضمت اتحاد عمال النقل،والمدرسين والموظفيين امتدت إلى مدن أخرى كبيرة في الولايات المتحدة مثل لوس آنجلس وبوسطن وفيلادليفيا وشيكاغو.

تقول احدى المشاركات في المظاهرة :“وضعنا المعيشي سيء فلا ناكل بشكل جيد ولا توجد لدينا الرفاهية التي تعيش بها الاخرين نحن لسا اغبياء ولا نعيش في عالم اخر لذلك يجب القيام بذلك “.

يذكر ان تظاهرات “الغاضبين” في وول ستريت بدأت في 17 /أيلول الماضي ضد “جشع” النظام المالي ومستمرة لليوم وتتعاظم يوماً بعد يوم
فضائح صفقات السلاح والرشاوي البريطانية السعودية تملئ الصحف 09/10/2011 4:39 PM

تناولت جميع الصحف البريطانية وعلى صدر صفحاتها فضيحة وزير الدفاع البريطاني ليام فوكس وصديق له اصطحبه في زيارات رسمية الى الخارج وحضوره اجتماعات رسمية للوزير مع مسؤولين اجانب رغم عدم توليه اي منصب رسمي او وظيفة.
وارغمت هذه الفضيحة رئيس الوزراء البريطاني ديفيد كاميرون على الطلب من وزارة الدفاع على تقديم تقرير عن عمل ادام ريتي، صديق فوكس الذي كان يقدم نفسه خلال هذه اللقاءات باعتباره مستشارا لفوكس.
ومن بين القضايا الشرق الاوسطية الملفتة للاهتمام في الصحف البريطانية الاحد تحقيق موسع في الصنداي تايمز عن فضيحة رشاوي جديدة محورها المملكة العربية السعودية وشركة بريطانية وتم في اطارها دفع ملايين الجنيهات الاسترالية لافراد من الاسرة المالكة السعودية لتمرير عقد بقيمة ملياري جنيه ( اكثر من ثلاثة مليارات دولار)

فعلى صفحة الشؤون الخارجية نطالع تقريرا عن “رشاوى” التي تم دفعها لجهات سعودية والازمة التي تواجهها الحكومة البريطانية لان عليها اتخاذ قرار قريبا حول هذا الموضوع وماذا اذا كانت تريد فتح تحقيق رسمي في هذه الفضيحة في اعقاب تحقيق قام به مكتب الجرائم المالية الكبرى.

وكان المكتب قد قدم للمدعي العام البريطاني تفاصيل عن تحويل مبالغ بملايين الجنيهات الاسترالينية الى حساب في سويسرا في اطار عقد بين السعودية ووزارة الدفاع البريطانية التي الزمت العقد لاحدى الشركات التابعة لمجموعة EADS التي تنتج طائرات الايرباص لتحديث لنظام الاتصالات للحرس الوطني السعودي واتصالات القصور الملكية في السعودية.

وتقول الصحيفة ان موظفين اثنين في الشركة لفتا انظار الادارة الى ان الدفعات التي تمت مابين عامي 2007 و2010 مخالفة للقانون لكن موظفعا ثالثا طلب منهما التزام الصمت لكي لا تخسر الشركة امكانية الفوز بمناقصة لتقديم 179 طائرة امداد الطائرات المقاتلة في الجو بالوقود لصالح وزارة الدفاع الامريكية البنتاجون.
ونقلت الصحيفة عن مسؤول كبير في وزارة الخزانة البريطانية ان بعض الدفعات انتهت في حسابات في سويسرا يمتلكها عضو مرموق في الاسرة المالكة السعودية والتحقيق في هذه القضية حساس جدا من الناحية السياسية.

October 9th, 2011, 1:53 pm

 

jad said:

Watch out Ghufran, you wrote the ‘N’ (Nonviolence resistance) word, you are in deep trouble now 😉

October 9th, 2011, 2:09 pm

 

Husam said:

Irritated said:

“That is a very personal point of view that I certainly not share.
For a city that is a living historical museum, I don’t think it is anything of a “remarkable” achievement to make it look NYC, L.A or the monstruous Dubai.”</i.

Every comment of yours is irritating! How to put it to you? Obviously you haven't been to Istanbul, and you missed my point. I said in the my last comment [10 years] has nothing to do with history. It is like big cities in a way of 'live, and let live'. But of course that means nothing to you and your clan. The amount of projects: water, transportation, education and infrastructure in the past 10 years is remarkable. Are you bothered because it is Sunni inspired?

Very irritated and irritating you are.

October 9th, 2011, 2:13 pm

 

annie said:

320. ghufran said:

Syria can embrace political and democratic changes without losing law and order. The key word here is change without blood shed and chaos. Some people just do not get it.

Can you please tell this to the powers that be ?

October 9th, 2011, 2:22 pm

 

Husam said:

Mina Said:

Do you think the Istanbul miracle would have been possible without hundred thousands of Turks working mainly in Germany, Switzerland, France, and having sent a lot of money home in the last 30 years, plus generations in and out Turkey now speaking fluent German and English?

Mina, it isn’t a miracle, I don’t believe in miracles. It was hard work, self determination, and communal effort by all. Compare that to the self serving Arab who know-it-all-better-than-you. People in the Arab world are measured by how much money they have (stolen, in most cases). Just like irritated, you have obviously not been to Turkey as I couldn’t find any random person who spoke English (except in the Hotel and the Tour Guide), so you are clearly out to lunch. For those of you who fear Islam, “Turkish Gulen Movement” was instrumental in what we see in Turkey nowadays. Google it.

SGNLD: You are absolutely right, the Turks can teach us like little children.

Aboud: Welcome back dude!

October 9th, 2011, 2:26 pm

 

jna said:

321. OFF THE WALLsaid:

Martyr Meshaal Temmo, who was murdered by the regime thugs on Intervention. Translated from elaph. The interview was published on September 3rd, 2011.

Thanks for the translation of Tammo’s interview. Still without any concrete evidence, I now think it most likely that he was killed by pro-regime gunmen of some sort.

October 9th, 2011, 2:33 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

183. TARA said:

“Zoo

Do you think the Egyptian will receive the SNC well? Are the going to be bold enough to be the first to recognize it and give it legitimacy?”

Unfortunately , Tara, I don’t think so. Firstly a wide cross-section of the Egyptian opposition, especially the “moderate islamists” a.k.a Muslim Brotherhood are in Iran’s back-pocket. Then again Iran is quite popular among the dull witted Egyptian masses. The Govt. is under a lot of pressure to cosy up to Iran. Now you know what Iran;s stance on Syria is.

I think international recognition to the SNC, if at all, will come from Libya.

October 9th, 2011, 2:34 pm

 

sheila said:

To Ya Mara Ghalba,
I am still waiting for your answer. How do you constitutionally topple a dictator?

October 9th, 2011, 2:35 pm

 

Shami said:

Ghufran ,the problem is not the army as whole but the assadian and makhloufian officers who control everything in the army,i dont see those in place in post Assad-Makhlouf-Shaleesh-Addunia-AlBaath-Tishrine-Assad statues Syria.
Those who are in control of the security apparatuses and the army are one block and they will end together.
In Turkey(Egypt,Tunisia) the army is genuinely patriotic and not hidjacked by a sectarian minority which is the case in today Syria.

October 9th, 2011, 2:35 pm

 

Mina said:

Husam

I have been to Istanbul. It’s big city so don’t worry if you can’t find anyone who speak English so easily. People who do need to have 2 jobs to make a living and they have to stay a minimum of 2 hours in their car or 3 hours in a bus just to cross from the Asian to the European side and back.

But even more, I have been to Berlin, where you can meet a lot of young folks from Anatolia who speak perfect German and English, simply because their relatives were visiting them a lot even before they ever came to Germany for studies.

Water !! To mention in a Syrian forum that the water projects were “Sunni inspired” (whatever you put in this poetic nonsensical phrase) is pure cynism.

October 9th, 2011, 2:37 pm

 

Husam said:

Irritated said:

Go to the small non-touristic cities and villages then report if they are better than us. I don’t think they are. The villages and small towns are very backward compared to Syria’s

Total lie! You are spreading false information. The projects in small non-touristic villages is exactly where I have friends. Erdogan’s and his team stopped the influx into larger cities by supporting farming in finance, innovation and infrastructure. Even in villages of of 100k or less they got some kind of major production and industry (and remember no-oil). Comparing villages in Turkey to villages in Syria is like comparing an olympian with a slumper-couch-potato.

So answer the Q: are you irritated from Sunnis succeeding!?

October 9th, 2011, 2:41 pm

 

Tara said:

Khaled

Why is Iran popular among Egyptian masses?

As a side note, can’t wait till they capture Quaddafi. It will sure send a chill into Bashar’s blood vessels.

October 9th, 2011, 2:44 pm

 

Husam said:

Mina:

I have been to Istanbul. It’s big city so don’t worry if you can’t find anyone who speak English so easily. People who do need to have 2 jobs to make a living and they have to stay a minimum of 2 hours in their car or 3 hours in a bus just to cross from the Asian to the European side and back..

There is no perfect utopian city. The traffic issue is been addressed by several projects including linking Asia and European side by the Turks own underwater chunnel launching Q4 2012.

Mina, my only guess is you are clearly jealous of the Turks’ recent success. You are trying to belittle them, and it is not working. It is in your menhebak veins, you can’t help it when you see others (sunnis especially) succeed. Nice try!

October 9th, 2011, 2:49 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear #280. Husam,
I do not know where you are from, but I am from Aleppo and have seen this gap between Turkey and Syria first hand. What would really blow your mind is that up to the 80s the Turks used to come to Aleppo and buy everything that we Syrians considered trash and would not touch with a 5 foot pole. Look where they are and where we are now. This is exactly what kills me when people talk about progress in Syria in the last 11 years of Bashar. They know squat about the true meaning of progress.

October 9th, 2011, 2:51 pm

 

Shami said:

Mina,
If you fear anything related to the mainstrean islamic civilization ,the AKP and even the democracies in Europe and the west.
What’s your alternative solution for the arab-muslim world?

It seems that you are only here to vomit your hatred left and right without providing a solution.

October 9th, 2011, 2:54 pm

 

Husam said:

Dear Sheila:

…the 80s the Turks used to come to Aleppo and buy everything that we Syrians considered trash and would not touch with a 5 foot pole.

I do believe you. However, perhaps it was traded and not for local consumption and was shipped to soviet mainland (Azer, Tajk, Turkminstan, etc…the turks speak those languages and trade to those countries till today.)

In any case, the growth in the past 10-20 years is truly phenomenal. I will be investing in Turkey’s real estate sector.

October 9th, 2011, 3:01 pm

 

Mina said:

Ha ha, to be called names as soon as you touch the new capital of the MB utopian empire!
My best Turkish friends are all totally enamoured with Iran and shiism. So sorry for your “Sunni-villages” and I don’t know what (ahh yes, the same as in Egypt… half naked elderly european single women looking for a cheap local date?). Again, none of you answer: where the money came from to Turkey? from the expats in Germany.

My point is, today there is an election in Cameroon. Everybody expects the president, who has been holding to his seat for 29 years to win another time. The guy spends half the year in Swiss palaces. Do you US expats advise to bomb the country?

October 9th, 2011, 3:06 pm

 

sheila said:

To #287. Irritated,
I find it a little irritating that in a world of over 6 billion people, you can not deem anyone good enough or trustworthy enough to act as an independent observer. It is the same line of thought that can not find anyone else that can rule Syria except for Bashar.

October 9th, 2011, 3:09 pm

 

Husam said:

Mina Said:

…and I don’t know what (ahh yes, the same as in Egypt… half naked elderly european single women looking for a cheap local date?).

Errr..can someone explain this idiocity to me, couldn’t figure it out.

October 9th, 2011, 3:11 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

335. TARA said:

“Khaled

Why is Iran popular among Egyptian masses?

As a side note, can’t wait till they capture Quaddafi. It will sure send a chill into Bashar’s blood vessels.”

Pretty much for the same reason that Saddam is popular among many Palestinians. Egyptians hated Mubarak, Mubarak was a friend of Israel, Iran was an enemy of Israel and hence an enemy of Mubarak. Do you get it ?

Btw I thionk it will be quite a while till they capture Gaddafi, but I think sending a chill down the blood vessels of Syrians ecurity boses is more important at this moment.

October 9th, 2011, 3:22 pm

 

Tara said:

Mina, you were asked by Shami to provide your vision/ solution for Syria since you reject western style democracy, as well as a turkish style secularism.

The first statement of your answer was “my best Turkish friends are all enamored with Shiism and Iran”. Do you want us to have a Shiism theocracy in Syria similar to Iran? Are you for real?

October 9th, 2011, 3:28 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

HUSAM

……..perhaps it was traded and not for local consumption and was shipped to soviet mainland (Azer, Tajk, Turkminstan, etc…the turks speak those languages and trade to those countries till today.)

Excellent deduction from someone who did not live in the area. I happen to know through some friends that this is largely correct. Some was taken to be sold in rural Turkey and the rest was re-exported to some neighboring republics. The Turks are no less tradesmen than Arabs.

On the other hand, you are probably ignoring the Aleviz in Turkey along with other minorities. They are also full participants in Turkish society and politics. Erdoghan built on his predecessor. It is not only his work. It was Bülent Ecevit, a democrat secularist who first challenged the Turkish people to rise to the global community and set forth the foundation for Erdoghan and his team to complete and enhance the work. My Turkish friends, who are naturally secular are very impressed with Erdoghan, but they also emphasize Ecevit’s role in the transformation.

October 9th, 2011, 3:35 pm

 

Tara said:

Aljazeera reporting clashes between the Copts and the Egyptian police in Cairo. 22 dead and 100 injured.

October 9th, 2011, 3:39 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

SANA reported Assad saying today 9 Oct 2011 “The reform process will be proceeding and it is being carried out based on a sovereign decision independent of any foreign dictates.” We don’t need to hear that Syria doesn’t take dictation from foreigners. What we need to hear is the status of the revision to the Constitution.

October 9th, 2011, 3:39 pm

 

syria no kandahar said:

welcome to arab spring
welcome to freedom and democracy
where is Sarkozy,Ashton,AirDogan?
أكد التلفزيون المصري ارتفاع عدد ضحايا الاشتباكات بين الأقباط وقوات الأمن والشرطة في منطقة ماسبيرو بوسط القاهرة إلى 17 قتيلاً، فيما قالت وكالة فرانس برس إن القتلى عددهم 14.

ونقل التلفزيون عن هشام شيحة وكيل وزارة الصحة أن عدد المصابين من الطرفين ارتفعت إلى أكثر من 140 شخصا. ودخلت قوات الشرطة العسكرية إلى ميدان التحرير لفض المعتصمين الذين حاولوا إقامة متاريس أمام مداخله.

ووقعت الاشتباكات عندما تصدت قوات الأمن لعدة مئات من المحتجين الأقباط لدى تقدمهم صوب مبنى الإذاعة والتلفزيون في وسط القاهرة، محاولين الاعتصام أمامه على ما يبدو.

وقال أحد شهود العيان إن قوات الشرطة العسكرية أطلقت أعيرة نارية في الهواء لتفريق المحتجين، وإن بعضهم ردوا عليها بالرشق بالحجارة.

وأسفرت الاشتباكات عن وقوع عدد من الإصابات، لم يتسن حصرها حتى الآن، وقابل أفراد الشرطة العسكرية رشق الأقباط لهم بالحجارة بإطلاق عدد من الأعيرة النارية فى الهواء دون جدوى.

وكان بعض المتظاهرين مسلحين بأسلحة آلية استولوا عليها من مركبات تابعة للجيش بعد إحراقها، وكذلك قاموا بتدمير ممتلكات خاصة وعامة.

وألقى متظاهرون قنابل مولوتوف على مركبات تابعة للجيش وسمعت طلقات رصاص. وشوهد أهالي قادمون من منطقة السبتية لمساندة الجيش.

وقال الصحفي صمويل العشاي، الذي شارك في التظاهرة، لـ”العربية.نت” إن فلول وبلطجية الحزب الوطني المنحل هي التي أطلقت الرصاص الحي لمنع المتظاهرين الأقباط من التعبير عن غضبهم.

وقال صمويل العشاي “إن المظاهرات بدأت سلمية في تمام الساعة الخامسة مساء بتوقيت القاهرة، وبدأناها بمسيرة جابت شارعي الجلاء وبولاق أبو العلا الموازيين لساحة ماسبيرو، وانضم إلينا عشرات الآلاف بينهم مسلمون ومسيحيون، ولكن عندما بدأنا التجمع أمام ساحة ماسبيرو فوجئنا بالشرطة العسكرية تطلق النار في الهواء وتطاردنا بالمدرعات العسكرية حتى ميدان عبدالمنعم رياض، والآن نحن أما عملية كر وفر بين جنود شرطة الأمن المركزي ومدرعات الجيش”.

وقال عماد جاد، الخبير بمركز الأهرام للدراسات السياسية والاستراتيجية، إنه شاهد “مدرعات للجيش تدهس المتظاهرين، وهذه جريمة حرب مسؤول عنها المشير طنطاوي، ومجموعة المجلس العسكري، وهذه جريمة في حق الإنسانية يجب أن يحاكم المسؤولين عنها، ويجب أن يحاسب من أصدر الأوامر”.

وأضاف في مداخلة هاتفية على قناة النيل للأخبار: “هؤلاء متظاهرون سلميون، ولم يكن أحد من المتظاهرين يحمل سلاحاً، لكن الجيش هو من صعّد الأمر، والمشير يجب أن يخرج للناس الآن ويتحدث، فهذه مقدمة لحرب أهلية”.

وهتف المتظاهرون: “مسلم مسيحي إيد واحدة”، “يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر”، و”الشعب يريد إسقاط المشير”.

مظاهرات في الأقصر وأسيوط والإسكندريةوأغلق الأقباط طريق محافظة الأقصر الرئيس، لكنهم فتحوا الطريق بعد تدخل المحافظ وإقناعهم بأنه سيقوم بتوصيل طلباتهم للجهات المسؤولة في القاهرة، كما نظمت تظاهرات أمام مقر الحزب الوطني المنحل في مدينة أسيوط، فيما تظاهر مئات الأقباط أمام مكتبة الإسكندرية.

وتأتي هذه الاشتبكات احتجاجاً على ما يقول الأقباط إنه هدم لكنيسة في قرية الماريناب بمدينة أدفو بأسوان بواسطة متشددين، والمطالبة بتشكيل لجنة لتقصى الحقائق وإلقاء القبض على المعتدين، والمطالبة بإقالة محافظ أسوان، وإعادة بناء الكنيسة من جديد على نفقة الحكومة، وإصدار قانون موحد لدور العبادة.

إلا أن المحافظ يقول إنها لم تكن كنيسة وإنما مضيفة، وأن واقعة تزوير من بعض الموظفين في مجلس مدينة أدفو وراء استخراج تراخيص ترميمها ككنيسة.

وحمل عشرات الأقباط في مسيرتهم من دوران شبرا إلى ماسبيرو أكفانهم، وارتدوا الملابس البيضاء التي كتب عليها أسماء بعض ضحايا العنف الطائفي، وسط هتافات ضد محافظ أسوان، حيث قاموا بحرق صورته وسط هتافات آلاف الأقباط مرددين “باطل.. باطل”.

وارتفعت اللافتات والصلبان على طول شارع شبرا، حيث طالب المتظاهرون الحكومة بالتدخل لحل قضايا الأقباط.

وقال القمص متياس نصر، الأب الروحى لحركة شباب ماسبيرو، إن المسيرة تعبر عن المواطنين المصريين المسيحيين، لأنهم جزء من هذا الوطن، لهم كامل الحقوق التى تم تجاهلها على مدار سنين طويلة.

October 9th, 2011, 3:56 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

346. TARA said:

“Aljazeera reporting clashes between the Copts and the Egyptian police in Cairo. 22 dead and 100 injured”

Why are they always looking for a fight ? ever since the revolution they have been moving around with a chip on the shoulder.

October 9th, 2011, 4:04 pm

 

Tara said:

Khaled

I don’t know much details yet. I do know that the Egyptians should be particularly tuned in into solving the Copts’ issues at this time as they are feeling particularly vulnerable.

October 9th, 2011, 4:11 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ Ya Mara Ghalba
“SANA reported Assad saying today 9 Oct 2011 “The reform process will be proceeding and it is being carried out based on a sovereign decision independent of any foreign dictates.” We don’t need to hear that Syria doesn’t take dictation from foreigners. What we need to hear is the status of the revision to the Constitution.”

I applaud your intellectual integrity. Your position is clearly a nuanced one, which is far more than I can say for many of the people on this board. Let me ask you this: At one point would you lose faith in Assad’s reform agenda? For example, if article eight was still in place in a month’s time, would you say, “enough is enough”? Where do you draw the line. Thanks.

October 9th, 2011, 4:39 pm

 

Tara said:

Moualim issued a strong statement today warning Arab and foreign governments of not to give the SNC any legitimization. Hollow threat? What can the regime do?

October 9th, 2011, 4:53 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

Aboud #176 said: “Meshaal Tamo’s funeral was shot at and people killed…*by the regime’s thugs*. The only people who did not pay their condolences were any representatives *from the regime*.”

According to SANA the Governor of Hasaka province attended Tammo’s funeral and said, and it’s my interpretation that this was said by the Governor in a speech at the funeral, “This crime committed by the armed terrorist groups aims at undermining the stability of the province.” http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2011/10/09/374306.htm

Aboud #176 said: “The regime will never allow free and fair elections.” This year the regime has already passed essentially all the legislation necesary for conducting free and fair elections. Read the legislation. (The removal of Article 8 of the Constitution is not strictly necessary for free and fair elections, though it is of course strictly necessary for other reasons). Now is a good time to start up a new political party, because not much competition is in the field yet, and the early-entrant advantage is there for the taking.

Aboud #176 said: “An independent press, like the Lebanese have, might as well be the apocalypse to Besho.” The regime has been saying repeatedly that it desires and encourages an independent press, provided the press complies with certain rules, one of which is that the press is not allowed to disseminate unverified and misleading scurrilous slander. Aboud would never be able to operate a press legally because he’s an incorrigible violator of that rule — e.g. Aboud reports at #176 “I’ve lost count of the number of doctor, lawyer and engineer sit ins in Aleppo that were brutally broken up by the regime.”

October 9th, 2011, 5:00 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

“Why are they always looking for a fight ? ever since the revolution they have been moving around with a chip on the shoulder.”

I just knew you would pop your head up and say something stupid about this, but I didn’t bet on you being so quick.

They were annoyed because someone had gone and burnt their church down. And not only that, the encouragement to do so came from an Egyptian official. If someone burnt down your local mosque, you would be apoplectic, and you know it, so don’t come on here claiming that the copts are making a big deal out of nothing.

October 9th, 2011, 5:03 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

that last comment was directed at Khalid Klass

October 9th, 2011, 5:05 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

apologies, that should be Khalid Tlass not Khlaid Klass, my mistake.

October 9th, 2011, 5:07 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

@ DFGIB: I can go along with what Russia’s president Medvedev said a couple of days ago: “If the Syrian leadership is unable to complete such reforms, it will have to go, but this decision should be made not by NATO and certain European countries, it should be made by the people of Syria and the government of Syria.”

October 9th, 2011, 5:07 pm

 

Dale Andersen said:

Memo To: Khalidio Tlassaccio

RE: “…why are they always looking for a fight? ever since the revolution they have been moving around with a chip on the shoulder…”

So the Christians are being a tad too chippy for your mohammedan tastes, eh? Well well well. Too fucking bad, Khallie.

The deal is this. The Copts of Egypt see themselves as the TRUE Egyptians, and these smelly sons of Mo Mohammed as latecomers, interlopers. You dig?

Chistianity in Egypt predates Islam by 700 years. It was an Egyption Christian, for example, who carried the gospel to Ethiopia in the 4th century. The Copts of Egypt are the people who kept the faith, refused to bend to the dictates of the Arab imperialist colonialists who turned everything upside-down with their outlandish ways and their “my way or the highway” religion.

But basically, like a lot of Syrians with respect to the Besho Boys, the Copts are sick and tired of having their lives ruined by people who couldn’t care less whether they live or die.

October 9th, 2011, 5:10 pm

 

Norman said:

Tara,

The copts in Egypt want to be treated as equal, can worship and build churches and equal rights to government jobs, I spoke to an Egyptian Muslim friend of mine , he told that specialties in Urology and obstetrics and Gyn are limited to Muslims and copts are not allowed to do these specialties,

can you see that allowed in the US where Muslims can not be in the FBI or the police.

As long as there is no separation between church, Mosque and state, and that is impossible in the Arab world the whole Arab world is going down the path of religous states ,

October 9th, 2011, 5:11 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

If this post is a duplicate, it’s because the “delete” at the text entry box is not working.

@ DFGIB #351: I can go along with what Russia’s president Medvedev said a couple of days ago: “If the Syrian leadership is unable to complete such reforms, it will have to go, but this decision should be made not by NATO and certain European countries, it should be made by the people of Syria and the government of Syria.”

October 9th, 2011, 5:13 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Anyway, some more points I want to add about my “vision” for Syria –

1. Create a mechanism for devolution of power. Creating Municipal councils, village councils, District boards, etc. so as to give more power to the grassroots and local self-government. Hold periodic free-and-fair elections to the local civic bodies and allow them to manage their own affairs and enjoy considerable financial autonomy.

2. About the economy –

Liberalise the economy, cut red tape, liberalise the economy by disinvestment – privatizing unproductive public sector companies by selling them off to competitive Turkish, Saudi and American businesses, and get rid of the lazy Alawi civil servants.

3. Cut taxes for Hama, Homs, Dara’a, Idleb and Deirezzor and increase taxes for Halab ( sorry Sheila).

4. Create a huge and booming defence industry and sell arms to anybody in the world who pays a heft sum, and use the money to build hospitals and schools. This way we kill two birds with one stone – reduce our dependece on foreign military aid and increase revenues.

October 9th, 2011, 5:13 pm

 

John khouri said:

Churches set on fire and demolished I’n Egypt. This is the Islamist extremist revolution

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7981Q220111009?irpc=932

October 9th, 2011, 5:21 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

354. DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

“If someone burnt down your local mosque”

They already did, in Hama, Talbiseh and Deirezzor.

357. Dale Andersen said :

Why the hell do Copts reject Arab identity when they speak Arabic ? Are they another version of those little devils, the Maarounis ( Maronites) who claim they are Phoenician and not Arab ??

358. Norman said :

Please take your minority complex elsewhere, banning people from entering a few medical disciplines is certainly nor the height of discrimination. And btw, if such a law did exist, why didn;t the secular Mubarak remove it ?

October 9th, 2011, 5:21 pm

 

annie said:

I wish I could write; since I can\’t, I borrow and paste; this sad report – nothing very new but a stone on top of the others – is from the UK Ambassador\’s blog, a comment at http://blogs.fco.gov.uk/roller/collis/entry/the_truth_is_what_big#comment-330416023

rami wrote:

I would like to take part as it’s no longer acceptable in my opinion to stand by – either as a Syrian or a human.
I’m Syrian, live in Syria. I have always lived in fear (until recently) of being taken up by the security forces or secret police even when I speak to my closest friend about corruption or politics in private.

Every now and again the Syrian TV comes up with a silly production of somebody confessing that he shot civilians and policemen. Not a single time have the brilliant presenters interviewed a security member or ‘anti riot police’ as they like to call them, confessing the killing (even by mistake) of a civilian! Not once they mentioned the name of only one civilian killed during the revolution.

It’s not surprising that the Syria TV is part of the police state. Which means Syrians for them mean nothing. Likewise; the political regime: four appearances so far for the president and not in one of them he addressed the people of Syria. He would always speak through people to Syrians!

If arguably there are ‘armed gangs’ in every area particularly where people demonstrate (not in Damascus and Aleppo) then the political regime should resign too because their job is to provide security to the people and they failed after7 months of insecurity! Mind you, if people of Aleppo start to take to street now, the Syrian army will definitely go there to fight ‘the armed gangs’ and the surprise is some Syrians will believe it – only because they want to!

Why the international media is banned from entering Syria? Even countries that support the regime like China and Russia can’t send their media outlets to cover revolution in Syria!! The simple answer is fear of the truth!

The regime’s repeated talks about conspiracy and targeting resistance means that all Syrians are traitors! In other words only those people in power now are pan-Arabism advocates and resistant.
We can elect other Syrian president who could be resistant and pan Arabism promoter but not dictator. why the only possible way of living, ruling, politics, economy is the regime’s?!

in Syria nothing moves without permission (there was a joke that NIH1 didn’t enter Syria because Security forces stopped it at the borders) so the news of people protesting near the French embassy or American embassy and throwing stones is all planned by the government. No one dares to throw a rose on such VIP people in Syria.

The security officers gave orders to civil servants (who are used constantly by the regime) in establishments to order the employees to do so! A repeated similar practices is done near mosques is that plain-clothed security forces rally pro regime in a attempt to make people think that they are normal Syrians rallying out of love!!

Respectable companies, if they receive a complaint about something, they take it very seriously because out of 100 people only one bother to write a complain. Similarly, in Syria, the people who want the change are the majority but many don’t bother (some time too scared) to take to street and complain!
Civil servants, traffic police, army and Security apparatus have been used by government to quell protests.

what is left is for the government to call for military intervention to help it to kill the Syrian peaceful protesters. Well, Syrian foreign minister has already asked for some international support!
The real humanitarian catastrophe will take place not if the protests continue but if they stop!!

October 9th, 2011, 5:24 pm

 

Husam said:

OTW:

Thank you for chiming in. I agree then, it was probably both. Have you been to Turkey lately?

Before seeing Turkey for my own, I wanted to have nothing of them. But quickly, I realized their enormous success (Erodogan and prior); I was in for a real surprise. Erdogan already said he is not running for a 4th term (nothing in the charter said he can’t). He is not for personal gain but for Turkey.

Also, are you personally impressed that a moderate muslim has pleased the secularist or do you think it is possible he is setting the stage for something else?

A close observation, the Ataturk craze is fading out especially with the young. Like the Arab youth, they are fed up with idols. And, they are now understanding that their history is more than just one man.

As for your Bülent Ecevit, the father of the CHP (known for the famous Sex Scandal Tapes & Orgies), his resume doesn’t impress me much. What do you think of the Gülen movement’s influence prior to Erdogan?

October 9th, 2011, 5:27 pm

 

Husam said:

John Khouri:

You left out an important part of the puzzle: the governor lit the match on an already boiling situation by saying publicly there was no permit to build that church. My understanding is that it was built without a permit.

October 9th, 2011, 5:33 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Its surprising to see all these Egyptian Governors and bureaucrats who had sworn by secularism in Mubarak’s time behaving like bazaari Islamists. Can anybody come up with a plausible explanation.

October 9th, 2011, 5:37 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ KHLAID TLASS “Why the hell do Copts reject Arab identity when they speak Arabic ? Are they another version of those little devils, the Maarounis ( Maronites) who claim they are Phoenician and not Arab ??”

I have no idea whether you speak Arabic or not, but if you don’t, why aren’t you a Christian? Pretty dumb idea right? Well, that’s exactly your logic. Should all those Pakistani Muslims that are unable to speak Arabic suddenly convert to Christianity? Of course not.

The Middle East is the way it is today because of bigots like yourself. For the life of me I don’t know why you are so concerned with people of other faiths.

October 9th, 2011, 6:02 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ NORMAN As long as there is no separation between church, Mosque and state, and that is impossible in the Arab world the whole Arab world is going down the path of religous states ,

Spot on, i completely agree.

October 9th, 2011, 6:04 pm

 

Muhammad said:

Syrian mufti threatens to send suicide bombers of children and Lebanese Christians to America and Europe.

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

Qaddafi … every step of the way … I’m waiting for the summoning the Gin scene.

October 9th, 2011, 6:05 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ KHLAID TLASS

You are so hell bent on creating your own Islamic state that you are alienating those whose support you seek in the toppling of Assad. As much as I despise the incumbent government, I would not want to live in your model apartheid state, and I don’t think many other people would want to either. You are the reason why many Westerners have such a negative impression of Islam. You need to realise that intolerance (in all its forms) is antithetical to the idea of a modern state.

October 9th, 2011, 6:14 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

370. DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ KHLAID TLASS

“You are so hell bent on creating your own Islamic state that you are alienating those whose support you seek in the toppling of Assad. As much as I despise the incumbent government, I would not want to live in your model apartheid state, and I don’t think many other people would want to either. You are the reason why many Westerners have such a negative impression of Islam. You need to realise that intolerance (in all its forms) is antithetical to the idea of a modern state”.

I DO NOT seek to establish an Islamic State in Syria. I want ” a bit of our own back”, I mean revenge. Not an Islamic State. I also want security for the future, that another Alawi-led coup will not occur, and for that I need to ensire certain things. An apartheid State is not a theocratic state, South Africa and Rhodesia were not theocratic states.

October 9th, 2011, 6:19 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Syrian actor defects to opposition

By Jane Arraf
Sun, 2011-10-09

“Are you a student?” I asked a Syrian man near the border with Jordan, where thousands have fled to escape the escape the violence in their home country.

“I’m an actor,” he said.

I didn’t recognize him but many Arab film-goers would. It was Saad Lostan – the star of “After the Rain” and TV series “My Heart is With You” – waiting for Jordanian authorities to let him begin life in exile.

Lostan told me he’d left his apartment in Damascus after being in hiding for more than a month. He had helped organize anti-government demonstrations in the Syrian capital and said secret police had twice raided his home and sent word that they were looking for him.

“I don’t think I’m very dangerous,” he said with a weary smile.

Read more: * Check out the first comment at the end of the article.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/10/09/syrian-actor-defects-opposition

October 9th, 2011, 6:24 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Hassoun words imply terrorism,I guess this is what Muallem meant also, when he said he will punish Europe, and what Assad told Turkish FM that he will do.

October 9th, 2011, 6:25 pm

 

John khouri said:

@365 – husam, so u r saying to me that the 1000’s of mosques built in egypt all have permits? Wake up to urself and realise the truth about what is happening. The EVIL Muslim Brotherhood has already started to show its true colors. This is the real face of the Revolution and of the islamic extremist Muslim Brotherhood

October 9th, 2011, 6:30 pm

 

Tara said:

Muhamad @ 369

Shame on mufti Hassoun threatening suicide bombers killing civillians. He reminds me with the empty threats Quaddafi issued before his ouster. Obviously, Hassoun has not read the Quraan lately and he is in dire need for a crash course in Islam.

October 9th, 2011, 6:35 pm

 

Husam said:

John,

R u speculating that a few 100 Mosque don’t have building permits? Can u provide us some proof?

It was stupid of the governor to open his mouth at times like these.

October 9th, 2011, 6:46 pm

 

Tara said:

It is also so demeaning for the sovereignty of Lebsnon that a Sunni mufti from Syria Is threatening to use Lebanese to unleash a wave of suicide bombers in the US, France, and England. Suicide bombers kill civilians. Who is he going to recruit and from what sect?

Any one who incite, threat and legitimize terrorism is a terrorist and should be declared as such.

October 9th, 2011, 6:46 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Shaykh Habib Umar (Yemen) on the protests and revolutions in the Middle East and a piece of good news for all (March 2011 ?)

Al-Habib was asked regarding the current unfolding events and do note of the statements in bold, echoing the same message from other awliyas such as Sheikh Nazim etc..

—–
Sayyidi al-Habib `Umar bin Hafiz was asked: what is the position of the scholars on recent events in Yemen and in other Arab states? How should we respond to these events? Is it not true that, “he who does not concern himself with the affairs of the Muslims is not one of them?”

He replied: “Concern for the affairs of the Muslims was a duty before these events, it remains so during them and continues to be so after. Whoever does not expend efforts in du`a and pleading with Allah (to rectify the affairs of the Muslims) in the day and the night has fallen short in this duty. The one who is capable of offering assistance to relatives or friends or anyone else in the country which he lives and fails to do so is lacking in his concern for the for the affairs of the Muslims.

“The scholars offer guidance to all — to those who demand their rights and likewise to those from whom such rights are being demanded. They direct people to that which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family) directed Sayyiduna `Umar. He said to him[1]: “Request that he asks in the best way, and request that I repay him in the best way.” They emphasise to all the sanctity of people’s blood, property and honour, as the Messenger of Allah clearly emphasised this. They stress that no-one, whether they are the rulers or the ones being ruled, has the right to harm anyone else. No-one has the right to permit the spilling of another’s blood, the damage or wrongful taking of his property or for his honour to be damaged under any circumstances.

“The Muslims should know the true station of the scholars in Islam. It is not for the rulers or the ruled to use the scholars on a whim when they feel the need to do so. The scholars are bearers of a sacred trust, bearers of the legacy of Prophethood. What they say must be respected in all situations. It is not for the rulers to constantly go against the guidance of the scholars and then to use them when they need them. Nor is it for those being ruled to live in heedlessness of them, ignorant of their station and then when they need them to ask: “where are the scholars?” The scholars are not an item that can be chosen at a whim by either party.

“There is no doubt that this a time of tribulations and that there are more tribulations to come. We have been informed about them on the tongue of Prophethood. We have been warned against taking sides and contributing to these conflicts. We have taken a covenant to clarify to all what their duty is. People may then accept this advice, in which case they are then set to receive the mercy of Allah, or they may reject it. Allah will in the end call everyone to account.

“In spite of all this, beyond these severe troubles we know that Allah will bring relief and salvation to the nation of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his family). We ask Allah that the end result is good and that He rectifies the affairs of the Muslims wherever they are.”

October 9th, 2011, 6:51 pm

 

sheila said:

To #340. Mina,
Do you seriously believe that Turkey is where it is today because of the money of the expats in Germany?
Tow problems with this theory:
1- The Turkish expats in Germany are mostly poor laborers.
2- There are as many Syrians outside the country as inside the country. If your theory holds any water, then why didn’t the same boom happen in Syria?
Seriously MINA, it is all about good governance. It is about having people in power who care about the country, not just about their Swiss bank accounts.

October 9th, 2011, 6:51 pm

 

free-syrian said:

the Free Syrian Army, blowing the crap out of Assad’s tanks in Rastan

October 9th, 2011, 7:04 pm

 

uzair8 said:

I was watching TV several hours ago. Checked various news channels until I stopped at Russia Today which was reporting about Syria. They showed a brief clip of an interview with Buthaina Shaaban and said the full interview would be shown in the next half hour. I missed it.

Here it is on their website:

http://rt.com/news/syria-terrorists-democracy-shaaban-405/

October 9th, 2011, 7:08 pm

 

Muhammad said:

Tara

Hasson said he is going to send another Joul Jammal (a Christian) and Mohammad Dorrah (a child). You are right this is exactly what Qaddafi threatened the West with. Expect calls for jihad against the zioni-salafist invaders from Hasson soon.

The regime is going to terrible lows. The regime has no competition when it comes to depth of their moral gutter. It is now breaking its own records. Just at a time when you thought their media image could not become worse Hasson comes up with this gem. Worse still, the crowd of Christian ladies coming in the convoy of “Mary the Virgin” cheered !!

October 9th, 2011, 7:09 pm

 

Norman said:

Sheila,

Syria has been under sanctions since the Camp David accord in 1978 , Syria can not buy many products, computers, passenger airlines and others, still with what we see going on in Greece, Spain, portugal, Italy and Ireland , Syria’s government did not and is not mortgaging the future of the Syrian kids with massive debt, Syria would have been a different place without the sanctions.

We should at least value them and the Baath party for that .

October 9th, 2011, 7:20 pm

 

Tara said:

Muhammad

It is so ironic. Pseudo-Muslims and pseudo-Christians unite in legitimizing terrorism. And for what and whom? The rule of one family over 2 countries. What a shame.

All

There is one explanation for the hollow escalating threats we hear today from Mou’alim and from Hassoun. The regime is scared….very very scared.

October 9th, 2011, 7:23 pm

 

Ghufran said:

فضيلة حكومة خادم الحرمين
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today%5C09qpt960.htm&arc=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-09%5C09qpt960.htm
Jonathan Steele of the Guardian is accusing Turkey of killing Tamo?
Anybody who can find a link?

October 9th, 2011, 7:33 pm

 

sheila said:

To all,
First I would like to condemn the burning of the church regardless of whether it was built with or without a permit. but remember that burning the church was done by a few. I do not think it is fair to condemn the whole Muslim community for the acts of a few. The sectarian tensions in Egypt have been around for a very long time. Please note the following:
1- Egypt has one of the lowest literacy rates in the Arab world. Surprising but true. Almost half the women in Egypt can not read or write. In my view, this has direct implications on the situation.
2- One of the main reasons for tension between the two religions is surprisingly enough, love. Every few month, a Muslim man falls in love with a Christian woman or a Christian man falls in love with a Muslim woman and usually all hell breaks loose and it becomes a national issue, especially when it happens in a village or a small town.
3- Both sides are quite religious and just as guilty of atrocities. The only difference is that Muslims are more so their attacks are more effective.
4- Egypt just very recently overthrew her dictator. It is not a magic wand that you wave and voila, democracy flourishes. It takes time. It can take up to a generation to turn things around.
5- The previous government was proven to have incited religious conflicts between the two communities with divide and conquer in mind. Now the new government has to do everything it can to calm things down.

October 9th, 2011, 7:36 pm

 

Norman said:

Tara,and others,

Hassoun is speaking out of anger from the loss of his son that he blames on the west supported opposition, he should have controlled his emotions, but Syrian and Arabs are known not to be able to do that,

The Syrian government, Baath party, the army and most people are convinced that Syria is under attack to change it’s position on Palestine, they feel that Arab nationalism and Syria as the only known Arab nation supported state are under attack.

October 9th, 2011, 7:41 pm

 

Husam said:

Norman said:

We should at least value them and the Baath party for that.

I did not know you were a hard core Baathist!

Dude, they did not mortgage the Syrians because they did not allow free economy, banking, etc…not because they cared about the future of Syrian Youth but because they were robbing us blind. They kept it tight between themselves and the Sunni Elite that danced to their tunes.

Syrian would have been a different place… you mean like Turkey 🙂

I would rather be in Greece, Portugal and Italy rather than in Syria’s fountains of blood right now. Norman, I bet you: your US of A will soon be aflame as OWS (Occupy Wall Street) takes momentum. It’s coming to a theatre near you…

October 9th, 2011, 7:43 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear #382. Norman,
You said:
“Syria has been under sanctions since the Camp David accord in 1978 , Syria can not buy many products, computers, passenger airlines and others, still with what we see going on in Greece, Spain, portugal, Italy and Ireland , Syria’s government did not and is not mortgaging the future of the Syrian kids with massive debt, Syria would have been a different place without the sanctions.
We should at least value them and the Baath party for that “.
I do not know what to say Norman. At this point there is nothing that I can value about this regime. All you are trying to do is dig out some silver lining out of this misery. Really Norman, you live in the US. Can’t you see the difference?. Why are you so successful here and would not have been as successful there?. I remember my father’s friend who was the health director in Aleppo in the late 80s telling us that they had to bring three doctors in Aleppo for a committee hearing because they were working as taxi drivers. You know the truth Norman, please get to that point where you can face it and accept it. Be independent and don’t just follow what your friends and family keep pushing.

October 9th, 2011, 7:45 pm

 

Norman said:

Sheila,

The problem is not the racism of the people , the problem is that when the church was burned, the governor did not come out to secure the peace but blamed the illegal building of the church,

The government , any government can not be but impartial otherwise people will defend themselves and that is a civil war.

In the US there are many racists, but the government is impartial and racist crimes have harsher penalties exactly for the fear of civil war.

October 9th, 2011, 7:53 pm

 

Ghufran said:

Reform is not possible with this regime,it is rotten from A to Z but a national unity government following the resignation of Assad and the departure of his top security chiefs is something most Syrians are willing to talk about. Russia will not support the regime forever and Syrians who tolerated 41 years of oppression may be better off giving political powers in Syria few more months to form a body that represent most Syrians.
The SNC represents one segment of the Syrian society but it is far from being THE council. Ignoring seculars,minorities,women,leftists,etc will produce a divisive council that can not govern and is too dependent on foreign governments for its own survival.
Before the SNC seeks international recognition it needs to talk to abdulazeem group and other blocks inside Syria.

October 9th, 2011, 7:58 pm

 

Norman said:

Husam,

I like the Baath party ideology of unity, freedom and social justice and one Arab nation with eternal mission to improve the world,

I just do not blame the Baath party for the deeds of the opportunists that joined the Baath party because of the one party system that the Baath party was dragged to adopt after the 1963 coup,

Still Syria has no foreign debt, no budget deficit, it does not borrow to waste like Lebanon or other states in the EU.

Sheila,

I came to the US to specialize and stayed because we did not have any money, my father was an electrician, my family did not put a house in my name, we did not even have the money to rent an office because of the turn key fees, I had dreams and responsibilities that require that i succeed so the US is the land of opportunity. lastly, my wife does not want to live in Syria and i can not blame her, I still remember how long we used to wait to buy bread and how many people we had to pay to get an ID Card.

October 9th, 2011, 8:11 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear #389. Norman,
You said:
“The problem is not the racism of the people , the problem is that when the church was burned, the governor did not come out to secure the peace but blamed the illegal building of the church,
The government , any government can not be but impartial otherwise people will defend themselves and that is a civil war.
In the US there are many racists, but the government is impartial and racist crimes have harsher penalties exactly for the fear of civil war”.

I agree with you 100%. This stupid statement by the governor did nothing but justify the unjustifiable.

October 9th, 2011, 8:12 pm

 

Tara said:

Norman

Terrorism is not new to the regime. Haven’t Maliki complained of the Syrian regime exporting terrorist to Iraq? Do you really believe Hassoun would dare to venture out in his rhetoric without the regime dictating what he says? This is Syria, Norman. You and I know exactly how things are said..

October 9th, 2011, 8:13 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear # 390. Ghufran,
You said:
“Reform is not possible with this regime, it is rotten from A to Z but a national unity government following the resignation of Assad and the departure of his top security chiefs is something most Syrians are willing to talk about”.
Amen to that.

October 9th, 2011, 8:15 pm

 

irritated said:

Husam

I got it, don’t get upset! Turkey is the best Sunni model for the Arabs. Erdogan said it in Egypt, you are saying it here. Amen.

October 9th, 2011, 8:16 pm

 

Tara said:

Thousands of Kurds could awaken against Syrian regime
Monday 10 October 2011

Syria’s insurgency took a dangerous turn over the weekend after the assassination of a prominent Kurdish opposition leader heightened tension and threatened to turn a once quiescent minority against President Bashar al-Assad.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8816825/Thousands-of-Kurds-could-awaken-against-Syrian-regime.html

Until Mr Tammo’s death, the minority had only played a peripheral role in the uprising with only a handful of Kurds among the 2,900 people the UN says have been killed in Syria since protests against the regime erupted in March.
Likewise, demonstrations in Kurdish cities have only been small and the regime has been careful to use less force against them in order not to provoke the community.

more…

October 9th, 2011, 8:32 pm

 

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

@ NORMAN

“Still Syria has no foreign debt, no budget deficit, it does not borrow to waste like Lebanon or other states in the EU.”

Dude, what are you talking about?

The reason Syria doesn’t have these things is because the government has mismanaged the country for the past 40 odd years not because of some far-sighted strategic choice they made.

Afghanistan doesn’t have a stock market, isn’t that great, just imagine, no-one has to worry about their pension portfolio losing 10% in a day.

Wow, aren’t those guys in Somali lucky. They don’t have to make hard decisions like whether to have a McDonalds or a Pizza Hut. Jeez, if only the US could be more like Somalia.

It’s a shame you didn’t leave Syria a lot earlier, perhaps then we wouldn’t have to point out the holes in all your arguments.

October 9th, 2011, 8:37 pm

 

Ghufran said:

لاقت إصلاحات النظام تجاوبا كبيرا من النظام
http://www.alwatanonline.com/policy_news.php?kind=-1&id=2496

October 9th, 2011, 8:44 pm

 

irritated said:

Husam

I wonder why do you systematically accuse anyone who does not believe in Paradise Turkey that he/she is against Sunnis?
I find this very odd…

October 9th, 2011, 8:47 pm

 

zoo said:

Civil war in Syria?
Sunday, October 9, 2011
GWYNNE DYER

Back in 1989, when the communist regimes of Europe were tottering toward their end, almost every day somebody would say “There’s going to be a civil war.” And our job, as foreign journalists who allegedly had their finger on the pulse of events, was to say: “No, there won’t be.” So most of us did say that, as if we actually knew. But the locals were pathetically grateful, and we turned out to be right.

It was just the same in South Africa in 1993-94. Another non-violent revolution was taking on another dictatorship with a long record of brutality, and once again most people who had lived their lives under its rule were convinced there would be a civil war. So we foreign journalists (or at least some of us) reassured them that there wouldn’t be, and again we turned out to be right.

Now it’s Syria’s turn, and yet again most of the people who live there fear that their non-violent revolution will end in civil war. It’s not my job to reassure them this time, because like most foreign journalists I can’t even get into the country, but in any case I would have no reassurance to offer. This time, it may well end in civil war. Like Iraq.

The Bashar al-Assad dynasty in Syria is neither better nor worse than Saddam Hussein’s regime was in Iraq. They had identical origins, as local branches of the same pan-Arab political movement, the Baath Party. They both depended on minorities for their core support: the Syrian Baathists on the 10 percent Alawite (a Shiite subsect) minority in that country, and the Iraqi Baathists on the 20 percent of that country’s people who were Sunni Arabs.

They were both ruthless in crushing threats to their monopoly of power. Hafez al-Assad’s troops killed up to 40,000 people in Hama when Sunni Islamists rebelled in Syria in 1982, Saddam Hussein’s army killed at least as many Shiites in southern Iraq when they rebelled after the 1991 Gulf War, and both regimes were systematically beastly to their local Kurds.

When the American invaders destroyed Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq in 2003, however, what ensued was not peace, prosperity and democracy. It was a brutal civil war that ended with Baghdad almost entirely cleansed of its Sunni Muslim population and the whole country cleansed of its Christian minority. Only the Kurds, insulated by their own battle-hardened army and their mountains, avoided the carnage.

So if the Baathist regime in Syria is driven from power, why should we believe that what follows will be any better than it was in Iraq? The country’s ethnic and sectarian divisions are just as deep and complex as Iraq’s, and although non-violent protest continues to be the main weapon of the pro-democracy movement, there is now also violent resistance to the regime’s attacks on the population.

This is not to swallow the Baath regime’s claim that the army is protecting innocent Syrians from terrorist “armed gangs.” The overwhelming majority of the estimated 2,900 civilians killed in the past six months were unarmed protesters killed by soldiers and secret policemen. But some Syrians – especially ex-soldiers who deserted from their units to avoid having to murder civilians – are starting to fight back with weapons.

Time is running out in Syria. The revolutionaries are struggling to keep their movement inclusive and non-violent, but people are retreating into their narrow ethnic and religious identities and resistance is turning violent. The most vulnerable minorities, like the Christians, are starting to think about flight.

If it goes wrong in Syria, it could be almost as bad as the civil war that raged next-door in Lebanon for 15 years: massacres, refugees and devastation. What can be done to avert that outcome? Perhaps nothing short of foreign intervention on behalf of the revolutionaries can stop it now, for otherwise the regime will fight on until the country is destroyed.

Help has to come from outside, and it’s hard to imagine that happening. NATO certainly won’t take this one on: Syria has four times Libya’s population and quite serious armed forces. Non-military intervention in the form of trade embargoes and the like is unlikely to work in time, even if the rest of the world could agree on it.

There is already foreign intervention in Syria, of course, but on the wrong side. The Shiite regimes in Iran and Iraq are already giving material support to the Baathist regime in Syria on the grounds that it is a) Shiite and b) Steadfast in its resistance to Israeli expansion. And there is no point in hoping for timely concessions from President Bashar al-Assad, son of the late, great dictator: he is effectively the prisoner of the Alawite elite.

The Syrian revolutionaries are on their own. They will probably bring down the Baathists in the end, but by then the regime’s increasingly violent efforts to suppress the revolt may well have triggered the civil war that everybody fears. Another six months like the last six months, and it will be all but inevitable.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=civil-war-in-syria-2011-10-09

October 9th, 2011, 8:52 pm

 

Husam said:

Irritated:

If sunnis irritate you that much, may we prescribe some Bengay 🙂 made in Turkey!

October 9th, 2011, 8:58 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear Norman,
You an I have completely different life stories that ultimately led to the same conclusion: the US. Unlike you, I come from a well to do family. I grew up with the proverbial golden spoon in my mouth. Had the best of everything. I could most certainly, make a lot more money in Syria than I do here in the US. I pretty much have it made. Yet, just like you, I do not want to go back. Because of many things including the fact that I can not speak my mind. But most importantly, because I can not live happily in a place where justice is in the hands of the powerful and most people are living under the tyranny of a few. I can not watch ordinary people being humiliated on a daily basis. I can not survive where the poor have no chance of getting anywhere in life no matter how hard they worked or how smart they were, except if they resorted to crime and joined the regime thugs. I can not stand the fact that you have no recourse. I can not tolerate the rampant corruption. For me, they took all the oxygen out of Syria and I just can not breath.

October 9th, 2011, 9:21 pm

 

irritated said:

Husam

Irritated against sunni? Wrong diagnostic.
Irritated against narrow minds, yes!

October 9th, 2011, 9:24 pm

 

Norman said:

Digging,

Syria has no foreign debt because she lives within it’s means, something we should learn in the US,not because it did not have a stock market.

Tara,

After the invasion of Iraq, we heard in the US voices calling for the US army to turn left and invade Syria, what did expect Syria to do wait till they come into Syria or turn a blind eye on the Saudis and other Arabs who used the fact that Syria does not require visas of Arabs to enter Syria, so the terror that took place in Iraq was not initiated by Syria but Syria did not try to stop it for lack of cooperation by the US government, they wanted Syria to help without them helping Syria, Syria is not a charitable organization, the US should have helped Syria to help the US.

October 9th, 2011, 9:28 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

لاقت إصلاحات النظام تجاوبا كبيرا من النظام
What an intelligent sentence

October 9th, 2011, 9:34 pm

 

Tara said:

Norman

Did you not hear about the wikileak documents discussing how the Syrian regime trained political prisoners in Sednaya prison in the art of terrorism to sent then to Iraq only to re-arrest them on their return? This I believe was discussed on SC several weeks ago.

October 9th, 2011, 9:39 pm

 

ann said:

24 dead in worst Cairo riots since Mubarak ouster – 16 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/24-dead-worst-cairo-riots-since-mubarak-ouster-232452205.html

CAIRO (AP) — Flames lit up downtown Cairo, where massive clashes raged Sunday, drawing Christians angry over a recent church attack, Muslims and Egyptian security forces. At least 24 people were killed and more than 200 injured in the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February.

The rioting lasted late into the night, bringing out a deployment of more than 1,000 security forces and armored vehicles to defend the state television building along the Nile, where the trouble began. The military clamped a curfew on the area until 7 a.m.

The clashes spread to nearby Tahrir Square, drawing thousands of people to the vast plaza that served as the epicenter of the protests that ousted Mubarak. On Sunday night, they battled each other with rocks and firebombs, some tearing up pavement for ammunition and others collecting stones in boxes.

At one point, an armored security van sped into the crowd, striking a half-dozen protesters and throwing some into the air. Protesters retaliated by setting fire to military vehicles, a bus and private cars, sending flames rising into the night sky.

After midnight, mobs roamed downtown streets, attacking cars they suspected had Christian passengers. In many areas, there was no visible police or army presence to confront or stop them.

Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s 80 million people, blame the country’s ruling military council for being too lenient on those behind a spate of anti-Christian attacks since Mubarak’s ouster. As Egypt undergoes a chaotic power transition and security vacuum in the wake of the uprising, the Coptic Christian minority is particularly worried about the show of force by ultraconservative Islamists.

Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, addressing the nation in a televised speech, said the violence threatened to throw Egypt’s post-Mubarak transition off course.

“These events have taken us back several steps,” he said. “Instead of moving forward to build a modern state on democratic principles we are back to seeking stability and searching for hidden hands — domestic and foreign — that meddle with the country’s security and safety.”

“I call on Egyptian people, Muslims and Christians, women and children, young men and elders to hold their unity,” Sharaf said.

The Christian protesters said their demonstration began as a peaceful attempt to sit in at the television building. But then, they said, they came under attack by thugs in plainclothes who rained stones down on them and fired pellets.

“The protest was peaceful. We wanted to hold a sit-in, as usual,” said Essam Khalili, a protester wearing a white shirt with a cross on it. “Thugs attacked us and a military vehicle jumped over a sidewalk and ran over at least 10 people. I saw them.”

Wael Roufail, another protester, corroborated the account. “I saw the vehicle running over the protesters. Then they opened fired at us,” he said.

Khalili said protesters set fire to army vehicles when they saw them hitting the protesters.

Ahmed Yahia, a Muslim resident who lives near the TV building, said he saw the military vehicle plow into protesters. “I saw a man’s head split into two halves and a second body flattened when the armored vehicle ran over it. When some Muslims saw the blood they joined the Christians against the army,” he said.

Television footage showed the military vehicle slamming into the crowd. Coptic protesters were shown attacking a soldier, while a priest tried to protect him. One soldier collapsed in tears as ambulances rushed to the scene to take away the injured.

At least 24 people were killed in the clashes, Health Ministry official Hisham Sheiha said on state TV.

State media reported that Egypt’s interim Cabinet was holding an emergency session to discuss the situation.

The protest began in the Shubra district of northern Cairo, then headed to the state television building along the Nile where men in plainclothes attacked about a thousand Christian protesters as they chanted denunciations of the military rulers.

“The people want to topple the field marshal!” the protesters yelled, referring to the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi. Some Muslim protesters later joined in the chant.

Later in the evening, a crowd of Muslims turned up to challenge the Christian crowds, shouting, “Speak up! An Islamic state until death!”

Armed with sticks, the Muslim assailants chased the Christian protesters from the TV building, banging metal street signs to scare them off. It was not immediately clear who the attackers were.

Gunshots rang out at the scene, where lines of riot police with shields tried to hold back hundreds of Christian protesters chanting, “This is our country!”

Security forces eventually fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. The clashes then moved to nearby Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the uprising against Mubarak. The army closed off streets around the area.

The clashes left streets littered with shattered glass, stones, ash and soot from burned vehicles. Hundreds of curious onlookers gathered at one of the bridges over the Nile to watch the unrest.

After hours of intense clashes, chants of “Muslims, Christians one hand, one hand!” rang out in a call for a truce. The stone-throwing died down briefly, but then began to rage again.

In the past weeks, riots have broken out at two churches in southern Egypt, prompted by Muslim crowds angry over church construction. One riot broke out near the city of Aswan, even after church officials agreed to a demand by ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis that a cross and bells be removed from the building.

Aswan’s governor, Gen. Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, further raised tensions by suggesting to the media that the church construction was illegal.

Protesters said the Copts are demanding the ouster of the governor, reconstruction of the church, compensation for people whose houses were set on fire and prosecution of those behind the riots and attacks on the church.

Last week, the military used force to disperse a similar protest in front of the state television building. Christians were angered by the treatment of the protesters and vowed to renew their demonstrations until their demands are met.

October 9th, 2011, 9:42 pm

 

Norman said:

Sheila,

The single most important problem in Syria is the single party system it is the cancer that corrupt people even good people,

The Syrian government and president Assad understand that, and multi party elections are comming soon, Syria needs soft landing otherwise civil war will be the result and another dictatorship will replace the present one.

October 9th, 2011, 9:42 pm

 

Mick said:

#404 Sheila..

Have you noticed the Occupy Wall Street thingee going on here in America? About how the rich in the country are getting massive bonuses after taking the country to the brink?

Ring a bell?

How’s about heading to East St. Louis and talk to the folks there about how America cares for its citizens. Or Oakland. Or Detroit. Or the South Side of Chicago. Or the ninth ward in New Orleans. These people have no voice in society. Try getting past the corporate lobbyists in DC to get your voice heard. The scientific community with solid evidence of global warming can’t.

So you can write about it here in the great U.S. Talk about it. Make songs. Big deal. If you get too big, you will be squashed. It’s been that way forever. Ask the Smothers Brothers.

October 9th, 2011, 9:42 pm

 

jad said:

I would be so happy to see people on this site become nonviolence supporter and anti-terrorism if they were genuine, however, all those who suddenly become peace lovers, nonviolence and anti terrorism are hypocrites because it suited them, not because they care, and they suddenly become so offended by Hassoun’s speech….
Weren’t you the ones calling for Syria to be bombed by the west, for Syrians to become poorer and under sanctions, weren’t you the ones who are calling for every Syrian to be armed and for the army to start killing each other so the violence take over the whole country?
Your BS is Unbelievable!
You took Hasson speech out of the context for pure political reasons and not out of your sudden humanity:
He started saying that the moment Syria is “BOMBED”, (Which all of you hypocrites are calling for that day in day out), with the first BOMB to be dropped over Syria, every Syrian and every Lebanese, men and women, will become martyrs’ projects in Europe the States and in Palestine, if the West dared to ‘BOMBARD’ Syria or Lebanon.
From this day on (the day when Syria or Lebanon is bombed) it will be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and the west should know that not only Arabs or Muslims are the ones who will attack them also Christians and children too because they BOMBED Syria/Lebanon, not OUT THE BLUE as you promote on here.

(FYI, I’m not with what Hassoun said and I’m actually very surprised by his aggressive comments, unusual for him.)

October 9th, 2011, 9:47 pm

 

Darryl said:

360. KHALID TLASS said:

2. About the economy –

“Liberalise the economy, cut red tape, liberalise the economy by disinvestment – privatizing unproductive public sector companies by selling them off to competitive Turkish, Saudi and American businesses, and get rid of the lazy Alawi civil servants.”

Mr Tlass can you elaborate how the country will deal with families who have a dozen children and can barely afford to eat bread?

“3. Cut taxes for Hama, Homs, Dara’a, Idleb and Deirezzor and increase taxes for Halab ( sorry Sheila).

Excellent idea, as they say in the west rob Peter to pay for Paul or the other way around perhaps, not sure anymore.

“4. Create a huge and booming defence industry and sell arms to anybody in the world who pays a heft sum, and use the money to build hospitals and schools. This way we kill two birds with one stone – reduce our dependece on foreign military aid and increase revenues.”

You have managed to score lots of green points this time. I wonder if it is due to this excellent idea. You finally may have put on your thinking cap, keep it on as you need to think a bit more like:

A. You need to employ the Mukhaburat to start covert wars.

B. Syria has no electronic industry, you can come up with a Vacuum tube based DSPs and Microprocessors. Syria can lead in that area as we do not need to infringe any patents.

C. Syria has no steel or materials industry, we just find a process to compress toilet paper into strong military grade materials used to make jets, tanks, cannons etc. Better yet, use waste from olive oil production (Timiz) that resembles high tech carbon fiber composites.

D. Syria has no experience in Jet engines, but we will have many unemployed people, so that we develop Jet engines where people sit inside and paddle the Turbo-fan to develop thrust. An added bonus, no patent infringement.

I have exhausted my self now. Can you remind me why you are not living in KSA gain, I must have missed it?

October 9th, 2011, 9:48 pm

 

Norman said:

Tara,

Wiki leaks are opinions and hear say, they are discussions and might not be true,

October 9th, 2011, 9:50 pm

 

Ghufran said:

من قتل مشعل تمو؟
يصر الكثيرون ان النظام قتله
الأكراد اصحاب العلاقه لم يتهموا أحدا بعينه
البعض و انا منهم يستبعد ان النظام قتله لان قتله الان لا يصب في مصلحة النظام الذي افرج عنه في حزيران قبل انتهاء مدة سجنه
لم تستبعد المبادرة الوطنية لأكراد سورية وصحيفة “الغارديان” البريطانية أن تكون الاستخبارات التركية وراء اغتيال المعارض السوري الكردي مشعل تمو، بينما فضلت أحزاب الحركة الوطنية الكردية في سورية التريث قبل توجيه الاتهام إلى أي طرف.

وقال رئيس المبادرة الوطنية عمر أوسي في مقابلة مع الفضائية السورية: إن “مشعل تمو خسارة للأكراد ولسورية، واغتاليه يأتي في إطار المؤامرة الرامية إلى استهداف الشخصيات المعروفة لافتعال فتنة بين الشريحة الكردية والسلطة”.

وشدد أوسي على أن الشعب الكردي “لن تنطلي عليه هذه المؤامرة ولن ينجر إلى التمرد والتخريب”، مضيفاً: “من غير المستبعد أن تكون أجهزة استخبارات بعض دول الجوار ومنها الاستخبارات التركية تقف وراء هذه الجريمة”.

إصابة معاون مدير زراعة حمص وعدد من موظفي المديرية بجروح مسلحين
تشييع جثامين 9 شهداء من الجيش والمدنيين في سورية
اعتصام أمام السفارة التركية في عمان للتنديد بتدخل أنقرة في شؤون سورية
مارغيلوف يلتقي الاثنين ممثلي المعارضة السورية بالداخل

في ذات السياق، أكد مراسل صحيفة “غارديان” البريطانية في الموصل شمال العراق جوناثان ستيل أن المخابرات التركية هي التي تقف خلف إغتيال مشعل تمو.

وأضاف ستيل في تقرير وصف بالسري جداً والعاجل، أن الاغتيال جاء ردا “على العملية التي قامت بها المخابرات السورية بالقبض على الضابط السوري الفار حسين هرموش داخل الأراضي التركية”. 

وأعرب ستيل عن اعتقاده بأن تركيا أرادت من وراء عملية الاغتيال تحقيق هدفين بضربة واحدة حيث تخلصت من معارض كردي هام ومميز، وألقت بالتهمة على السلطات السورية الأمر الذي يمكن استثماره لتنشيط الاحتجاجات ضد السلطات السورية من جديد في شمال سورية بعد حالة الهدوء التي عادت للمنطقة.

October 9th, 2011, 9:50 pm

 

sheila said:

Dear 410. Mick,
I do not disagree with what you said. I have not claimed that the US is perfect. It has many problems. I do not know of any country that can boast a perfect system. Everything in life is relative. You just can not compare what we have in the US to what we have in Syria.

October 9th, 2011, 9:55 pm

 

Ghufran said:

إصلاحات النظام لاقت تجاوبا كبيرا من النظام
لم يفهم البعض هذه الجمله العربيه البسيطه
تلك الإصلاحات الورقيه يا اصحاب الفخامه لا تساوي اي شيء في ظل استمرار القمع و تغييب المعارضه الوطنيه
قيل لابي تمام لم تقول ما لا يفهم؟ فاجاب لم لا تفهم مل يقال؟

October 9th, 2011, 10:00 pm

 

Tara said:

Terrorism is killing civillians. Assad is terrorist and also traitor because he is killing peaceful demonstrators who are his own people. Armed resistance is MORAL and lack of it is immoral when you a d your loved one are being tortured, killed and subjugated day in and day out. The revolution and its representative, the NSC, has so far rejected foreign intervention. However, if the people on the ground who are getting killed asking for international protection, it is their call not the call of someone sitting behind a computer screen spending crocodile tears. Croccodile tears do not deceive anybody. People who talks about hypocrisy are text book example of it.

October 9th, 2011, 10:00 pm

 

Norman said:

The Syrian government should do what the US government did in Iraq, move with election and political reform with the guns blazing, people who want to join the political process are the winners while the others are the losers, sooner or later and as long as the Syrian government is determent political reform and multi party systems will take hold and the ones who refuse participation will join in later as in Iraq,

October 9th, 2011, 10:10 pm

 

Husam said:

Irritated said:

Irritated against sunni? Wrong diagnostic. Irritated against narrow minds, yes!

Enlighten us on your solution, Mr. Big Brain, who’s your model?

If you can’t tolerate Turkey’s success, then go itch some more.

October 9th, 2011, 10:12 pm

 

Tara said:

Ghufran @ 414

Read the link I posted in 397

I quote: “Fares Tammo, the dead man’s son, urged Syria’s 1.7 million Kurds to throw their support behind the revolt and predicted that their participation would prove the decisive factor in overthrowing Mr Assad.
“My father’s assassination is the screw in the regime’s coffin,” he told the New York Times. “They made a big mistake by killing my father.”

October 9th, 2011, 10:13 pm

 

Ghufran said:

شعير البلد و لا حنطه جلب
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today%5C09qpt986.htm%20&%20arc=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-09%5C09qpt986.htm
Tara,
Fares just lost his father,he might be right in his reaction. The coming days or weeks will tell us more. The regime is desperate to win the Kurds to their side. Killing Tammo is not in the regime’s best interest,he was far less hawkish than many in the opposition,and the last thing the regime needs is losing the Kurds. I am simply not ready to join the choir on this matter.
I am afraid that we will witness more assassinations targeting pro regime figures and moderate opposition figures especially among those who oppose foreign intervention.

October 9th, 2011, 10:27 pm

 

Tara said:

It is shame what happened in Egypt today. Let the Copts demonstrate as much as they want. Assailants who tried to chase the demonstrators should be arrested. The government is responsible for the demonstrator’s safety and should be held accountable if it can not provide them protection.

October 9th, 2011, 10:31 pm

 

zoo said:

From Libya to Syria and Armenia, Turkish-French rivalry is back

Sunday, October 9, 2011
MURAT YETKİN

Last week on Oct. 7, the French Interior Minister signed a conceptual agreement with his Turkish host İdris Naim Şahin on the joint struggle against terrorism. Opening the door for operational cooperation as well, the agreement is the first of its kind for Turkey; France has similar, even more detailed ones with a limited number of countries, including the U.S.

But as Turkish and French ministers were preparing for the agreement ceremony in the morning, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was on his way to Armenia to make bitter statements that Turkey should admit the allegation that massacres against Armenians in the last years of the Ottoman Empire amounted to genocide.

It was like an ultimatum since Sarkozy was giving a deadline to Ankara by the end of this year, or else. A reporter for Hürriyet asked him in Yerevan whether he had a schedule in mind for official recognition of the alleged genocide by France, since it was Sarkozy himself who blocked a resolution by the French Parliament over the past four years.

No, he did not have any schedule in mind, but he implied the approaching of the 100th year of the infamous campaign of 1915 that led to the cleansing of the native Armenian population of Turkey before the end of WWI that triggered the War of Liberation in which the Ottoman Empire ended as well.

Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoğlu’s reply to that the next day was interesting: France should first face with its colonialist past in Africa before attacking Turkey’s past.

This was a mind-opening correlation to make. Like a Freudian slip, in return to what Sarkozy had said in his tour of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan to mark their 20th year of independence from the former Soviet Union, Davutoğlu recalled the refreshed rivalry in the Arabian North Africa, or Maghreb, almost a century ago.

This year marked the 100th year of Turkish withdrawal from Libya and Algeria to leave the rule of the lands to Italy and France respectively. Perhaps that was the reason why Sarkozy, having British Prime Minister David Cameron as a companion, rushed to Benghazi a day before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the Libyan city.

It can be speculated that Sarkozy sees Erdoğan as an obstacle in front of his country’s Maghreb comeback. Perhaps it was a subconscious reflex that pushed Sarkozy to the Turkish and Russian backyard of Caucasus to disturb Turkey’s balances there.

There is of course another theater that could cause another Turkish-French face off in the region: Syria. The Turkish southernmost province of Hatay, where camps are set up for those who escaped from the Beshar al-Assad regime, joined Turkey from a French mandate in 1938 through a plebiscite. France would not like to see Turkey increase its influence again in the Mediterranean basin almost after a century of keeping a low profile after the WWI defeat in 1918.

It seems that the two NATO members are likely to get into more political confrontation, which has a tendency to escalate, unless the two countries find new cooperation areas, not necessarily security but especially economics, which would bind their interests together.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=from-libya-to-syria-and-armenia-turkish-french-rivalry-is-back-2011-10-09

October 9th, 2011, 10:35 pm

 

NK said:

Will this one last more than 12 days ?

النفط تصدر قراراً برفع أسعار الفيول.. والطن بـ 13 ألف بدل 8500 ليرة
http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=138356

October 9th, 2011, 11:14 pm

 

Dale Andersen said:

Memo To: Sheila

RE: “…I do not think it is fair to condemn the whole Muslim community for the acts of a few…”

Sure it is. We do it all the time.

You Syrians, for example, call ALL westerners imperialists and colonialists, even though the biggest and worst imperialistic violator in the Middle East in recent memory is Syria. You people treated poor Lebanon like it was a conquered colony. Oh wait, excuse me, it wasn’t ALL Syrians who were colonialists. Just the Baathists.

October 9th, 2011, 11:17 pm

 

jna said:

425. Dale Andersen
…the biggest and worst imperialistic violator in the Middle East in recent memory is Syria.

That’s interesting. What’s the US punishment and invasion of Iraq—a picnic? Get real.

October 9th, 2011, 11:42 pm

 

mick said:

Sheila,

There is a difference. Syria has no resources other than a few dribbles of oil. America is a large nation with global reach and vast resources.

Why do you condemn a poor nation for not giving everyone a high-quality of life when America can’t/won’t do it to its citizens. It has only been a small segment of our society that has benefited from being able to invade countries that have oil.

And the short quality of life America has has come with a massive pricetag. We will not be able to keep our society going with gigantic houses and millions of cars with the cost of energy increasing.

This coming shock will be a lot less to nations that never bought into the cheap energy solution to life.

October 9th, 2011, 11:45 pm

 

jad said:

Homs is a battle field:

اثار رصاص وقنابل ارهابيي حمص في كرم الزيتون
http://youtu.be/zDjQzdCn7eU

ارهابيون يستهدفون سيرفيس عمال شركة زيت فرزات
http://youtu.be/4IXH38gFgeo

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=283524615000613

October 9th, 2011, 11:54 pm

 

Darryl said:

417. TARA said:

An excellent Fatwa by Sheikha Tara. It certainly has more thought than the one by the Saudi religious authority who had to sweat while debating the Fatwa whether to declare Syrians killed in the uprising as Martyrs.

October 10th, 2011, 12:03 am

 

ann said:

Syria Seeks Arab Technical Help to Develop Banias Refinery

October 09, 2011

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-09/syria-seeks-arab-technical-help-to-develop-banias-refinery.html

Oct. 9 (Bloomberg) — Syria is seeking technical assistance from the Arab Petroleum Investments Corp. to develop its refinery in the port of Banias, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Oil Ministry officials met last week in Cairo with representatives of the inter-governmental Arab energy lender to discuss plans for a study of the project, the agency said, citing Syrian Oil Minister Sufian Alao.

The Banias refinery, operated by Sytrol, the state-run oil company, is Syria’s largest, with a crude-processing capacity of 133,000 barrels a day. It processed 3.24 million metric tons of crude in the first half of this year, according to an e-mailed statement from the ministry on Aug. 7.

October 10th, 2011, 12:04 am

 

ann said:

Syria releases prominent tribesman activists – 2011-10-09

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/09/c_131181586.htm

DAMASCUS, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — A Syrian lawyer and human rights activist said the Syrian authorities released on Sunday Sheikh Nawaf al-Bashir, the head of the large Baqara tribe in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour and a prominent opponent of President Bashar al-Assad.

Khalil Matouq told Xinhua by phone that Nawaf was released after about 69 days without charges. Some media reports had claimed that Nawaf was killed in custody after being tortured, which turned out to be false.

To calm raging protests, the Syrian president has set free hundreds of political prisoners since the breakout of protests in mid-March.

Syrian Army troops entered Deir al-Zour on Aug. 8 for what the authorities said “hunting down armed groups that terrorized people and committed atrocities in the city,” and withdrew on Aug. 16.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem recently put the number of army officers and law-enforcement troops killed since the eruption of protests at 1,110, while a recent UN tally put the number of civilians killed at nearly 3,000.

October 10th, 2011, 12:12 am

 

ann said:

“Still Syria has no foreign debt, no budget deficit, it does not borrow to waste like Lebanon or other states in the EU.”

Norman I agree with what you’re saying about country’s very low foreign debt. But wait until NATO present the bill for destroying Syria on behalf of the cowardly Islamist terrorists.

October 10th, 2011, 1:08 am

 

ann said:

*** GET THEM A GOOD COACH! ***

Iran women footballers trounce Syria – Sun Oct 9, 2011

Iranian football players have trounced Syria in their last match of the preliminary round of the 4th West Asian Women’s Football Championship currently underway in the United Arab Emirates.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/203680.html

Iran’s national women football team, which had beat the host 4-1 in its second game on Thursday, defeated its Syrian rivals 4-1 at Sultan bin Zayed Stadium of Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Iran’s Zomorod Soleimani opened the score only 15 minutes after the game began. She hit another brace in the 32nd minute.

Nasimeh Gholami tripled Iran’s lead only one minute before the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of the first half.

Gholami put the ball into back of the net again just four minutes into the second half.

Amneh Al Shater scored Syria’s sole goal in the 66th minute.

Iran will play against Jordan on Monday in the semifinal match of the 4th West Asian Women’s Football Championship. Bahrain will face the UAE in another match earlier the same day.

The UAE hosts the 4th West Asian Women’s Football Championship, which opened on October 3 and runs to October 12.

October 10th, 2011, 1:21 am

 

ann said:

Palestine and western duplicity – Monday, October 10, 2011

Dr A Q Khan

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=71701&Cat=9

After waiting for 44 years and trusting the hypocritical Western leaders, the Palestinians have had enough and their president, Mahmoud Abbas, decided to apply to the UN for the recognition of a Palestinian state. The request was submitted on Sept 23 and formally accepted by the secretary general the following day. A diplomatic storm broke out and the US and France openly opposed it. Other Western countries will probably join them at the time of voting. In 2009 President Obama gave a speech at Al-Azhar University in Cairo which was hailed by many as a milestone. He then went on to speak in Ankara. The purpose of that exercise was merely to take Muslims for a ride, pretending to be their friend and well-wisher. He has been saying all along that he is not an enemy of Islam, but the killing of millions of Muslims seems to be a different matter altogether.

On Sept 21, President Obama delivered a speech at the UN ridiculing the efforts of Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, by saying that he would get nothing through a UN resolution (the creation of Israel by a UN resolution was a different matter!), and that the Israelis and Palestinians should solve their disputes through the old mantra of negotiations.

The Western countries have turned Israel into a nuclear and missile power and equipped it with the latest aircraft and tanks. The Israelis can pulverise the combined armed forces of all the Arab countries within a week. On the other hand, it is as if the Palestinians were equipped with catapults and stones.

After the Second World War, all efforts of the Western countries have been directed at harming Islamic countries, Kashmir and Palestine being the two most notable cases. For them Kashmiris and Palestinians are not human beings (since they are Muslims) and hence don’t deserve any sympathy. The Palestinians, on the one hand, have been told that they are unfit and incapable of ruling themselves, even though they are one of the most advanced and educated people. On the other hand, the semi-naked head-hunters from Papua New Guinea and East Timor and the underdeveloped, illiterate South Sudanese are considered to be qualified for self-governance. Since they are Christians, Western leaders considered it a crusade to help them.

This same policy is being followed in Palestine. The Jews, who suffered so much at the hands of these so-called civilised Christians, who did not hesitate to call them dogs, are now perpetrating the worst atrocities on the Palestinians, who had nothing to do with the atrocities committed against them during World War II. The UN resolution of 1947 envisaged two states, Israel and Palestine. Israel exists and has usurped much of the land reserved for the Palestinians, but Western leaders, mostly born-again Christians, have no compunction to ask Israel to allow the Palestinians to live like human beings.

While the Jews were being persecuted in Christian countries, Turkey and other Islamic countries allowed them to live there as equal citizens. Turkey is a notable example here. The Arabs, including the Palestinians, were simple people and not aware of the intrigues and cunningness of the West and were consequently cheated by them. Let us have a quick glance at the historical background.

After many wars between the Crusaders and the Muslims, Salahuddin inflicted a humiliating defeat on the combined forces of England, France, Germany and other European countries. The treatment meted out to the wounded and captive Crusaders by Salahuddin is a golden chapter in the history of the Islamic World. Until World War I, things were more or less normal in Palestine but then Britain, as an occupying power, allowed thousands of Jews to come into Palestine and enabled them to buy and occupy large tracts of Palestinian land. Most of these Jews came from Europe. The Turkish caliph had forbidden the migration of Jews to Palestine and the purchase of land, but this changed with British occupation after World War I. Up to that time all Islamic countries, excepting Morocco and Mauritania, had been under Turkish rule. After World War I, the British occupied Iraq and Palestine and France occupied Syria and Lebanon.

At that time Muslims totally ignored the edicts of Allah that Muslims are brothers to each other and must solve all their differences through dialogue and consultation. The result is obvious. The Muslims were humiliated, lost sovereignty and became pariahs.

Their downfall in Spain, Central Asia and the Middle East was due to in-fighting and intrigues. The Arabs played a very dirty and treacherous game during World War I. Sharif Hussein of Mecca, the governor of Hijaz under the Turkish government, was one of the greatest traitors the Arab World has ever produced. He, his sons and some others joined the British to stab the Turks in the back. Col T E Lawrence of the British army was accepted as their leader and they attacked the Turkish army and destroyed the infrastructure on the (false) promise that, after the war, all Arab lands would be turned into an independent

Arab country. These scum of humanity attacked and murdered Turkish men, women and children in the Kaaba. They fired on the Kaaba and those in the forefront were Indian Muslim soldiers. Unfortunately, their descendants repeated the same abhorrent action by attacking Muslim women and children in Lal Masjid, killing almost 1,400 with phosphorous bombs.

The Arabs destroyed the most useful railway network between Turkey, Baghdad, Basra, Damascus and Medina. This network also joined Damascus with Beirut and Haifa. In 1919 the French army occupied Damascus, but the Arabs declared Syria to be an independent country and appointed Faisal, son of Sharif Hussein, as king. At that time Lebanon was a part of Syria. France separated the two and declared Lebanon an independent state. The reasoning was that it had a large Christian population, was very beautiful and highly fertile. Jordan was also a part of Syria. After removing King Faisal, the French appointed his brother, Abdullah bin Hussein, as the ruler of Jordan. He was a British stooge and immediately handed over the administration and control of the army to the British.

In 1947, when the British Mandate expired, the Jordanians started an armed struggle to prevent Jews from occupying their land. However, they were no match for the Israelis who had been armed to the teeth by the British and French and had about 25,000 highly trained soldiers from the recently ended World War. The Egyptian and Syrian armies also failed to make any gains while the British- trained Arab Legion under Gen John B Glubb (better known as Glubb Pasha) occupied the West Bank and Jerusalem.

October 10th, 2011, 1:28 am

 

ann said:

Humanitarian Imperialism

Using Human Rights to Sell War

http://monthlyreview.org/press/books/pb1471/

Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world’s leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention-discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938.

Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries.

Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.

October 10th, 2011, 1:58 am

 

ann said:

*** WOULD YOU TRUST THIS CLOWN! ***

We will not intervene in Syria – NATO chief – Sunday, October 9, 2011

http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=54049

Brussels, Asharq Al-Awsat – In an exclusive interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
from Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke about NATO’s
ongoing role in Libya, as well as the developing situation in Syria, whilst
renewing calls for Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf states to partner with
NATO. Rasmussen is a former Prime Minister of Denmark, who was appointed
NATO chief in August 2009, and he has overseen NATO involvement in Iraq,
Afghanistan, and most recently Libya.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen
expressed his optimism with regards to the “Arab Spring”, adding that the
popular uprisings and revolutions that have taken place across the region
represent a “good opportunity” for NATO “to strengthen and renew our
relations with the region.” He also once again reiterated that NATO has no
intention of intervening in Syria.

The following is the full text of the interview:

[Asharq Al-Awsat] No specific date for the withdrawal of NATO forces from
Libya was put in place, following NATO’s meeting of defense ministers
earlier this week. What are the conditions that must be met for NATO to end
its operations in Libya?

[Rasmussen] Our presence in Libya will be determined by what is required by
necessity, and I believe that it is premature to talk about the end of the
[NATO] mission. We previously said that we had extended our operations in
Libya by 90 days; however at the same time we believe that it is necessary
to continuously review our operations. Withdrawal will occur as soon as
circumstances allow.

Our operations were primarily focused on the protection of civilians from
attack, and we will continue operating in this regard until security is
achieved [in Libya]. We will continue to carry out our mission until the
threats to the safety and security of [Libyan] civilians are dealt with.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Can you tell us a little about NATO’s relations with the
Libyan National Transitional Council [NTC] that is currently ruling the
country? Have they asked anything from NATO during this transitional period?

[Rasmussen] I met with [de facto Libyan Prime Minister] Dr. Mahmoud Jibril,
and NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul-Jalil on a number of occasions in a
professional context in Istanbul, and later in a more personal context in
Libya. I want to confirm that our mission is to protect [Libyan] citizens
against attack via aerial and maritime operations within the framework of
international action. We are in constant contact with the NTC, and they have
visited us here at NATO headquarters.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What are the reasons behind this communication? What are
the most important issues that you discuss with the NTC?

[Rasmussen] The most important reason for these talks is to monitor the
political developments in Libya, and allow me to reiterate: our mission is
to protect [Libyan] citizens from attack, it not part of our role to
intervene in what is happening in the country, but we are interested in
following the political developments.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Divisions and disputes have begun to appear within the
ranks of the Libyan rebels – particularly with regards to the formation of a
new government – do you believe that a civil war might break out in Libya?

[Rasmussen] I do not expect a civil war to break out in Libya, and I believe
that the NTC will play a major role in protecting Libyan unity, and working
with determination to achieve democracy, and this is very important.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] You have previously stressed that NATO will not intervene
in Syria. With the al-Assad regime continuing and indeed intensifying its
brutal crackdown against the Syrian protesters, is it possible that you will
change your position?

[Rasmussen] No, NATO will not intervene in Syria, but we strongly condemn
the al-Assad regime’s practices against the Syrian protesters, and I call on
this regime to stop such actions and meet the legitimate demands of the
Syrian people, and implement democracy.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] What is your opinion of the future of the Arab world
following the Arab Spring?

[Rasmussen] I am very optimistic; I believe that freedom is the most
important force in the world, because it paves the way for creative thinking
and putting forward a practical framework for economic developments, as well
as the creation of a stable society. As for political freedom, this is the
most important means to ensure security, whilst political stability
guarantees general peace and stability.

I think that with the Arab awakening, we will see the region flourishing in
the coming years. Although the people will face many challenges, I believe
that their strong desire for freedom and democracy will allow them to
overcome all difficulties in this regard.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] We heard that the United Arab Emirates [UAE] is set to be
the first Arab country to send an ambassador to NATO. Would you like to see
more Arab or Gulf countries following the UAE in this regard, or joining
NATO organizations and initiatives?

[Rasmussen] Yes, I believe that the “Arab Spring” is a good opportunity [for
NATO] to strengthen and renew our relations with the [Middle East] region
and I believe that Arab states have positively contributed to the NATO
“Unified Protector” operation in Libya. A part of our new policy is to let
our partners join us by establishing ambassadors to NATO. Some of them have
responded to this and made formal requests, and we appreciate this.

The UAE was one of those who responded to this initiative. We also have two
organizations. There is the “Mediterranean Dialogue” which is made up of 7
countries from the Middle East and North Africa. Whilst the second
organization [Istanbul Cooperative Initiative] was established in Istanbul
in 2004 and is made up of 4 Gulf states, namely Kuwait, Qatar, the UAE, and
Bahrain. I believe that a democratic Libya can easily join the Mediterranean
Dialogue, and thereby become one of our partners. This is an example of how
relations can develop.

We also call on all other Gulf States, and renew our calls for Saudi Arabia,
to join our partners.

[Asharq Al-Awsat] There have been calls from Europe to halt all forms of
dialogue with Iran under the pretext that Tehran is not fulfilling some of
its international obligations. What is NATO’s position towards Iran?

[Rasmussen] We, in NATO, have nothing to do with Iranian affairs. However
some NATO members are dealing with Iranian affairs in a unilateral manner.
We support diplomatic efforts to reach a solution regarding the problems
with Iran, and we call on Tehran to comply with its international
obligations.

October 10th, 2011, 2:13 am

 

ann said:

Michel Kilo has recently taken strong public stances against armed revolt and sectarianism, ideas which have received some support in certain circles. He writes that armed revolt “will lead to a battle that will be won by the side with more weapons, the side that is willing to use the most force. If weapons are used, then the struggle for rights will turn into bloody barbarism with no aim beyond killing the other.”

Kilo is still staunchly opposed to any sectarian tendency within the country: “should it win out, God forbid, popular mobilization will change fundamentally, resulting in a transformation of its aims and its support base, and it will play a big role in the nation’s deterioration.” According to Kilo, the Syrian struggle is not currently nor should it ever become religious or sectarian. “Syria wants freedom, and whoever diverts her from that shared goal betrays her, squandering her sacrifices and her opportunities, no matter what the rationale.”

Kilo is also ambivalent toward the conferences organized by the opposition abroad. He sees them as “a foolish race to establish competing organizations, revolutionary leadership councils, and liberation fronts, while the situation on the ground is full of difficulties and challenges.” Contrary to several voices that have welcomed the Syrian National Council in Istanbul, Kilo insists that the activists within Syria “do not intend to join the Syrian National Council, because this organization was created based on the idea of foreign intervention.”

October 10th, 2011, 2:19 am

 

jad said:

Louai Hussein shares kilo position about the necessity of the NONVIOLENCE movement, it seems that all the domestic opposition are together on that, please read Louai words in his good bye message to Meshaal Tammo:

أعاهدكم جميعا أنني سأحافظ على سلمية نضالنا، ولن نتوسل العنف سبيلا أبدا ومطلقا.
أعاهدكم جميعا أنني سأحافظ على سلمية نضالنا، ولن نتوسل العنف سبيلا أبدا ومطلقا.
أعاهدكم جميعا أنني سأحافظ على سلمية نضالنا، ولن نتوسل العنف سبيلا أبدا ومطلقا.
أعاهدكم جميعا أنني سأحافظ على سلمية نضالنا، ولن نتوسل العنف سبيلا أبدا ومطلقا.

لن أبكيك يا مشعل
by Louay Hussein
مشعل التمو شهيدا، وجوان أيّو معتقلا، ومنصور المنصور لاجئا، وخالد وسعد وجهاد مشردين في أقاصي الأرض، هؤلاء وغيرهم من أصدقائي الذين انتزعتهم السلطة من أحشائي لتنتقم من شعب يريد أن يبني حياته ومعاشه على هواه وبإرادته الحرة.
أصدقائي الأموات منكم والأحياء، المعتقلين والمشردين واللاجئين، جميعكم يعرف أننا لن نتراجع عما بدأتموه وضحيتم من أجله بسلامتكم وأرواحكم. وأعاهدكم جميعا أنني سأحافظ على سلمية نضالنا، ولن نتوسل العنف سبيلا أبدا ومطلقا. وأكرر عهدي لكم ولشعبي: أموت ولا أساوم على حقوقكم.
يا مشعل ياحبيبي، ويا جميعكم لن أبكيكم قبل أن نظفر بحرياتنا وحقوقنا التي ضحيتم من أجلها، مع أني اشتقت إليكم شوقي لحريتي المسلوبة طيلة عمري.

he later explained his accusation of the regime by this:

من جانبه قال المعارض السوري لؤي حسين عضو تيار بناء الدولة السورية” ان السلطة مسؤولة عن حادثة اغتيال المناضل السوري مشعل التمو, ضمن مسؤوليتها عن تردي الأوضاع الأمنية في البلاد لدرجة الانفلات الأمني”

October 10th, 2011, 2:33 am

 

Dale Andersen said:

Memo To: JNA

RE: “…That’s interesting. What’s the US punishment and invasion of Iraq—a picnic? Get real…”

You get real, JNA. The US voluntarily leaves when the job is done. The Syrians had to be forced out of Lebanon by patriotic Lebanese. Remember Prime Minister Hariri, whom you murdered? Of course, the Syrians left behind Hizbollah, their collaborators, enforcers and thugs, just in case they have the opportunity to recover their colony.

Sadly enough, or rather predictably enough, Syria never apologized to Labanon.

October 10th, 2011, 2:58 am

 

annie said:

Saturday’s deadly harvest :

The Syrian Days Of Rage – English
Martyrs: #Syria: Saturday of Mesha’al Tammo: 10.08.2011
Damascus Suburb:
1) Ameen Yaseen Khbieh
2) Iyad Al-Mubayyed
3) Abdulkareem Mahjoob
4) Mohammed Al-Sayegh

Hama:
5) Jihad Wasel Al-Hussein
6) Ma’amoon Fayez Al-Hussein
7) Abdulmu’een Al-Sarraj Abou Rammah

Idlib:
8) Salah Te’meh
9) Khaldoon Mohammed Yaseen

Al-Qamishli:
10) Ismail Abdulaziz Haji
11) Fahed Juma’a
12) Jamal Al-Omar
13) Mohammed Saleh Abdi
14) Jamal Hussein Hussein
15) Ismail Abdulaziz
16) Mohammed Fawwaz

Homs
17) Abdulmun’em Ahmed Al-Kaft
18) Abdulnaser Salim Al-Jandali
19) Talal Al-Turjman
20) Abdulnaser Salim Al-Nakdalli

Que la terre vous soit légère; may the earth be light on you. Love

October 10th, 2011, 3:29 am

 

ann said:

*** LOOK AT THE BEARD ON THIS AL QAEDA ISLAMIST TERRORIST MONSTER KILLER ***

Syria: Terrorist Hamadi Confesses to Murdering Protestors and Passengers – 2011/10/10

Terrorist Ali Mohammad Hamadi on Sunday confessed to murdering protestors and civilians including all the passengers of a bus coming from Lebanon with the intent of framing security forces.

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=270868

Terrorist Ali Mohammad Hamadi on Sunday confessed to murdering protestors and civilians including all the passengers of a bus coming from Lebanon with the intent of framing security forces.

In televised confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV, Hamadi said that he and a man named Rateb Abdelkader Alawiye had plotted smuggling of fuel, and under that pretense he accompanied Alawiye and met Fahed Fallaha.

Hamadi said that Alawiye and Fallaha were using a Skoda Octavia and wore military uniform, and that upon joining them they gave him a pump-action shotgun, while they themselves carried a shotgun and a machinegun.

He said that they drove near a location containing protestors in Bab Amro area in Homs and opened fire on them, killing 13 and injuring 7, and upon inquiring about the reason behind this act he was told by Alawiye that it was meant to incite people against security forces and blaming them for the crime. Hamadi was paid 500 Pounds for his involvement and was told that they would go out again on the next day.

“We went out thinking that there was a protest but we didn’t find any… we waited for protestors for two days but they never came out to protest,” he said, adding that at a later time Alawiye offered to let him lead an armed group and he grouped.

Alawiye put him in charge of seven gunmen carrying rifles including AK-47s and pump-action shotguns.

Hamadi said that they went out on a Friday in search of a large protest but didn’t see any and decided to split into two groups to attack a military checkpoint, with one group circling through fields and the other heading towards the highway.

“When I heard the first shot, I emerged with my group and opened fire… Alawiye opened fire from his machine gun and killed 10 or 12,” he said.

Hamadi said that two days later Alawiye recruited him for an operation in Telkalakh, and on the way Alawiye received a message. When Hamadi inquired about it, Alawiye told him to mind his own business and that he just had to take his money and be silent.

He said that they stopped at an intersection and were told by Alawiye that a white bus with Idleb number plates was coming, adding that both Alawiye and Fallaha were wearing military uniforms. The two told the rest to stay put and open fire at the buss when the first shot is fired.

“We did what he asked… after shooting the bus it stopped 150 meters away… Alawiye went there fired more than a hundred rounds from his machinegun at the buss and the people in it then came back,” Hamadi said, adding that Alawiye came back to them and reported all the bus passengers dead.

He concluded by pointing out that Alawiye used to smuggle fuel from Syria to Lebanon, and that he received with 10 to 15 thousand pounds from him.

October 10th, 2011, 4:04 am

 

Samara said:

Is there a Saudi Arabian Women’s Soccer team?

October 10th, 2011, 4:40 am

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Dear SAMARA,
At first i though what a silly question, but then on second thought I realized that it is a really good question considering that some imbecile Imams in KSA have already issued fatwas that sport is not a place for women and that it encourages them to become prostitutes, which is not only crazy, but also a vulgar fatwa.

I am happy that SAMARA has asked the question, otherwise, I would not have even looked it up. Here is the result: First female soccer match played in Saudi Arabia

So, there are school teams, but there is no National team yet. It seems that it would come later but only if the other teams agree on strict condition for the game (no men allowed). To begin with, this may sound crazy to you and me, but again if you do what I just did, and re-consider before passing judgement, it would seem that any progress that ensures greater margin for women in KSA is a welcomed progress despite of it being an anemic one. We will not settle for it, but it is a sign of possible progress (not yet progress).

October 10th, 2011, 6:16 am

 

Samara said:

Dear OFF THE WALL,
I am glad that women are actually starting to liberate themselves slowly slowly in SA.The whole idea of them being encouraged to be prostitutes is an absolute degradation on women in general.One thing is certain, women in Syria can play soccer etc, and not have to worry about such humiliating portrayals of them. Wow, they seem very simmilar to us in the Western wold. I was on my school soccer teams since the 5th grade all through to the 12th grade. (not to blow my own whistle, but i am pretty damn good at soccer).

Anyhoo, here’s to gendered equality.

October 10th, 2011, 6:30 am

 

uzair8 said:

Buthaina Shaaban:

“But the Almighty Allah shows them what they are doing. Thanks to Allah, the truth speaks for itself every day.”

October 10th, 2011, 6:36 am

 

uzair8 said:

Egypt religious leaders to hold crisis talks

Monday, 10 October 2011

Egypt’s top Muslim official has called for emergency talks on Monday between Muslim and Christian leaders, after the deadliest violence since president Hosni Mubarak’s fall left 24 people dead, state television said.

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayyeb, who heads Sunni Islam’s highest seat of learning, has called for talks with members of the Egyptian Family — an organization that groups Muslim and Christian clerics — “in a bid to contain the crisis,” the television said.

Tayyeb has also been in contact with Coptic Pope Shenuda III, it added.

Tayyeb’s call comes just hours after clashes in central Cairo that left 24 people, mostly Coptic Christians, dead and more than 200 wounded.

The clashes broke out during a demonstration in the Maspero district on the Nile, where Coptic demonstrators were protesting against a recent attack on a church in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan.

Read more:

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/10/171059.html

October 10th, 2011, 6:48 am

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Dear SAMARA
There is nothing wrong in blowing your own whistle if you are pretty damn good at soccer. It is delightful to hear that.

Anyhoo, here’s to gender equality.

Sure thing, count me in. But i think we still have very long way to go, especially in civil status laws in Syria. Even in advanced countries there is still much to be done within the corporate world. I do not know how is it in Australia, but in the US, there are still some glass ceilings that need to be shattered more often. TARA and SHIELA could probably say more about that and correct me If I am wrong.

October 10th, 2011, 6:54 am

 

uzair8 said:

The time of ‘peace’ is about to end … Beware of the weapons!

By Michel Kilo

Monday, 10 October 2011

[Selected quotes]

In the beginning, the security option was intended to achieve two objectives: eradicate the civilian character of the social movement and push it to acquire a religious tone and turn it into a violent movement easy to squash, since the public will step back and stay home, fearing violence.
But this is unlikely to happen. First, because the number of the pursued, hounded, killed and detained from both civil and social communities is united in their will, knowing that their agreement on patriotism, freedom, civil rights, and democracy was not transient, but a great opportunity to renew the Arab political and social resurgence project.

…….

But the official party is ignoring that it will face a different kind of conflict in the second stage: an armed conflict. It is failing to acknowledge that it will not enjoy the same freedom of movement as it did in the first stage of the conflict. In fact, the official party will move under direct fire and will not only face armed individuals, but rather massive agglomerations of citizens who were mercilessly oppressed and killed and who will fiercely fight, without any pity.

………

If you listen to the stories in the Syrian remote areas and in the cities and provinces of Hama, Deir Al Zor, Edleb, Homs, Daraa and rural Aleppo, you will understand that the time of peace is about to end in Syria and that henceforth the language of war will prevail.

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/10/10/171062.html

October 10th, 2011, 6:58 am

 

Akbar Palace said:

How’s about heading to East St. Louis and talk to the folks there about how America cares for its citizens. Or Oakland. Or Detroit. Or the South Side of Chicago. Or the ninth ward in New Orleans. These people have no voice in society. Try getting past the corporate lobbyists in DC to get your voice heard. The scientific community with solid evidence of global warming can’t.

Mick,

“These people” surely have a voice. How do you think Obama got elected? Moreover, the US government via Medicare and Medicaid are basically spending trillions of dollars to take care of “these people” cradle to grave.

Those are the facts.

The next question is, can we afford it considering the rising debt from about 10 to 14 trillion dollars since Obama has been in office. Half the working population in the US pays taxes, half do not. The top 5% off wage earners pay about 30% of all tax revenues. And Obama claims the rich do not pay their “fair share”.

Somehow, people have been accustomed to not work and collect unemployment. The democrats promote this by the poor vote and all these “entitlements”. Working class Americans can not afford this any longer. The US has to get smaller and more efficient, and able-body Americans will have to fend for themselves. Rich people creat jobs, not the other way around.

The next president, hopefully, will understand this.

As far as global warming is concerned, despite what you may have heard from 873 or not, humans cannot control the weather. Whether is is global warming or an ice age, we will only be spectators.

October 10th, 2011, 7:15 am

 

Akbar Palace said:

You Know It Don’t Come Easy

Nearly 3000 dead since demonstrations began in Syria. This is more than the recent Gaza and Lebanon wars combined.

Also, it looks like the Egyptian military junta is using Christians as an excuse not to move forward with elections and democracy. What a surprise. The old “foreign” intervention and “hidden hands” excuse is rearing its familiar head…

“These events have taken us back several steps,” he said. “Instead of moving forward to build a modern state on democratic principles we are back to seeking stability and searching for hidden hands — domestic and foreign — that meddle with the country’s security and safety.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15238827

October 10th, 2011, 7:24 am

 

Samara said:

Dear OFF THE WALL,

Thanks :). And you are right about gendered equality in the corporate world. Even in Australia, it is very difficult for a women to make it in the legal field, especially to practice as a barrister (that it the path I hope to take, so unfortunately it will be pretty difficult), and in other male dominated fields. I bet in the US it is the same. It is sad to see such inequality in modern times.

Hopefully changes will come soon, in all parts of the world; a more equal world is one that should be aspired to by all nations.

Good night, got an early start tomorrow.

October 10th, 2011, 8:15 am

 

sheila said:

To #427. Mick,
I was not trying to compare Syria to the US. All I was trying to say is this simple fact:

If Syria was ruled by a government that cared about the country and the people, Syria would have been in much better shape than it is today.

Plain and simple. Do you agree?.

October 10th, 2011, 8:24 am

 

sheila said:

To #425. Dale Andersen,
You said:
Memo To: Sheila
“RE: “…I do not think it is fair to condemn the whole Muslim community for the acts of a few…”
Sure it is. We do it all the time.
You Syrians, for example, call ALL westerners imperialists and colonialists, even though the biggest and worst imperialistic violator in the Middle East in recent memory is Syria. You people treated poor Lebanon like it was a conquered colony. Oh wait, excuse me, it wasn’t ALL Syrians who were colonialists. Just the Baathists”.

Not withstanding that it was some Lebanese who called the Syrian army into Lebanon to come to their rescue, as a Syrian citizen, I am appalled at what the Syrian army did in Lebanon, but I had no control over it. Most Lebanese who have basic human intelligence realize this and distinguish between the Syrian people and the Syrian government. Look what the Syrian government is doing to the Syrian people today.

Here is stereotyping 101:

The fact that some Lebanese Christians collaborated with Israel, does not make all Lebanese Christians traitors.
The fact that most criminals in the US are black, does not make all blacks criminals.
The fact that 19 Muslims committed an act of terrorism killing innocent civilians, does not make all Muslims terrorist.
The fact that some idiots who happen to be Muslim burned a church in Egypt, does not make all Muslim Egyptians criminals.

October 10th, 2011, 8:38 am

 

OFF THE WAKL said:

Dear SAMARA
You may get to read this tomorrow your time. But here is how I think about it.

1. An Arab-Australian Woman Barrister–> Go for it, make us all proud

2. One of the most important characteristics of good attorneys (Barristers) is not to be intimidated by the age, social status, or any other factor that may give their adversaries an advantage against them. I have argued with you, so did others, and you have never been intimidated. I believe you will make an outstanding litigator. Again –> Go for it and make us all proud.

Good luck. And look forward chatting with you again.

October 10th, 2011, 8:44 am

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Dear SAMARA
You may get to read this tomorrow your time. But here is how I think about it.

1. An Arab-Australian Woman Barrister–> Go for it, make us all proud

2. One of the most important characteristics of good attorneys (Barristers) is not to be intimidated by the age, social status, or any other factor that may give their adversaries an advantage against them. I have argued with you, so did others, and you have never been intimidated. I believe you will make an outstanding litigator. Again –> Go for it and make us all proud.

Good luck. And look forward chatting with you again.

October 10th, 2011, 8:46 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Defending Hassoun, then said he is against what Hassoun said.
This is clear contradiction, to say he is against what Hassoun said,was mentioned only because he lives in USA and afraid of FBI.
There is no justification for defending what Hassoun said, he ,Hassoun,said we will send suicide bomber to terrorize Europe and USA,this is terrorizing civilians,it has nothing to do with arming people to defend themselves in their homes and their communities.
It sure is hard to understand the logic of pro regime, they have twisted rational..

To blame Turkey on the assasination of Mishaal Tammo,is more ridiculous than ever, it comes from supporters of the regime,,Mr Tammo was in jail ,in Syrian jail, and his speech was against the regime,and he was a member of the SNC,please any one intelligent would blame Turkey,and say Syrian regime is innocent?
He quotes the story about Zainab,does he understand that the regime deliver a body of a woman ,who was killed and cut to pieces,the regime claimed she was Zainab,what difference if her name is Zainab or some other name,still there was crime by the regime,to a woman we dont know her name,do you still do not believe that the regime is committing crimes?.
Those who cover the regime crimes are accomplices to the regime.

October 10th, 2011, 8:52 am

 

zoo said:

Russia’s Syria game
Seeking advantage after Assad
By Amir Taheri

A few weeks ago, a senior Russian official assured me that his government wouldn’t block “a strong resolution” in support of the uprising in Syria. Yet Russia this month vetoed a fairly mild UN Security Council resolution.

But then Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited the Syrian opposition to Moscow, implying that President Bashar al-Assad was no longer an exclusive interlocutor. And just 48 hours after the veto, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called on Assad to either reform or step aside.

Why is Russia behaving like an erratic banana republic rather than a mature power dealing with a threat to regional peace?
Apple of the bear’s eye: Russia wants to secure a berth in Syria’s port of Tartus to replace its warm-water port in Ukraine’s Sevastopol.
Apple of the bear’s eye: Russia wants to secure a berth in Syria’s port of Tartus to replace its warm-water port in Ukraine’s Sevastopol.

Start with the back story. Just 15 years after it was put on the map as an independent country, Syria chose the Soviet Union — Russia — as its principal protector. Over the years, that dependence developed into the backbone of Syrian national strategy. Even in the 1970s, when then-President Hafez al-Assad served US interests by crushing the left both within Syria and in Lebanon and making sure that Israel was no longer threatened, Damascus maintained close ties with Moscow.

With the end of the Cold War, Russia lost interest in Syria and other Arab military regimes. But events may be resurrecting some of that interest.

Vladimir Putin’s return as president signals Russia’s return to a more aggressive anti-West posture, scraping off the veneer of diplomatic politesse provided by Medvedev. Putin thinks that America is in decline and that Russia can make a comeback as a “superpower,” at least in the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

And in the Middle East, Russia has no friend except Syria. Iranian mullahs may be tactical allies when it comes to thumbing noses at America, but they won’t play second fiddle to Putin — they fancy their own regime as the Middle East’s “superpower.”

Putin knows that Assad is doomed. But he wants to ensure that Russia has a say in choosing his successor. The emergence of a string of pro-West regimes from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean could shut Russia out of what Putin regards as part of its rightful zone of influence.

Another factor: The Russian lease on the Crimean port of Sevastopol runs out in 2017 and can’t be extended without Ukraine’s accord. Sevastopol is Russia’s largest naval base and its lifeline to maintaining a blue-water navy via the Black Sea, the Dardanelles and the Mediterranean. Losing the base would leave Russia a virtually landlocked country. Its enclave of Kaliningrad can never be developed into a major naval asset, while the Siberian coast in the far east is hard to resupply.

By 2017, Ukraine may well be a member of both the European Union and NATO — and it would be odd indeed for a NATO member to host Russia’s biggest military bases.

So Moscow has been seeking an alternative to Sevastapol for the last decade. Russian strategists believe they’ve found it on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.

In 2002, Moscow and Damascus held preliminary talks on the subject. Initially, the idea was to transform the Syrian port of Tartus into an all-purpose aerial/naval base for both nations’ use. But European investment in the years since has turned Tartus into Syria’s major commercial port, ahead of Latakia. Then, too, the area’s population is largely “mainline” Muslims, who might resent the decision by a minority Alawite regime to offer bases to foreign powers.

There is also the Iran factor. As the chief supporter of the Assad regime, the Islamic Republic demands facilities for its own navy. In February, an Iranian flotilla visited Syria for the first time ever, amid reports that “mooring facilities” would be built to host a permanent presence.

Russia knows enough about the region to know that the Assad regime won’t stand much longer. This is why Putin is looking for a “median” solution: a new Syrian regime in which Moscow’s friends, meaning elements of the Assad regime, would have a place strong enough to offer the Russian navy an outlet when, and if, Ukraine throws it out.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/russia_syria_game_voe96d5WkBego04e6l1NRP#ixzz1aNp0alpY

October 10th, 2011, 8:58 am

 

irritated said:

Sheila #452

Can you give me an example of an Arab government that cares about the country and the people (aside from the rich Gulf countries who have more expats that citizens)?

October 10th, 2011, 9:03 am

 

zoo said:

A chance for rare leadership in Syria’s morass

National Editorial
Oct 10, 2011

Syrian opposition groups stand at a crucial crossroads. The killing of the opposition figure Meshaal Tammo at the weekend, followed by the brazen slaughter of his mourners by state security forces, all but ensures that calls for revenge – and not for negotiation – will grow louder.

But while more violence is one possible road for opposition forces, it is not the only one.

If the regime’s senseless acts galvanise Kurdish and other factions, Syria’s troubles could spiral. Yet there is still time for strong leadership, and opposition groups have a rare opportunity to deliver.

With growing sophistication, opposition forces are coalescing into a coherent, organised entity. Two of the major blocs, the Syrian National Council and the National Board of Coordination, are now working together to gain international recognition, as The National reports today.

There are signs that these figures, once on the margins, are coordinating with external opponents of the Assad regime. And members of the NBC met Chinese officials in Damascus on Saturday in a bid to garner support for tougher anti-regime sanctions at the UN Security Council.

So far the Syrian opposition, in its many guises, has continued to carry out peaceful demonstrations, but that could change. The killing of Mr Tammo “is a very painful and dangerous development in the political struggle in this country”, said Abdul Aziz Al Kheyr, a former political prisoner who is now helping to orchestrate a coalition of peaceful dissidents inside Syria.

Mr Al Assad had a brief window of opportunity to enact meaningful political and social reforms that could have averted this current stalemate. That opportunity vanished as soon as Syria’s hated security forces, police and army turned their guns on their own people. Like others before him, Mr Al Assad failed to see that repression is no longer an effective deterrent.

The emboldened Syrian opposition may yet be dragged into armed conflict by the regime’s oppressive tactics. For now, the ruling Baath party continues to garner support from Moscow and Beijing, two pillars of its continued control. But even Russian President Dmitry Medvedev acknowledged on Friday that Mr Al Assad is finished if he fails to reform. And given Mr Al Assad’s track record, it seems this regime is living on borrowed time.

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/a-chance-for-rare-leadership-in-syrias-morass

October 10th, 2011, 9:09 am

 

annie said:

A firsthand account: Marching from Shubra to deaths at Maspiro

The march from the Cairo district of Shubra was huge, like the numbers on 28 January. In the front row was a group of men in long white bibs, “martyr upon demand” written on their chests. A tiny old lady walked among them, waving a large wooden cross: “God protect you my children, God protect you.”

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/503496

(from Rime Allaf fb)

October 10th, 2011, 9:34 am

 
 

Shami said:

Norman ,
The backward socialist economies in general do not produce big debts the reason is among other things ,the apriori economic planning,this is the case of North Korea and in the past the closed socialist economies in eastern Europe such as the Albania of Enver Hoja which was the most backward economy and the poorest country in Europe.
In general ,advanced economies can hardly avoid huge public debts.

October 10th, 2011, 9:40 am

 

Husam said:

Re: Coptic Church Burned….

Is it possible that someone from outside co-opted the burning down of the church to further bring instability to the already torn country. They replaced 1 mafia boss for 4 generals.

This a classical divide & conquer, they did this with Sunni vs. Shia in Iraq.

In the End: cui-bono?

October 10th, 2011, 9:44 am

 

Shami said:

Ghufran,your link on the mahdist theocracy could make angry the qardahi minority here.

October 10th, 2011, 9:45 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Isn’t it ironic that the Syrian army, which planned to adopt HA Guerrilla tactics to fight Israel, now will face Guerrilla tactics against itself?

The ME was full of antinomies, that now blow in the Arab pretty faces.
.

October 10th, 2011, 9:49 am

 

Revlon said:

لواء الضباط الأحرار يلقون القبض على المقدم سامر عبد الكريم المقرب من بشار ويطالبون بمبادلته بالأسير حسين الهرموش
2011/10/10
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=35069
سوريون نت:
قال اتحاد تنسيقيات الثورة السورية إن لواء الضباط الأحرا قد ألقى القبض على المقدم سامر عبد الكريم وهو الان بيد الضباط الاحرار الوطنيين وشدد الاتحاد على أن المفاوضات لازالت مستمرة منذ خمسة ايام لمبادلة المقدم حسين الهرموش بالطيار المجرم الذي سجلت اعترافاتة واجرامه، ووعد الاتحاد نقلا عن لواء الضباط الأحرار بأن نتائج الاعترافات ستعلن قريبا.
وعلم سوريون نت أن المقدم الطيار قد اعتقل وهو يطلق النار من مسدسه على المظاهرة، وحمل لواء الضباط الأحرار مسؤولية حياة المقدم لبشار الأسد بالقبول بمبادلته وإلا فإنه سيحاكم ميدانيا.

October 10th, 2011, 10:00 am

 

Revlon said:

Syrian colonel plots guerrilla attacks against Assad regime
Leader of rebel army formed by military defectors is protected by Turkey

By Justin Vela in Istanbul
Monday, 10 October 2011
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrian-colonel-plots-guerrilla-attacks-against-assad-regime-2368122.html

The most senior officer to defect from Syria’s armed forces is plotting a series of guerrilla attacks and targeted assassinations from self-imposed exile in Turkey in an attempt to topple the regime.

Colonel Riad al-As’aad, 50, is the head of a newly formed Syrian Free Army – a force made up of defectors from the Syrian military – devoted to overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad by military force in apparent connivance with his Turkish protectors. “They [the regime] forced us to respond,” he told The Independent. “We are organised inside. We are soldiers, we are working. Our power is slowly growing.”

Colonel As’aad said that he co-ordinates daily with officers on the ground through intermediaries moving between Syria and Turkey.

The opposition has formed a new umbrella organisation, the Syrian National Council, announced last week in Turkey, which includes most major opposition groups. Syria yesterday said that it would take “tough measures” against any country that recognised the body as the country’s rightful authority.

Colonel As’aad lives under constant guard by Turkish security officials in Turkey’s Htay province. The colonel, who served as an engineer in the air force for 31 years, claims that his strategy is based on guerrilla attacks and assassinations of security force figures and state-sponsored militia amid signs of growing armed resistance against the regime after months of protests.

However, he denied being responsible for attacks on civilian figures considered close to the regime, such as the son of Syria’s Grand Mufti who was killed last week in an ambush. Instead, he blamed such attacks on the government, accusing them of trying to provoke sectarian conflict.

He said 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers had defected from the approximately 200,000-strong Syrian military and said he was hoping to relocate his command into Syria soon to lead those who had stayed to fight against the regime. He claims that morale among the Syrian armed forces is low and that defections will increase in the coming weeks.

“Without a war, he will not fall. Whoever leads with force, cannot be removed except by force,” he told Reuters news agency. “The regime used a lot of oppressive and murderous tactics so I left, so that I will be the face outside for the command inside, because we have to be in a secure area and right now there is no safety in all of Syria.”

October 10th, 2011, 10:12 am

 

Revlon said:

Will Jr’s threat of revenge be in 6 hours or with 6 eggs!

2011/10/10

طارق الحميد : المعلم.. 6 بيضات أم ساعات؟

حذر النظام الأسدي على لسان وزير خارجية النظام وليد المعلم من أنه سيتخذ «إجراءات مشددة» ضد الدول التي ستعترف بالمجلس الوطني السوري المعارض، الذي تم الإعلان عنه مؤخرا من اسطنبول، والسؤال هو: ما هي هذه الإجراءات المشددة؟

فهل تقوم دمشق، مثلا، بحظر بيع أسلحتها المتطورة لأوروبا، أو تقوم بعملية تعويم للاقتصاد التركي، وتسقط أردوغان بالضربة القاضية، أم يعمد النظام الأسدي لجلب بوارجه المنتشرة بالبحار والمحيطات ليعطل الممرات المائية الحيوية؟، أمر مثير للسخرية حقا، كما أنه تصريح غريب من المعلم، ولا يقل غرابة عن تصريحه الشهير عن محو أوروبا من الخارطة!

وقد يقول البعض إن النظام الأسدي سيقوم بقطع علاقاته، مثلا، مع الدول التي تعترف بالمجلس الوطني السوري، وهذا أمر مشكوك فيه، فرغم العقوبات الأوروبية، والأميركية بالطبع، وحتى العقوبات المعلنة، أو المزمع إعلانها، من قبل تركيا، ناهيك عن كل التصريحات الشديدة ضد النظام الأسدي ورموزه، فإن النظام لم يقم بقطع علاقاته، أو حتى سحب سفرائه، من تلك الدول! وهذا ليس كل شيء، فحتى السفراء الغربيون، الأميركي والفرنسي والبريطاني، بدمشق والذين قاموا بالتعبير عن آرائهم ضد النظام الأسدي، وبشكل غير مسبوق، وأعلنوا تأييدهم للثورة السورية، وانبروا مفندين لدعائية الإعلام الأسدي، لم يتخذ بحقهم أي إجراءات جدية، حيث دافعوا، أي السفراء، عن الثورة والثوار، وتحركوا بحرية في دمشق، مع أنه سبق لخارجية النظام الأسدي أن قالت بأنه قد تم تحديد مدى محدد لا يحق للسفراء الغربيين التحرك خارجه، ورغم ذلك فهم مستمرون فيما يقومون به، ولم يطلب منهم، أي السفراء، مغادرة الأراضي السورية، بل كانت عقوبتهم المغلظة هي إلقاء البيض والطماطم عليهم، حتى إن إحدى الصحف السورية الرسمية توعدتهم بمزيد من البيض والطماطم بحال لم يتوقفوا، أي السفراء، عن دعم الثورة!

وعليه، فهل تكون الإجراءات المشددة التي توعد بها وليد المعلم الدول التي ستعترف بالمجلس الوطني السوري هي مثل عقوبة السفراء الغربيين؛ البيض والطماطم؟ أم أن المعلم يبني على ما تسرب عبر وكالة الأنباء الإيرانية من أنه بمقدور الأسد إحراق المنطقة في 6 ساعات بحال تم استهداف نظامه؟ ومجرد الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري يعني بلا شك عملا خطيرا بحق النظام الأسدي، وإن كان المجتمع الدولي قد قال مرارا وتكرارا بأن شرعية النظام قد سقطت، والأهم من ذلك أن السوريين أنفسهم قالوها، ويقولونها، على مدى سبعة أشهر من عمر الثورة.

صحيح أن النظام الأسدي قد نفى الخبر الإيراني الخاص بإحراق المنطقة بـ6 ساعات، لكنها لعبة إعلامية ليست بالجديدة على منطقتنا، وعليه فإن السؤال اليوم، وبعد أن قرر المعلم محو أوروبا من الخارطة، واليوم يهدد بإجراءات مشددة بحق كل من يعترف بالمجلس الوطني السوري: ما هي نوعية العقوبة التي ستطال المعترفين، هل هي بيض وطماطم، أم أنها جزء من مخطط الـ6 ساعات لإشعال المنطقة؟

سنعرف الإجابة قريبا، ومع توالي الاعترافات بالمجلس الوطني السوري.

October 10th, 2011, 10:18 am

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Soooooooooooo, when was it the first day of Egypt revolution? ugghh, GOOD MORNING, sorry I am a bit slow. Help me, I need to mark this on my schedule, will give them 1- 1.5 years for the phase II. Remember this thing was suppose to be 2 steps revolution, the first step is when the dummies and Soros’s act and the second step is when Egyptian learn of the deception and hijacking and dangle the Juntas, scrap that rusted out peace accord and invites Ahmadinejad to come over. The only question is, should we give them a year or 1.5? I guess I will see my schedule and work accordingly.

October 10th, 2011, 10:21 am

 

Akbar Palace said:

SNP,

Your effort to bring in other actors into the Arab Spring doesn’t wash. The violence in Egypt is purely local unless you can prove otherwise. The Egyptian care-taker government (aka The Military) is using these events to prolong their power and put off free elections.

October 10th, 2011, 10:33 am

 

sheila said:

TO #457. IRRITATED SAID:
You said:”Sheila #452
Can you give me an example of an Arab government that cares about the country and the people (aside from the rich Gulf countries who have more expats that citizens)?”.
Thank you Irritated for getting my point. No, there are no Arab government that cares about its country and its people. The gulf regimes just have a lot of money to throw at their problems.

October 10th, 2011, 10:38 am

 

zoo said:

Sheila

Thanks for your straight answer.
Do you think that it is because these government are not elected democratically or because there is an inherent flaw in the mind of the wannabe leaders due to the history of colonialism and the persistence of corrupted authoritarian regimes in the region.

October 10th, 2011, 10:58 am

 

Revlon said:

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد

رشا عمران: أكثر ما يحزنني في دمشق حاليا حين أكون أقضي عملا لي ويكون الموظف شابا علويا وحين يكتشف من لقبي أنني من نفس طائفته يبدأ بتسهيل الأمور لي كوني من “عضام الرقبة” وأكيد أتعرض لضغوط نفسية من المؤامرة “السنية” خصوصا وأنا أعيش بين “الغرب”! قالها لي اليوم أجذ الشباب في شركة نقل…
كيف سأُفهم هذا الشاب وغيره أنني سورية وأنه ليس أكثر قربا لي من جاري بائع الخضرة الدوماني ولامن شاعر كردي شاب تعارفنا على الفيسبوك ولا من زميلي في العمل الشاب النازح الذي لا يصافح النساء ولا من السائق الدرعاوي الشاب الذي تعرفت إليه وقت حصار درعا ولا من سالم الحلبي الثائر صديق ابنتي .!
كيف سيفهم هذا الشاب كل هذا وهو يلقن يوميا من رب عمله “شريك الفساد الأول” ومن الإعلام السوري الذي يبث كل دقيقة أن السوريين وحوش ينهشون لحم بعضهم! كم ستتغير حياة هذا الشاب حين يدرك الحقيقة

44 minutes ago

October 10th, 2011, 11:09 am

 

Tara said:

Husam @462

Whether there is a conspiracy or not in Egypt, the government should handle it differently. People should feel free to demonstrate. The government ought to protect them whether their concerns and issues deemed legit or not. Specifically, the government should not allow mobsters (Islamic fundamentalists in this case) to chase after the demonstrators and clash with them. Those assailants should face harsher than usual penalty because they are indeed jeopardizing the Egyptian unity. The government should also heavily punish those officers responsible for running over the demonstrators.

October 10th, 2011, 11:22 am

 

Revlon said:

A Christian Syrian Canadian opposition activist’s request for joining the Syrian MB party was warmly received and accepted.

المراقب العام لإخوان سوريا يرحب بانضمام مسيحي سوري إلى صفوفهم

10/10/2011.
http://www.jidar.net/node/11094

رحبت جماعة الإخوان المسلمين في سوريا بانضمام الناشط والمعارض السوري المسيحي ميخائيل سعد إلى صفوفها.
وفي ردٍ على طلب الناشط ميخائيل سعد الإنضمام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين تلقته جدار من أمين سر قيادة جماعة الإخوان المسلمين في سورية محمد بسام يوسف قال أنه يرحب بانضمامه للجماعة باسم المراقب العام لإخوان سوريا

وقال الشريف ” باسم فضيلة المراقب العام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين في سورية محمد رياض شقفة، أرحب بك وأكبر فيك هذه الروح الوطنية والحس العالي بالمسؤولية والشعور الراقي بالوحدة الوطنية السورية التي يتساوى فيها السوريون بالحقوق والواجبات.. معاً لبناء دولةٍ مدنيةٍ ديمقراطيةٍ عصرية، تكون فيها حقوق المواطنة مكفولة لجميع السوريين.”

وكان الناشط والمعارض السوري ميخائيل سعد قد تقدم بطلب انضمام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين السورية على صفحته على الفيس بوك ونشرته جدار أمس وجاء فيه “نكاية ببعض اليسار السوري وبعض العلمانيين الشكليين وبعض القوميين، وقبل هذا نكاية بالسلطة السورية، اعلن انضمامي المؤقت للاخوان المسلمين رغم كل عيوبهم اذا قبلوا بي” كما قال

October 10th, 2011, 11:26 am

 

sheila said:

To #471. Zoo,
You said: “Do you think that it is because these government are not elected democratically or because there is an inherent flaw in the mind of the wannabe leaders due to the history of colonialism and the persistence of corrupted authoritarian regimes in the region”.
I think it is all of the above and then some. I do not think that our problems will immediately disappear once we have a democracy. Our problems need a lot more work to solve. I would like to argue that in history, there are examples of capitalist democracies, communist autocracies, socialists democracies and capitalists dictators and other forms of government, that managed to bring prosperity to their people and nations. It all boils down to good governance. It is having a government that has as its first priority the amelioration of its country and prosperity of its people. It comes out of good moral compass, solid work ethics and top notch education and unfortunately, we lack all three.

October 10th, 2011, 11:32 am

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“………A Christian Syrian Canadian opposition activist’s request for joining the Syrian MB party was warmly received and accepted….”

Hi, my name is Eli Cohen, Canadian born and just converted to Islam this morning, this morning changed my name to Thabet. I am now a Syrian Revolutionary and would like to join the Moslem Brotherhood of Evil, can you help me get in to the inner circle of this Satanic group, so together we can screw up Syria to the max. Please help, I get to cash paychecks from the Saudi Emir, Al CIAda and Mossad. Now I can buy that dream penthouse flat looking over the blue sea in Haifa. OOooops, scratch that out, I mean over looking the holy [Edited by Alex] Kaba

October 10th, 2011, 12:00 pm

 

some guy no longer in damascus said:

SNP: “I mean over looking the holy KaKa Kaba”

oh my, what a great secular person you are! even seculars can be extremists. SNP is an example.
even though im a staunch secularist, i dont resort to offensive remarks that can inflame sectarian tensions. we try to make all people equal despite the religious barriers. you are a shame to every secular hero in the world!
what would your party founder say?

October 10th, 2011, 12:12 pm

 

ann said:

LOL SNP. That was very funny! I thought Haytham (UNCLE TOM) Khoury was the only Canadian Syrian Christian allowed to join that evil Islamist Terrorist killer gang!

October 10th, 2011, 12:16 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Kaaba a Hindu Temple?

[Note: A recent archeological find in Kuwait unearthed a gold-plated statue of the Hindu deity Ganesh. A Muslim resident of Kuwait requested historical research material that can help explain the connection between Hindu civilisation and Arabia.]

Was the Kaaba Originally a Hindu Temple?
By P.N. Oak (Historian)

Glancing through some research material recently, I was pleasantly surprised to come across a reference to a king Vikramaditya inscription found in the Kaaba in Mecca proving beyond doubt that the Arabian Peninsula formed a part of his Indian Empire.

The text of the crucial Vikramaditya inscription, found inscribed on a gold dish hung inside the Kaaba shrine in Mecca, is found recorded on page 315 of a volume known as ‘Sayar-ul-Okul’ treasured in the Makhtab-e-Sultania library in Istanbul, Turkey. Rendered in free English the inscription says:

“Fortunate are those who were born (and lived) during king Vikram’s reign. He was a noble, generous dutiful ruler, devoted to the welfare of his subjects. But at that time we Arabs, oblivious of God, were lost in sensual pleasures. Plotting and torture were rampant. The darkness of ignorance had enveloped our country. Like the lamb struggling for her life in the cruel paws of a wolf we Arabs were caught up in ignorance. The entire country was enveloped

October 10th, 2011, 12:23 pm

 

Tara said:

More army/ security officers killed today than civilians. Syria has already entered full blown civil war. It is so sad..

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/10/us-syria-idUSL5E7L720620111010

October 10th, 2011, 12:24 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

October 10th, 2011, 12:26 pm

 

zoo said:

Sheila #475

Where do we start?

a) Forcing an immediate “democracy” by military means and/or uprisings, hoping that after the fall of the ruling class, it will move on the right track and not divert like in Iran in a pseudo-democracy where the social peace and the vision of the country’s future is modeled by religious entity or else fumble for years like Iraq in insecurity and absence of vision.
Note than in Iran, in view of their achievement in industrial development, sciences and arts you can find “”good moral compass, solid work ethics and top notch education”.

b) Move gradually to an embryo of democracy by putting its basis ( multi-party, free elections, new constitution), work on a common vision of the country’s future while still keeping a part of the authoritarian scheme to ensure social peace. Then build institutions that would promote “good moral compass, solid work ethics and top notch education”. That is what Egypt and Tunisia are attempting to do, I guess.
Any other alternative you can think of?

October 10th, 2011, 12:33 pm

 

ann said:

Terrorist acts escalate in central Syria: media – 2011-10-10

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/10/c_131183203.htm

DAMASCUS, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) — A Syrian newspaper said Monday there is a flare-up of armed terrorist acts in the central province of Homs, adding that terrorist groups are now intensively using rocket-propelled grenades to hit army checkpoints, shops and buildings.

Al-Watan newspaper said the residents of some quarters in Homs have appealed on specialized authorities to take immediate actions to salvage their city from a “sectarian war which those terrorist groups are working to wage.”

The paper said two army officers were killed in an ambush on Sunday in Homs. Syria’s third-largest city Homs has spearheaded rallies against President Bashar al-Assad since protests erupted on March 15.

In a related development, al-Watan said Bouthayna Shaaban, the media and political adviser of Assad, has embarked on an official visit to Malaysia as part of the Syrian government’s efforts to ” head to the East” following recent U.S.and EU sanctions on the country.

October 10th, 2011, 12:34 pm

 

Mango said:

without comment !

October 10th, 2011, 12:42 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Where do we start?

Zoo,

How about an election? Or is that asking to much?

October 10th, 2011, 12:43 pm

 

ann said:

Latin American delegation arrives in Syria to express support

2011-10-09

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/09/c_131181164.htm

DAMASCUS, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — A high-level delegation from the Latin America set foot on Syria late Saturday to express support for the country that has been wracked by nearly seven months of unrest it blames on foreign conspiracy, as well as to express rejection of all forms of interference in its internal affairs.

The delegation is comprised of the foreign ministers of Venezuela and Cuba, and the Bolivian media and communication minister, as well as deputy foreign ministers of Ecuador and Nicaragua.

The delegation would hold talks with Syrian President Bashar al- Assad.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said in a statement ahead of the visit that “we will stand against all forms of interference the United States is trying to impose on Syria in the same way it did in Libya.”

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez recently also sent a message of solidarity to President al-Assad against what he called “Yankee” aggression. Chavez saw the wave of unrest in the Arab world as Western-led destabilization.

Cuba has also showed opposition to any attempt to destabilize Syria.

October 10th, 2011, 12:53 pm

 

Tara said:

Zoo

Syrian waited for 11 years. Isn’t enough?

October 10th, 2011, 12:53 pm

 

ann said:

Malaysia Against Foreign Military Intervention In Syria – Anifah

October 10, 2011

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=619091

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 10 (Bernama) — Malaysia is against any foreign military intervention to end the conflict in Syria.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman in making Malaysia’s stand on Syria Monday, maintained that it was Malaysia’s policy of respecting the sovereignty of and not interfering in other countries’ affairs.

He opined that foreign military intervention in Syria was unnecessary because all concerned parties could enter into peaceful dialogue to find a solution to the political impasse and meet the aspirations of the Syrians.

Speaking to reporters after holding a closed-door meeting here with special envoy of the President of Syria to Malaysia Dr Buthaina Shaaban who explained the situation in Syria, Anifah said he had conveyed the Malaysian government’s concern over the escalating violence and loss of lives in Syria during the meeting.

Anifah said Syria was welcomed to emulate Malaysia on democracy, transformation, stability and sustainability.

“As a friendly country, Malaysia does not want to see Syria embroiled in conflict, which will be detrimental to the Syrian people,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Shaaban condemned all foreign elements which are trying to disunite the Syrian people by taking advantage of the uncertainties in the Middle Eastern country.

“We do not need foreign interference, especially from western countries, to control the situation in our country as we ourselves can control it,” she said.

October 10th, 2011, 1:12 pm

 

AIG said:

Zoo,

You start from freedom of speech. You allow Syrians to speak their minds. You allow the opposition newspapers and TV channels. You allow foreign journalists in. And you have a real discussion between Syrians about their future. And of course you also free people that were imprisoned just for talking their mind. This is a minimum to get anywhere.

October 10th, 2011, 1:32 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Children’s Rhymes Never Heard in Syria:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones / But words will never hurt me”

October 10th, 2011, 1:48 pm

 

Dale Andersen said:

Memo To: Ann

RE: “…The [Latin American] delegation [to Besho] is comprised of the foreign ministers of Venezuela and Cuba, and the Bolivian media and communication minister, as well as deputy foreign ministers of Ecuador and Nicaragua…”

Oh sweet baby Jesus, Ann, that’s every left-wing fascist pig government in South America. Tell me, Ann, when you look at yourself in the mirror, how can you not vomit? Just wondering…

October 10th, 2011, 1:53 pm

 

NEW REGIME NEW HOPE said:

Unreliable News sources:

SANA
Press Tv
Russia Today
Xinhua

October 10th, 2011, 2:03 pm

 

NEW REGIME NEW HOPE said:

Regime supporters lack credibility. They are in no position to advise or suggest strategies for change. ie ‘gradual change’ etc

October 10th, 2011, 2:07 pm

 

Jacob said:

Thanks for quality analyses about Syria.

Ehsani, you’re writing that Ford is meeting with opposition figures around Syria. Are you sure about this? To my knowledge are Western diplomats restricted to stay in the Damascus area these times, something that limits these kind of networking and influencing activities more difficult. To call it diplomacy depends on the viewpoint:)

October 10th, 2011, 2:24 pm

 

Syria no kandahar said:

The Mehshi politicain
Egyptians got your terrorist friends democracy after 30 years yesterday.

October 10th, 2011, 2:24 pm

 

Tara said:

Dear New regime @496

Hi. Freedom of expression? We can’t replace one dictatorship with other. Agree?

October 10th, 2011, 2:27 pm

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

There are reports the Libyan transitional council has shut down the Syrian embassy in tripoli, and has recognized the Syrian national council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
Wow the SNC isn’t even a week old and they already got some recognition.

October 10th, 2011, 2:33 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

No more Shia after this Friday.

October 10th, 2011, 2:48 pm

 

NEW REGIME NEW HOPE said:

@498 TARA

I didnt mean it like that. I dont mean after the revolution. When pro-regime here are presenting to us a quick toppling of the regime or a gradual change it gets on the nerves. Even if they may be right. The street will decide what is best.

Regime supporters are entitled to say what they want. However coming from them such advice seems like a sick joke. Supporting such a vile regime = zero credibilty.

October 10th, 2011, 2:57 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Hell, SNP will recognize “whatever” as legitimate representative of the Syrians as long as they will:

1- Return citizens Nationalized assets from Oct of 1958
2- Pay compensation for all those years either from empty treasury
Or thru taxation of special category of Syrians who either benefited or were directly responsible, for such Nationalization.
3- Allow free political parties without Baathist styled hindereth in setting up.
4- Give rights to Syrian exiles and all immigrants equal to those unfortunate that stayed in the country or could not be lucky to leave.
5- Strengthen ties with Islamic Republic of Iran.
6- Never use the term Arabian Gulf.
7- Give SNP the defense and security portfolio
8- Follow SNP economic development plan
9- Strengthen ties with Russia and China
10- Permit establishment of Naval, Arial and Land based Russian, Iranian and Chinese security and military bases and installation within legal boundary to serve Syria’s national Interests.
11- Accept SNP peace terms, or war plans for the Golan whichever is necessary to retrieve it.
12- Accept SNP peace terms or war plans for the Iskenderun, whichever is necessary to repatriate it.
13- Ban rag-heads from entering the country and allow for Californians to live and work, set shops and businesses.

If they agree to the above, which are the least terms acceptable will RECOGNIZE MICKEY MOUSE AS THE LIGITIMATE REPRESENTATIVE OF SYRIANS.

October 10th, 2011, 3:00 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

Dear President,

That is enough about this game. Please go to your private paradise with your family and disappear from public life. You deserve to rest after your efforts through 11 years. This is not the job you wanted to do, so please be free to leave politics and your unchoiced responsabilities.

October 10th, 2011, 3:01 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Previously I posted Shaykh Yaqoubi’s comment about supporting the revolution despite knowing the situation may get worse (ie eventual appearance of the Sufyani).

A questioner asked the Shaykh: “What course of action do you suggest each individual take in these difficult times, sidi?”

The Shaykh replied: “We live our life do our work as usual; practice jihad when it applies and enjoin good and forbid evil; knowing the above will help us having a vision and not being surprised when things get worse; while we always pray for the best.”

Also the on the Shaykh’s facebook page people were asked whether the Shaykh should get more involved in politics and even form an Islamic party or continue teaching the Sacred Knowledge.

52 people have replied so far. Some interesting views.

http://www.facebook.com/shaykhabulhuda

October 10th, 2011, 3:16 pm

 

zoo said:

Turkey’s ‘Mission Impossible’
Sunday, October 9, 2011
NURAY MERT

U.S. President Barack Obama thanked Turkey for its support in Afghanistan and Libya when he met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in his last visit to the United States. Then, it seems that Obama focused on the “Syrian problem” in his meeting with the Turkish prime minister.

The pressures on Turkey to take a more active role in Syrian affairs started much earlier. Turkey has been accused of failing to take a strong stand against Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian regime. Then, even some sort of military intervention from Turkey became a topic of consideration during the early summer. Nevertheless, it was very difficult for Turkey to take a firm position against the Syrian regime and to keep balanced relations with Iran. It still is!

Iran is well aware that Turkey is a Western ally and a NATO member and at the end of the day, the interests of the two countries will eventually come to a bitter end. Yet, Iranians behaved as if balanced relations with Turkey were always sustainable and that Turkey could play a role in nuclear talks. Moreover, they encouraged Turkey to adopt an intermediary role but it turned out to be a major failure. The relations got even more strained when Turkey decided to denounce the Syrian regime and support the Syrian opposition openly while agreeing to join NATO’s missile program. Nevertheless, again they chose to give only a low-profile rhetorical reaction rather than directly confront Turkey.

Iran is playing the game very cleverly and carefully by avoiding any confrontation with Turkey because Iranians know that Turkey desperately needs a pretext to challenge Iran and to feel justified in its Syrian policy. Mostly for that reason, Iran started a military operation against Kurdish guerilla forces in northern Iraq as a kind of “preemptive strike.” Even so, Turkey tried to invent theories and stories of a “possible alliance between Iran, Syria and the PKK.” I do not think that the Iranians will fall in to this trap and support “any enemies” of Turkey at that moment. On the contrary, Iranians are keeping firm in an attempt not to give any excuse to Turkey to justify any future confrontation. Under those circumstances Turkey is heading into a very difficult position.

Some ex-Islamist writers like Ali Bulaç (a columnist at daily Zaman) have already started to warn the government “not to fall into the trap of Western imperialists who are trying to start a war and confrontation among Muslims.” One the one hand, Turkey is expected by the Western world to play a more active role in Syria which will lead to indirect confrontation with Iran. On the other hand, it is not in the interest of Turkey to end its balanced policy. It may be inevitable at some point but then the government will need a pretext to end good relations, but the Iranians are very cautious at not providing an excuse to change that policy.

That is why “putting pressure on Turkey to play a more active role in the interests of Syrian regime change” is tantamount to giving Turkey a “mission impossible.” This is a very big challenge for Turkish foreign policy and it may cost Turkey dearly.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey8217s-8216mission-impossible8217-2011-10-09

October 10th, 2011, 3:23 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

@ SNP :

Son of a bitch, Arabian Gulf it will be forever. Go wank Karbala troll. What issues does SNP have with Arabian Gulf ? Saddam should have gassed y’all to death Majoosis.

Gamal Abdel Nasser did the Mid East a good turn by expelling rats like your lot.

And by the way, why should we even be bothered to gain SNP’s recognition ? What do you have eh , that we wil gove defence portfolio to you Majoosis ? We would rather give it to Abu Mazen than you lol. Why the hell do we even need SNP when you guys cldn’t have your way even with Assad ? You guys got only 2 seats in Lebanon, 13 of your boys were lynched in Halba by Khaled Daher’s boys, what could you do ? You don’t have ANY cards to play, just shut up and wait for another Halba massacre.

October 10th, 2011, 3:43 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Tara,

I’m cooking now mahshi cabbage leaves, stuffed with Frike and rice. I’m using your spicing, 20 garlic cloves (wow it’s a lot of garlic. never used so much garlic in one dish), and lemon juice from 4 lemons + some zest. In the stuffing I put some dill, fresh palm fruit and Baharat spice. It’s cooking now and the home smells goooood !!!
.

October 10th, 2011, 3:48 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Moderator, please remove the foul language that fictisious Mossad paid blogger calling ITSELF TLASS said in # 506, you sure edited SNP language several times.

October 10th, 2011, 3:49 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Your God Antun Saadeh was executed like a caged dog, I ROFL everytime I think of his lame “coup d’etat” in 1949. That little kitten Mehaudli blew herself up only to kill 2 demoralised Israeli conscripts.

And btw, your man Hardaan looks Arab. Suck it up.

October 10th, 2011, 4:08 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“……….Gamal Abdel Nasser did the Mid East a good turn by expelling rats like your lot. …”

He did, but will be back soon not only in Syria but will visit our Moslem Brothers Rulers in Egypt and sign Defense Agreements with them, convince them to let Iran, Russia and China to set up military bases as well, then go take a leak on Nasser and Sadat Graves. They will too call it then Persian Gulf. By then there exist no Arab States, just American and Brits colonies.

October 10th, 2011, 4:08 pm

 

Syrie:opposition (s) et stratégie de résistance du régime face à l’OTAN « Mounadil al Djazaïri said:

[…] La question de l’intervention étrangère – Les Etats Unis appellent Assad à “s’en aller ma… […]

October 10th, 2011, 4:08 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Cry me a river SNP. I learnt “foul language” from none other than SNP.

October 10th, 2011, 4:09 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Khalid no muslim would insult Karbala like that. Such insults can not be tolerated.

This is not the first time. Something isnt right.

October 10th, 2011, 4:11 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

And btw it was your hated “Saudi beduin” who funded Syrian and Yemeni beduins to fight Nasser aftern 1958.

October 10th, 2011, 4:15 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

UZAIR, Hussein (ra) grave isn’t at Karbala. Trust me, all this is a political farce by the Iranians. Just look at this SNP guy, he dares to criticose us calling it “Arabian Gulf”, he wants us to call it “Persian Gulf”. It was in response to such racust peovocation that I used foul language. I am very impulsive.

October 10th, 2011, 4:17 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

So why do the Americans want to call it “Persian Gulf” ? Brothers and sisters, something is not right !! There is a conspiracy against our Arabism and our Arabness by these Phoenicians, Zionists, neocons and Persians. We must rally for our Arabism and crush these cowards.

Saddam Hussein – “In your name, brothers, and on behalf of the Iraqis and Arabs everywhere we tell those Persian cowards and dwarfs who try to avenge Al-Qadisiyah that the spirit of Al-Qadisiyah as well as the blood and honor of the people of Al-Qadisiyah who carried the message on their spearheads are greater than their attempts”

October 10th, 2011, 4:21 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Please Khalid you have to be careful. Karbala isnt just a place. It is an event. A tragic event. The remark was offensive and hurtful.

Yesterday Dale Anderson made a provocative remark too. I held back from responding as it was an indirect comment against our Prophet (S) ‘smelly sons of …’.

October 10th, 2011, 4:24 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Yes, they were nice and sane back then in the fifties, then choose to be bastards of the “Hidden Ones” and pro Baath Party, supporting Saddam Hussain and Syria’s Baathist to the tune of Seventy Eight Billions. Neither of the Baathist regimes will ever have chance to rule for that long were not for Western political and Bedouin Financial support. Neither the West nor the Bedouins forked out one iota of support or cash to oppositions of Baath Party. All did it intentionally according to a plan and by design, for the sole purpose of weakening the region of Sham and help Israel and Zionists grand plan of Greater Israel. Will do the same to them soon, PAYBACK IS COMING.

October 10th, 2011, 4:26 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

SNP, don’t Israeli Jews belong to Balad al-shaam ?

And what about the Armenians ? They are foeeigners, refugees from Turkey, why should you acceot them as Balad al-Sham ?

Something tells me your anti-Zionism only runs skin deep, much like your demigod Hassan Nasrallah, becoz to have “payback” you guys will have to ally with Israel, no sweat.

October 10th, 2011, 4:35 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

LOL and LOL.. And I did it on purpose to stir this up and flush the Mossad puppies out. I could have kept it out of discussion. There is not such a thing as Arab Nation or Arabism. That is a delusional idea inspired by the British Colonialist in 1916 in the runner up to break up Arabs and other Nationals away from the Turkish “Islamic Nation”. It was designed to break up one huge Islamic United State into ethnic statelets, in the same way they are using the exact campaign now, reducing the area down to sect ruled State.

October 10th, 2011, 4:45 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

SNP, ONE ARAB NATION WITH AN ETERNAL MISSION.

We have an Arabising mission as well as an Islamising mission. Insha’Allah after revolution succeeds Syria will become trye beacon of Arab nationalism.

October 10th, 2011, 4:49 pm

 

some guy no longer in damascus said:

today was an awful day for the regime:
1) after repealing the importing ban, the syrian lira is now officially at 49.75(http://www.sana.sy/)
2) 1000 liters of diesel now sell for 13500 pounds instead of 8500, this wont bite now, it will hurt next month when the winter kicks in.
3) libyan recognition of the syrian national council right after walid- eater of continents-muallem threatened any one that recognizes the council.
4) the demonstration activities were certainly larger today.

now enjoy some good syrian ROCK!

October 10th, 2011, 5:01 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

The Imaginarium of the Anti-Zionist

Israel and Zionists grand plan of Greater Israel

Leave it to the conspi-“racists” on this website to use the term “Greater Israel” after the GOI left Lebanon, Gaza and most of the West Bank.

October 10th, 2011, 5:13 pm

 

jad said:

شـبـكـة أخـبـار اللاذقـيـة | L.N.N
منتصف الليل بتوقيت اللاذقية الحبيبة

عامٌ يكاد أن يمضي على انطلاق ما يسمى ” الربيع العربي “, فمن يجرؤ على الحديث عمّا جرى و يجري في ” تونس الخضراء ” ؟ وإن كانت ليبيا أضحت ” رماداً “, فمن ينفخ النار تحت الرماد في ” مصر ” ؟ وهل فكّر أحدٌ من ” دعاة الحرية وحماة حقوق الإنسان ” بإحصاء عدد الشهداء في ” اليمن السعيد ” ؟ ولن نقترب من ” البحرين ” كي لا نضطر للحديث عن ” السعودية “, لكننا كغيرنا بتنا ” في حيرة ” من أمرنا, وإشارات ” التعجب والإستفهام ” تلاحقنا كلما قرأنا خبراً, أو بحثنا عن شيء ما .. يدعى ” الحقيقة ” !!

كل هذا لا يهم, ما يهمنا هو بلدنا العزيز سورية, وببساطة شديدة نقول, إذا أردنا أن نعلم ماذا يجري في سورية, يجب أن نعلم ” ونفهم ” ماذا يجري في حمص !!

نبدأ من سورية, ومن ” حمص ” تحديداً لمحاولة فهم ما يجري, بعد أن ” استعصت ” التغطية الإعلامية على اختلاف توجهاتها عن نقل أحداث المدينة, فاتجهت ” الأغلبية ونحن منهم ” للعديد من الصفحات الإلكترونية والوسيلة الأقدم و ” الأكثر ضماناً ” ألا وهي التواصل المباشر بأي وسيلة ممكنة

فمنذ يوم الخميس, وتحديداً منذ منتصف الليل يزداد الوضع في حمص سوءً, اشتباكات قوية وعمليات ” قتل وتصفية ” زادت من حزن السوريين على بلدهم, وأوقعت ” الفضائيات العربية والعالمية ” في مأزق جديد, بينما اكتفت وسائل الإعلام المحلية ” بالصمت ” حتى تحركت ” قليلاً ” في ليلة الأمس واليوم ونقلت بعضاً مما يجري ” حقاً ” في مدينة حمص

أما في التفاصيل, فتتركز الإشتباكات منذ ليلة الأمس في أحياء البياضة والخالدية وباب السباع وسوق كرم الزيتون، والنازحين والقرابيص والورشة وتدمر, و ” المأزق ” الحقيقي الذي وقعت به ” الفضائيات ” هو ” استهلاك ” موضوع ” الإنشقاقات ” حتى بات الأمر ” مضحكاً ومخجلاً جداً “, ورغم تضارب أرقام ” الضحايا والشهداء ” بين محطة وأخرى وصفحة وأخرى ومصدر وآخر, تبقى قضية ” الإغتيالات والإختطافات ” مثار جدل وتعتيم كبير جداً, وفي كل يوم تقريباً نتابع اسم أحد ” المخطوفين ” عند نشره على إحدى الصفحات, لنجد اسمه بعد عدة أيام ” شهيداً ” تم قتله والتمثيل بجثته ثم رميه في أي مكان يسهل العثور عليه في الصباح

ونعيد ونكرر أننا وكثيرون غيرنا انتقدنا وما زلنا ” التعتيم ” على مثل هذه ” الأحداث “, ونعلم تماماً مقدار الحساسية التي تسببها, ونعلم أكثر أن هناك ” شخصيات سورية في الداخل والخارج ” همها الأول والأخير إشعال ” فتنة مذهبية وطائفية تبدأ من مدينة حمص “, بعد أن فشلوا في مناطق أخرى من سورية, وها هم يعيدون الكرة في ” القامشلي ” !! لكن استمرار هذه العمليات وتركيزهم عليها يضع الجميع أمام مسؤولية كبيرة جداً, فهل نقبل أن يكون القتل في سورية على الهوية ونبقى صامتين ؟!!

ونبقى في سورية, حيث عادت الإشتباكات للظهور بالقرب من الحدود التركية شمال إدلب, وتحديداً في ” عين البيضا “, وبينما تستمر ” الفضائيات ” بالحديث عن ” الإنشقاقات ” التي باتت الملاذ الوحيد, وردت أنباء عن إغلاق أحد المعابر الحدودية مع تركيا, وعمليات تمشيط واسعة يقوم بها الجيش السوري في المنطقة, تمتد حتى جبل الزاوية, بينما تستمر أعمال ” الخطف والسلب ” في ريف إدلب

وتراجعت أخبار ” المظاهرات ” لحساب ” الإشتباكات ” بشكل عام, حتى ” المظاهرات الطيارة ” لم تعد تفي بالغرض بشكل عام, فاستعيض عنها بصور ” التشييع ” مع استمرار الأخطاء ” المقصودة ” في نقل الصور أو الأخبار أو الأعداد أو أي شيء يتعلق بها, والمحزن في الأمر, أن الموضوع بات ” معتاداً ” عند البعض, فلم يعد من المهم ” التدقيق ” في أي صورة أو معلومة أو خبر, والحالة العامة تقول ” عليهم يا عرب .. !! ” دون تفكير .. فقط !!

سياسياً, تصدرت كلمات وزير الخارجية السوري ومفتي الجمهورية صفحات الجرائد المحلية والعربية والعالمية, وإن كان ” الإتحاد الأوروبي ” لم يقدم أكثر من ” ترحيب ” بما يسمى المجلس الوطني السوري, فأول المعترفين به هو ” المجلس الإنتقالي الليبي “, الذي لم ينل شرعيته ” في الناتو ” إلا منذ أقل من شهر, بينما أفردت المحطات والصحف العربية والعالمية جزءاً واسعاً من صفحاتها لتحليل كلمة مفتي الجمهورية, حول ” الإستشهاديين ” الذين وعد بهم في حال قصفت سورية من قبل أي جهة, ولم يكلف أحد نفسه عناء الحديث عن القسم الثاني ” القصف “, فالمهم .. ما يهم من يكتب, وليذهب من يقرأ إلى الجحيم !! وبدأت السياسة السورية بالتوجه فعلاً إلى ” الشرق “, حيث وصلت الدكتورة ” بثينة شعبان ” إلى ماليزيا وستزور أيضا إندونيسيا في إطار جولتها ” الشرقية ”

سياسياً أيضاً, نعتذر في حال ورود أي خبر ” خاطئ ” لا سمح الله في نشرتنا هذه أو نشراتنا السابقة أو القادمة, وخاصة فيما يتعلق بأخبار ” المجالس والتجمعات الوطنية “, فحسب إحصائياتنا كانوا ” 3 ” لنفاجئ اليوم أنهم ” 7 “, ونكرر أنهم جميعاً يشتركون في ” الديمقراطية ” ويختلفون في ” تطبيقها ” .. فاقتضى التنويه, ولنعطي الخبر بعضاً من المصداقية, رفض مجلس ما أن يعطي الإذن لمجلس آخر لإجراء مؤتمر صحفي, فيما انتقد مجلس آخر مجلس ما لتعامله معه بنفس الإسلوب الذي يتعامل به ” النظام ” في سورية, وإقصائه عن ” المجلس ” !! أما أعضاء مجلس آخر, فانتقدوا سفر رئيس ” المجلس ” بطائرة خاصة, بينما اضطروا هم للإنتظار في ” المطار “, ليحدث ” حرد ” في صفوف البعض ويتهموا رئيس ” المجلس ” بالاستفراد ” بالنعيم !! واتهم أعضاء في أحد المجالس أعضاء مجلس آخر بأنهم ” رموا أنفسهم في أحضان الغرب “, بينما قام أعضاء المجلس الآخر ” المتهم ” باتهام أعضاء المجلس ذاتهم بأنهم ” هم من رموا أنفسهم في أحضان الغرب ” !!

أعتذر عن عدم ذكر اسم ” المجالس “, أولاً لأنني وبكل صراحة لا أستطيع التمييز بينها, لأن بعض أعضائها ينتمي إلى أكثر من ” مجلس ” ولأنني كنت أحسبهم ” 3 ” فاتضح أنهم ” 7 “, وثانياً كي لا يضيع مثلي القارئ في التمييز بين ” المجالس “, المهم أنهم كلهم ” ديمقراطيين ” !! أما المقصود بكلمة ” غرب ” في الخبر الأخير, فالغرب الأولى هي إشارة إلى روسيا, أما الغرب الثانية فهي إشارة أميركا .. واللبيب من الإشارة يفهم

نأتي الآن إلى مدينة اللاذقية, التي تستمر فيها الحياة ” طبيعية ” ولمن دأب على انتقاد حديثنا عن أن الحياة في المدينة ” طبيعية ” نطلب منه أن ” يترك مكتبه في بلد المهجر “, ويأتي إلى ” بلده ومدينته ” في زيارة قصيرة, أما من هم ” داخل المدينة “, فلا تعليق أبداً, لأسباب عديدة, ربما تبدأ بإشارتنا دائما إلى أي تواجد أو حدث ” أمني “, وربما لا تنتهي إن تجرأنا وسألنا ” السائل ” ألا تذهب إلى عملك وأصدقائك وأماكن تسليتك في كل يوم ؟!! المهم نحن لا نطلب من أحد أن يصدقنا, بل نطلب دائماً من الجميع أن يحاولوا التأكد ” بأنفسهم ” من أي ” خبر أو حدث أو صوت “, فمصادرنا هي من المشتركين أنفسهم, والتأكيد والنفي منهم, المهم أننا نؤكد ونعيد وسنبقى نؤكد ونعيد أننا لن ننشر شيئاً لا يستحق النشر, ولن ننشر شيئاً دون التأكد منه 80 % على الأقل, وهناك كثيرون من المشتركين قادرين على ” محاسبتنا ” في حال تقصيرنا بأبسط وأسهل الطرق

بعد ” المقدمة “, نأتي إلى الحديث عن أحداث المدينة اليوم, فعند الظهيرة, وأثناء تواجد سيارة أمنية تقل ” مطلوبين أو معتقلين ” على أوتوستراد الثورة بالقرب من النفق أما بنايات ” الروس “, جرى إطلاق عدة رصاصات من ” تكسي ” كانت تقف في الشارع باتجاه ” الدورية الأمنية “, ولم ترد أي معلومات عن أي إصابات الحمدلله, وبحسب الموجودين ” وأحد مشتركي الشبكة ” الذي ساعدنا بالحصول على المعلومات مشكوراً, هربت السيارة مباشرة وليس هناك أي معلومات إضافية حول ” طبيعة الحادث “, ولن نضيف جديداً إن قلنا بان ” الحادث ” في طريقه ” الإخباري ” من أوتوستراد الثورة إلى الكورنيش الغربي وصل على الشكل التالي ” مجموعة مسلحة تقوم بتفجير عدة سيارات على أوتوستراد الثورة أمام أحد أفرع الأمن وعدد القتلى بالعشرات والخسائر بمئات الملايين !! “, وليعذرنا الجميع .. فلا نجد كلاماً للتعليق على ” الخبرية ” أفضل من مقولة ” رزق الهبل عالمجانين ” !!

ونؤكد على استمرار الحركة ” الممتازة ” في معظم مناطق المدينة, وترد بين الحين والآخر أنباء عن ” مظاهرات طيارة ” في حي قنينص والطابيات, لكننا لم نستطع تأكيد الخبر, ما يهمنا بشكل عام أنه لم تسمع أصوات الرصاص في المدينة بشكل عام منذ زمن والحمدلله, وأخبار ” الإعتقالات ” لم تعد كما كانت منذ فترة وجيزة, ولا يبقى لنا إلا الدعاء دائما والدعوة أن تهدأ النفوس ويتجه الجميع لتصحيح المسار في هذه المدينة بكل طاقتهم وفي كل المجالات

عربياً, مصر فوق الجمر, ونخشى أن تتحول إلى رماد, وإن كان الإعلام ” المستعرب ” وقف إلى جانب ” المجلس العسكري “, فكثيرون ” دهشوا ” من عبارة ” مندسين “, حيث أنها كانت ” ماركة سورية مسجلة “, حتى كلمة ” مؤامرة “, و ” أيادي خارجية “, وردت في كل التصريحات المتلفزة والصحفية, لكننا ككل من يملكون ” عيون ” شاهدنا ” الأحداث ” في بث حي ومباشر على معظم الفضائيات الداعمة والرافضة ” للمجلس العسكري “, فكيف استطاعوا تمييز ” المندسين ” !! أحداث مصر تفتح الباب على مصراعيه حول أسئلة لا تنتهي, بدأتها هالة سرحان بانضمامها إلى ” جمعة هو فيه إيه !! ” بعرضها لاعترافات شباب الثورة بتلقيهم التدريبات في بلدان شرق أوروبية, ولن ينهيها ” خجل ” ممثلين ومفكرين مصريين من ” الإعلام المصري والعربي عموماً ” في طريقة تعامله مع الأحداث .. وللحديث .. أكثر من بقية

عربياً أيضاً, ستتم معاملة ” المتظاهرين ” في السعودية على أنهم ” إرهابيين “, ولا تعليق على الخبر أبداً !! أما البحرين فاستقبلت دفعة جديدة من قوات الأمن السعودية, وتبدو الإنتخابات الرئاسية ” حقيقية ” في اليمن, حيث لم تنفع كل الوساطات والمبادرات, فالخليجيون باتوا مشغولين ” بأنفسهم “, خاصة بعد أنباء عن دخول ” قطر ” على خط ” الثورة الكويتية “, والمجتمع الدولي مشغول بحرب ” إثبات الذات ” مع روسيا في سورية, وهكذا .. تمضي الأحداث دون أن تجد متسعا من الوقت للتعليق عليها, فالعالم أصغر من أن يتحمل كل هذه ” الأخبار

دولياً, ما زالت مظاهرات وال ستريت تتصدر ” التحليلات ” وألوان التأهب الأمني الذي وصل في بعض الأحيان إلى ” الأرجواني “, وهو ربما نفس اللون الذي وصله أيام ” 9/11 ” , فيما وردت أنباء عن تجدد المظاهرات في لندن, وكذلك في ألمانيا, تصدرت أنباء ” اقتحام السفارات والبعثات الدبلوماسية السورية ” في البلدان الأوروبية عدداً لا بأس به من المحطات والصحف,

في فسحة أمل اليوم, والتي سنحاول من خلالها ” تبييض ” سوداوية النشرة احتراماً لرغبة مشتركي الصفحة, أنباء طيبة من مدينة جبلة, ومسيرة أهلية شهدتها مساء اليوم, نتمنى أن تساهم في غسل القلوب وإعادة الأمور إلى نصابها وتقريب وجهات النظر بأي طريقة ممكنة تتيح للجميع المشاركة في بناء مستقبل هذه الوطن, وفسحة أمل أخرى من مشتركي الصفحة خارج سورية, ووعود برفع العلم السوري والمشاركة في الحملة بشكل واسع في مختلف بلدان المغترب

هذا كل ما لدينا اليوم .. نشكر كل مشتركي الشبكة الذين لم يبخلوا علينا بحضورهم ومشاركتهم بعد انقطاع في الفترة الماضية, ونتمنى أن نستطيع رد الجميل لهم يوماً ما, وسنسعى لأن تكون النشرة أفضل وأشمل شيئاً فشيء .. بمساعدتكم طبعاً

ومع الأمل دائما بأن يعود الأمان لكل شبر في سورية الحبيبة .. نكمل مع أحوالكم وأحوال مناطقكم وكل الشكر دائما لكم

الرحمة لشهداء سورية في كل مكان وزمان .. ولأهلهم الصبر والسلوان

اللهمَّ آمِنّا في أوطَانِنا وجَنِّبنا الفِتَنْ .. ما ظَهَرَ مِنْها ومَا بَطنْ

https://www.facebook.com/lattakia.news.network

October 10th, 2011, 5:28 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

I will give you one time only to use foul language, you will be put on ignore if you try a second.

“…SNP, don’t Israeli Jews belong to Balad al-shaam ?…”

Israeli and Jews are different طينة , Israeli do belong to بلا د الشام , and they are natives of the outline area of Al Sham in the region of Palestine / Sinai. Jews, on the other hand, are “political entity” developed by Amen/Marduk in Babylon for the purpose of taking over the world, using the Jews as seditious mercenaries into the nations, all the nations. Jews today are a mix of pagan Khazzar, who converted to political Judaism; they make out 80% of world Jewish population. The remaining 20% are true Jews, ISRALITES (a tribes and race) do really belong in Palestine, or all Bilad Al Sham in fact, even Saudi Arabia.

Amen/Marduk did use the Jews to subvert many nations, including Egypt, Turkey, even Rome, through Christianity that was invented and propagated by political activist Jews to cease Rome power by stealth, instead of armies. Israelites always paid the price of the association Jews taken of them and in fact hijacked and imposture their history and entity.

Amen/marduk today is using the very same strategy used in the past, to do the same, by using mercenaries, minorities, the disfranchised and dis-privliged to conduct his One World Government campaign, currently in progress. If you to analyze today’s events and strategy and you have an understanding to historical events you will see a perfect M.O. in the process, to the point it is predictable.

“…….And what about the Armenians ? They are foreigners, refugees from Turkey, why should you accept them as Balad al-Sham ?….

Armenians are 100% Syrians, the true native Syrians who inhabited the plain of Aleppo for millennia’s. The story of Armenian return to Syria is more fascinating, or just as much as the Israelites return to Israel. It was the Assyrians that evicted the so called Armenians out of their native lands and they escaped out of Assyria wrath to the area known as Armenia, near Khazzaria, where 80% of today’s political Jews came from, when Khazzaria over runs by invading armies of Russia and Mongol. At the time of Armenian exiles, Assyria boarder reached out just to Armenia to the Northwest. They came back to their native homeland in the 19 and 20th centuries. Their king lineage always carried the name /title ORONTES العاصي من اسم نهر العاصي for thousands of years.

“…………Something tells me your anti-Zionism only runs skin deep, much like your demigod Hassan Nasrallah, becoz to have “payback” you guys will have to ally with Israel, no sweat….”

We have no problem with Israelites; they are no difference to us as Syrian nationalists than Armenians, Druze, and the hundred of Christian sects or Kurds. All inhabited at one time or another an area known as Bilad Alsham for thousands of years, and all still languishing from either direct of, or the effect of Amen/Marduk power grab scams be it Islam or Arabism or whatever he invents every few hundreds of years. It is time for all these people to stop being in agony and start understand that they all must share the land and trade and enjoy life together, that each is unique in history but not in destiny, which all share one of the same. Of course this bit is way over the top of an Arab Nationalist brain, but this forum is read by many intellectual who will understand what is said in this comment.

October 10th, 2011, 5:33 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

A comment someone posted on AJE Live Syria blog:

“I bet that NTC of Libya has some “thousands” of weapons recovered; they can be easy borrowed.

NTC doesn’t forgive Assad support till the end and the radio-transmissions.”

October 10th, 2011, 5:39 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“………..SNP, ONE ARAB NATION WITH AN ETERNAL MISSION.

We have an Arabising mission as well as an Islamising mission. Insha’Allah after revolution succeeds Syria will become trye beacon of Arab nationalism…………”

OOOOOOHHHHH SSSSUUUUUUUUUURE you will, I can feel your tear just reading that it is coming to end, Aflak was a Jew paid by Zionists to bring his mission of distruction to Syria. the only cry baby when Arabism is dead are the JEWS man. I fully understand you my Mossad man on this blog.

October 10th, 2011, 5:46 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

A few months ago, and in relation to Syria, the foreign minister of France and/or the president of France reiterated that France has a fundamental and firm policy that the UN Security Council is the only authority that can authorize a military attack against a sovereign country. France has a lot of clout in the European Union. Today 10 Oct 2011 the Foreign Ministers of the European Union issued a statement that the EU is deeply disappointed that the UN Security Council has not yet been able to adopt a resolution on the current developments in Syria, and that the EU will continue to press for strong UN action. The statement didn’t say anything about EU action.

Meanwhile we’ve been given every reason to believe that Russia’s government will keep on vetoing at the UN Security Council. So Syria’s situation is all in Syria’s hands, where it belongs.

October 10th, 2011, 5:49 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

Yesterday Syria’s Assistant Foreign Minister Abdelfattah Ammoura mentioned “the upcoming central dialogue conference which will take place in Damascus”. (SANA). I’ve heard mention of this upcoming Central Dialogue Conference many times, and never with mention of the start date. Does it have a scheduled start date? If so when?

October 10th, 2011, 5:51 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

SNP, don’t you regard the Sunni Muslims of Akkar/Danniyeh, not to mention the Sunni Arabs of Syria, as part of Balad al sham ? Or are we inferior in DNA to the great Syrian race ???? Are the great Syrian DNA only for Shias, Marounis, Greek Orthodoz, Melkites, Druz, etc ???

And btw what plans did Saadeh have for the genuine Arabs/Beduins of al jazira, i,e Deirezzor, Tadmur, Raqqah, Al Hasakah ?

October 10th, 2011, 5:58 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

From Ann #439: the dissident Michel Kilo says the anti-regime agitators in Syria are not currently religious or sectarian. Joshua Landis said some months ago (and so did many others but I chose to report it on the authority of auld Joshua) that the anti-regime protesters on the streets have been largely and essentially free of sectarian slogans and sectarian imagery, even though the great bulk of the protesters have been poorly educated Sunnis, and even though we’ve seen some isolated counter-examples. The chant “Allahu Akhbar” shouldn’t be interpreted as sectarian in a context where all other chants are clearly non-sectarian. All respectable opinion in Syria is anti-sectarian; the Establishment is anti-sectarian. The people with the sort of opinion that could create sectarianism are a disreputable minority, the bulk of them poorly educated and poorly informed. Analogously, a generation or two ago in the Western countries all respectable opinion was anti-racist; the Establishment was anti-racist. The white-skinned people with arrogance and bigotry against black-skinned people were a disreputable minority consisting predominantly poorly educated and poorly informed hicks. I think the analogy applies, and that Syria is safe from sectarianism. I expect isolated examples of sectarianism will keep on popping up as apparently popular news stories, akin to scandal stories and not akin to stories about fundamentals.

October 10th, 2011, 5:58 pm

 

Darryl said:

465. HUSAM said:

“Re: Coptic Church Burned….

Is it possible that someone from outside co-opted the burning down of the church to further bring instability to the already torn country. They replaced 1 mafia boss for 4 generals.

This a classical divide & conquer, they did this with Sunni vs. Shia in Iraq.

In the End: cui-bono?”

A big reason we have so many problems in the middle east is this exact thinking; Muslims cannot do anything like this. Always blame it on the west, the Martians, the Assads or Micky Mouse if the Character was near by.

If you wanted to join the 21 century, start looking in the mirror and face reality.

This is not the first Church that was destroyed in Egypt. You should do some research to convince yourself.

October 10th, 2011, 6:09 pm

 

Darryl said:

Has anyone noticed this article in that rubbish news site:

http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=3&id=26886

Last time this rubbish news agency were blaming the fire fight between Egypt and Israel on the Assads and Baath. Perhaps they will blame Syria for the latest Church destruction and deaths too.

October 10th, 2011, 6:16 pm

 

Tara said:

Is Syria Comment loosing its appeal or is it just me? It is becoming increasingly depressing.

October 10th, 2011, 6:16 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Shut up Daryll. Did you enjoy the wine ? Why are u in a bad mood ?

October 10th, 2011, 6:27 pm

 

Darryl said:

536. KHALID TLASS said:

I enjoyed every bit of it. You know there is something about being in a company of good friends enjoying a few bottles of wine right in the Vineyard itself, you should try it one day. Come to Asutralia Mr Tlass next year and you can come along, it will be the ideal place to launch Syria’s new defence industry consortium 🙂 .

Maybe that is the reason, the first thing that Prophet NouH did upon leaving the big boat was to plant a vineyard. You will not find this story in the Qur’an, you need to read it in the bible.

October 10th, 2011, 6:43 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

The words of Mufti Hassoun are miserable and criminal. He is supposed to be a religious man but he is just a low ignorant politician, a thug and a potential assasin. He has unveiled the real nature of the regime that pays him a salary. I could expect these words from a crazy dictator but not from a mufti. He did not just unveiled the regime cards but also the religion status quo nature in any dictatorship, be christian, jewish or muslim. I dare to say that even Hitler was more moral in his approach to religion that mufti Hassoun. Hitler asumed that religion did not fit his ideology and consequently he denied religion but at least did not try laugh at people with religious arguments. Hitler was a crazy dictator while the so-called mufti is a crazy dictatorship´s thug and a false religion man. So, according to his speech, the whole world must be afraid of Syria because they can send suicide bombers to kill civilians all around the globe? What a f… My congratulations to Mr. Hassouk.

October 10th, 2011, 6:47 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Is Syria Comment loosing its appeal or is it just me?

Tara,

Yes and no, it’s not just you. q:o)

Moderates and fanatics don’t mix.

I’m still trying to get more info on geotectonic weapons.

October 10th, 2011, 6:57 pm

 

Ghufran said:

مصر في خطر
اذا سقطت مصر و سقطت سوريا سقط الشرق الاوسط و بقي خادم الحرمين و امراء الماعز
http://www.middle-east-online.com/?id=118678

October 10th, 2011, 7:16 pm

 

jad said:

Now Ghalyoun is saying what they want him to say… interesting how easy radicals and money can take over anybody even a ‘Sorbonne’ ‘professor’, I really thought that he is smarter:

نحن نراهن على انشقاق الجيش كاملا (Couple days ago on aljazeera he claims that he has nothing to do with the defected army, today he BET on it)

نحن لم نقطع الامل من روسيا!! (Oh, I see)

نحن ضد اي تدخل يمس بالسيادة الوطنية (As if there is any intervention that doesn’t ‘touch’ the national freedom)

مستعدون للتفاوض مع النظام وليس مع بشار الاسد
(What a comment!)

سنتعاون مع العرب في حكومتنا القادمة مع الدول العربية لحصار اسرائيل (He is funny!)

نحن نراهن على تعبئة الناس وخاصة تلك الاغلبية الصامتة ونشدد على سلميتنا (Sure! your NONVIOLENCE is obvious)

نتفهم مخاوف الطوائف الصغيرة ونتعهد بتقديم ضمانات للاقليات (good to know that he speaks the ‘minorities’ language, we defiantly need to use the MB vocabulary)

انا لا اعرف من قتل سارية الحسون …لكن الحسون يتحمل المسؤولية لانه وضع نفسه الى جانب النظام (using the same logic, you are responsible for all the people who where killed)

عنف النظام يبرر الى عنف الشعب.. (what about the ‘nonviolance’ comment he just said?)

لن تحدث حرب طائفية (with your ‘minority’ vocabulary, it will)

نوري المالكي شريك للنظام السوري … (they will start the new ‘regime’ on making enemies of our neighbors, good to know)

نحن لانتكلم عن السوريين نحن نتكلم عن المعارضة (At least he was honest not talking on behalf of all Syrians, one thing though, how can you ask the world to accept you as the only speakers of Syrians when you consider yourself representing THE OPPOSITION ONLY AND NOT ALL SYRIANS)

انا سأتخلى عن السياسة بعد سقوط النظام (like Kilo!?) WAIT….
قد اترشح ل رئاسة الجمهورية لكنني ميال للجانب الثقافي (one second ago he said that he will retire politics now he MAY go for presidency!?)

لو احترمت ايران وحزب الله مطالبنا اليوم لكنا سنكون اصدقاء (let’s have more enemy before we start, why doesn’t he say it blunt, we wont be friend with any Shia government!?)

نحن هدفنا التحالف مع اطراف دولية من اجل اسقاط النظام (we want to be puppet for whoever pay more)

اذا صار في مشروع تدخل لن نوافق عليه لكن اذا صار يجب ان يمر من المعارضة السورية وان يحصل على الموافقة من المعارضة (Aren’t they the ones calling for foreign intervention? man this guy is a something…

October 10th, 2011, 7:20 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

To all who want to convince themselves that this is the revolution of the “uneducated”


From the Page of Peaceful Action for Civil State in Syria.

بورك لجيل يتخرج من بين أيادي هكذا دكاترة … هذا وقت إعلان المواقف
—–
اليوم 10-10-2011 في كلية العلوم الطبيعية جامعة دمشق قسم الفيزياء دخلت دكتورة مادة الرياضيات خولة حيدر إلى قاعة طلاب السنة الأولى وكتبت على اللوح الكلمات التالية: “إن رواية العصابات المسلحة في سوريا رواية كاذبة وأن الجيش ورجال الأمن هو الذي يقوم بعمليات قتل المتظاهرين” ومن ثم أعلنت استقالتها من جامعة دمشق احتجاجا على ذلك وكتبت اسمها وتوقيعها.
ضجت القاعة كاملة بالتصفيق الحار من قبل الطلاب مدة خمس دقائق. ومن ثم تقدم شخص من بين الطلاب وأبرز بطاقة أمنية للدكتورة وحاول اعتقالها فقام الطلاب بابعاده عن الدكتورة وحمايتها وتهريبها خارج القاعة. ولم يعرف مصير الدكتورة. وشوهد بعدها كميات كبيرة من رجال الأمن في حرم الجامعة وحولها

It seems that the un-educted are all on the regime’s side.

Read that page. This is what I meant when I talked 7 months ago about the youth learning. This revolution has so many facets, and to each a place and time.

October 10th, 2011, 7:20 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Jad
Just don’t give him your vote if he runs.

October 10th, 2011, 7:26 pm

 

jad said:

OTW
I don’t think that you have any right to tell me who to vote for.
(Is that the democracy you are promoting now? Telling people who to vote or not to vote for?)

October 10th, 2011, 7:29 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Jad
True I don’t have the right to order you if that is what you men by telling you, but I can make suggestion. This is the essence of politics. Otherwise, there will be no political campaigning, no?

It is really much simpler than what you are giving it. You are campaigning against the guy, which is your right. I myself don’t think he is material for president (generally no intellectual or academic is, except for vaklav havel), but at this stage he was elected by the council as their spokesperson. When the time comes, there may be changes within the council, which is natural. I accept that, and believe that it is healthy.

And it still beats me how did you arrive at your question. Seriously.

October 10th, 2011, 7:34 pm

 

Ghufran said:

طالبان العرب نبع لا ينضب للزباله الثقافيه
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today%5C10z495.htm&arc=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-10%5C10z495.htm

October 10th, 2011, 7:34 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Hatred of Arabs deeply rooted in Persians, says Iranian intellectual
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/09/170927.html

At first I thought this is a typical AlArabya anti Shi’i propaganda crap. But then I saw that they quote Mr Sadek Zibakalam, who is one of the few Iranians who dare to say what he really thinks, fearlessly. I saw Mr Zibakalam on EAJ a few weeks ago, and thought that he’s going to be arrested after what he said on this TV interview about the Iranian regime.
.

October 10th, 2011, 7:38 pm

 

zoo said:

Jad

Ghalioun and many others in the “Syrian’ opposition are French or Swedish or US citizens.
The first question I would ask him and others: are you ready to renounce to your foreign citizenship to act as a Syrian politician representing Syrians?
How can any vote for someone who is not exclusively Syrian for any responsible political position in a new Syrian Government?

October 10th, 2011, 7:45 pm

 

irritated said:

Amir #547

‘Hatred’ a big word..a much as Turks for Arabs, Arabs for Israelis, Israelis for Arabs, Arabs for Iranians etc.. etc…

October 10th, 2011, 7:47 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

كبرئيل موشي خلال كلمته في مجلس عزاء الشهيد تمو : كل سجون الدنيا كانت أضيق من أن تحاصر روحه الحرة
by موقع أدو الإخباري on Monday, October 10, 2011 at 1:23pm

وفد كبير من المنظمة الآثورية الدمقراطية يعزي بالشهيد مشعل تمو

كبرئيل موشي : كل سجون الدنيا كانت أضيق من أن تحاصر روحه الحرة

قام وفد كبير من المنظمة الآثورية الديمقراطية، برئاسة مسؤول المكتب السياسي الأستاذ كبرئيل موشي كورية، بزيارة لبلدة الدرباسية، مساء يوم الأحد 9 تشرين الأول 2011، لتقديم التعازي بالشهيد مشعل التمو الناطق الرسمي باسم تيار المستقبل الكردي في سوريا.

وخلال مجلس العزاء ألقى الأستاذ كبرئيل موشي كلمة عزى فيها باسم المنظمة الآثورية الديمقراطية آل الشهيد وتياره، وتمنى الشفاء العاجل للجرحى.

واعتبر موشي أن تمو قد استشهد دفاعاً عن قيم الحرية والديمقراطية، لهذا فهو ليس شهيداً للحركة الكردية فحسب، بل شهيداً للشعب الآشوري(السرياني)، ولكل السوريين..

كما أدان اليد الآثمة التي اغتالت الشهيد مشعل تمو، واعتبر فقدانه خسارة لجميع السوريين، خصوصاً في هذه المرحلة التي تمرّ فيها البلاد.

وتطرق موشي في كلمته بالحديث عن مناقب الشهيد مشعل تمو، ورأى أن كل سجون الدنيا كانت أضيق من أن تحاصر روحه الحرة، فخرج من سجنه حراً أكثر من ذي قبل ولم يتأخر عن الانخراط في الثورة السورية منذ لحظة خروجه من السجن.

وفي ختام كلمته أكدّ كبرئيل موشي مسؤول المكتب السياسي على ضرورة وحدة المجتمع السوري من آشوريين(سريان) وعرب وأكراد، وعلى وحدة تطلعاتهم في بناء دولة ديمقراطية حديثة وتعددية تكون لجميع أبنائها.

قامشلي 10 تشرين الأول 2011

المنظمة الآثورية الديمقراطية

October 10th, 2011, 7:49 pm

 

Ghufran said:

ديمقراطية أنا وحدي
 باريس..
أشارت هيئة التنسيق الوطنية لقوى التغيير الديمقراطي في المهجر إلى مساع لعرقلة عقد مؤتمر صحافي للمعارضين ميشيل كيلو و فايز ساره في باريس ، منوهة إلى دور للـ” المجلس الوطني ” في ذلك .
و ذكر البيان ، الذي نشرته صحيفة الأخبار أنه لمناسبة قدوم عدد من أعضاء هيئة التنسيق إلى فرنسا، تقرّر عقد مؤتمر صحافي يضمّ ميشيل كيلو وفايز سارة وغيرهما لشرح النضال داخل سوريا
وأشارت إلى أنه تمّ مع نادي الصحافة العربيّة في فرنسا حجز ساعة الثلاثاء (اليوم) لهذا المؤتمر، كي ينعقد في مركز استقبال الصحافيين CAPE التابع إداريّاً لوزارة الخارجية الفرنسية “.
وأضافت اعتمدنا ألاّ يتزامن المؤتمر مع مؤتمر صحافي يعقد الاثنين (أمس) للمعارضة بحضور السادة هيثم المالح وعبد الرزاق عيد وفهد المصري، غير أنه جاءت إجابة من الخارجية الفرنسيّة لنادي الصحافة العربية بمنع مؤتمر هيئة التنسيق لأسباب أمنيّة .
ورغم ندرة حصول مثل هذا المنع، تقرر نقل المؤتمر الصحافي إلى معهد البحوث والدراسات حول المتوسط والشرق الأوسط ، إلا أن مدير المعهد أبلغ الهيئة أنّه اتصل بعضوين بارزين في المجلس الوطني، وأنّهما نصحاه بعدم استقبال هذا المؤتمر، الذي لا يزال البحث جارياً عن مكان ثالث له.
ورأت الهئية أن الأمر يحوي دلالات مزعجة  ، وأشارت إلى أنّ آليّة المجلس الوطني تتبنّى مقولة إمّا معنا أو ضدّنا . و أكدت الهيئة على نبذ العنف والطائفيّة والتدخّل العسكري الأجنبي، وكذلك احترام رأي الآخر بنحو ديموقراطي . يذكر أن هناك نقاط اختلاف بين “المجلس الوطني” الذي أعلن عن تشكيله مؤخرا في اسطنبول ، و “هيئة التنسيق” التي تم تشكيلها في دمشق ، إذ ترفض الأخيرة التدخل الخارجي بكل أشكاله ، كما تحرم استخدام السلاح لكل الأطراف .

October 10th, 2011, 7:50 pm

 

Jad said:

OTW
I’m not the one campaigning against Ghalyoun, he’s been shredded to pieces by the majority of his council.
I was pointing out the points I disagree with him on and Syrians are smarter than both of us to decide what they think of his comments.
Yes you can make suggestions when people ask you but you can’t tell people “Don’t vote someone.”

October 10th, 2011, 7:51 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

GHUFRAN @ 551
This is serious, can you give a source please, if possible.

October 10th, 2011, 7:53 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

OTW and Tribal Jad used to be best friends, back in the old good days, before the revolution.
.

October 10th, 2011, 7:54 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Sorry my friend Jad, but I disagree. In politics you do not wait to be asked. You campaign pro-actively. And we are not at work, we are on a public forum, where politics is the issue and people are most opinionated, as they should be if they want to blog. You post something, you should expect responses, as I do when I post. I believe this is the rule of the game.

October 10th, 2011, 7:59 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Amir
It takes two seconds and Jad and I can easily gang up on you…..

October 10th, 2011, 8:05 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“………Your God Antun Saadeh was executed like a caged dog, I ROFL everytime I think……”

No you don’t know history well, Saadeh was executed in open air, Lebanon paid the price with nearly 200,000 dead of sectarian warfare and a state of insolvent debt, just wait until this financial crises hit steam and see how Lebanese will be back to selling their kids to the Bedouins as they did in the Civil War time. They will no longer sell their Lebanese bitches for the night or a week, they are ugly and used now, the Bedouin have plenty of whores from London. They need cheap maid/slave from Lebanon and that will come at cheap price when the crises in full steam, sex-servants slave trade will flourish in Lebanon. That is the price of killing Saadeh.

You are confused, the one that died like a caged dog was Husni Zaim, the U.S. embassy thug that was given the green light for a coup and was ordered to hand Saadeh back to Lebanon, his banana republic rule lasted something like 184 days and was literally butchered in Maza prison with Barazi like dogs. I seen the picture of them in my father drawer when I was a kid, I was crying for days for the dog death, that what they told me, that dogs hit by a car is what I found in the drawer.

October 10th, 2011, 8:08 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

ZOO @ 548.

Good point for debate, Jordan is implementing such rule now. Many agree with you, and some restrict that to above certain level, where anyone who wants to be in very senior level in the government should have only one citizenship. I believe there used to be a rule like that even for spouses. I myself have not made my mind on this topic and I remain open to be convinced either way or to be a skeptic (or confused) either way

I am not sure about other technocratic (non political) positions. Syria needs much of its talented people, even on temporary basis. To give you and example from someone we all know. About two years ago, Norman proposed to start a venture in Syria in his field. And believe me, if Norman does that in Syria unmolested by the Assads, Makhloufs, or Shalishs, and if he is allowed to act in senior level (not only advisory, but actual executive and expert) in his field, Syria, within few years will become a mecca in that field especially if he partnered with others like him. Would we want to ask them to abandon their US, French, or Canadian citizenship, I do not think so. In fact, it may be advantageous to Syria.

October 10th, 2011, 8:15 pm

 

zoo said:

A Jewish american view of Egypt and the Arab Spring

Egypt descends into chaos
October 10, 2011 by David P. Goldman

Sunday’s massacre of protesting Copts is heartbreaking; from the initial reports, several thousand Christians marched to protest the military government’s blind eye towards Muslim violence when they were “were attacked by thugs carrying swords and clubs,” according to one Copt. The Egyptian government says that the Christian protesters began firing live ammunition at soldiers. That stretches credibility.

Meanwhile, according to today’s summary of the Egyptian press:

The state-owned [newspaper] Al-Dostour reports on an “insane” increase in the prices of commodities and services that has left citizens “screaming,” presumably in despair. In its report, Al-Dostour claims that the “current state of lawlessness has left merchants and businesses with no supervision,” giving them free reign to raise prices without fear of repercussion. After a string of powerful metaphors depicting consumers as helpless prey in the grips of some fiercer yet unspecified predator, the report turns into an onslaught of numbers and percentages – food products up 80 percent since January of this year, LE7 for a kilo of sugar and LE13.75 for a liter of vegetable oil, 50 percent increase in the price of flour and LE22 for a kilo of duck meat, and on and on. LE9 for a kilo of humus, too.

No-one appears in charge. Central bank foreign exchange reserves are down to just $19 billion, or four months’ imports, the Financial Times reported last week. “After negotiating a loan from the International Monetary Fund, the military council decided to scrap it, partly on fears of popular criticism – the IMF has a negative reputation in Egypt because of its association with harsh structural adjustment programmes. In addition, only $500m of some $7bn of promised aid from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have arrived so far.”

Egypt literally will run out of food. It imports half its caloric consumption, mainly wheat (although Egyptians eat less wheat than Iranians, Moroccans, Canadians, Turks and Russians). Egypt spends $5.5 billion a year on food subsidies. Its social solidarity minister wants to change the system (which subsidizes some people who can afford to pay more than the penny a loaf the government charges), but seems deeply confused. “‘We need to change consumer habits so that we are not consuming so much bread. In Mexico, for example, they rely more on potatoes. Why can’t we start shifting toward that?’said Saad Nassar, adviser to the agriculture minister.” Mr. Nassar seems unaware that Mexicans eat more corn than wheat or potatoes. This discussion would be comical if not for the fact that Egypt is about to run out of money to pay for any sort of food.

It does not appear to be a source of comfort that the Egyptian army is in charge. This is an institution whose Golden Rule is: “Don’t report bad news up the chain of command.” One recalls the June 1967 debacle, when President Nasser and his top generals had no idea how badly they had been beaten until days after the events because no-one in the field would tell them.

I have been warning since Feb. 2 that the so-called Arab Spring represented the terminal convulsions of a doomed society. It seems eons since The Weekly Standard complained last April about “grudging” support for Arab democracy, arguing that “the Arab Spring deserves to be greeted with enthusiasm and support.” The Arabs might even be an inspiration to us: “Helping the Arab Spring through to fruition might contribute to an American Spring, one of renewed pride in our country and confidence in the cause of liberty.”

Meanwhile, we can’t punish Pakistan for sponsoring an attack on America’s embassy in Kabul because we supposedly need Pakistan to help us stabilize Afghanistan. And Nouri Maliki, the leader of the supposed Iraqi democracy we spent a trillion dollars and 4,000 lives to put in place, is backing the Assad regime in alliance with Iran. We can’t attack Iran to neutralize its nuclear weapons program because that might destabilize Iraq (which seems an odd concern given that Iraq is an Iranian ally).

The problem is the faulty premise that American ingenuity, blood, and treasure could stabilize the Muslim world by building democracy. That premise is exploding in every single theater one cares to mention: Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan. Stability is a mirage in the Muslim world. Instability, though, can benefit American security interests, and under certain conditions we should actively destabilize hostile entities rather than attempt to stabilize them.
http://pajamasmedia.com/spengler/2011/10/10/egypt-descends-into-chaos/?singlepage=true

October 10th, 2011, 8:18 pm

 

Ghufran said:

لقاء رياض الأسعد مع صحيفةالانديبندت

Syrian colonel plots guerrilla attacks against Assad regime
Leader of rebel army formed by military defectors is protected by Turkey

By Justin Vela in Istanbul
Monday, 10 October 2011SHARE PRINTEMAILTEXT SIZE NORMALLARGEEXTRA LARGE
AP
Syria’s embassy in Berlin was targeted by protesters

ENLARGE
The most senior officer to defect from Syria’s armed forces is plotting a series of guerrilla attacks and targeted assassinations from self-imposed exile in Turkey in an attempt to topple the regime.

Colonel Riad al-As’aad, 50, is the head of a newly formed Syrian Free Army – a force made up of defectors from the Syrian military – devoted to overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad by military force in apparent connivance with his Turkish protectors. “They [the regime] forced us to respond,” he told The Independent. “We are organised inside. We are soldiers, we are working. Our power is slowly growing.”

Colonel As’aad said that he co-ordinates daily with officers on the ground through intermediaries moving between Syria and Turkey.

Related articles
Cairo hit by more street violence
Search the news archive for more stories
The government of Turkey has turned on the Assad regime because of the shooting of hundreds of peaceful protesters and has called for sanctions against its neighbour.

The opposition has formed a new umbrella organisation, the Syrian National Council, announced last week in Turkey, which includes most major opposition groups. Syria yesterday said that it would take “tough measures” against any country that recognised the body as the country’s rightful authority.

Colonel As’aad lives under constant guard by Turkish security officials in Turkey’s Htay province. The colonel, who served as an engineer in the air force for 31 years, claims that his strategy is based on guerrilla attacks and assassinations of security force figures and state-sponsored militia amid signs of growing armed resistance against the regime after months of protests.

However, he denied being responsible for attacks on civilian figures considered close to the regime, such as the son of Syria’s Grand Mufti who was killed last week in an ambush. Instead, he blamed such attacks on the government, accusing them of trying to provoke sectarian conflict.

He said 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers had defected from the approximately 200,000-strong Syrian military and said he was hoping to relocate his command into Syria soon to lead those who had stayed to fight against the regime. He claims that morale among the Syrian armed forces is low and that defections will increase in the coming weeks.

“Without a war, he will not fall. Whoever leads with force, cannot be removed except by force,” he told Reuters news agency. “The regime used a lot of oppressive and murderous tactics so I left, so that I will be the face outside for the command inside, because we have to be in a secure area and right now there is no safety in all of Syria.”

October 10th, 2011, 8:30 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

SNP @ 557
I thought Lebanon was/is part of greater Syria. If this is how you view part of your constituents, I am sure you will get a lot of votes. Just make sure to find a way to hide your post when SNP plans to run for local elections in Lebanon.

October 10th, 2011, 8:35 pm

 

jad said:

Dearest OTW,
I disagree, since Ghalyoun is not yet a candidate of any election, until then I’m not going to campaign against or in support of him. I’m writing my own personal opinion. Even with that fact I wouldn’t advise anybody to vote or not vote someone, it’s a free will.

Amir,
Me and OTW are still the same nothing change from before, we both understand and respect each other points, be sure of that.

October 10th, 2011, 8:38 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

This will actually be part of a campaign speech, No saidati was sadati, it is YOU IDIOTS.

October 10th, 2011, 8:40 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

AlmustaqbalPDFA4 PDF | FULL PDF

المستقبل – الثلاثاء 11 تشرين الأول 2011 – العدد 4141 – شؤون عربية و دولية – صفحة 15

أكد في حديث الى الفضائية اللبنانية “أل بي سي سات” أنه من دون الدروز والعلويين والمسيحيين والسنّة
لا توجد سوريا

برهان غليون للأسد: كفى دماء وأخطاء وإجراماً.. إرحم شعبك

اعتبر المعارض السوري وعضو المجلس الوطني الدكتور برهان غليون أن ليس هناك من مواطن سوري يقبل بأن يضع يده بيد الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد، مطالباً اياه بالتنحي لأنه بات رمزاً لتدمير الشعب السوري، موجهاً إليه رسالة قال فيها: “بيكفي دماء وأخطاء وإجرام! بيكفي! إرحم شعبك!”.
وأطلّ غليون في حديث مع الإعلامي مرسال غانم على شاشة الفضائية اللبنانية مساء أمس من العاصمة الفرنسية باريس.
بداية اللقاء تحدث غليون عن أول كتبه “بيان من أجل الديموقراطية” والذي اعتبر فيه أن نمط الحكم في سوريا قتل الديموقراطية، وأضاف: “علينا السماح لكل فرد أن يساهم في العمل الديموقراطي اليوم فلقد تراكمت الإحباطات من جرّاء المرحلة الماضية ويجب أن يتغّير هذا الأمر اليوم”.
وتابع غليون “ان أي فرد اليوم يرفض الوصاية، والمعادلة الحقيقية للعرب هي الحرية، والإنسان الذي تحد حريته هو مهان فالكرامة والحرية مترابطتان”، معتبراً أن المجلس الوطني السوري ليس كالمجلس السابق إذ قال: “نحن بنينا مجلساً جديداً، الأول كان مبنياً على مجموعة من الأشخاص وضعوا أسماءً تعبر عن جزء من الشعب السوري، فقلنا إنه لا يحق لمجموعة من الناس أن تقرر ماذا يريد الشعب السوري، ولهذا اقترحنا قيام مجلس وطني يمثل القوى الفعلية الموجودة على الأرض. وهذه المعارضة لها تاريخ عريق وفيها مناضلون منذ سنوات ولا يمكن أن يبقوا خارج المجلس الوطني. وقلنا إنه لا بد لهذا المجلس أن يكون متوازناً ومبنياً على الموازاة والمساواة في التمثيل”.
واعتبر غليون أن البعض الذي انتقد عدد الإسلاميين في المجلس لا يعرف التفاصيل، وهناك فكرة خاطئة تم تظهيرها. هؤلاء ليسوا جميعاً مسلمين وهناك تكتلات تمثل الأطياف المتعددة والقوى التي تسمى إسلامية لها ممثل أو اثنان. ولكن المسلمين هم في الأساس مواطنون سوريون ولهم الحق بالتمثيل الكامل ولا يمكن لسوريا الجديدة أن تكون جديدة إذا ميزّت بين إسلامي وغير إسلامي وفي كل الحالات في الانتخابات يقرر الشعب السوري من يريد أن يحكمه. ولكن اليوم ما نريده هو أن يسقط النظام.
وعلّق غليون حول كلام وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم الذي توعد به كل من يعترف بالمجلس الوطني السوري قائلاً: “هذا الكلام هو اعتداء على سيادة الدول الأخرى لأن هذه الدول لها الحرية الكاملة بالاعتراف بالمعارضة أم لا، والقول بأن هناك إجراءات ستتخذ ضد من يعترف تدل على أن النظام مرعوب وخائف وبدأ يشعر حقيقة بالخوف من هذه المعارضة. ولو كنت مكان الدول الأخرى لاعترفت بالمجلس لسبب واحد، هو أنه لا يحق لأحد أن يسكت عمّا يجري في سوريا لأن ما يحصل هو جرائم ضد الإنسانية وما حصل في الرستن أكبر دليل على ذلك”.
ورداً على سؤال إذا كان هناك مجموعات إرهابية ومسلحة في سوريا أجاب: “بعد 7 أشهر ذهب زهاء 10 آلاف شهيد ونحو 10 آلاف جريح والمعتقلون زادوا عن 100 ألف. هناك من يطلق النار في الشارع والمسيرات التي يقوم بها الشعب السوري هي مسيرات سلمية ولكن الصدام يأتي من القوات العسكرية التي انشقت عن هذا النظام وبات بعض عناصر الجيش في حرج أمام أهلهم لأنهم وجدوا أنفسهم أمام موقف إطلاق النار على المتظاهرين.
وحول ما إذا كان هناك رهان على سقوط الجيش وانقسامه قال غليون: “هؤلاء المنشقون أبناؤنا وسنتعامل معهم في سياق ما يحصل، والجيش الباقي يدفعنا إلى معارك ليست معاركه ولكن نحن نريد أن يتقدم الجيش كمؤسسة وطنية ويقوم بخطوة كبيرة انقلابية ربما ضد نظام الأسد بما يتوافق مع المعارضة.
ورداً على سؤال إذا ما كان سيرأس المجلس الوطني قال: “هذا شيء ثانوي والمهم أن نمثل المعارضة والشعب السوري. والسوريون باتوا حساسين من كلمة الرئيس لأن الرئيس القائد أصبح صورة تسيء إلى كلمة “الرئاسة”، وأضاف “لم نقم بعد بالإجراءات الضرورية للاعتراف بالمجلس ولكن ما قمنا به في القاهرة هو لنقل نشاطاتنا إلى بلد عربي، مع أن تركيا بلد صديق، ولكن نقوم بنشاطنا على أساس التوازن ولا نريد للمجلس أن يصبغ سوى بصبغة الشعب السوري. بداية العمل للمجلس بدأت أصلاً في الدوحة وجهود المؤتمر الذي أقيم في الدوحة كانت أساسية لنجاح المجلس اليوم… ولكن نصرّ على أن يكون العالم العربي وراء المجلس الوطني قبل أي شيء آخر. ليس هناك سوري اليوم يقبل أن يضع يده بيد الأسد، عليه أن يتنحى وأن يخرج من حياة الشعب السوري لأنه بات رمزاً لتدمير الشعب السوري”.
وأردف غليوان قائلاً: “نحن نخرج من استبداد ولا نريد أن ندخل في استبداد آخر، وما يحصل في المجلس السوري اليوم هو طبيعي. نحن لا نعمل مع أي بلد آخر والهدف الوحيد والسياسة الوحيدة التي نتبعها هي التي تبلورها أطراف هذا المجلس والاختلافات في المجلس هي التي ستؤدي إلى خريطة طريق عمله للمرحلة المقبلة”. مشدداً على أن “كل سياسة المجلس تقوم على قاعدة التوافق ولن يسيطر المسلمون أو العلمانيون أو أحد على قراراته، هناك عمل جماعي اليوم ونريد أن يكون موقفنا متوازناً من تيارات الشعب السوري، بين الشرق والغرب، وليس لدينا عدو سوى إسرائيل، ونتعامل مع الدول على قاعدة وطنية وما يصبّ في مصلحة الشعب السوري”.
ورداً على سؤال: من فبرك المجلس الوطني؟ وعن الدور التركي أو الأميركي والإسلامي أجاب: هذا المجلس يختلف عن المجلس السابق الذي كان غير متوازن وتكوّن على أسس مختلفة عن السابق، وقلنا بأننا نريده أن يمثل القوى السياسية السورية الحقيقية، فقمنا بدعوة التنسيقيات الأساسية في الدوحة حيث ناقشنا الأمور مع القوى وكان يجب أن يصدر بيان تأخر لأسباب عديدة، لكن كان في ذهننا أنه لا يجب التأخر أكثر في إعلان المجلس الوطني.
ورداً على سؤال من الجمهور حول مبلغ 20 مليون دولار قبضها من الأمير القطري قال غليون: “هذا كلام فارغ ومخابراتي وإذا قبضت أم لا، لا أحد يعرف ومرتبي هو من العمل الجامعي ولست بحاجة لأموال ومن بحاجة للأموال لا يضع روحه على كفه في مواجهة نظام شرس مثل النظام السوري”.
غليون تابع قائلاً: “نحن اليوم ننتظر تبرعات رجال الأعمال السوريين الكثر الذين أبدوا استعدادهم للمساعدة، ولا ننتظر دعم أي بلد، إنما إذا ساء الوضع قد نحتاج إلى دعم إخوننا العرب. هناك سوريون أغنياء ومتحمسّون لدعم سوريا ومسيرة الشعب السوري. نحن وضعنا خارطة طريق ونراهن على أمور عدة ولكن لا نعرف متى يسقط النظام. نحن ندعم الشباب على الأرض في سوريا. ونراهن على استمرار الانتفاضة والشعب السوري لم يكن يوماً مصراً على إكمال المسيرة حتى النهاية”.
وانتقد غليون ما قاله الرئيس السوري وما جاء على لسان بثينة شعبان بأن الثورة انتهت وقال: “يتبيّن أن ما يحصل هو العكس مثلما حصل في “أسبوع المجلس الوطني” في سوريا من تظاهرات. علينا دعم الثورة إعلامياً وسياسياً ومادياً ونريد انتزاع حق الشعب السوري بالديموقراطية وأحقية قضيته ونريد أن نجعل هذا النظام كالورقة الصفراء التي تسقط وتجرّد من كامل صلاحياته، سنحمي شعبنا من القتل وسفك دماء الأبرياء”.
وحول موقف روسيا قال غليون: “المشكلة مع الروس هي مع الدول الغربية والأوروبية بشكل خاص، وهذه الدول لم تقم بدورها لإقناع الروس بتغيير مواقفها، وعليهم أن يقنعوها. نحن بلد ضمن صراع اقليمي ودولي، والموقف الروسي قابل للتغيير وهذا جزء من مهمتنا”.
وعن المفاوضات مع النظام السوري قال: “المفاوضات مقطوعة إلا بشرط واحد هو إزالة نظام العنف والاستبداد، وإذا كان من مفاوضات ستجرى هي إذا قرر طرف في النظام الانتقال بالنظام إلى الديموقراطية نتواصل معهم. هذه الأطراف قد تكون في الجيش أو أعضاء في النظام لم يلوثوا أيديهم بالدم. ولكن ليس مع بشار الأسد إطلاقاً”.
وحول ورشة الإصلاحات التي قام بها الرئيس بشار الأسد سأل غليون: “هل من قبيل الصدفة أن الشعب السوري فهم أن ما يسمى بالإصلاحات كلام فارغ؟ ولو كان الإصلاح حقيقياً لماذا يستمر الشعب السوري بالمطالبة بإسقاط النظام إذن؟..التعاطي لا يكون بالقتل والضرب، المطالب اليوم هي مطالب شعب كامل وفئات من كامل شعبه. اليوم لسنا في حالة قمع للتظاهرات بل في حالة حرب عالمية تخاض بكل الأسلحة ضد الشعب السوري وضد المناطق السورية”.
ورداً على سؤال من المشاهدين حول ما إذا كان المطلوب إسقاط النظام العلوي لتركيب نظام السنّي بديلاً عنه قال: “جزء مما يحصل هو الخروج من منطق الطائفية إلى النظام المدني الذي تتساوى فيه حقوق المواطنين، وأهم ما يحصل هو التركيز على كرامة الفرد وحريته ولن نعود إلى فكرة وضع طرف مقابل طرف. النظام استخدم الإرهاب في الداخل والخارج ونريد لسوريا أن تخرج من هذه الدوامة. سوريا ستكون ديموقراطية وتتعامل مع كل الدول العربية

October 10th, 2011, 8:42 pm

 

zoo said:

OTW

Dual citizenship for political figures

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_citizenship#Multiple_citizenship_among_politicians

It is very uncommon. Note than in the USA there a large number of political figures and ambassadors having also an Israeli citizenship

Look at the surprising list:

http://www.viewzone.com/dualcitizen.html

October 10th, 2011, 8:42 pm

 

Ghufran said:

يلمح غليون بانه جاهز للتفاوض مع النظام بعد رحيل الاسد و رموز الاستبداد و القتل
هذا كلام جميل و سأنتظر ما سيقوله الصقور في المجلس لان غليون في واد و بعض المتطرفين في واد اخر
يا سيد بشار ارحل رحمة بالبلد و حقنا للدماء
هل من المعقول ان ثلاثة أشخاص يحق لهم ان يدفعوا البلد للهاويه؟
هذه فرصه تاريخيه لانقلاب ابيض داخل النظام

October 10th, 2011, 8:56 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

ZOO
I had no idea that the nationality law of the 1940s allows the US government to strip someone of her/his citizenship if they voted in a political election in a different country. Can you believe what may happen if they apply that to the many Iraqi Americans who were showing their purple thumb all over the US after the first election or to many other Dual Nationals including Israelis.

October 10th, 2011, 9:03 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Dearest Jad
Then we agree to disagree on this one. Cool. I like that. I will respect your wish and will skip your house in canvassing.

October 10th, 2011, 9:12 pm

 

Husam said:

Darryl Said:

If you wanted to join the 21 century, start looking in the mirror and face reality.

Piss off, and stop lecturing. The burning of the church has nothing to do 1.5 Billion Muslims. I don’t have to look in the mirror because this is not in my name and 99.9% of Muslims don’t have anything to do with this.

You need to join the 21 century and realize that you are Muslim hater and bigot. I read your comments, they are all trash-I-know-it-all.

I did not say Muslims did or did not do it. I said: is it possible they were pushed by outside (paid, led, inspired) to ignite further an already bad situation.

Darryl said:

Always blame it on the west, the Martians, the Assads or Micky Mouse if the Character was near by.

If not the clan or micky mouse, who do you blame then for the situation in Syria Mr. Darryl? Let me guess: Husam-Salafi-Islamist-Turban-House-of-Saud.

October 10th, 2011, 9:13 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

Regular SC Commenter “Amir in Tel Aviv” practically never has anything worthwhile to say about Syria. It’s been a while now since I heard him repeating his vacuous mantra “this junta is doomed”. So maybe he’s coming around to admitting he misread the whole situation. More likely, though, he’ll keep on thinking “this junta is doomed” for years and years to come, and if the regime suffers any mild setback he’ll start up with his mantra again.

But anyway, in #547 Amir in Tel Aviv for no good reason offers a link to a report where an Iranian professor of political science says that Iranians|Persians believe that Persians are superior to Arabs, and are resentful towards Arabs. Not really towards Sunnis, he says. Arabs. And this belief is held by the better educated Persians, he says.

Since this is a slow day in the news, I’ll add the comment that on the basis of my generalizable personal experience I must agree that some very substantial (but unquantified) number of better-educated Persians arrogantly believe in all sincerity that the Persians are superior to the Arabs and moreover they wish to strengthen the basis for that belief. Depreciation of things Arabic is an aspect of upholding things Persian. “Generalizable” personal experience means I can generalize the data points of my personal experience to a substantially wider reality because my data points are very highly unlikely to be unrepresentative. Yet my data points are not enough to tar the bulk of the Persians; only some unquantified very substantial number.

Returning somewhat to the topic of Syria, I say the Iranian regime in general is not close to the Syrian regime; and the Iranian regime does not understand Syrian society and politics. Here’s tiny bit of evidence in support that I came across recently. In a TV interview on 20 Sep 2011, President Ahmadinejad of Iran was asked: “Do you think President Assad’s hold on power in Syria is secure?” Ahmadinejad did not attempt to tackle the question at all. Instead he replied: “We are not foretelling the future…. We make an effort for everybody to be friends and the fundamental rights of human beings to be respected. But we do not interfere in other people’s affairs.” Contrast that with: “Foreign Minister of Ukraine Kostyantyn Gryshchenko lauded the reform steps made by Syria, and wished success to the Syrian leadership to overcome the current situation as soon as possible.” (SANA 25 Sep 2011). Or this: “Foreign Minister of Belarus Sergey Martinov asserted his country’s full support to Syria, expressing his confidence in President al-Assad’s wisdom and the Syrian leadership’s ability to carry out reforms and preserve Syria’s security and stability.” (SANA 28 Sep 2011).

October 10th, 2011, 9:20 pm

 

ann said:

Mideast church leaders worried about Christians if Syria has civil war

Oct-10-2011

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1103997.htm

BEIRUT (CNS) –Pressure being put on the Syrian government could have very bad consequences, especially for Christians, warned the patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church.

Attempts to collapse the government “will very probably lead to chaos,” Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan told Catholic News Service.

“This chaos, surely — with no means to implement security — will lead to civil war,” said the patriarch, who stressed that a civil war in Syria would not merely be a struggle among political parties to control the power. “It will be confessional (religious), and war in the name of God is far worse than a political struggle. And this is what we fear.”

Patriarch Younan was one of several Christian leaders who spoke with Catholic News Service about the situation facing Syrian Christians, who make up about 10 percent of the nation’s population.

He told CNS that Syria needs is a lot of reforms, a multiparty system of government and freedom of speech. He said the church “is all for reforms” and does not support a particular regime.

“But those reforms have to be executed or accomplished through dialogue,” he said, expressing a need for a neutral third party “that could unite those who are in conflict,” the government and the opposition.

The patriarch said the West should push for true democratic reforms rather than just trying to change political systems, which they believe are dictatorial, “into an unknown system where the very, very respect of civil rights is absent.”

“By civil rights, we mean not only the freedom of speech … but civil rights to implement the religious freedom for all,” Patriarch Younan said. “That means to implement a civil society that respects the charter of human rights as already stipulated by the U.N. in 1948,” he added, referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The patriarch said a society that respects all is “absolutely vital,” and the civilized world should uphold this, not just take the position that the majority should rule the country. This is especially the case if the majority is of the conviction that there is no separation between religion and state, he added.

“This would surely result in discrimination against those who do not share their religion,” he said.

“The church has always defended, and it stands for, the civil rights of all human beings,” Patriarch Younan said.

While it would take time to make the needed reforms in the case of Syria, those seeking change for the good of their country “have to be kind of patient and find a way to make those needed reforms.”

“However, it doesn’t look feasible that these reforms will come out of violence,” he said.

Maronite Catholic leaders also have called for dialogue on the situation in Syria.

“We’re neither for nor against a regime,” said Archbishop Paul Sayah, vicar general of the Maronite Patriarchate in Beirut and former archbishop of Haifa. “We judge a regime on its merits and how it deals with the values of freedom, democracy and rights.

He explained that Syria’s small, minority-represented government, the Alawites who have been running the country for 40 years, are not going to let go easily because they know if the Sunnis take over, “it’s going to be very dangerous for them (Alawites), to put it very mildly.”

The bishop pointed to the slogans launched near the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March: “Christians to Beirut; Alawites to the coffin.” Those might be only slogans, he warned, “but they are significant.”

If change is not brought about peacefully, “there is a risk that it may go from an oppressive regime to a more brutal one, especially now that the atmosphere tends to be rather fundamentalist in the region,” Archbishop Sayah said. He also expressed concern about a potential civil war.

“Everyone knows what kind of disaster civil war is. Iraq is a very loud example,” he told CNS. “In Iraq the Christian minority paid a huge price. Two-thirds of Christians had to leave Iraq.”

“Since we know enough about the situation in Iraq,” said Patriarch Younan, “we fear that the kind of pressure put on requiring the fall of the government in Syria will have very bad consequences, even worse than in Iraq.”

The conflict in Syria is a “terrible dilemma” for the country’s Christians, said Habib Malik, professor of history at the Lebanese American University and author of the 2010 book “Islamism and the Future of the Christians of the Middle East.”

“Their values and beliefs can’t allow them to condone the brutality of the regime against people. On the other hand, they are genuinely scared of the alternative to the regime — the inevitable slippery slope toward Islamic extremism,” said Malik, whose late father, Charles Malik, was one of the architects of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Christians in Syria largely have not participated in the protests to overthrow the Syrian regime. Their silence, explained Malik, could be interpreted as overall support of the current regime. As a result, they could end up as a target of revenge attacks should the regime be overthrown.

“They are genuinely scared and feel in danger,” he said.

END

October 10th, 2011, 9:34 pm

 

Husam said:

OTW, since you are a neutral sane secular person, can you please explain the following:

Report:Muslim Egyptian Army Genocide against Christians Copts,Run over them with Army tanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWko9qupXIY&feature=player_embedded

…now why was this not reported specifically as “Christian American Genocide agaist Muslim Iraqi, Run over them by Army tanks?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz7UNxnOI3M (Humvee running people over)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yco1deXOzN8 (American burning asses of inmates)

October 10th, 2011, 9:35 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“…………In a TV interview on 20 Sep 2011, President Ahmadinejad of Iran was asked: “Do you think President Assad’s hold on power in Syria is secure?” Ahmadinejad did not attempt to tackle the question at all. Instead he replied: “We are not foretelling the future…. We make an effort for everybody to be friends and the fundamental rights of human beings to be respected. But we do not interfere in other people’s affairs………””

He is just a dignified nice person, Iranian generally are loyal ally but they do have an outstanding democratic system and fair and just rule of law, it can be harsh sometime, nevertheless the rules are fair and clear. Iran would love to see Assad and or Syria makes reforms, even if not toward Islamic version, what they don’t need is what they read on this Syria comment blog calling them all kind of names, what for, what have they done to Syrians to call them all these awful names, and it is coming from Moslems. That is why one can lose respect to Moslems when they call someone who is practicing better Islam and have better faith than them MAJOUSI. Shame on you Sunni Moslems, you call your fellow Shia worse names than you call Zionists that you make deals with them and ally with them against your fellow Moslems in Iran, How can one have respect to Islam looking and hearing your insults, if it were not to Iran Shia, Islam would have long become a wet rag.

October 10th, 2011, 9:38 pm

 

Ghufran said:

Assad’s Alawites: The guardians of the throne
Syria’s Alawite community have a history of persecution, but dominate the ruling family’s security forces.
Nir Rosen Last Modified: 10 Oct 2011 17:49

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Bashar al-Assad’s family have promoted Alawites, but the sect denies that they are favoured by the regime [REUTERS]
As we left the central Syrian city of Homs, Abu Laith pulled a 9mm Llama pistol from under his shirt, loaded it and placed it in the gap between our seats. He was a sergeant in Syria’s State Security and drove a small Chinese-made taxi to avoid the attention of armed men looking for members of the security forces. Heading north to his village of Rabia, in Hama, we passed shops covered in gashes from gunfire.

“There was a sniper here,” he said at one point on the road. “He shot six military buses.” We drove by a Military Security building that had been attacked by armed opposition fighters. “Here was a statue of the late President Hafez,” he pointed at a now empty pedestal. Visibly offended, he added: “They took it down and put a live donkey there instead.”

Abu Laith belongs to the Alawite sect who make up about ten per cent of Syria’s population. Sunni Arabs comprise 65 per cent, while Sunni Kurds and Christians constitute ten per cent each. Druze, Shia, Ismailis and others make up the remainder. Since the Baathists seized power in Syria, sectarianism has been taboo, ever-present but unspoken of, with perpetrators of incitement harshly punished.

Prejudice in all its forms – racism, sexism, sectarianism – exist in all societies, but, in times of crisis, collective identity often comes to dominate social relations. Identity is complex and membership of ethno-religious sects is only one part of Syrian identity. Social class, profession, nationalism, regional identities and other factors are all very important. But one is born into a sect and few but the wealthy elite transcend these classifications, typically revealed by one’s name and place of birth. As in the Balkans, religious identities are often cultural identities and lead to ethnic-like divisions, even within same-language groups.

A history of persecution

In the Arab world, the Sunni exercise a hegemony which has often made minority sects feel insecure. Shia and heterodox sects – such as the Alawites – have been persecuted.

Little is known about the history of the Alawite faith – even among the Alawite community – as its beliefs and practices are available only to the initiated few. It bears little resemblance to mainstream doctrines of Islam and involves belief in transmigration of the soul, reincarnation, the divinity of Ali ibn Abi Talib – the fourth Caliph and a cousin of Prophet Muhamad – and a holy trinity comprising Ali, Muhamad and one of the prophet’s companions, Salman al Farisi.

A common theme to Alawite identity is a fear of Sunni hegemony, based on a history of persecution that only ended with the demise of the Ottoman empire. Sunni cultural hegemony, however, remains.

Beginning in the 1960s, the Syrian regime encouraged mainly Alawite peasants to migrate from the mountain regions to the plains, giving them ownership of lands that had belonged to a mainly Sunni elite.

But since the beginning of this year’s uprising, some have sent their families back to rural areas for safety. Yahya al Ahmad, an Alawite doctor in Homs told me that his community were resented for migrating and finding work in the government and industry. “Sunnis say we took their jobs and should go back to the countryside,” he said.

An Alawite friend told me he was outraged after seeing Sunni demonstrators in Latakia on television, chanting that they would send President Bashar “back to the farm”. To him it meant that Sunnis wanted Alawites to go back to their villages.

“The lot of the ‘Alawis was never enviable,” wrote historian Hanna Batatu. “Under the Ottomans they were abused, reviled and ground down by exactions and, on occasions, their women and children led into captivity and disposed of by sale.”

Empowerment and identity loss

The French mandate that replaced the Ottoman empire empowered minorities and weakened the older Sunni elite, while Alawites begged the French to grant them a separate state.

Minorities, especially Alawites, later saw the ruling Baath party and its pan-Arab ideology as a way to transcend narrow sectarian identities, while state employment and the military offered opportunities for social advancement and an escape from poverty. In 1955, the majority of the military’s non commissioned officers were Alawites, and early on, the party’s Military Committee was also controlled by Alawites. They determined who went to the military academies, choosing people from social backgrounds they trusted – most often Alawites or rural Sunni, encouraging loyal allies into the more powerful praetorian units.

In 1970, Hafez al-Assad, the Alawite minister of defence and a former military officer, seized power. He empowered close friends and relatives, including many Alawites from his home region of Latakia – though he also promoted some Sunni War College colleagues. With Alawites gravitating towards government employment, combined with Assad’s nepotism, the sect became over-represented within state institutions.

The state – even “Assadism” – supplanted the Alawite religion as the focus of their identity.

While Alawites identify as Muslims they have historically been rejected by mainstream Islam. To be accepted as leader, Assad had to persuade Sunnis and Alawites alike that Alawites were, in fact, mainstream Muslims. While Alawites have a powerful communal identity and still visit mazars, or shrines, and will have an Alawite sheikh at funerals and weddings, they do not necessarily know what it all means.

Wiped from the text books

Joshua Landis, director of the University of Oklahoma’s Center for Middle East Studies, revealed that Alawites do not receive education about their own religion. Syrian school books on religion contain no mention of the word “Alawite”. “Islamic education in Syrian schools is traditional, rigid, and Sunni,” he wrote. “The Ministry of Education makes no attempt to inculcate notions of tolerance or respect for religious traditions other than Sunni Islam.” Christianity, noted Landis, was an exception to this.

The regime denied any public space for Alawites to practice their religion. They did not recognise any Alawite council that could provide religious rulings. This could have been a tool to clarify the Alawite religion to other sects and religions and to reduce suspicions over what many Syrians perceive as a mysterious faith.

Alawites struck a bargain; they lost their independence and had to accept the myth that they were “good Muslims” so as to win Sunni acceptance. Assadism then filled the gap left by the negation of traditional Alawite identity. The loss of the traditional role of community leaders fragmented Alawites, preventing them from establishing unified positions and from engaging as a community with other Syrian sects – reinforcing sectarian fears and distrust.

Without a central authority to represent them, Alawites were unable to engage and develop their teachings. Of Syria’s sects, Alawites boast the largest number of cross-denominational marriages, and are the most integrated with other sects, in both personal and business relationships.

It’s hard to say what makes someone an Alawite, except for being born an Alawite. Alawites only socialise as Alawites in mazars, in the security services and within state institutions.

‘Assad for ever’

With an identity based on Assad’s rule, they have adopted slogans such as “Assad for ever”, unable to separate themselves from the regime or imagine a Syria without Assad. Alawites who dare to oppose the regime believe they will face extra punishment for their “betrayal”.

The Muslim Brotherhood rebellion which began in 1976 and led to a civil war between 1979 and 1982 determined how many Alawites see the current uprising. The Brotherhood attempted to rally the Sunni into a sectarian struggle. Many Alawite intellectuals, judges and doctors were assassinated. The massacre of Alawite officer candidates in the Aleppo military academy in 1979 – as well as the assassination of Alawite Sheikh Yusuf Sarem – remain fresh in the community memory.

The Sunni majority, meanwhile, remember the brutality with which the Brotherhood’s armed uprising was crushed. The Brotherhood was destroyed within Syria and remains largely absent from the current uprising, even if most of today’s protesters are conservative Sunni. This year’s is also a popular and leaderless uprising, especially of the poor, unlike the Brotherhood’s rebellion. While the Brotherhood lost much of its credibility after that crackdown, it remains influential in the diaspora-based opposition, which encourages Alawite fears.

The historian Hanna Batatu wrote in 1981: “Working for cohesion at the present juncture is the strong fear among Alawis of every rank that dire consequences for all Alawis could ensue from an overthrow or collapse of the existing regime.”

‘Liberal’ identity

Alawites perceive themselves to be more “liberal” and secular than mainstream Muslims. They point to their consumption of alcohol, the freer interaction between their men and women and the more western way their women dress and behave.

They also resent untrue rumours spread by the Sunni majority – inferring, for example, that their religious practices include orgies – as much as they resent hearing that Syria is an Alawite regime or that they benefit from it. In fact, Alawites support the Assad family itself more than they support the regime, readily criticising state corruption.

Denied the right to mobilise as Alawites, they look to the ruling family for leadership. But the regime does not act to further Alawite interests, it acts primarily to further its own interests.

The opposition has failed to articulate a vision for what will happen to the tens of thousands of Alawites in the security forces and the state. The demise of the regime will directly affect nearly every Alawite family. But some in the opposition, most importantly the firebrand sheikh Adnan al Arur, have called for those who actively support the regime to be punished in the future.

The Alawite blogger Karfan wrote: “By erasing all sort of religious identity while making sure that Alawies will not find another one elsewhere, Alawies were simply transformed into a sort of tribe, unified around one purpose: Keeping the king in power. A couple of tribes that does not have any real religious conviction or ideology but are hold together by the fear of the others and the fear of revenge by the others for the regime’s deeds. Meanwhile, everyone around them keeps labelling [it] an “Alawie Regime” and keeps throwing all the faults that this regime did on the Alawies’ shoulders. We will be doomed to carry the burden of the faults of the same people who destroyed our religion and destroyed any religious identity we might have had.”

Personality cult

When Hafez al-Assad took power, he eased the Baath Party’s secularisation, attempting to reconcile Alawites with Sunni religious practices. He also proceeded to emasculate the Baath Party, turning it into the Assad Party. Alawite solidarity and the support of some rich Sunni families bound the regime together. And as the Baath Party, unions and syndicates were weakened, conservative Sunni Islam filled the social vacuum, with Islamic charities allowed to play a growing role. Sunni clerics were also given more freedom – which first increased the regime’s base of support, but now fuels divisions between Sunni groups and the Alawite-dominated security services.

Iraq’s Saddam Hussein “Islamised” his Baath party to legitimise his rule, but the Alawite Assad family appear to fear fear giving a democratic opening to the Sunni majority will cause the entire system to collapse. The weakness of the Baath party also means the regime cannot mobilise people around anything but Bashar al-Assad, who took power following his father’s death in 2000.

It is easy to tell if you’re in an Alawite area in Syria these days. It will be the place where every available space is festooned with pictures of President Bashar, his brother Maher or their father Hafez. It is a cult of personality, with walls bearing the graffiti: “Assad forever,” while men zip back and forth on motorcycles, all wearing t-shirts bearing Bashar’s portrait.

An Alawite accent can help get you through a military checkpoint. The taxi driver who took me to the Damascus suburb of Duma – an opposition stronghold – was an Alawite from Latakia. He spoke to the officers at the checkpoint in an Alawite accent and told them I was Lebanese. They waved us in without looking at my identity card. Leaving the town later, however, without the protection of the Alawite cabbie, I was stopped and removed from the car.

Village character

Back in Hama governorate, Abu Laith was worried about checkpoints staffed by the opposition. He was acutely aware of the cultural identity of each of the surrounding villages, as he turned off the main road to avoid the restive Sunni city of Hama. We passed the poor Alawite village of Alamein, near Tumin. “Tumin is a Christian village,” he said, “Christians here are trustworthy. Tumin is rich and the people are very good.”

We picked up a hitchhiker heading to Rabia. The traveller was a soldier returning from duty. “We don’t have any jobs but that,” Abu Laith said. The soldier was relieved when he saw Abu Laith. He was afraid to stand on the road he said, “afraid of terrorists”. He wore civilian clothes. “Because they’ll slaughter me,” he explained. He was hostile to all Sunni, blaming them for the brutality with which soldiers had been killed. Abu Laith was uncomfortable. “Not all of them are like that,” he admonished.

Public buses now went through Rabia to avoid the “less secure” Sunni villages. Large stone barriers blocked the entrance to Rabia. We slowed down by three men with shotguns and belts full of rounds until they recognised Abu Laith. We passed more men patrolling on motorcycles with rifles slung on their shoulders, and drove to the town cemetery. Up to one thousand people were attending the funeral of a soldier named Naeem Tarif, who was killed in Hama. Many mourners carried rifles. Some children carried pictures of the president.

The western road leading out of town was also blocked by rocks and a checkpoint. Several men with rifles sat in a small wooden shack. On one side of the shack was written: “God, Syria, Bashar and that’s it.”

Many of Rabia’s roads were unpaved. In the centre of town was a shiny copper colored statue of former president Hafez al-Assad holding a sword in one hand and an olive branch in the other. The townspeople put it up at their own expense one month earlier, Abu Laith told me.

Family life

“Rabia has only schools, no playgrounds or anything else,” Abu Laith complained. He took me to his father’s house, where his six-year-old son greeted me by asking directly: “Are you with us or with them?”

“Who are you with?” his father asked him. “I am with Syria,” the boy replied.

Security men such as Abu Laith were busier than usual and rarely got to see their families. He had four brothers in the security forces and one who was unemployed. “Most men here are in the security forces,” Abu Laith explained. “But we have very few officers. They don’t let us be officers.”

As of that day in August, Rabia had ten “martyrs” from the security forces and up to fifteen others had been wounded in battles with armed opposition fighters. Two more security officers from Rabia, both sergeants, were killed days later.

Alawite deaths

We visited the family of Naeem Tarif, the man whose funeral we had observed earlier, at a tent outside their home. Tarif was a 40-year-old sergeant in the army, a 20-year veteran. He had been killed in Hama one week earlier but his body was not found until the day I arrived. His head was cut off and his body burned, his brother Adil told me. Videos of armed men disposing of his body were found on captured mobile phones and shown on television and online. “We feel afraid,” one nephew told me. “The whole village is ready to be martyrs for the country,” proclaimed another. They worried about armed groups, they said. “They were here before as sleeper cells,” said one relative. All were angry at international media for failing to report what was happening to them.

I met with the family of Issa Bakir, an 11-year veteran police sergeant serving in Aleppo. After visiting his family in Rabia on July 5, Issa was driving back to Aleppo via Hama. On the outskirts of Hama he was stopped at a checkpoint. He was hit on the head with a club and his throat was then slit. “They stopped him, burned his car, slaughtered him and we found him next to the mosque,” his father told me. Bakir’s brother worked with him in the Aleppo police but now drove to work via Latakia to circumvent Hama. “They killed him for being Alawite,” his father said. ” My sons and I are a sacrifice for the homeland. We don’t have sectarianism. Before, our relations [with the Sunni] were normal.” The state was responsible for seeking justice for his son, he told me. “We don’t want revenge,” he said. “So there wont be sectarianism in Syria.”

Not far away lived Muhamad Khazem, a 46-year-old State Security sergeant, a large and heavy man lying injured on a bed. He showed me where a bullet entered just below his throat and exited from his back one week earlier. He and several dozen other security men had gone out to remove opposition roadblocks in the city when he and two others were shot. “It’s al-Qaeda,” his brother claimed. “I fought in the 1973 war. If the Israelis wounded a Syrian they would take him to the hospital, and if they killed him they would bury him properly. Israelis have more mercy than them, they are savages.”

Rabia bordered two Sunni villages – Tizeen and Kifr Tun. Rabia’s electricity came from Tizeen and locals claimed its Sunni residents had recently cut the power supply. They also blamed the people of Tizeen for killing two Alawite men six days earlier. Several days earlier a military bus going through Tizeen was shot at, they said.

Alawites in Rabia said that the Sunni villages of Mitneen, Arzi and Kifr Tun had expelled Alawite families – and Rabia had welcomed the newly displaced people. Farmer Hamid Diab and his eight children were among the thirty families expelled from Kifr Tun where they had lived since 1959. Alawites in Kifr Tun had received threats, he said. “We will slaughter you,” people warned them. One week earlier, armed men attacked in the morning. “They burned tires and shot to scare us,” he said. “Some Sunnis were good and did not accept this. It was a Sunni man who helped us get out. We told good Sunnis that we want to leave. Bad Sunnis said if you sleep here tonight we will slaughter you.” He claimed that one of the attackers was a bedouin who called himself Dabih al Thawra, or “Slaughterer of the Revolution”.

The people of Rabia welcomed them, he told me. But they left all their belongings in Kifr Tun. Now they could not access their farm and orchards. There had been no problems before the uprising, he said, and his children had gone to school with Sunni children. He suspected the hatred had been hidden before. “It was the people of the village who attacked us,” he said. “They had demonstrations starting in Ramadan and they sent salutations to Bandar and Arur,” he said, referring to the powerful Saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan and to the exiled firebrand Syrian sheikh Adnan al Arur. “They all love Arur there and when he is on they turn up the volume and we could hear it in our house.”

Hamid told me that on the same day villagers from Kifr Tun attacked an Alawite man from the village of Addas when he was passing through on his motorcycle, pouring benzine him. He was set on fire but other locals saved him.

There were no security forces in these villages, the men told me. There was one police station in the Alawite village of Jarjara which had jurisdiction over the many villages of the area. “We didn’t have any weapons or we would have fought back,” Hamid said. “Security needs tanks [to enter the village]. They [the opposition] have blocked off roads. We want the state to solve our problem and the army to return us to our land. The army has to enter the villages, but the army is busy in Hama. Why is the state taking its time?”

Abu Laith’s father, Abu Iyad, a retired soldier, agreed: “Only the army can solve this,” he said. “If we respond it will be sectarian and other villages will join them and they will be more than us  – and his lordship the president has rejected this.”

For its Sunni neighbours, Rabia is equally frightening, representing fanatic pro-regime Alawites. Firas, an opposition organiser in the nearby town of Rastan told me of his cousin Muhamad Hussein Shahul, a 35-year-old taxi driver not involved in the opposition. In July, Shahul took four labourers returning home from Lebanon to Tizeen. The road via Hama city was closed because of fighting, so they drove through the Christian town of Kfarbo and on to Rabia, where Firas said “an Assad gang of Alawites” ambushed them. One passenger escaped, but the remaining four men were tortured and executed. Their corpses were left in the car and it was abandoned near the town of Masyaf before their families were notified.

“We could not go ourselves,” his cousin said, “because we would get killed.” Army officers from Rastan coordinated with officers in Masyaf and Muhamad’s body was taken to the border of an Alawite village, from where the family could collect it for burial.

Part two of Nir Rosen’s ‘Guardians of the throne’ will be published on Al Jazeera later this week.

Follow the author on Twitter: @NirRosen

October 10th, 2011, 9:50 pm

 

Ghufran said:

Sorry for the long article. I got jealous of Ann’s.

October 10th, 2011, 9:53 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“………Part two of Nir Rosen’s ‘Guardians of the throne’ will be published on Al Jazeera later this week….”

Oy Yeah, more anti Shia propaganda huh.. just in time. Well I have to start dig up more Islam crap and put it in your face until those Moslems get some shame.

October 10th, 2011, 10:06 pm

 

zoo said:

One year and a half to go for the Syrian regime.
( translation from french)

“According to Western diplomatic sources, the research institutes and research American now believe the Syrian regime would still have a year and a half to go. This theory is based primarily on the consequences of economic sanctions against the regime and its quasi-diplomatic isolation and political, since it seems clear now that no military action is contemplated within Syria. Even Turkey, which is apparently the spearhead of NATO in the case of Syria, seems to have more and more difficult to provide the opposition it sponsors with a stronghold inside Syrian territory as a result of its own internal problems.

Institute of American studies and research still believe that the Syrian government requires approximately one billion dollars a month to continue to hold the reins of power while its reserves amount to 17 billion dollars. This is why it should not have sufficient funds in a year and a half.

{…}http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/Liban/article/726197/Laisser_passer_les_orages_regionaux….html

October 10th, 2011, 10:15 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

برهان غليون روسيا اليوم يهاجم الفيتو الروسي بعنف

October 10th, 2011, 10:21 pm

 

zoo said:

OTW

Between law and its application…. even in a rule of law country.

October 10th, 2011, 10:21 pm

 

Ghufran said:

ما يحصل في حمص هو نوع من الحرب الآهليه و ليس انتفاضه
دخول الجيش صار قريبا و للأسف سترتفع حصيلة الضحايا و يختلط الصالح بالطالح
عندما يذبح السوريون بعضهم لن يكون هناك منتصر او مهزوم فالكل خاسرون
يستطيع الأغنياء ان يهربوا و يستطيع امراء الفساد ان يشتروا وطنا جديدا اما الفقراء فقدرهم ان يموتوا بالحياة او يعيشوا في موت النسيان

October 10th, 2011, 10:24 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

بيان مجموعة من المثقفين السوريين المسيحيين بشأن المجلس الوطني
نشره !the-syrian في 10 تشرين الاول, 2011 – 10:39 المسا – 35 تعليقات
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إلى السوريين الأحرار يرجى النشر بالسرعة الممكنة (كبيان وليس كتعليق)
بيان مجموعة من المثقفين السوريين المسيحيين بشأن المجلس الوطني
نحن مجموعة من المثقفين تمنعنا ظروفٌ ليست خفية على أحد من كتابة أسمائنا الصريحة (ليست آخرها عملية الاغتيال الإجرامية للمناضل الوطني الكبير مشعل تمو رحمه الله). ونحن نعمل داخل الوطن بما يخدم الثورة ولنا العدد من البيانات التي نشرت في اكثر من موقع إلكتروني آخرها على الرابط التالي:

http://the-syrian.com/archives/39623

نفوّض المجلس الوطني بأن يمثلنا في كل ما يراه، ونتمنى أن يأخذ المجلس قراراته بروح التعاون والتداول السرّي منعاً لاختراقات السلطة. وأن يتكتم على أسماء أعضائه وآلياته في الداخل.
كما نتمنى أن ينتخب له رئيساً ناطقاً باسمه ومنظماً لعمله. ونحن نرى – ومن وجهة نظر وطنية ومن وجهة نظر مصلحة الثورة – أن يكون الدكتور برهان غليون رئيساً. ولا ننسى أن الكبير هو الذي يخدم شعبه، كما أن رئاسة المجلس هي مرحلية وليس رئاسة سوريا لأن الأخيرة تحسمها صناديق الاقتراع. كما إن انتخاب رئيس للمجلس غير مؤدلج يعطي للمجلس مصداقية أكبر. ويضعف محاولات السلطة بالهجوم الإعلامي عليه.
إن رئاسة غليون بمكانته العلمية وتاريخه المعروف للكثير من الناس في الغرب والشرق، واعتداله يسمح له بإدارة المرحلة الانتقالية بشكل ناجح. ومن المعيب والمحبط لنا بعض الأصوات التي تشكك بذلك بعد التسريبات التي حسمت موضوع رئاسته للمجلس.
إننا نضع كامل ثقتنا بالمجلس ونأمل أن يكون هذا التفويض بمثابة دفعاً للتردد والتلكؤ الذي أبداه المجلس خلال اليومين الأخيرين. وأن يترأسه الدكتورغليون، ومن يريد الانضمام للعمل فالمجلس يجب أن يبقى مفتوح للجميع.
سوريا

October 10th, 2011, 10:44 pm

 

ann said:

*** LOOKS LIKE THE WEST AND TURKEY ARE GOING TO HAVE THE CIVIL WAR THEY WISHED FOR! ***

Egypt’s military vows to get tough after clashes – 4 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-military-vows-tough-clashes-215408172.html

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s ruling military on Monday condemned a surge in deadly violence as an attempt to undermine the state, and warned it will act to safeguard the peace following a night of clashes that drew in Christians, Muslims and security forces.

The generals’ strong words signaled the governing military council will tighten its grip on power, further infuriating activists who have demanded an end to army rule and a transition to democracy.

Egypt’s Coptic church harshly criticized the government for its actions in crushing the protests and accused it of allowing repeated attacks on Christians to go unpunished.

The clashes Sunday night were the worst sectarian violence since the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak eight months ago. The riots laid bare the volatility of Egyptian society a month before the start of parliamentary elections that will help define the country’s future political landscape.

In a statement, the Coptic Church, which represents about 10 percent of Egypt’s 85 million people, accused security forces of failing to stop anti-Christian agitators from turning what started out as a peaceful protest against church attacks into a sectarian riot in which at least 26 people, mostly Christians, were killed.

“Strangers got in the middle of our sons and committed mistakes to be blamed on our sons,” the church said in a statement issued after its spiritual leader, Pope Shenouda III, met with 70 bishops.

“The Copts feel that problems are repeated and the perpetrators go unpunished.”

The statement reflected the growing fears of Egypt’s Copts, the largest Christian community in the Middle East, at a time when a security vacuum has left them vulnerable to a growing Islamist movement in the post-Mubarak era.

The military, which activists blamed for not doing enough to protect the Christian protesters, issued a stern warning that it intended to crack down hard on future protests.

In a statement, the military council said it will take the “necessary precautions to stabilize security” and use the full weight of the law to prosecute individuals involved in violence, whether by participation or incitement.

In an apparent response to concerns it will use the violence as an excuse to prolong its rule, the council pledged to make good on its promise to hand over power.

Many activists say the generals are likely to take advantage of the nation’s tenuous security to stay in power long enough to find a candidate they approve of to run for the presidency.

A timetable floated by the military has slated presidential elections for late next year. If that holds true, then the military will have been in power for almost two years before it steps down.

“We all know that the military council is trying to sow religious strife to stay in power and extend emergency law,” said Maha Adel Qasim, a 28-year-old Muslim wearing a head scarf who joined Christians demonstrating outside a hospital where victims’ bodies were taken.

“We want international protection,” screamed Walid Romani, a Christian, as others outside the hospital chanted for Egypt’s military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, to step down.

“The army incites sedition to remain in power,” declared Mariam Ayoub, a relative of a slain Christian protester, Michael Mosaad. “They tell all of us that this is what happens without emergency laws.”

Sunday’s clashes, which raged over a large section of downtown Cairo, began when about 1,000 Christians tried to stage a peaceful sit-in outside the state television building. The protesters said they were attacked by “thugs” with sticks and the violence spiraled out of control after a speeding military vehicle jumped onto a sidewalk and crushed some Christians.

The attack on Christians swelled after state television called on viewers to rush to the army’s rescue, casting the Christians as a mob seeking to undermine unity between the people and the military.

The crowd grew to 10,000, and many Christians were set upon by bands of young Muslim men armed with sticks, swords, firebombs and firearms. The assailants later roamed the streets looking for Christians to beat up. In some cases, they pulled men and women suspected of being Christian out of taxis and private cars.

Police and army troops did not intervene.

Three soldiers and an off-duty policeman were among the 26 people killed; some 500 people were wounded.

Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf blamed foreign meddling for the troubles, claiming it was part of a “dirty conspiracy.”

“Instead of moving forward to build a modern state on democratic principles, we are back to seeking stability and searching for hidden hands — domestic and foreign — that meddle with the country’s security and safety,” Sharaf said.

In Washington, the White House said President Barack Obama was deeply concerned about the violence in Egypt and cautioned that it should not stand in the way of “timely elections and a continued transition to democracy.”

The European Union called on Egypt’s military rulers to guarantee freedom of worship and emphasized the importance of religious plurality and tolerance.

The role played by roaming gangs of “thugs” in violence since Mubarak’s ouster has been the subject of intense speculation, with conflicting explanations of their motives and origins. They were initially thought to be Mubarak loyalists, but in some cases have been residents angry over months of near constant protests.

Amr Moussa, a former foreign minister and a presidential hopeful, blamed the clashes on hard-liners seeking to destabilize the revolution, not religious intolerance.

They “want to stab the revolution and the political process. The situation is critical and there are dangers of civil war,” he warned.

October 10th, 2011, 10:54 pm

 

Norman said:

The Syrian Arab army will restore peace to Homs, and prevent civil war.

October 10th, 2011, 11:09 pm

 

Darryl said:

569. HUSAM said:

Unfortunately I did not make your rant a bit more worthwhile by also including the evil Zionist state of Israel and Iran as a possible candidates.

Mate, you should not have even entertained that spark of thought in your mind that someone else could be behind this act. For many years, the copts of Egypt have been on the receiving end of the stick by the MB and Salafists. The nicest word that copts hear is words like “Crusaders”.

They had many people killed, churches demolished, children being kidnapped and the best you can do is to think that someone else maybe behind it instead of facing reality.

In fact your beloved Syria had a couple of disgraceful Egyptian political analysts the other day and they kept referring to Christians as the “crusaders”. Perhaps someone else planted that thought in their mind too!

In conclusion, no one is perfect and acts of violence can be perpetuated by any religious group and there is no need for you to claim the moral high ground every time unless you know for a fact.

October 10th, 2011, 11:24 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

The Guardian

Should the international community recognise the Syrian National Council?

Should other countries recognise the Syrian National Council?
92.2% Yes
7.8% No

October 10th, 2011, 11:28 pm

 

Ghufran said:

طيور تشرين لنزار قباني

 
أحب أضيع مثل طيور تشرين ..
 
بين الحين والحين …
 
أريد البحث عن وطنٍ ..
 
جديدٍ .. غير مسكون
 
وربٍ لا يطاردني .
 
وأرضٍ لا تعاديني
 
أريد أفر من جلدي ..
 
ومن صوتي ..
 
ومن لغتي
 
وأشرد مثل رائحة البساتين
 
أريد أفر من ظلي
 
وأهرب من عناويني..
 
أريد أفر من شرق الخرافة والثعابين ..
 
من الخلفاء ..
 
والأمراء ..
 
من كل السلاطين ..
 
أريد أحب مثل طيور تشرين ..
 
أيا شرق المشانق والسكاكين …
 
والأمراء ..
 
من كل السلاطين ..
 
أريد أحب مثل طيور تشرين ..
 
أيا شرق المشانق والسكاكين …
 
والأمراء ..
 
من كل السلاطين ..
 
أريد أحب مثل طيور تشرين ..
 
أيا شرق المشانق والسكاكين …

October 10th, 2011, 11:38 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

The Jerusalem Post

Should the international community recognise the Syrian National Council?

Should other countries recognise the Syrian National Council?
1.2% Yes
98.8% No

October 10th, 2011, 11:41 pm

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Is there a coordination, or at least talks between the SNC and the FSA ?
.

October 10th, 2011, 11:43 pm

 

Ghufran said:

شعر نزار في اخر اليوم خير من استفتاءات الصحف الاجنبيه حول الشان السوري
The SNC has a lot of work to do. Before asking foreign governments to recognize it,it needs to win the support of Syrians inside Syria. I am waiting to see a more inclusive council.

October 10th, 2011, 11:47 pm

 

Jad said:

Haytham,
As a Syrian expat who is your representative in the council? Give me a name of the one you elect to speak on your behalf in the council.

Great announcement by your unknown nameless minority group, It’s by far the most stupid and naive announcement I read so far, keep them coming my friend 🙂

October 10th, 2011, 11:57 pm

 
 

ann said:

Syria’s oil sector feels the pain – 10/10/2011

http://www.forwardsyria.com/story/429/Syria%E2%80%99s%20oil%20sector%20feels%20the%20pain

Mazen Ganamah, a shareholder in Ganamah Oil Group which provides well-related, equipment and engineering services to Syria’s oil sector, disagreed, saying the impact of expanded sanctions would be limited.

“The European embargo on the Syrian oil experts will have no direct affects on the working oil companies in the country or the signed contracts for exploration and production,” he said.

However, he said there would be a psychological effect created by the term ‘embargo’ being applied to Syria’s oil industry, with its negative implications and stigma.

“The word of ‘embargo’ has affects on the Syrian oil sector’s reputation,” he said. “Trade deals including the oil deals depend on reliability and reputation. Although the EU only sanctioned importing of the Syrian crude oil it is hard to anticipate the consequences ‘embargo’ will have on bringing new companies to the Syrian oil sector.”

Another Syrian working in the oil business said the delayed implementation of sanctions would help Syria react and come up with alternative buyers. Although passed in September, the EU oil import ban will not come into effect until mid-November, as requested by the Italian government. Italy has a number of contracts with Syrian oil firms and did not want those deals to be hit, according to news reports from Brussels.

“The sanctions will implement at the mid of November and this period of time will help the Syrian government to find the alternatives,” the businessman said, on condition of anonymity.

“The Syrian Oil Ministry has already put in place a plan to deal with these sanctions. The US sanctions are very hard but have not had a big affect because Syria has been under American sanctions since the 1980’s.

However he did warn that bolstered US oil sanctions would likely have some effects, with smaller intermediary firms pulling out of the Syrian market.

“Some American companies were working in the country by way of intermediary agent companies in Europe and Asia, these companies will stop completely any future project in Syria,” he said.

October 11th, 2011, 12:04 am

 

ann said:

China-Russia cooperation conducive to a more balanced world

2011-10-11

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-10/11/c_131184142.htm

BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) — Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin’s visit to China will mark ever-deepening China-Russia cooperation that is sure to help build a more balanced world.

As permanent members of the UN Security Council playing major roles in world affairs, the two nations stood together from time to time to uphold the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation and jointly thwarted several such attempts.

A case in point is their rejection of a UN draft resolution on Syria, which, in the words of Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, was based on “the philosophy of confrontation.” The joint efforts made by the two major powers have prevented a UN-sanctioned intervention that would likely have plunged the Middle Eastern nation into a civil war, which would not only damage the well-being of the Syrian people, but jeopardize the peace and stability of the whole region.

As major economies in a world mired in financial crisis, China and Russia have distinguished themselves by achieving rapid economic recovery and have, in concerted efforts with other BRICS members, formed a positive force, striving to put the world economy back on track towards a marked revival.

Amid the sovereign debt crises in economic powerhouses worldwide, joint actions by China and Russian have taken on an added importance. Russian expert Sergei Luzyanin observed that both nations were “preparing for a possible second wave of the financial crisis that looms over Europe.” And they would not be “passive observers” should it really come, he noted.

As key members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and leading emerging nations, China and Russia have played an important role in shaping a multipolar world and fostering democratization of international order.

Li Hui, Chinese Ambassador to Russia, said the two countries had a broad range of common interests in pushing forward the reform of the international financial system by increasing the representation of developing economies.

Their partnership is thus beneficial to both sides, and in turn serves the interest of the world. Any Western speculation on the transparent and open partnership will be idle, as it is not targeted at any third party.

During Chinese President Hu Jintao’s June visit to Russia, leaders of both sides reached broad consensus on the current international situation and major international issues, which will help the international community meet global challenges.

With Putin’s visit, the China-Russia partnership would be further advanced to contribute to a more multipolar world and serve as an ideal exemplar of cooperation between developing countries.

October 11th, 2011, 12:18 am

 

ann said:

Turkey risks unforeseen effects as it pressures Syria’s embattled regime

October 11, 2011

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/commentary/reuters/2011/10/11/319476/Turkey-risks.htm

ANTAKYA, Turkey/ISTANBUL — Turkey is piling pressure on Syria with border military exercises, economic sanctions and the harboring of Syrian opposition groups and army defectors, but Ankara must tread carefully to avoid arousing the suspicion of Arab states or spurring Syrian countermeasures.

Turkey has shifted, in the space of six months, from offering Syria measured support to becoming a center of gravity for opposition to President Bashar al-Assad outside the country.

Having started out by advising Assad to exercise restraint and make reforms when pro-democracy unrest first erupted in March, Turkey is now on the verge of invoking sanctions.

Syrian dissidents abroad, and some who have managed to sneak out of the country, have flocked to Istanbul over the past few months to give the revolution a united political front.

And Turkey has given sanctuary to the most senior Syrian military officer to defect, while this week it began maneuvers in a province over which Syria has had longstanding claims.

“Turkey is clearly taking sides now,” said Cengiz Aktar, professor at Istanbul’s Bahcesehir University. “Turkey expects this opposition and the upheaval in the country will eventually finish the job and the revolution will bring an end to the regime.”

But Turkey’s policy shift, which has aligned Ankara more closely with the West, comes with risks.

“Syrian intelligence might use every opportunity to instigate Kurdish violence,” Aktar said, referring to Turkey’s restive minority population.

Aktar said Turkey, whose clout in the Middle East has grown out of a combination of economic growth and secular democracy, could see good will evaporate if it is perceived to be meddling in Syria.

For all their closeness over the past decade, the two countries almost went to war in the late 1990s over Syria giving refuge to Kurdish militants fighting the Turkish state.

Living under Turkish protection, Syrian Colonel Riad al-As’aad exhorts his former comrades to desert to organize the armed struggle he believes is needed to drive Assad from power.

Revolted by the killing of Syrian civilians, and seeing the tide of history turn with the “Arab Spring” of popular uprisings, Turkey has calculated that its long-term interest lies in supporting the Syrian people’s struggle for democracy.

That Syria, like Turkey, has a Sunni Muslim majority, while Assad and his clique belong to the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, made that choice even simpler.

The breakdown in their relationship leaves Iran as Syria’s closest backer, though the Russian and Chinese vetoes earlier this week of a U.N. Security Council draft resolution censuring Syria showed Assad retains some support elsewhere.

Anti-Assad factions meeting in Istanbul — ranging from Islamists through liberals, along with ethnic and tribal leaders — have coalesced under a revolutionary Syrian National Council with a stated aim of ousting Assad within six months.

Offering itself as a potential future interim government, this broad-based opposition group has helped instill some confidence among governments, like Turkey, who disapprove of Assad but had not known who to support.

Hitherto, they have feared Assad’s fall would leave Syria without a central authority capable of stopping the country sliding into religious, sectarian and ethnic violence.

One Western diplomat, asked about Turkey’s hesitation in the past to ditch Assad, said Ankara had come to see Assad as “the devil we know.”

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who had previously enjoyed a close rapport with Assad, is expected to visit a camp in the border province of Hatay sheltering some of the 7,500 Syrians who have fled the violence at home.

Due to the death of his mother, Erdogan delayed a visit that had been set for Sunday, but he has already promised to announce sanctions against the Syrian government.

Turkey is expected to freeze bank accounts held by members of Assad’s inner circle, cut ties with Syrian state banks, and halt deals between state-run companies, notably in oil and gas, while avoiding measures that could hurt the people.

Erdogan predicted last month that Assad will be ousted “sooner or later,” but how far he is willing to go to make it happen is an open question.

Last Resort

Turkey has begun intercepting arms bound for Syria passing through its waters and air space.

Some analysts say it is easy to foresee Turkey eventually helping to equip and organize Syrian rebels, like Colonel As’aad, who want to wage an armed struggle against those units of Assad’s security forces leading the repression of protesters.

Other analysts believe it would be a mistake for Turkey to go beyond support for peaceful protests by letting itself become a rear base for an armed opposition or being seen as a provocateur in Syria’s internal conflict, especially if it developed a stronger sectarian dimension.

Turkey, after all, is vulnerable to mischief-making among ethnic Kurds and developments that could cause unease within its own Alevi minority community.

Speculation keeps resurfacing that Turkey’s military could end up entering Syria to create a buffer for the protection of Syrians from Assad’s security forces.

October 11th, 2011, 12:24 am

 

jad said:

الاتحاد الأوروبي يرحّب بـ«المجلس الوطني السوري»:
الاعـتراف مؤجـل للتعـرف على أعضائـه وبرامجـه

وسيم ابراهيم
فتح الاتحاد الاوروبي أبوابه للمجلس الوطني السوري. الإختصار «SNC» (المجلس الوطني السوري) دخل وثائقه الرسمية أمس للمرة الأولى، ومن باب الترحيب والتأييد. ذلك هو الموقف الموحد للاتحاد، والذي صدر بعد اجتماع وزراء خارجية الاتحاد الاوروبي في لوكسمبورغ. لكنه كان واضحا أن «حرارة الترحيب» بالمجلس السوري تفاوتت بين الدول الأوروبية: بين من بدا مستعدا للاعتراف به، وبين من استمهل ليرى برامج العمل السياسية للمجلس السوري تتبلور.
وبدا الفرنسيون أكثر المتشجعين لوصول المعارضة السورية إلى جسم سياسي، يعمل عبر تحصيل الاعتراف الدولي به لإحكام الحصار على النظام السوري. وقال وزير الخارجية الفرنسي ألان جوبيه، قبل اجتماعه مع نظرائه الاوروبيين، إنه يأمل أن «يتم التواصل مع المعارضة السورية» على المستوى الأوروبي. وعبر جوبيه عن حماسته تجاه المجلس الوطني السوري، وقال «نحن ندعم هذه الحركة باتجاه ديموقراطية وحرية أكثر في سوريا، ونحن راضون لرؤية المعارضة تتنظم في هذه اللحظة».
مصدر دبلوماسي في بروكسل، مطلع على المداولات الأوروبية حول الملف السوري، قال لـ«السفير» إن الاوروبيين «لن يذهبوا إلى الاعتراف بالمجلس الانتقالي في هذه المرحلة الحالية»، وأضاف «أستبعد أن تعلن دول أوروبية الاعتراف بالمجلس حاليا، لكن ستكون هنالك اتصالات معه». واعتبر المصدر أن الأوروبيين ما زالوا حتى الآن يفضلون عدم إعلان حرب دبلوماسية على النظام السوري، وقال إن «بدء الاعتراف بالمجلس المعارض سيكون بمثابة الموقف العدواني، إنها مسألة تذهب حتى أبعد من القطيعة الكاملة». وفيما إذا كان الموقف الفرنسي الذي أعلنه جوبيه يعتبر إيذانا بأن فرنسا ستكون قريبا أولى الدول التي تعترف بالمجلس، لفت المصدر إلى أن الموقف الفرنسي الذي أعلنه وزير الخارجية «ليس جديدا»، ولا يعني اعترافا فرنسيا وشيكا بمجلس المعارضة السورية، لكن المصدر لم يستبعد أن يحصل الاعتراف بالمجلس في مرحلة لاحقة.
وفي ما يتعلق بالعقوبات الاقتصادية، اعتبر المصدر أن اجتماع وزراء خارجية الاتحاد الاوروبي أذن بفتح صفحة جديدة في مجال فرض العقوبات الاقتصادية. المجال الجديد لفرض العقوبات سيكون القطاع المصرفي، وسينتظر الاتحاد الأوروبي مقترحات دوله الاعضاء ليبدأ هذه السلسلة من العقوبات. المصدر رجح أن يكون المصرف التجاري السوري أول من سيعاقبه الاوروبيون. ورحب وزراء خارجية الاتحاد الاوروبي، في البيان الصادر عن اجتماعهم، بتأسيس المجلس الوطني السوري، واعتبروه «خطوة إيجابية نحو الأمام». البيان قال إن الاتحاد الاوروبي «يشيد بالجهود التي تبذلها المعارضة السورية لتشكيل منصة موحدة» للعمل السياسي المعارض، ودعا المجموعة الدولية إلى فعل المثل بالنسبة لدعم المجلس وجهود المعارضة. وعبر الأوروبيون عن دعمهم للخط الذي انتهجه معارضو المجلس الوطني بالتزامهم حراكا معارضا لاعنفيا ويلتزم القيم الديموقراطية. وفي المقابل جدد الأوروبيون دعوتهم الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد للتخلي عن السلطة، معتبرين أن ذلك «يفسح المجال للعملية الانتقالية».
واعتبرت وزيرة خارجية الاتحاد الأوروبي كاثرين آشتون أن سقف موقف الاتحاد من المجلس الوطني السوري المعارض لا يشمل الاعتراف به. وقالت المتحدثة الرسمية باسم آشتون مايا كوتشيانتسش لـ«السفير» إن «الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري أمر لا يتعلق بالاتحاد الأوروبي، والامر يعود إلى كل دولة عضو على حدة كي تفعل ذلك». ولفتت المتحدثة الرسمية إلى أن موقف الاتحاد الاوروبي تجاه المجلس لا يحمل أي التباس تجاه تأييد جهوده، إذ قالت «نحن رحبنا بتأسيس المجلس وبجهود المعارضة السورية لإيجاد منصة موحدة» تمثلها.
وبين الوزراء الاوروبيين من رأى أن بيان الاتحاد الاوروبي خطوة رائدة باتجاه المعارضة السورية. وقالت وزيرة الخارجية الاسبانية ترينيداد خيمنث «إنها المرة الأولى التي يتحدث فيها الاتحاد الأوروبي عن المجلس» الوطني السوري، وأضافت: «إننا نعترف بالدور الذي يلعبه (المجلس) والدور الذي يجب أن يلعبه في هذه العملية». وأوضحت الوزيرة الاسبانية أن ترحيب الاتحاد الاوروبي بالمجلس ليس اعترافا به، وقالت إن «ما نفعله ليس الاعتراف بالمجلس بل (بحث) كيفية مساعدته».
ولم تكن «حرارة» الترحيب بالمستوى نفسه لدى الوزراء الاوروبيين. وعبر وزير الخارجية الايطالي فرانكو فراتيني عن موقف بلاده «المتريث» حيال الاعتراف بالمجلس السوري، وقال «أولا علينا أن نعرف من هم… وبلدان كثيرة في العالم ليست لديها بعد معرفة رسمية بهم». لكن فراتيني لفت إلى انفتاح بلاده للتواصل مع المجلس، وقال «لدينا رغبة كبيرة كي نرى برامج ومقترحات وخطة طريق إذا أمكن».
من جهته، لم يبد وزير الخارجية البريطاني وليم هيغ متحمسا لإعلان موقف بلاده من المجلس، ورشح من كلامه أن الاعتراف بالمجلس ليس الأولوية بالنسبة لبريطانيا. وقال هيغ لدى وصوله إلى الاجتماع: «قابلت بعض النشطاء من مجموعات المعارضة السورية، ونحن نتابع الطلب من (الرئيس السوري بشار) الأسد إيقاف العنف وإيقاف قتل شعبه»، وأضاف «هذه أولويتنا الملحة» الآن.

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=1974&articleId=1139&ChannelId=46656&Author=%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%85%20%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85

October 11th, 2011, 12:38 am

 

jad said:

نكسة لثورة مصر

ساطع نور الدين
اذا لم يشعر الأقباط أن الثورة المصرية قد حررتهم بالكامل من قرون من الخوف والظلم، تصبح الثورة مجرد انقلاب على نظام فاسد، نجح في إسقاط رموزه لكنه لم يصل الى حد الإطاحة بمفاهيمه.
هذا العنوان للثورة في مصر ليس طارئاً، ولا هو مفتعل. هو تحد حقيقي طرح منذ اللحظة الاولى للإعلان عن ان الجيل المصري الشاب يريد اقامة دولة مدنية معاصرة تقوم على العدل بين جميع مكونات المجتمع، وتؤسس الجمهورية الثانية على قواعد وقوانين عصرية تشبه تلك التي أرسيت عليها دول الغرب الاوروبي كافة، وتستوحي تجربة الشرق الاوروبي الذي اقام ديموقراطيات مستقرة على انقاض الحقبة السوفياتية الاشتراكية، وكان ولا يزال مصدر إلهام خفي للربيع العربي.
وهو ايضا اختبار حاسم للثورة المصرية، التي ساهمت في علاج الأقباط من عقدة الاقلية المضطهدة واحيانا المنبوذة، وأشركتهم في تحركاتها ونشاطاتها، واستدعتهم للتأكيد على ثنائية الهوية الوطنية لمصر، وافسحت لهم المجال اكثر من اي وقت في التاريخ المصري الحديث والقديم للتعبير عن انفسهم وعن اختلافهم، وخفضت الى حد كبير حجم الاعتداءات على كنائسهم ومساكنهم.. من دون ان يكون كل ذلك بقرار اتخذته المجالس القيادية للثوار المصريين، بل بمجرد تحرر المجتمع من فضائح الماضي وعيوبه. فكان القبطي حاضراً بشكل طبيعي في ميدان التحرير، وكان المسلم حريصاً على تسليط الضوء على حضوره، الى حد المبالغة احياناً. وكان انتظام الاقباط بعد الثورة في مؤسسات سياسية واعلامية ظاهرة صحية. وكان شارع ماسبيرو علامة بارزة في تجرؤ الاقباط المستفيدين من مناخ الحرية على التظاهر وحدهم لرفع مطالبهم ومظالمهم الخاصة. مع العلم ان تلك الجرأة كانت ولا تزال تحسب في مصلحة الثورة وضدها في آن واحد، لانه كان من المفترض ان يظل ميدان التحرير القريب من ماسبيرو هو المكان المعبر عن الإجماع الوطني الذي يفرض الاهتمام بالهم القبطي من داخل هذا الإجماع، وبما يعبر عن ارتقاء لغة الغالبية وثقافتها وسلوكها، كما يعكس اطمئنان الاقلية الى انها لم تعد تنتمي الى المعازل المحددة منذ ما قبل قيام الجمهورية الاولى.
انفجار الغضب القبطي في شارع ماسبيرو امس على هذا النحو الدموي المؤلم، نكسة كبرى للثورة المصرية ووعدها الوطني الذي أتاح للأقباط التظاهر علناً بصلبانهم وشعاراتهم في وسط القاهرة، لكنه لم يحاصر ولم يزجر الاسلاميين المتخلفين الذين هدموا قبل اسبوعين كنيسة في اسوان بحجة عدم الترخيص او رفع الصليب على مدخلها، وأحرقوا المنازل والمحال المجاورة لها.. وما زال يتسامح مع ذلك السلوك المهين للإسلام والمسلمين، بذريعة احتواء سلوكيات ومؤسسات اسلامية اشد خطورة على الاجتماع المصري كله.
لا معنى للثورة المصرية اذا خرج منها الأقباط واذا دخل عليها الاسلاميون المتشددون، واذا صارت المسألة الطائفية الموروثة منذ آلاف السنين طاغية على كل ما عداها من مسائل تتصل بتطوير وتحديث الوطن المصري ورفع شأن «الأمة المصرية».. حتى يرتفع شأن العرب والمسلمين جميعاً.

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=1974&ChannelId=46650&ArticleId=1129&Author=%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B7%D8%B9%20%D9%86%D9%88%D8%B1%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86

October 11th, 2011, 12:48 am

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@Jad 595:
In fact, the SNC is not asking for recognition at the present time. Negotiations are on the way with the National Coordination Commission to join the council. The council will ask for recognition thereafter.

A lot of people in the council hold the same ideas that I have, including Ghalioun and the people from Damascus Declaration.

October 11th, 2011, 12:50 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Egypt’s events are a slap in the face of Arabic Winter.They are another evidence that Minorities are not safe with political-military Islam .US and Europe remained silent and had very shy statements about the crimes committed by the military and by islamists.Arabic Spring looks like a cold winter.What happened in Egypt is very clear evidence about what will happen in Syria.Manipulators and Islamist
Orthodox propagandist like Hyatham koury want to sell us a material which is clearly very dangerous and very inflammatory .if Sunni in Iraq butchered Christians ,if Sunnis in Egypt are butchering Christians ,what will prevent them from doing the same in Syria.Borhan Ghalion is immature politically,he has no vision and he has not been in Syria for forty years and knows nothing about the dynamics and changes which happened.His bands is all put together with forced love.Islamists hate kurds and vice versa,they also were able to bring a Christian from a garage sale.
The west would have called SC meeting and acted in very different way if what happened in Cairo happened in Damascus ,but Copts blood is worth nothing and Egypt has been sold to MB.Syria also has been sold to MB bur they can’t evict the building.The west and the US are so stupid when they try to apply the Turkish model in Arabic countries.it is a theory which is not going to work,it does take into consideration the huge social,historical,ethnic,economical,cultural and religious differences between Turkish and Arabic societies,but that is not unusual for them to make historical stupid mistakes(Iraq war,Afghanstan,Somalia…..and sleeping while Europe got almost islamitized)

October 11th, 2011, 12:53 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Correction Above post:
It does not take into consideration…..

October 11th, 2011, 1:06 am

 

jad said:

Haytham,
My question was very clear:
Who is your representative as a Syrian in the council?
Obviously you can’t name any and I do understand why.

How can you ask Syrians to fully support this council that you claimed couple days ago represent more than 80% of the Syrian opposition, NOT THE MAJORITY OF THE SYRIAN PEOPLE (big different between the two).
How could this council (one of 7 other councils so far) be the representative of the Syrian PEOPLE when it’s is obviously NOT.
It’s an obvious flaw that you and many people are trying to sell without using logic and convincing methods.

I doubt that the domestic council will join your council soon and if it did they will split quick after.

‘In fact, the SNC is not asking for recognition at the present time.’
They are begging everybody to recognize them, I’m not sure why you are denying this fact on SC.

October 11th, 2011, 1:10 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

France Albath style freedom of speech

فرنسا والمجلس الإنتقالي يمنعان ميشيل كيلو وفايز سارة من عقد مؤتمر صحفي
أصدرت «هيئة التنسيق في المهجر» المعارضة بياناً يقول أن عضوي الهيئة المفكرين ميشيل كيلو وفايز سارة اعتزما عقد مؤتمر صحفي في باريس اليوم «لشرح النضال داخل سوريا» على أن ينعقد المؤتمر في مركز استقبال الصحفيين CAPE التابع إدارياً لوزارة الخارجية الفرنسية، فقام ما يسمى المجلس الوطني السوري المعارض بعرقلة هذا المؤتمر بالتواطؤ مع الحكومة الفرنسية .

وبحسب صحيفة الوطن، فقد منعت فرنسا المعارضين السوريين المقيمين في دمشق من عقد المؤتمر الصحفي في باريس متذرعة بـ«أسباب أمنية».

ووفق البيان، فإن الوزارة منعت انعقاد المؤتمر «لأسباب أمنية» ما دفع بالهيئة لنقل مكان انعقاد المؤتمر إلى معهد البحوث والدراسات حول المتوسط والشرق الأوسط لكن مدير المعهد أبلغ الهيئة أنه «اتصل بعضوين بارزين في المجلس الوطني السوري ونصحاه بعدم استقبال هذا المؤتمر».

ورأت الهيئة في هذا التصرف «دلالات مزعجة» وانتقدت آلية المجلس الوطني التي تتبنى مقولة «إما معنا أو ضدنا» وأكدت أن من «واجب كل سوري نبذ العنف والطائفية والتدخل العسكري الأجنبي، واحترام رأي الآخر بنحو ديمقراطي».

ويأتي التضييق الفرنسي على تحركات هيئة التنسيق التي تعارض التدخل الخارجي في الشأن السوري الداخلي في وقت رحبت فيه باريس والاتحاد الأوروبي بتشكيل المجلس الوطني الذي يطالب بـ«حماية دولية» للمدنيين وهو ما يراه المراقبون تمهيداً لطلب التدخل العسكري. وفي السياق استمرت هيئة التنسيق في الداخل بإجراء اتصالاتها مع مختلف الهيئات الدبلوماسية في سوريا، واجتمعت السبت بوفد من السفارة الصينية في مكتبها بدمشق.

وضم الوفد الصيني نائب السفير ومدير الدائرة السياسية ومسؤول الإعلام في السفارة، في حين حضر عن الهيئة المنسق العام حسن عبد العظيم ونائبه صالح مسلم محمد وأمين السر رجاء الناصر ومسؤول العلاقات العامة عبد العزيز الخيّر.

وقال الخير أنه جرى خلال اللقاء «تبادل الآراء حول الوضع في سوريا والمنطقة والعالم وقام الوفد الصيني بتقديم شرح عن استخدام بلاده للفيتو في مجلس الأمن» الثلاثاء الماضي محبطاً بذلك قراراً أوروبياً ضد سوريا.

ووصف الخيّر أجواء اللقاء بأنها «إيجابية ومثمرة» معلناً أنه ستكون هناك لقاءات مع جهات دبلوماسية «سبق اللقاء معها وأخرى لم نلتق بها من قبل».

والأسبوع قبل الماضي زار السفير الأميركي بدمشق روبرت فورد مكتب الهيئة بعدما رفضت الدعوة لزيارته في مقر السفارة.

وكانت هيئة التنسيق أكدت في نهاية اجتماعات مجلسها المركزي الخميس الماضي «على حق المعارضة، ومشروعية اتصالها بكافة القوى والهيئات والدول من أجل شرح مواقفها وقراءة مواقف تلك القوى والدول».

October 11th, 2011, 1:23 am

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Qatar is going to feed the poison to the whole Arabic family,one by one,as per Bernard Levy’s wishes.

أكد مصدر كويتي مطلع أن أجهزة الأمن الكويتية وضعت يدها على خلايا ثلاث، تتألف من ثمانية عشر شخصاً وثلاث سيدات، تستعد لاثارة “قلاقل” في الكويت، والدفع باتجاه إشعال اضطرابات ولضرب الإستقرار في هذا البلد بالتعاون مع أعضاء في المجلس النيابي الكويتي.

ووبحسب صحيفة الديار، فقد قام أمير دولة الكويت بإرسال رسالة إلى القيادة السعودية لإخبارها بشأن ما يجري في بلاده.

وكشف المصدر أن أعضاء الخلايا الثلاث اعترفوا بأن قطر هي التي تقف وراءهم وتقوم بتمويلهم وأنها وضعت لهم برنامج التحرك لضرب الاستقرار في الكويت، والقيام باعمال ارهابية.

October 11th, 2011, 1:29 am

 

MNA said:

Tara @ 483

“More army/ security officers killed today than civilians. Syria has already entered full blown civil war. It is so sad..”

I thought that this would be a good news to you, but I guess I was wrong. This is what many on this blog have been warning of, but they were accused of being pro-regime, or your favorite name, menhabak. it is so sad indeed.

October 11th, 2011, 5:06 am

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

MNA @ 603

I guess the president and the ecomomic and bribery mafia around him will be very satisfied for reaching this point of civil war. After all this is what they really want before they return the power to syrians and nobody els want.

October 11th, 2011, 6:29 am

 

Muhammad said:

Aboud has been absent for few days. Things are pretty hot in Homs. I hope he is safe and well.

If you are reading this Aboud, your vision is about to come true

October 11th, 2011, 6:44 am

 

annie said:

Mounadil has commented Ehsani’s introduction and translated the text into French here :
http://mounadil.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/syrieopposition-s-et-strategie-de-resistance-du-regime-face-a-lotan/

I like Mounadil’s posts usually but just like Michel Collon his views are too influenced by his politics.

“Maintenant Bachar al-Assad a tendu la main à certains de ses opposants, une ouverture que ces derniers ont rejetée, forts du soutien que leur apportent les Occidentaux et les monarchies progressistes du Golfe ou du Maghreb” (Bashar has extended his hand to some of his opponants, but the latter rejected this move, strenghtened by the support they get from the Westerners and the Gulf progressive monarchies)

May be I am wrong but I have some problems with said Wesstern support which is mostly verbal and with the “progressive” monarchies in the Gulf.

October 11th, 2011, 7:51 am

 

uzair8 said:

Russia wants a share in post-Assad Syria
By Amir Taheri

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

After months of “intense diplomacy”, the United Nations’ Security Council has failed to develop a position on the crisis in Syria. The failure came when Russia and China vetoed a resolution that urged Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad to end violence against the civilian population or face fresh sanctions.
Paradoxically, the double veto could facilitate stronger action by Western democracies against the Assad regime.

No longer obliged to take into account Russian and Chinese “sensibilities”, the Western powers and their regional allies, notably Turkey, could quickly impose a set of economic and diplomatic sanctions against the Syrian regime. The European Union and Turkey account for more than 80 percent of Syria’s foreign trade. Turkey is by far the biggest foreign direct investor in Syria. The EU is also the principal importer of Syrian oil, the revenue of which is directly controlled by Assad and his entourage.

At the same time, high level diplomatic contacts with European powers, notably France, helped Assad enhance his prestige at home.

With the Security Council scripting itself out of the Syrian issue, an alliance of Western powers plus Arab allies and Turkey could develop a common strategy to a crisis that is threatening regional peace and security.

Acting outside the Security Council is not without precedents. Western interventions in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and, more recently, Cote d’Ivoire, all took place without the council’s involvement. In Kosovo, the prospect of a Russian veto forced the Western democracies to act alone.

What is urgently needed is the creation of a number of safe havens for Syrians fleeing the daily massacres. Turkey is already hosting some 8,000 Syrian refugees. In Jordan, the number is put at over 6,000 and in Lebanon at around 5,000. Jordan has established a camp at Matraq while Turkey is building two close to the Syrian border. Iraq has not yet established any camp although it has received more than 10,000 Syrian refugees.

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/10/11/171236.html

October 11th, 2011, 8:08 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

IDF’s official site – now in Arabic

http://www.idf.il/894-ar/Dover.aspx
.

October 11th, 2011, 8:29 am

 

Ghat Al Bird said:

Must read for all SC.

Zionist plan for the Middle East – and there is one, written by Wurmser and those around him – what been described as the ‘skittles theory’ – see the classic article by Brian Whitaker (the same article with added hyperlinks is here; other articles by the always excellent Whitaker are here; see this one and this one in particular), can be described in the following steps:

Syria is forced out of Lebanon (done);
Lebanon is further destabilized (an ongoing project);
the government in Syria is replaced by one friendly to Israel (most important thing on the to-do list);
the United States fights Israel’s war and overturns Saddam’s government (done);
the brutal American occupation forces Iraq to break into three parts, Kurd, Sunni, and Shi’ite (ongoing; and the Zionist need for a long occupation to ensure Iraq breaks up explains the otherwise inexplicable Democrat support for the occupation);
Israeli-allied Kurds take over oil lands now inhabited by Arabs and Turkmen (well on its way);
the King of Jordan rules the Sunnis of Iraq (nutty, but a Wurmser favorite);
the Iraqi oil fields end up in the hands of a ‘moderate’ Shi’ite government (in fact, forces seem to be pushing the moderates out of power);
the moderate Shi’ite government in Iraq influences the government in Iran to become similarly moderate, and pro-Western/pro-Israeli (crazy; Zionist meddling is forcing all Shi’ites to become more conservative);
the combined influence of Shi’ites in Iraq and Iran forces a Shi’ite uprising over the oil fields in Saudi Arabia, forcing the current Saudi leadership out of control over the oil, and into a poor and powerless enclave around Mecca/Medina (this is the ultimate Zionist goal, to remove the ‘oil weapon’ from the hands of the Saudi princes).
Unstated in this list is the primary skittle, forcing the Palestinians into Jordan, and the last skittles, preparing the way for Greater Israel, including the huge problem of dealing with Egypt.

There are two things to be said about the list. First, it is completely insane. Not just the fact that it amounts to intellectuals playing with the lives of millions of people, all in aid of an immoral Zionist imperialism, but in that so many completely unlikely things have to happen in the right order for it to possibly succeed. Wurmser is not only a madman; he’s an incompetent madman.

Secondly, we can see the real way in which oil plays a role in the plan. Zionists are obsessed with the ‘oil weapon’, and find it intolerable that there is even a chance that the untermenschen could force a change in American policies towards the Middle East. British and American geopolitical strategists have spent the last hundred years adjusting the Middle East perfectly to allow their oil companies to exploit the oil. There can be no more reliable group of allies than the oil shiekhs (who are, of course, well paid for their services). Since everything has been set up to perfection, it is not the oil companies, or sensible American strategists, who want further conflicts in the Middle East, conflicts which will likely destroy the entire system. It is only those who want to break the ‘oil weapon’. Zionists don’t care about the health of oil companies, or what Americans, and the world, will have to pay for oil. All they care about is Israeli imperialism.

Note the prescient paragraph from Whitaker’s September 3, 2002 article:

“With several of the ‘Clean Break’ paper’s authors now holding key positions in Washington, the plan for Israel to ‘transcend’ its foes by reshaping the Middle East looks a good deal more achievable today than it did in 1996. Americans may even be persuaded to give up their lives to achieve it.”

xymphora.com.

October 11th, 2011, 9:02 am

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

The Syrian national council has received recognition from the Egyptian democratic alliance, which is Egypt’s most powerful bloc.
Baathist foreign policy sucks…

October 11th, 2011, 9:19 am

 

uzair8 said:

Robert Fisk: Violence shows uneasy place of minorities after Arab Spring

Egypt is no stranger to religious tensions – but where do Christians fit into its revolution?

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

The statistics are easy, the future is not. Up to 20 million Copts in Egypt, 10 per cent of the population, the largest Christian community in the region. But President Anwar Sadat once described himself as “a Muslim president for a Muslim people” and the Christians have not forgotten it.

Sure, the attack on the church in Aswan helped to stoke the fires, and the 26 dead are the largest number of Egyptian fatalities since the two worst days of the revolution which overthrew Sadat’s successor Hosni Mubarak. But Christian fears – stirred by “Amu Hosni” himself when he thought the throne was slipping from under him – meant the leadership of the Coptic church did not support the revolution until two days before Mubarak’s fall.

Read more:

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-violence-shows-uneasy-place-of-minorities-after-arab-spring-2368642.html

October 11th, 2011, 9:27 am

 

zoo said:

Haytham, Jad

Recognizing the SNC is an act of war as this opposition is specifically asking the international community to condone the toppling of a government that of is part of the UN.
The TNC in Libya was recognized only by 30 countries only when NATO was appointed to ensure that the intended ‘regime change’ was implemented under a ambiguous agenda of a Human Rights issue by the UNSC resolution.

NATO is reluctant to act without a UNSC resolution and Russia and China are obstinate in rejecting any military action on Syria.
Therefore as long as the international community is not ready for a war, then the SNC will not be recognized, except by some die hard countries like France and some others.

Time is playing against the SNC: If the present Syrian government starts to seriously implement the reforms under Russia and Iran’s extreme pressure and succeeds, the only issue that the SNC could ask for is a human rights condemnation, nothing else.

The first major strategy of the hardline opposition as we are seeing today, after the failure of creating a massive popular uprising is to prevent any reform to be implemented. This is why they are resorting to targeted assassinations to stir the public opinion and exhaust the government to weaken it. Of course using intensively the media to accuse the government of these assassinations.

The second strategy is to create enough fear and confrontation in the villages and towns on the borders to create an influx of refugees in Turkey and Lebanon ( surprisingly there are no refugees reported in Jordan and Iraq). This will provoke a ‘humanitarian crisis’ like Libya and allow the UN to intervene.

The hardline opposition is aware that if the reforms succeed in diverting their calls for a regime change to a negotiation with the present government, they are finished and will need to leave the country in exile or just disappear. So, for them it is life or death issue.
Therefore I expect an increase of targeted killings and a tougher actions from the army as well as terrorists actions in villages on the border with a media campaign accusing the army of shooting at the villagers.
The limit date is the December election.

October 11th, 2011, 9:34 am

 

zoo said:

Our World: The forgotten Christians of the East
By CAROLINE B. GLICK
10/10/2011 23:21

It is unclear what either Western governments or Western churches think they are achieving by turning a blind eye to the persecution of Christians in the Muslim world.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=241236

October 11th, 2011, 9:51 am

 

Revlon said:

Libya recognsies the SNC as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
The Syrian Embassy in Tripolis might be the first to be liberated from the hands of Asad regime.

أنس العبدة عضو المجلس الوطني السوري لـ العربية: سنزور ليبيا قريبا لشكرهم على اعترافهم بمجلسنا، وسندعوهم لتسليمنا السفارة

2011/10/11

لندن ـ سوريون نت:

شكر عضو المجلس الوطني السوري أنس العبدة المجلس الوطني الليبي والشعب الليبي على اعترافهم بالمجلس الوطني السوري، والذي رأى في هذه الخطوة مفخرة للعرب في أن تكون أول دولة تعترف بالمجلس هي دولة عربية خرجت من ثورة ظافرة قريبا، سيما وأن التعاون بين النظامين السوري والليبي السابق كان قويا من أجل قمع الثورة الليبة ولكن بفضل الله انتصرت الثورة الليبية وأضاف العبدة قائلا سندعو الأشقاء في ليبيا إلى تسليم مبنى السفارة السورية إلى المجلس الوطني السوري، وكان المجلس الوطني الليبي قد أغلق السفارة السورية هناك بعد أن اعترف بالأمس بنظيره السوري..
وشدد العبدة في لقائه مع قناة العربية على أننا سننتزع الاعتراف بإذن الله تعالى وذلك بتضحيات شعبنا في سورية وإصراره على الثورة السلمية، وأضاف إن التحالف الديمقراطي المصري الذي يضم كبرى الأحزاب المصرية الذي اعترف بالمجلس الوطني السوري قد وعد أيضا بالاعتراف في حال وصل إلى السلطة في مصر عب الانتخابات المقررة ..

أنس العبدة ـ العربية

October 11th, 2011, 9:55 am

 

Revlon said:

الدكتورة خولة حيدر حيدر في قسم الرياضات بجامعة دمشق تعلن استقالتها أمام طلبتها وفشل محاولة القبض عليها داخل الصف

2011/10/11

لندن ـ سوريون نت:

ذكر موقع تجمع أحرار دمشق وريفها رواية شاهد عيان من طلاب كلية العلوم الطبيعية قسم الفيزياء في جامعة دمشق يوم 10 تشرين الأول 2011
دخلت دكتورة مادة الرياضيات خولة حيدر حيدر إلى قاعة طلاب السنة الأولى وكتبت على اللوح الكلمات التالية: “إن رواية العصابات المسلحة في سوريا رواية كاذبة وأن الجيش ورجال الأمن هو الذي يقوم بعمليات قتل المتظاهرين” ومن ثم أعلنت استقالتها من جامعة دمشق احتجاجا على ذلك وكتبت اسمها وتوقيعها.
ضجت القاعة كاملة بالتصفيق الحار من قبل الطلاب مدة خمس دقائق. ومن ثم تقدم شخص من بين الطلاب وأبرز بطاقة أمنية للدكتورة وحاول اعتقالها فقام الطلاب بابعاده عن الدكتورة وحمايتها وتهريبها خارج القاعة.
ولم نعرف مصير الدكتورة. وشوهد بعدها كميات كبيرة من رجال الأمن في حرم الجامعة وحولها.

October 11th, 2011, 10:00 am

 

Revlon said:

المعارض السوري “المتواري” ياسين الحاج صالح لـ”النهار”:
المجلس الوطني نال اعتراف الداخل
الثلاثاء 11 تشرين الأول 2011 – السنة 78 – العدد 24533
ديانا سكيني
http://www.annahar.com/content.php?priority=9&table=main&type=main&day=Tue

تواريه عن الأنظار يترجم موقفه كمعارض في الداخل يجاهر بضرورة اسقاط النظام. بالنسبة لياسين الحاج صالح، المثقف الذي يستمد “شرعيته السياسية” من 16 عاما قضاها في المعتقل مطلوب من “الجميع أن يحددوا مواقعهم ومواقفهم بوضوح تام دون مراوغة ودون تمويه”. صالح، الكاتب الذي يساهم “بتغطية الثورة فكريا” و”علاقته طيبة بالشباب” أجاب على أسئلة “النهار” حول الحراك السوري وقضاياه: اخلاقية التدخل العسكري، المفاضلة بين الحرية والاستقرار، وتقبل الرأي الآخر في صفوف المعارضة.

* قرأت أنك متوارٍ. في حال صحت المعلومة، يبدو السؤال عن يوميات معارض متوار في الداخل ضرورياً.
– بلى، منذ نهاية آذار فضلت أن أعيش متواريا كي أستطيع أن أتكلم وأكتب بحرية. لم أكن مطلوبا، لكني لا أريد أن أبقى في المتناول إذا عنّ لهم أن يطلبوني. ثم تخليت بعد ذلك عن الهاتف. الحياة ممكنة بدون هاتف.أنا كاتب، وكنت معارضا للنظام دوما، والشأن السياسي والاجتماعي السوري هو محور اهتمامي الأول ككاتب. وطبيعي أن أكون إلى جانب الثورة، إن لم يكن لأسباب سياسية وأخلاقية، فلأسباب معرفية. الثورة فرصة لمعاينة أوضاع قصوى ورؤية عناصر البنية الاجتماعية والسياسية، والنفسية، كأنما بالعين المجردة تقريبا. للأسف أنا مقيد الحركة ولا يتاح لي القدر المرغوب من المعاينة المباشرة، لكني متفرغ بالكامل منذ أكثر من نصف عام لمتابعة شؤون الثورة والمساهمة بقدر المتاح في جوانب من أنشطتها.
في المحصلة، صرت أكتب بحرية أكبر فعلا. أحاول أن أساهم في الثورة بتغطيتها فكريا بقدر الإمكان. ويسعدني أن علاقتي طيبة بالشباب، ويحصل أن أساعد ببعض الصور.
* في احيان كثيرة نسأل عن سبب وجود معارض في الداخل يمارس نشاطه بشيء من الحرية وآخر متوارٍ.
– ليس هناك قاعدة ثابتة مطّردة بخصوص التعامل مع المعارضين. هناك عنصر اعتباط مهم في إدارة الشؤون العامة في سوريا، مرتبط بتعدد أجهزة القرار وتنافسها، وغياب المهنية والتخصص بين ملاكاتها، ووفرة المحسوبيات، والطابع المطلق للسلطة. الحكم المطلق يتجسد في الاعتباط الشامل لا في القواعد الصارمة المتشددة. لكن عموما كلما كان موقف المعارض أكثر جذرية ووضوحا، وأكثر مبادرة، كان معرضا للاعتقال أكثر. أما بعد الثورة فيبدو أن معيار التمييز هو الموقف من إسقاط النظام، معه أو ضده.
* ماذا مثلت لك خطوة الإعلان عن ولادة “المجلس الوطني”؟ ولماذا أتت منقوصة برأيك مع عدم التوافق مع “هيئة التنسيق”؟
– أرى أنها خطوة مهمة إلى الأمام. المجلس يوفر تمثيلا أوسع للثورة والتشكيلات السياسية من غيره. لكن العبرة بالفاعلية وبما ينجزه المجلس. أظنه مؤهلاً لإطلاق مبادرات وللتواصل مع الداخل والخارج بصورة مسؤولة. وأعرف الدكتور برهان غليون، الناطق باسم المجلس ورئيسه المرجح، وأثق به سياسيا وأخلاقيا. الاعتراف المهم هو اعتراف الداخل السوري، الثورة أولا. ويبدو لي أن المجلس ناله بدرجة لا بأس بها، وتفوق ما نالته أية جهة أخرى. وآمل أن ينال اعتراف قوى عربية ودولية. سيكون ذلك خطوة مهمة نحو تحرر سوريا. ربما يتعرض المجلس لضغوط من بعض هذه القوى للاعتراف به، وسيجد نفسه مضطرا للخوض في وحول السياسة الدولية. لكن هذا ما لا بد منه، والأمل أن يتمكن من عبور هذا الامتحان موحدا وبكفاءة.
ما أعلمه أنه كان هناك تواصل مع “هيئة التنسيق” ورغبة في أن تتمثل في المجلس. لكن الهيئة لم تشارك في النهاية لأسباب أعتقد أنها سياسية. باختصار شديد، المجلس لا يحوز شرعية إن لم يحتضن قضية الثورة، إسقاط النظام. هناك مزاج منتشر في هيئة التنسيق لا يستطيع، لأسباب تمتزج فيها التقية بالإيديولوجية، أن يؤيد دونما غمغمة أو جمجمة هذا الهدف. وبعد كل ما فعله النظام أعتقد أن إسقاطه أمسى واجبا أخلاقيا، فوق كونه حاجة سياسية. وبعد كل هذا، معلوماتي تفيد أن المجلس مستمر في التواصل مع الهيئة، ويتطلع إلى أن تتمثل فيه.
* هناك ما يسميه البعض “لوثة” عدم قبول المعارضين الرأي الآخر على قاعدة اما معنا وإما ضدنا. هل انت مع تخوين من يدافع عن تغيير النظام من الداخل من خلال مرحلة انتقالية حقنا للدماء وحفاظا على سوريا؟
– “لوثة”؟ شكرا! هذا كلام مزدهر في لبنان خصوصا. وهو في رأيي جزء من الحرب الإعلامية والسياسية على الثورة السورية. يتولد لديك انطباع أن الصحافة السورية المزدهرة التي تسيطر عليها المعارضة توقفت عن النشر لمخالفين لبنانيين لها في الرأي، أو أن الفضائيات السورية المعارضة لا تستضيف إلا من يقولون الكلام نفسه!
لكن اسمحي لي أيضا أن لا أقبل الكلام على “لوثة” عدم تقبل الرأي الآخر من أشخاص لم يدافعوا عن الشعب السوري يوما، ولم يعبروا عن احترامهم له يوما، وبعضهم أصحاب مواقف عنصرية، وبعضهم متكسبون وأصدقاء لضباط المخابرات السورية. ولا أرى أن أحدا منهم يشغل موقعا أخلاقيا أو سياسيا يسوغ له التكلم على “لوثة” استبداد تصيب، من بين عباد الله جميعا، معارضي النظام السوري. وهذا الكلام مثير للسخرية أكثر حين يصدر عن أناس طالما مارسوا التخوين ضد المعارضين السوريين، ووقفوا إلى جانب نظام تخويني، يقوده أناس يقتلون كثيرا ويسرقون كثيرا ويكذبون كثيرا.
لا أخوّن المدافعين عن النظام السوري. هناك أشياء كثيرة سيئة دون أن تكون “خيانة” بالمعنى الممانع للكلمة (لكنها خيانة بالمعنى الذي أدخلته الثورة السورية: اللي يقتل شعبو خاين! اللي يسرق شعبو خاين!…).
لكن، انظري! الثورة دينامية استقطاب سياسي وفكري وأخلاقي ونفسي بالغة الحدة، تلزم الجميع بأن يحددوا مواقعهم ومواقفهم بوضوح تام، دون مرواغة ودون تمويه. وحين تكونين مهددة في حياتك، وحين يعتقل رفاقك ويتعرضون لتعذيب مفرط في وحشيته، وحين ترين شعبك يعامل كالحشرات، وحين يقول حاكمو البلد صراحة: الأسد أو لا أحد! (أي إما أن نحكمكم نحن إلى الأبد أو الخراب)، هل تستطيعين أن لا تعبري عن احتقارك لمن يلتمسون المعاذير للقتلة، أو يضعون جرائمهم في سياق نسبي، وأن يترصدوا زلات الثورة للقول إن الجلادين والضحايا مثل بعضهم؟ أنا لا أستطيع!
ولا أستطيع أن أحترم هؤلاء، وفي لبنان كتيبة كاملة منهم. وأعتقد أن الحق في عدم الاحترام، حين ينصب على أفراد وتيارات وتشكيلات سياسية حديثة، هو حق ديموقراطي أصيل، ليس “ملوثا” بأي شيء.
بعد كل شيء، لا أرى كتيبة شهود الزور هؤلاء مخلصين حين يتكلمون على تغيير للنظام من داخله كما يقول سؤالك. النظام هو الحكم الأبدي الوراثي في أسرة الأسد – حاكمية المخابرات وحصانتها المطلقة – نفاذ امتيازي غير مقيد إلى الموارد الوطنية لعصبة الحكم. تغيير هذه التركيبة هو ما تريده الثورة. وهو ما لم يعرض النظام ذرة استعداد لإعادة النظر فيه. ولن نرى غير الأسوأ إذا ما دان الأمر له: حكم الشبيحة.
* ما هو الحد من التدخل الدولي الذي تجده مقبولا؟
– أقلّه. ومع استبعاد التدخل العسكري في كل حال.
رأيي أننا نخطئ أقل الخطأ إذا وثقنا بالقوى الدولية، جميعها، أقل الثقة.
لكن يبدو لي أن كل المواقف المتاحة في هذا الشأن تعاني من معضلات سياسية وأخلاقية وفكرية. أفضِّل مبدئيا تحمل المعضلات التي ترتبط برفض التدخل.
* هناك نقاش مستعر بين المثقفين حول اخلاقية القبول بالتدخل العسكري من اجل نصرة ثورة وحماية من يؤيدها من الشعب. ما هي مقاربتك للأمر؟ خصوصا في محضر المحاججة التي تسأل عما اذا كان الغرب يريد ديموقراطية حقة في المنطقة وفي محضر ازدواجية المعايير في هذا السياق؟
– النقاش الأساسي يتجاوز أخلاقية التدخل العسكري الدولي ليطول نجوعه. تجارب التدخل العسكري الدولي سلبية وعكسية النتائج في منطقتنا، وليس هناك سبب لتوقع أن يكون الأمر مختلفا في سوريا. وربما تعلمين أنه تبلور ضمن الطيف المعارض ضمير للثورة مكون من ثلاث لاءات: لا للتسلح، لا للطائفية، ولا للتدخل العسكري الدولي. تبلور هذا الضمير عبر تفاعل ومشاركة المثقفين والناشطين السوريين في الثورة، لكن برهان غليون هو من صاغ الأمر في صورة لاءات ثلاث. على أنه كان مفهوما أنها تندرج تحت لاء كبرى، مضادة للنظام ومتطلعة إلى إسقاطه. أنا شريك في هذا الضمير وفي الهدف الأكبر.
ولقد لاحظتُ في مواد منشورة أنه بقدر ما أمعن النظام في قتل محكوميه والفتك بهم، وبقدر ما يتقدم مطلب الاحتماء وحفظ النفس والمجموعة، كانت نسبة متصاعدة من السوريين تجاهر بضيقها من هذه النواهي الثلاثة. تلجأ إلى السلاح دفاعا، و/ أو تناجي الله ملتمسة منه العون، و/ أو تتطلع إلى الحماية من الأقوى الدولي. غير أن الميل الأشيع لا يزال رافضا للتدخل العسكري الدولي لأسباب يمتزج فيها الأخلاقي بالسياسي بالإيديولوجي. والعملي أيضا.
ولعل من القضايا التي يمكن المجلس الوطني السوري أن يقوم بدور قيادي في شأنها هي تعزيز الميل المضاد للتدخل الدولي، وإن مقرونا بمزيد من عزل النظام وانتزاع الشرعية الوطنية منه.
لكن إذا مضى النظام في التصرف كشبيح أو سوبر شبيح في الداخل، وربما عمم التشبيح في المحيط الإقليمي، ستتجه الأوضاع السورية إلى الانفلات من أيدي الفاعلين المحليين، الثورة والمعارضة، وسيمسي مصير سوريا كيانا ومجتمعا ودولة في مهب الريح. ومن المفهوم أن يستفيد من ذلك القوى الإقليمية والدولية الأكثر رسوخا والأقوى.
نحن، السوريين والعرب، من نريد “ديموقراطية حقة” حسب سؤالك. ونحن من يقوم بثورة من أجل ذلك. ولم يستأذن السوريون أحدا، لا في الغرب ولا في غيره، من أجل الثورة على الطغيان. جر النقاش إلى ما يريده الغرب وما لا يريده ينسى أن لدينا بالفعل ثورة في البلد منذ نحو سبعة أشهر. ومن شأن هذا التدخل الواسع لمجتمعنا في شأنه المشترك أن يثمر توسيع الملعب الداخلي فيها وتعظيم قوى الشعب، وهذا لا ينصب حواجز ضد الطغيان فقط، وإنما هو يحد من دور الغرب أو غيره في التأثير على مصائرنا.
وجوابا على الشق الأخير من سؤالك، لا أعرف طرفا سياسيا دوليا ليس مزدوج المعايير أو متعددها. لكن بخصوص الدول المتشكلة قوميا، هناك وحدة المصلحة القومية وراء ازدواج المعايير. أما عندنا، فهناك أطراف، دول ومنظمات ما دون الدولة، تمارس تعددا في المعايير لا يحيل إلى مصلحة وطنية عامة، ربما إلى مصلحة الطائفة أو الأسرة أو النخبة العليا. انظري حولك!
* حين تسمع أو تقرأ عن القتل الطائفي، عن الخطف، عن الفوضى. هل في لحظة إنسانية ما تقترب من المفاضلة بين الاستقرار والحرية؟
– أنا سوري، مجايل لحكم البعث عمرا أو أكبر منه بقليل، وعارف بدرجة معقولة بتاريخ الصفحتين الأسديتين منه، والطائفية والخطف والاختفاء والفوضى ليست غريبة عن معرفتي به ولا جديدة علي. ما يسمى “النظام” في سوريا هو مضخة فوضى مستمرة، تضخ العنف والفساد والتمييز والكراهية، وسجلها في عدد المقتولين و”المختفين” والمعذبين والتمييز الطائفي ليس غريبا علي أيضا.
الثورة السورية ليست طائفية ولا عنيفة. هذا بحكم تكوينها ونوعية مطالبها، ومحركاتها الاجتماعية والسياسية العامة. ولذلك خاطبت أطيافا دينية ومذهبية متنوعة من المجتمع السورية. وطابعها العام لا يزال مفتوحا ووطنيا رغم كل عنف النظام وجهوده للتفجير الطائفي.
إذا أردنا أن نطوي هذه الصفحة، كسوريين، فعلينا أن نطوي صفحة هذا النظام الذي لم تحقق سوريا أي تقدم في ظله منذ أكثر من ثلاثة عقود. أما من يفضل الاستقرار على الحرية فسيضحي بالحرية دون أن يكسب الاستقرار، ولن يستحق أيا منهما. لكن هل تعرفين من هو المستقر في سوريا في العقود الأربعة الأخيرة؟ “النظام”، مضخة الفوضى العامة. عموم السوريين لم يكونوا مستقرين ماديا أو سياسيا. من أجل استقراره، استخدم النظام العنف أداة سياسية عادية، يعرفها السوريون في حياتهم اليومية. ولم يكن هذا استقرارا بلا حرية فقط، وإنما هو استقرار بلا تراكم وطني على أي مستوى. من يريد هذا الاستقرار؟ هل تريدينه؟

October 11th, 2011, 10:15 am

 

annie said:

English Speakers to Help The Syrian Revolution
Location Closed. Addounia filming in progress

HOMS: Khalidiya:
Today, Syrian security with the assistance of the Army have marched the young people of Khalidiya down to the street at gunpoint and forced them to chant, to Bashar al-Assad. Security after the writing on the walls, words such as pro-Assad (Syria-Assad ….. etc) Alalak Almsidi, Addounia channel filmed the march and pretended that the people welcome the entry of the army. Knowing that most of the Khalidiya lanes hate Bashar, and demonstrate against him.

In preparation for this great News Construction, Assad’s gangs searched all the houses in search of wanted men. After they had surrounded all the entrances of Khalidiya, tanks were placed around. Six armored vehicles at the entrance of mosque Khalidiya Khalid and four tanks in the Street
This is only a small area not exceeding 100 meters. They tighten their grip on the people with the knowledge that the electricity has been cut off for two days along with all means of communication.

source:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.239603072745444.58621.207817119257373&type=3

October 11th, 2011, 10:25 am

 

Areal said:

FICTION
617. annie said:
HOMS: Khalidiya:
Today, Syrian security with the assistance of the Army have marched the young people of Khalidiya down to the street at gunpoint

REALITY
Official Source: 144 Wanted Men Arrested, Firearms, Explosives and Army Uniforms Confiscated in Homs

Oct 11, 2011

HOMS, (SANA) – While pursuing armed terrorist groups in al-Bayyada and al-Khalidye neighborhoods, the authorities in Homs governorate on Tuesday arrested 144 wanted men and confiscated firearms and vehicles used by the terrorists to carry out their crimes.

An official source at Homs governorate told SANA’s correspondent that the confiscated weapons include AK-47 assault rifles, pump-action shotguns and handguns, adding that the confiscated vehicles all had fake license plates.

The source said that the operation also resulted in finding caches of explosives containing several gallons of chemicals and fertilizers used for making explosives, in addition to finding a Kia car rigged with explosives and dozens of motorbikes with no license plates.

Other confiscated items include fake military and civilian IDs and military uniforms used by the terrorists to frame the army for their crimes.

The authorities also found the body of the martyr Nizar al-Saleh in a field in al-Qarabis area. Al-Saleh had been abducted by the terrorist groups. His body was transported to the Homs Military Hospital and will be laid to rest later on Tuesday.

A source at Homs Military Hospital said that al-Saleh’s body shows signs of torture and mutilation.

On a relevant note, an engineering unit dismantled an explosives found in Homs National Hospital. The device was hidden inside a large soda bottle rigged with a detonator filled with fertilizer-based explosives.

In a similar statement, an official source in Homs said that in response to continuing assaults on the Qattineh-Convoy road in the governorate, the authorities carried out an operation to chase down gunmen in the area.

The operation resulted in killing a number of gunmen and confiscating a large amount of varied firearms and high-tech communication devices.

The operation was carried out without injuries or casualties among the authorities.

NOTE
Look at the photo of the a Kia car rigged with explosives
http://www.sana.sy/servers/gallery/201110/20111011-171327_h.jpg

October 11th, 2011, 10:32 am

 

Akbar Palace said:

Ghat Albird @609,

“Clean Break” was issued, publically, about 15 years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm

In retrospect, perhaps lives could have been saved if it was implemented. But it wasn’t implemented and right now, the Syrian government is fighting with protesters and about 3000 have been killed and thousands thrown in jail. And there is no end in sight.

But hey, I understand that taking the advice of a group of pro-Israeli conservatives is a fate worse than death.

You also may want to pick Brian Whitaker’s brain and ask him what he thinks Iran’s “plan” for the Middle East is.

October 11th, 2011, 10:40 am

 
 

ann said:

Syria says it arrested 144 terrorists, claims confiscating weapons

DAMASCUS (BNO NEWS) — The Syrian government on Tuesday said it has arrested more than 140 alleged terrorists and claimed it confiscated large amounts of firearms and explosives, state-run media reported.

The report said 144 men were arrested on Tuesday in the al-Bayyada and al-Khalidye neighborhoods of Homs Governorate. The arrests were made while security forces were pursuing ‘armed terrorist groups’ in the region, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

According to SANA’s report on Tuesday, confiscated weapons included AK-47 assault rifles, pump-action shotguns and handguns. Dozens of motorbikes with no license plates were also seized in addition to a number of vehicles, including one which was allegedly rigged with explosives.

“Other confiscated items include fake military and civilian IDs and military uniforms used by the terrorists to frame the army for their crimes,” SANA said in its report. “On a relevant note, an engineering unit dismantled an explosives found in Homs National Hospital. The device was hidden inside a large soda bottle rigged with a detonator filled with fertilizer-based explosives.”

Meanwhile, authorities also claimed that they had recovered the body of a person identified as Nizar al-Saleh. The Syrian government said Al-Saleh had been abducted by a terrorist group and that his body showed signs of torture and mutilation.

October 11th, 2011, 11:06 am

 

zoo said:

South Sudan seen as plot of US and Israel, poll finds

Oct 11, 2011

DUBAI // The majority of UAE residents polled in a survey suspected that the birth of the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, was orchestrated by the US and Israel to weaken Arab countries.

{…}
http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/south-sudan-seen-as-plot-of-us-and-israel-poll-finds

October 11th, 2011, 11:09 am

 

Revlon said:

الاحتجاجات تحول محامية متدربة إلى «ناشطة سرية داهية» تحرك المظاهرات

2011/10/11
عمان – لندن: «الشرق الأوسط
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/31718

لم تجد المحامية السورية رزان زيتونة سوى الاختباء بعد اعتقال أفراد عائلتها وسجن زملائها من النشطاء أو قتلهم أو اضطرارهم إلى الفرار من البلاد بسبب أنشطتهم الداعية للديمقراطية. لكن زيتونة (34 عاما) تقول إن الانتفاضة على حكم الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد يجب أن تظل سلمية.

وتصر زيتونة التي حصلت على جائزة انا بوليتكوفسكايا في مقابلة بالهاتف من مكان غير معلوم بسوريا على أن الحفاظ على سلمية الانتفاضة أفضل ضمان لانتصارها، وأضافت أن من الطبيعي بعد سبعة أشهر من القمع الدموي والافتقار إلى الوحدة بين المعارضة وعدم اتخاذ إجراء دولي أن يظهر على السطح اتجاه عسكرة الثورة، مؤكدة أن دور النشطاء هو العمل على منع حدوث هذا.

وسميت جائزة انا بوليتكوفسكايا التي تمنح للنساء المدافعات عن حقوق الإنسان بمناطق الصراع باسم صحافية روسية كانت تغطي أخبار قتل المدنيين في الشيشان على أيدي القوات الروسية وحلفائها المحليين، وقُتلت.

وحسب تقرير لوكالة «رويترز» فإن في مارس (آذار) كانت زيتونة ضمن حشد من 200، أغلبيته من النساء، رفع صور سجناء سياسيين وأطفال معتقلين تعرضوا للضرب واقتلعت أظافر بعضهم لأنهم كتبوا على الجدران «يسقط النظام»، وهو الهتاف الذي ردده المتظاهرون في الاحتجاجات الشعبية التي شهدتها مصر وتونس.

وضم الحشد الذي تجمع سرا في ساحة المرجا بدمشق رنا جوابره، الناشطة من درعا، والمعارضة سهير الأتاسي، والمحامية كاترين التلي.

وهذه أسماء لشخصيات بارزة في جيل جديد من النساء العلمانيات في الأغلب المدافعات عن حقوق الإنسان اللاتي سعين إلى ملء الفراغ بعد أن سجن الأسد مئات الشخصيات المستقلة والمعارضة للقضاء على المعارضة لحكمه في الأعوام الأربعة الماضية.

وهاجمت الشرطة السرية في ملابس مدنية الحشد بالهراوات ما إن رفعت الصور وجرت النساء من شعورهن واعتقل العشرات، مما أدى إلى خروج احتجاجات في درعا وأجزاء أخرى من البلاد. ومنذ ذلك الحين واجه كثيرون السجن أو القتل أو التهديد أو اضطروا إلى الهرب من سوريا أو انضموا إلى آلاف المختفين.

وتفادت زيتونة الاعتقال لكنها اختبأت، واحتجز زوجها وائل حمادة بمعزل عن العالم الخارجي في مكان غير معلوم منذ قرابة ثلاثة أشهر، كما اعتُقل أخوه عبد الرحمن، وهو طالب في العشرين من عمره. وقالت جماعة «آر إيه دابليو» التي تمنح جائزة انا بوليتكوفسكايا في بيان: «الرجلان محتجزان في ما يبدو كرهن لإجبار رزان زيتونة على تسليم نفسها للحكومة ولمعاقبتها على نشاطها في مجال حقوق الإنسان»، مضيفة أن زوج زيتونة تم تعذيبه خلال احتجازه.

ومنذ ذلك الحين كونت زيتونة قاعدة شعبية تدعم المظاهرات التي تطالب برحيل الأسد وهي توثق انتهاكات لحقوق الإنسان تقول إنها تتجسد في قتل 20 مدنيا في اليوم. ووصفتها وسائل الإعلام الحكومية بأنها عميلة أجنبية بسبب انتقاداتها للقمع.

ويقول أصدقاء لها إن الاحتجاجات الشعبية حولتها من محامية تدربت على يد المحامي المخضرم هيثم المالح الذي قضى تسع سنوات كسجين سياسي إلى ناشطة سرية داهية، ويقولون إنها تتحرك متنكرة وتظهر فجأة بعد مقتل محتجين وتلقي خطبا تلهب المشاعر مما يزيد خطر قتلها في ظل تزايد اغتيالات النشطاء.

ويقول الكاتب السوري المعارض حكم البابا إنها شجاعة جدا واختفت منذ بداية الانتفاضة، لكنها تلعب دور المحرك، وهي تجمع ملفات السجناء والقتلى والمختفين بلا كلل وتوصل صوت الثورة إلى العالم الخارجي.

وقالت ناشطة أخرى: «كان زوجها يعذب وواصلت العمل على توثيق القتل والاغتصاب والتعذيب والاعتقال. لا تزال مثالية وتعتقد أن مرتكبي هذه الأفعال سيواجهون العدالة وأن حشود السوريين في الشوارع ستسقط النظام».

وقلّت أعداد المظاهرات في المناطق التي انتشرت فيها الدبابات والجنود، في حين بدأ بعض معارضي الأسد يحملون السلاح. وظهرت بعض التوترات الطائفية بين الأغلبية السنية والعلويين، خصوصا في حمص، ثالث أكبر مدينة سورية.

وقالت زيتونة إنه بمجرد أن تنسحب الدبابات والجنود من منطقة، تندلع الاحتجاجات مجددا، لكنها اعترفت بأن استمرار القمع دون بدائل من المعارضة أو المجتمع الدولي قد يحرك الشارع أيضا في اتجاه العنف. وأضافت أنه حتى الآن هناك وعي كبير بين الناس، مشيرة إلى أن العنف الطائفي اقتصر على حوادث فردية. ومضت تقول إنه «منذ اللحظة الأولى للثورة» يضغط النظام ليلجأ الناس إلى العنف ويتحول الأمر إلى قضية طائفية لعلمه أن هذا سيقضي على الانتفاضة.

October 11th, 2011, 11:12 am

 

irritated said:

Where are UN human rights?

Hopes dim to change Iraq laws to protect women
11/10/2011

BAGHDAD (AP) ..
The World Health Organization has estimated that one in five Iraqi women has reported being a victim of domestic violence, and experts say the rate is much higher. Government officials say for the time being there’s little hope that laws giving men wide rights to “discipline” their wives will be changed.

“There are abusive laws against women … but we believe that in this era, this project will be rejected,” said the Human Rights Ministry’s spokesman Kamil Amin. “Politicians have no will to change these abusive laws.”

State Minister for Women’s Affairs Ibtihal al-Zaidi agreed.

“The new reforms might raise issues against Islamic laws as well as tribal and traditional norms,” she said. “It is a very sensitive issue.”
{..}
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=26893

October 11th, 2011, 11:14 am

 

ann said:

UN Human Rights serves `israel’s interest only

October 11th, 2011, 11:18 am

 

Revlon said:

برهان غليون: مصير الأسد سيكون كمصير أيّ مجرم آخر

2011/10/11

يقول برهان غليون أحد أبرز معارضي الرئيس السوري إنّ مصير الأسد سيكون كمصير أيّ مجرم إن سقط حكمه دون أن تراجع عن اخطائه.

—————————————————————–
برهان غليون

بيروت: ا ف ب
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/31654

اعلن ابرز المسؤولين في المجلس الوطني السوري برهان غليون ان مصير الرئيس السوري بشار الاسد “سيكون كاي مصير مجرم اخر” في حال سقط نظامه الذي يقمع حركة الاحتجاج في سوريا، وذلك في مقابلة مساء الاثنين مع تلفزيون المؤسسة اللبنانية للارسال (ال بي سي).

وقال غليون في هذه المقابلة التي اجريت معه في باريس حيث يقيم “اذا سقط من دون ان يكون تراجع عن اخطائه، سيكون مصيره كاي مصير مجرم اخر”.

واضاف “هو الان مجرم، هو المسؤول الاول عن اعطاء اوامر قتل واعتقال عشرات الالوف من السوريين”.

وتساءل “كيف تريد ان يهرب من دون عقاب؟ لا ضمير بشري يتركه يهرب من دون عقاب؟ لن يهرب”.

واكد انه “لا مفاوضات مع بشار ولا تسوية باي شكل من الاشكال مع النظام الاستبدادي”، مضيفا ان “الشعب السوري فهم ان هذه الاصلاحات هي كلام فارغ”.

وردا على سؤال، قال غليون “لن نتقدم باي طلب للتدخل العسكري” الخارجي، مضيفا “نسعى بجميع جهودنا من اجل حماية المدنيين وليس تدخل الناتو”، مؤكدا “لا احد يعرف متى يسقط النظام ونحن نراهن على استمرار الانتفاضة”.

وقال موجها كلامه الى الرئيس السوري “يكفي دماء، يكفي اخطاء، يكفي اجرام، ارحم شعبك”.

واكد انه “لن تكون هناك حرب اهلية في سوريا”.

وتشهد سوريا منذ منتصف اذار/مارس حركة احتجاجية غير مسبوقة اسفر قمعها عن سقوط اكثر من 2900 قتيل بحسب الامم المتحدة فيما تتهم سوريا “عصابات ارهابية مسلحة” بزعزعة الامن والاستقرار في البلاد.

والمجلس الوطني السوري الذي اعلنت ولادته رسميا في الثاني من تشرين الاول/اكتوبر في اسطنبول ضم للمرة الاولى تيارات سياسية متنوعة لا سيما لجان التنسيق المحلية التي تشرف على التظاهرات والليبراليين وجماعة الاخوان المسلمين المحظورة منذ فترة طويلة في سوريا وكذلك احزاب كردية واشورية.

وفي باريس اكدت فرنسا الاثنين دعمها للمعارضة السورية من دون الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني في الوقت الحاضر، وذلك خلال اول لقاء علني بين وزير الخارجية الان جوبيه ومسؤولين في المجلس الوطني السوري ابرزهم برهان غليون.

October 11th, 2011, 11:19 am

 

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

ZOO #622,

This is not surprising.
I will be real surprised to see a poll that says, that Arabs suspect that Israel is NOT involved in a conspiracy. Any conspiracy.
.

October 11th, 2011, 11:27 am

 

Akbar Palace said:

UN Human Rights serves `israel’s interest only

Ann,

Are you saying only Jews are human?

October 11th, 2011, 11:27 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Is it true that Haytham Maleh met Fayez Sara in Paris,Ann look for it and tell us please.

October 11th, 2011, 12:36 pm

 

ann said:

Misstep in Turkey’s neighborly ties – Oct 12, 2011

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MJ12Ak03.html

STANBUL – As Turkey’s principal energy partners, Russia and Iran provide roughly 70% of Turkey’s energy imports, yet both Tehran and Moscow are about to send Ankara the chills of negative reactions if Turkey goes ahead with its threat of sanctions on Syria.

Already, Turkey’s embrace of the bid by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to station an anti-missile radar on its territory has angered both Russia and Iran.

Further, its talk of sanctions on Syria over an ongoing bloody crackdown on protests has potentially widened a notch or two the cracks in Ankara’s good neighborly approach toward two important neighbors who do not subscribe to Turkey’s complete loss of confidence in the embattled Bashar al-Assad regime. Henceforth, some backlashes in the form of contractions in Turkey’s relations with both Russia and Iran may be inevitable.

Clearly, this puts Turkey’s much-cherished foreign policy doctrine of “zero problems” with neighbors in serious jeopardy, in light of brewing problems in Eastern Mediterranean, where Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened military action in response to Cyprus’ off-shore oil exploration activities – that have proceeded with United States backing irrespective of Turkey’s warning.

In his recent meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was told that the US supported Cyprus right to off-shore energy exploration, led by a US company, and naturally one wonders what this will mean for Ankara’s repeated sermons on the “compatibility” of US and Turkish approaches to regional issues.

Perhaps a main problem with Davutoglu’s foreign policy doctrine has been an undifferentiated notion of “problems”, lumping together the minor and major (ie, strategic or geopolitical), short- and long-term problems, as a result of which on the surface today’s multiplication of Turkey’s problems with its neighbors, as well as near neighbors such as Israel, appear to have effectively nullified that doctrine.

It is given that foreign policy is too complicated and complex an affair to ever completely fit theoretical parameters and the gaps between theory and practice are too often unavoidable. Still, it is by virtue of Turkey’s often self-congratulatory over-conceptualization of its foreign policy behavior that today a certain measure of cognitive dissonance in the foreign policy realm has emerged that is partly-self inflicted, bound to damage Turkey’s external image.

After all, it is rather difficult to see how Turkey’s rhetoric of gunboat diplomacy and coercive sanctions fit in with the soft power approach championed by Davutoglu. Turkey for some time, relying on its multi-regional identity, tried to be everything to everyone and, instead, today finds itself in a potentially precarious situation of not satisfying anyone, including the Europeans who have for all practical purposes put Turkey’s bid for membership in the European Union on indefinite hold.

Still, despite the blunt rebuff by the EU, Turkey continues to cling to its membership in the “Western club” that is NATO, while simultaneously trying to further integrate itself in Middle Eastern affairs and even harboring the ambition of leading the volatile region.

But, bypassing the attention of Turkey’s leadership is the simple yet delicate point that a bulk of the Middle East does not subscribe to the Western security approach toward the region and, therefore, as long as Turkey is regarded as part of a Western alliance there will be structural limits to how far it can succeed in shaping the “new Middle East”.

Overcoming those limits call for the adoption by Turkey of an independent security outlook that does not echo NATO’s stance for instance, hardly in the cards, or one might say, foreign policy tool kits in today’s Turkey.

Consequently, there are signs of incoherence accumulating all over the substance of Turkish foreign policy, such as the coincidence of economic interdependence with Iran coupled with a Turkey-Iran falling out on regional issues. Instead of “strategic depth”, a favorite catch-word of Davutoglu and his foreign policy team, what Turkey may soon achieve is its exact opposite – deep strategic insecurity caused by the mushrooming of its problems with various neighbors, some of which are attributable to Turkey’s rather hasty diplomacy on such issues as the proper response to the ongoing Syrian crisis.

Turkey is bound to lose a great deal of its appeal as conflict mediator in the region if it continues to alienate neighbors like Iran and Syria by pursuit of regime change in Damascus. This is in light of its willingness to host Syrian opposition groups which are now setting up shop in Turkey for a Libya-style transitional government, thus overlooking the major differences between Libya and Syria. (See Does Gaddafi’s fate await Assad? Asia Times Online, August 25, 2011).

The idea of new “strategic depth” for a NATO country in the increasingly assertive Middle East should be regarded as an anachronism that simply serves the growing well of suspicion toward Turkey.

Iran in particular, a bastion of counter-Western hegemony for decades, will never consent to Turkey’s expansion of its influence to the Persian Gulf as long as Turkey lacks a non-Western-centric security approach. In retrospect, it appears that Davutoglu in his book Strategic Depth has underestimated the severity of forces opposed to Turkey’s quest for gaining a new strategic foothold in the Middle East.

Despite his shortcomings, Davutoglu remains one of the most dynamic diplomats from the developing world today.

Thus, while it is premature to conclude that Davutoglu’s design of a new foreign policy orientation has failed, it is on the other hand relatively obvious that it is in a state of semi-crisis that could conceivably worsen in the coming weeks and months, depending on developments in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The bottom line is that Davutoglu’s conceptualization has proved insufficiently sophisticated and theoretically ill-nourished, its taxonomy and theoretical framework in dire need of rethinking.

To elaborate, since becoming foreign minister in 2009, Davutoglu has repeatedly expressed optimism that Turkey could soon jump the ladder of success among nations by elevating its status from the 17th largest economy in the world to the 10th, an optimism born and bred by Turkey’s vibrant economy, nodal point as a transit hub, etc.

This puts too much emphasis on “going it alone” as a national economy, without sufficient infusion of a truly regionalist approach, exemplified by the minimal attention accorded to the regional organization, the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), by Davutoglu. ECO comprises Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

And yet, the ECO, if integrated further and if it succeeded to act as a meaningful economic bloc, could overnight realize Davutoglu’s dream, still infected as it is by a 19th century obsession with purely national power.

In turn, this calls for a more vigorous devotion of attention and resources to the building blocs of an ECO region sadly lacking in today’s Turkey, that never tires of pushing for EU membership, even though the advantages of non-membership may be actually increasing, given the various, and serious, economic woes gripping the eurozone today.

One reason this may never happen however is that Turkey’s multiple regional identities implicate it in a limited regional engagement in Asia and the Middle East. If Erdogan really wishes to see Turkey come out as first in the Middle East rather than the last in Europe, then a proper course of action would be to jettison altogether the rhetoric on Turkey’s primacy that actually serves no purpose other than to raise red flags in the region regarding Turkey’s ambitions, often portrayed as “neo-Ottomanism”.

A new “tanzimat” or restructuring in Turkey’s foreign policy is definitely called for, that in turn depends on a cognitive re-mapping away from the restrictive present framework that harbors vacuous elements, as well as the above-mentioned signs of incoherence.

October 11th, 2011, 12:45 pm

 

jad said:

The Egyptian Coptic Pope said that if America is the one that will protect the Copts in Egypt and propose an international protection, let all the Copts die for Egypt to live… while our ‘Syrian’ oppositions are INVITING the Americans and the International world to intervene and some of them are calling for the west/turkey to occupy Syria, what a stunning difference.
What’s making it even more meaningful is the timing:

البابا شنودة / لو امريكا هي التي ستحمى الاقباط فى مصر وتفرض الحماية الدولية على مصر فليموت الاقباط ولتحيا مصر !!

October 11th, 2011, 1:01 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@ Zoo 612:

When you talk about hard line opposition committing targeted assassination, this is a completely false interpretation. The political opposition is not giving any such order and does not agree on such practice.

Any real reform will lead to the fall of the regime. That is because, any real reform should put on trial everybody committed crimes during this crisis.

October 11th, 2011, 1:16 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@ Jad 631.

Our difference with the Syrian regime has nothing to do with America.

October 11th, 2011, 1:18 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

(سكوت_هول) ثورة مسيحيي وأحرار سوريا ضد بشار الأسد Jesus Revolution

‎”التحالف الديمقراطي من أجل مصر”، الذي يضم قرابة 34 حزباً سياسياً يقرر الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري باعتباره ممثلاً شرعياً للثورة الشعبية السورية وكافة فصائل المعارضة.
يذكر أن “التحالف الديمقراطي من أجل مصر” هو أكبر تحالف للأحزاب المصرية ويضم أحزاب كبيرة منها الوفد والغد الجديد والحرية والعدالة (الاخوان المسلمين) وهو مرشح للفوز بأغلبية المقاعد في البرلمان المصري القادم الأمر الذي من شأنه تواجده بشكل فاعل في الحكومة المصرية الجديدة.

October 11th, 2011, 1:21 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

I would like to insist that the SNC is not seeking actively any recognition from anybody at the present time. The SNC is trying to build its own committees and policies in the present time. The recognition will come later

October 11th, 2011, 1:23 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

ليست مصادفة، كما يشير المنطق البسيط، أن يكون أوّل عضو/ شهيد، في الأمانة العامة للمجلس الوطني السوري، حاملاً للمواصفات التالية: كردي، مثقف، معارض مخضرم جرّب التظاهر والاعتصام والاعتقال والحياة السرّية، مدافع عريق عن حقوق الشعب الكردي القومية والديمقراطية في إطار نظام ديمقراطي تعددي، وناقد يقظ لشتى أنماط القصور في العمل السياسي الكردي…

October 11th, 2011, 1:55 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

فقط في سوريا

October 11th, 2011, 1:57 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

تقرير صحفية فرنسية كانت في سوريا عن الثورة السورية

October 11th, 2011, 1:59 pm

 

Husam said:

Darryl said:

no one is perfect and acts of violence can be perpetuated by any religious group and there is no need for you to claim the moral high ground every time unless you know for a fact.

Any religious group as in Al-Qaeda, CIA-Evengilicals, Lebanese Maaronites, etc… but you originally tactfully slipped “Muslims” in your original comment which is different from “Groups”. Nice try.

Stop using “Muslims”, “Islamist”, etc… be more specific. If colored people were caught in a bank hiest, do you come out say: BLACKS ROBING BANKS, 2 KILLED?

So, if you, yourself want to be part of a peaceful 21st Century then kindly rid of the hatred in you before preaching to others.

October 11th, 2011, 2:05 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

What War on Terrorism? NewZ

Iran-Linked terror plot foiled in Washington, D.C.

http://news.yahoo.com/us-thwarts-major-iran-linked-terror-plot-report-180115545.html

October 11th, 2011, 2:17 pm

 

Husam said:

Hytham:

I don’t get your answer to JAD @633, Of course, America and the west have a part to play in Syria.

October 11th, 2011, 2:31 pm

 

Syria no kandahar said:

H kouri,Revlun and Annie
You keep spreading your lies,no 5 people died in Qamishli,only one death.if you have any evidence bring it ,any one can publish any names:Mohammad hussien,Ahmad Hassan ,Mahmood Saleh….you keep lying and the grave of your terrorist movement becomes larger.I know someone in every street in Qamishli and I know that you are lying.Hytham you are full of lies,even Kurds in Qamishli don’t blame the goverment,because they know that this act was against the government advantage,meanwhile you Islamic terrorist puppet keep hoping that someone will believe your lies,may be Allan Jupieh will believe you,but Syrians know that you and Revlon Alike are full of Cr..p

October 11th, 2011, 2:56 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

STFU Ghufran, not 1 A;awite has been killed and u started posting crap.

SNK – Shut up Majoosi ibn Abdullah ibn Saba.

October 11th, 2011, 3:26 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

الثلا ثــ 2011/10/11 ــاء رأي من صحيفة “القدس العربي ”
قبل السقوط المدوي للنظام السوري * رياض معسعس / كاتب سوري

لم يكن مفاجئا موقف روسيا والصين في الأمم المتحدة، فبكين صاحبة مجزرة تينين مين وقمع مطالب الصينيين بالحرية لن تكون أرحم بالسوريين من شعبها، فهي أيضا لا تنفك من إبداء خشيتها بعودة تينين مين أخرى بفعل عدوى الثورات العربية. فالربيع العربي يتمدد على خارطة العالم. ولا يختلف الأمر كثيرا في ال…موقف الروسي الذي لم يتبق له من حليف في الشرق الأوسط سوى النظام الأسدي. فهي تخشى الانتفاضات في كل أطرافها أيضا، ولا تريد أن تخسر زبونا ريانا لأسلحتها الفتاكة حتى وإن فتكت بلحم الشعب السوري. ورغم ذلك يزداد العالم قناعة اليوم، أن نظام عائلة الأسد في سورية بات قاب قوسين أو أدني من السقوط.أو كما صرح وزير الدفاع الأمريكي ليون بانيتا بأن ‘ سقوط النظام بات مسألة وقت’.
فأقنعة النظام الذي كان يخدع بها القاصي والداني، قبل اندلاع الثورة المباركة، بأنه قلعة الصمود والممانعة، وأكبر داعم للمقاومة، بدأت تسقط واحدا تلو الآخر. وكذبة أنه يواجه عصابات مسلحة مدعومة من الخارج، بعد اندلاع الثورة المباركة لم يعد يصدقها أحد بعد أن شاهد العالم أجمع مجازره الوحشية التي تذكر، ببربرية العصور الوسطى، والتي لم تسلم منها مدينة سورية. وقوله إن المعارضة السورية لا وجود لها، وإن وجدت منها بعض ‘ الشراذم’ فهي مأجورة ومرتهنة للخارج، ولأعداء سورية لم تعد تنطلي على أحد.اليوم ومع إصرار الشعب السوري البطل على إسقاط هذا النظام الدموي والوحشي، وصموده أمام آلة القتل المريعة (المستوردة من، الصين وكوريا الشمالية وروسيا،) بصدوره العارية، وإعلان قيام المجلس الوطني السوري يضع النظام أمام تحد جديد يصعب عليه مقاومته، بل سيودي به إلى حفرته الأخيرة بأسرع مما كان يتوقع.
ومهما يكن من أمر بعض الاختلافات بالرأي من قيام هذا المجلس، من مؤيد ومعارض، أو متحفظ فإنه حقق نقلة نوعية وهامة في مسيرة الشعب السوري نحو التحرر من نظام يجثم فوق صدره بكل مؤسساته الفاسدة، وأجهزته الأمنية المجرمة، وقواته العاتية منذ زهاء نصف قرن. فبقيام المجلس الوطني السوري بات لهذا الشعب من يتحدث باسمه في كل محفل. وقد سبغ الشعب السوري على هذا المجلس شرعيته الشعبية فوريا بعد إعلانه بمظاهرات تأييدية عمت معظم المدن السورية. كما قطع هذا المجلس على النظام حجة أن لا توجد معارضة سورية، وإن وجدت فهي مشرذمة ولا يمكن أن تجد أية صيغة توافقية لتمثيل الشعب السوري. يشكل المجلس اليوم مرجعية سياسية أكيدة للشعب السوري، وقد أعطى للسوريين دفعا ثوريا جديدا، بل وأملا كبيرا في تضافر جهود الخارج والداخل للوصول إلى الحل النهائي في إسقاط النظام.والمجلس كهيئة مفتوحة أمام كل المعارضين لهذا النظام، مهيؤ مستقبلا لضم كل من رغب الانضمام إلى هذه المسيرة لإسقاط النظام في سوريا بكل أطره، ومؤسساته، وقياداته، وبناء الدولة الديمقراطية الضامنة لحقوق السوريين في الحرية والمساواة، والعدالة. يعتبر هذا المجلس أول لبنة في البناء السياسي المستقبلي لسورية بعد سقوط النظام، ومنه سينبثق أول حكومة انتقالية تدير البلاد، وتضع الأسس الأولية في البناء الديمقراطي، من تحضير لانتخابات حرة، وصياغة الدستور الجديد، وقوانين الصحافة والأحزاب، وبناء دولة الحقوق والمؤسسات الديمقراطية.
كما يضع المجلس اليوم النظام العربي أمام مسؤولياته لدعم الشعب السوري، والخروج عن صمته المخزي، وردود فعله الخجولة إزاء ما يجري في سورية، وكأن المجازر التي ترتكب بحق شعبها لا تعنيه في شيء لحسابات تكتيكية، ومخاوف من تفشي هذه الثورة عبر حدود دولهم. يبقى الآن أن يسعى هذا المجلس للحصول على اعتراف عربي ودولي به كممثل شرعي للشعب السوري. وأن يعمل على وضع خارطة طريق واضحة للخطوات المستقبلية يدعو إليها جميع الفعاليات السورية للمشاركة على تحقيقها قلبا وقالبا. كي يتمكن السوريون من إسقاط هذا النظام في اقرب فرصة. فكلما طال أمد بقائه، كلما ازداد في وتيرة مجازره وقمعه الأعمى للثائرين

October 11th, 2011, 3:36 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@ Husam #641.

I meant that we do not any military intervention of any type. Further, we do not need any intervention in the internal affairs of the Syrian opposition or in the future political system that the Syrian intend to build.

We ask the International community (through the UNSC) to assume its responsibility by imposing severe sanctions on the current (criminal) regime and the rest the Syrians will do it by themselves.

October 11th, 2011, 3:42 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

Unfortunately, the one who is intervening the Syrian internal affairs is Russia, but we discovered its malignant behavior.

http://haytham-khoury3.blogspot.com/2011/10/blog-post_10.html

October 11th, 2011, 3:48 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

‎(أ.ف.ب.)
نظام الأسد يعرّضنا لتدخل عسكري خارجي.. والجيش سينشّق
إنشاء المجلس الوطني السوري “خطوة إلى الأمام نحو توحيد المعارضة السورية”

حذّر المعارض السوري ميشال كيلو نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد من تعرّض البلاد لخطر تدخل عسكري خارجي إذا ما استمر في قمع حركة الإحتجاج الشعبي. وفي مؤتمر صحافي عقده في باريس، إعتبر كيلو أنه “إذا واصل النظام سياسة قمع شعبه، فسيكون المسؤول إذا ما حدث أي تدخل أجنبي”، مشيراً …إلى أن “كل الدول تتدخل اليوم في الشأن السوري، وهي في طريقها لأن تصبح ساحة مواجهة دولية”، ومندداً بانتشار الجيش إلى الحدود مع الدول المجاورة لأنه “ينطوي على مخاطر”.

وأكد كيلو رفضه للتدخل العسكري الذي “يمكن أن يؤدي الى تدمير سوريا”، مبدياً تاييده لـ”حماية قانونية” للسكان ولاسيما عبر ارسال مراقبين دوليين بموجب الاتفاقية الدولية لحقوق الانسان. كما اعتبر كيلو أن إنشاء المجلس الوطني السوري، الذي يضم ليبراليين وقوميين وإسلاميين “خطوة إلى الأمام نحو توحيد المعارضة السورية”، مضيفًا: “موقفي النهائي (من انضمام محتمل الى المجلس الوطني) يتوقف على ما سيفعله المجلس، فنحن نرغب في أن يمد اليد لكل قوى المعارضة وألا يستبعد أي رأي”.

ورأى كيلو أن احتمال التوصل الى تسوية بين الحركة الشعبية والنظام “ليس له أي اساس حقيقي”، مشيرًا إلى أن “الجيش سينشق عندما يقتنع بأنه لن يتمكن من القضاء على الحركة الشعبية”، وختم مشدداً على “ضرورة أن تبقى هذه الحركة قوية حتى نصل الى هذه اللحظة”.

كلنا مع المجلس الوطني السوري

October 11th, 2011, 4:09 pm

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Moderator
Please note kaled insult above,you need to bleach SC from this dirt.

October 11th, 2011, 4:14 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

رسالة شكر للأخوة في المجلس الوطني الليبي – الممثل الشرعي الوحيد لشعب ليبيا الحر

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

لقد تلقّت الهيئة العامة للثورة السورية بتقدير بالغ ورضى عميق، نبأ اعتراف المجلس الوطني الانتقالي الليبي بالمجلس الوطني السوري “كحكومة شرعية وحيدة ممثلة عن الشعب السوري”، وقراره إغلاق سفارة العصابة المجرمة اللاشرعية الحاكمة في سوريا.
إن هذا الموقف هو الموقف المأمول من ثوار حطّموا نظام طاغية آخر من طواغيت هذا العصر.
ولا يخفى على أحد الحلف الذي كان قائماً بين المجرمين القذافي والأسد، اللذين تشاركا في شنّ الحرب ضد شعبيهما، واستخدما في تلك الحرب أبشع وسائل الاجرام والهمجية بحق المواطنين المسالمَين التواقَين للحرية والكرامة والعدالة.

وإن الردّ الحقيقي على حلف الطغاة هو الحلف المبارك بين الثوار، ودعمهم بعضهم البعض في سبيل تحقيق النصر وإسقاط الدكتاتوريات وبناء دول مدنية ديمقراطية تحترم الإنسان وحقه في المواطنة وحريته وكرامته، وإن هذه الخطوة المباركة من قبل المجلس الوطني الانتقالي الليبي تعدّ لبنة أساسية في صرح هذا التعاون.

إن الهيئة العامة للثورة السورية إذ تهيب ببقية الأشقاء العرب الاقتداء بهذه الخطوة وتقديم كافة أشكال الدعم والحماية للشعب السوري في نضاله المرير لإسقاط طاغية سوريا وأعوانه، فهي تطالب أيضاً حكومات العالم الحر الصديقة للشعب السوري والهيئات العربية والإقليمية والدولية بسحب الاعتراف بهذه العصابة المجرمة التي تدًعي زوراً تمثيل الشعب السوري، والمبادرة الى الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري ممثلاً شرعياً عنه، المجلس الذي نال تأييدنا واعترافنا بشرعيته وتمثيله.

October 11th, 2011, 4:18 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

وحشية تنتزع الإنسانية في سوريا-تقرير ألماني

October 11th, 2011, 4:22 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

وائل الحافظ : الثورة السورية هي كميلاد المسيح وسوف تكون حدث تاريخي يتم الـتأريخ به .

October 11th, 2011, 4:24 pm

 

OFF THE WALL said:

Dear Haytham
Your new post about the diplomatic challenges facing the Syrian opposition is outstanding. I really liked what you had to say. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

October 11th, 2011, 4:25 pm

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Latest news is that 2 Iranians have been arrested in the US for plotting to kill the Saudi Ambassador.

Nuke Karbala.

October 11th, 2011, 4:38 pm

 

Some guy no longer in damascus said:

It’s really funny seeing this “opposition” in Moscow. I think the regime realized that it’s impossible to have a government without an opposition so, they grew their own breed.
Lol we call them معارضة بس منحبك

October 11th, 2011, 4:53 pm

 

Tara said:

Assassination Galvanizes Syria’s Kurdish Minority
by PETER KENYON

http://www.npr.org/2011/10/10/141204660/assassination-galvanizes-syrias-kurdish-minority

…..

KENYON: With the assassination of veteran Kurdish politician Mashaal Tammo, activists say the regime has galvanized a Kurdish minority that has largely stayed out of the fight so far. Syrian Kurdish activist Abu Rahman was imprisoned this spring with Tammo. He says the regime feared Tammo because he was the rare Kurdish leader who fought for the rights of all Syrians, not just Kurds.

ABU RAHMAN: (Through translator) His last message to the guys in jail was to set aside your old Kurdish slogans; just go out and join the protests, whether they’re Arabs, Kurds, anyone who’s opposing this regime. This is our fight too.

….

October 11th, 2011, 5:24 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

موضوع التصويت:

هل يعبر المجلس الوطني السوري عن:
الخيارات النسبة عدد الأصوات
أجندات خارجية
10.0%
2331

الشعب السوري
90.0%
21056

إجمالي المصوتين 23387
نتيجة التصويت لا تعبر عن رأي الجزيرة وإنما تعبر عن رأي الأعضاء المشاركين فيه

October 11th, 2011, 5:27 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@ Off The Wall #652.

Thank you very much. I sent it to Gahlioun yesterday, while he was in Moscow. He confronted the Russian with their manipulative schemes.

October 11th, 2011, 5:29 pm

 

Dale Andersen said:

From the news, heavy fighting in Homs

On the lighter side, a Homsi joke…

A not-the-sharpest-knife-in-the-drawer Homsi named Hafez was arrested and accused of stealing a cow from Sheik Abdullah’s farm. At the trial, Hafez’ attorney put up a spirited defense, claiming Hafez did not steal the Sheik’s cow. It was impossible, he said. In fact, on the day of the theft, Hafez was clear across town, caring for his sick grandmother. The attorney went on to say, “This is just another example of how the judicial system persecutes innocent Homsis to the degree that they are accused of crimes they never committed. I demand that Hafez be acquitted!”

The Judge was so moved by the attorney’s defense that he had Hafez stand up while he publicly berated the arresting officer. He then asked Hafez if he had anything to say.

“Thank you, your honor. Do I get to keep the cow?”

October 11th, 2011, 5:31 pm

 

Tara said:

Khamenei not only shy but also a murderer.   

Iran embarrassed by Revolutionary Guard death in Syria

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/concoughlin/100109105/iran-embarrassed-by-revolutionary-guard-death-in-syria/

By Con Coughlin World Last updated: October 5th, 2011
……
But this clip provides deeply embarrassing evidence of just how involved the Iranians are in helping the Assad regime to suppress the opposition, as it shows the identity card of a Revolutionary Guards officer who was caught by Syrian rebels and killed.

……

October 11th, 2011, 5:33 pm

 

Areal said:

Oct 10, 2011 18:15 Moscow Time

Today is the first day of the Syrian opposition delegation’s visit to Moscow. Among the delegates are representative of several secular parties and the Christian clergy.

This is the opposition’s “peace-wing”, which has been holding a dialogue with the authorities and insists on solving the crisis by carrying out reforms actively. This is the difference between it and other opposition groups that have established canals of supplying weapons to Syria. These weapons fall in the hands of the radical groups opposing the Assad regime, who often trigger conflicts and carry out terrorist attacks. One such event was an attack launched on the “Stroitransgaz” Russian company’s branch in Homs. According to the Russian Presidential envoy for cooperation with Africa, Mikhail Margelov, this was how the radical opposition expressed its dissatisfaction over the use of the veto by Russia against a Western resolution at the UN Security Council.

The situation in and around Syria after Russia blocked the resolution will be a key issues at the Syrian opposition’s talks in Moscow. Head of the delegation, secretary General of the National Committee for Unity of the Syrian Communist Party, Qadri Jamil, pointed to this aspect in an interview with the Voice of Russia:

“Before our visit, Russia vetoed a resolution on Syria at the UN Security Council. Unlike the opposition in other countries, we came to Moscow to express our gratitude to Russia for its move. In this case, the use of veto has really protected civilians and averted a foreign invasion of our country. The military invasion of Iraq and Lebanon caused only disaster and deepened the problems and forced back the development of the countries for several generations. We wished to see Russia strengthen its position in solving the Syrian crisis and continue to make efforts to this end. Russia’s position meets the interests of the Syrian people. Since Russia averted a foreign invasion, the situation in Syria will improve fast and easily,” Qadri Jamil said.

This is not the first visit to Moscow of the Syrian opposition. They visited Russia in June and September. Russia is doing its best to help the opposition, establish a dialogue with the authorities and find compromises.

Regime change dangerous for Syria, says opposition spokesman
Tags: Syria, News, Society, Syrian opposition , Bashar Assad , World

Oct 11, 2011 23:19 Moscow Time

Opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad should seek radical change, rather than overthrowing of the current regime. This was stated in an interview for “Rusiya al-Yaum” TV channel by Syrian opposition representative Mohammed al- Aboud.

“In calling to overthrow the existing regime, we run the risk of plunging the country into real chaos,” – said al-Aboud. According to him, rather than overthrowing the regime, Syrian society needs to eliminate government corruption, put an end to violence, revive trust between the government and society.

October 11th, 2011, 5:33 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

11 Oct 2011. China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin “again called on the Syrian government to quickly carry out its commitment of reform.” http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-10/11/c_131185267.htm

24 Sep 2011. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov asserted “the necessity of instant implementation of the reforms which the Syrian leadership had announced.” http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/09/24/371218.htm

9 Oct 2011: Syria’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdelfattah Ammoura stressed “the Syrian people are aware, educated and patient.” http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/10/09/374494.htm

PS: When is the upcoming Central Dialogue Conference in Damascus scheduled for? Can nobody shed some light?

October 11th, 2011, 5:39 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@ Areal # 660

“several secular parties”: false. only two very small ones and do not have contact with the people on the ground.

“the Christian clergy”: false, they took with them unknown priest, who represents only himself.

“other opposition groups that have established canals of supplying weapons to Syria.”: complete lie. I challenge you to prove it.

October 11th, 2011, 5:53 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“……….PS: When is the upcoming Central Dialogue Conference in Damascus scheduled for? Can nobody shed some light?….”

ليش شو ناطر يطلع منه ؟ المبين انو بشار ما يعطي نصف بوصة.

October 11th, 2011, 5:55 pm

 

Ya Mara Ghalba said:

The following is a recycle of an earlier post at SyriaComment. If you’ve seen it before you can give it the “thumbs down”.

In next year’s parliamentary election contest in Syria some opposition parties are going to be alleging that the Assad government has been guilty of corruption. When a relatively unknown opposition party repeatedly says the government is corrupt, this can strengthen the opposition’s public image because it’s implicitly repeating “we are not corrupt ourselves”. However, when the evidence of corruption is disputable, experience in other countries shows that raising corruption allegations ultimately results in electoral failure for the opposition. Corruption means violation of law. If the accusations of the opposition are true, yet haven’t been prosecuted in the courts, then the legal system is corrupt as well. It’s hard for a voter to be convinced that the prosecutors and other law enforcement people are not earnestly trying to do their jobs. It is hard to believe the government publicly declares the laws are righteous while secretly violating them, with numbers of government workers involved in coverups, when reliable evidence of the corruption is not available and the people making the accusations have dubious credibility and ulterior motives. The government and its defenders will say the rival party’s accusations are scurrilous falsehoods. Anybody who disseminates scurrilous falsehoods is stupid and untrustworthy if not a liar.

A challenger trying to play the “corruption card” against the incumbent is making a bad move because (a) the voters who already believe the incumbent’s personnel are rife with corruption will be already very disinclined to vote for the incumbents and what they would like to hear are other reasons to vote for the opposition, and (b) the voters who don’t already believe the incumbent’s personnel are rife with corruption won’t have their minds changed by the electioneering (assuming the evidence of corruption is disputable), and this tends to undermine the perceived trustworthiness of the challenger, not the incumbent.

October 11th, 2011, 5:56 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Michael Kilo support the SNC,he met in Paris with members of SNC

http://alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=latest/data/2011-10-11-14-55-34.htm
It is obvious that Mr. Kilo and Mr Fayez Sara support the SNC
and Kilo said if there is foreign interference the regime is to blame

October 11th, 2011, 6:04 pm

 

Tara said:

Ebullient Turkey ignores critics in Iran and Syria but worries about Kurds
Thomas Seibert
Oct 12, 2011

http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/europe/ebullient-turkey-ignores-critics-in-iran-and-syria-but-worries-about-kurds?pageCount=2 

ISTANBUL // As it bursts with self-confidence about its growing role in the Middle East, Turkey is unlikely to change its policies in the region as a result of sharp criticism from Syria and Iran. But Ankara is concerned about efforts by its neighbours to stir up Kurdish unrest, officials and analysts say.

“Our country’s prestige is growing by the day,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, said in a speech yesterday, adding he had witnessed that development himself during his recent trip to Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, where he enjoyed enthusiastic receptions and “indescribable affection”, as he put it.

Mr Erdogan shrugged off last weekend’s rebukes from Damascus and Tehran. The government of Bashar Al Assad, the Syrian president, warned its neighbours against recognising a Syrian opposition group that was established in Turkey, while Iran said the Turkish government should stop promoting its own version of a secular Muslim state and market economy as a model for Arab Spring countries.

In a veiled reference to those complaints, Mr Erdogan said during his televised speech to parliamentary deputies of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) that he was sorry to see that Turkey was the target of “unjust criticism”, but that his country would stick to its policies.

“Turkey will do what its own principles and national interests call for and will continue along this path without diverting from its agenda,” Mr Erdogan said. He underlined that undemocratic regimes in the region could not count on Turkish support. “In our book, there can be no legitimate government that is not based on the people and that uses violence.”
….
“There is a fear that Syria will support the PKK,” said Semih Idiz, a foreign policy columnist for the Milliyet newspaper. He was referring to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a rebel group that has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule in Turkey since 1984. Syria gave shelter to the PKK leadership in the 1990s.

Officials in Ankara are also doubtful about Iran’s role in the Kurdish conflict. A Turkish newspaper reported yesterday that Iran had recently captured Murat Karayilan, a top PKK commander wanted by Ankara, and set him free after two days instead of extraditing him to Turkey. Idris Naim Sahin, Turkey’s interior minister, said the government would comment on the report “when the time comes”, the NTV news channel reported.
…..
Turkey has begun to implement some measures against Syria, such as a ban on all arms shipments to Syria via Turkish airspace or territory and an increased support for Syrian opposition groups. Representatives of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) have asked for a meeting with Turkish foreign ministry officials, the Today’s Zaman newspaper reported yesterday. Such a meeting would help the SNC, which was formed in Istanbul in August, to gain international status, a development that Damascus wants to avoid.

Turkish foreign ministry sources said yesterday they could not confirm whether the meeting would go ahead.
…. 
While Syria is concerned about Turkish support for the SNC, Iran is uneasy about Mr Erdogan’s promotion of the Turkish brand of secularism to the countries of the Arab Spring.

“Turkey is a democracy,” a senior foreign ministry official said when asked for his response to the Iranian criticism. Mustafa Akyol, a newspaper commentator and the author of a newly-released book, Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty, said in a Twitter message that Iran had slammed Turkey “for all the good reasons”.

Mr Idiz, the foreign policy columnist, said he did not expect Turkey to stop extolling its own model because of Iran’s complaints. Mr Idiz told The National yesterday that Turkey was not particularly concerned that memories of Ottoman rule in the Middle East could be used to undermine its present-day policies as following “imperial intentions” in the region.

“What they have been promoting for Egypt and Syria are very much European values,” such as secularism and individual freedoms, Mr Idiz said about Turkish government officials. Only Arab nationalists were likely to try to play the Ottoman card against modern Turkey, he said.            

October 11th, 2011, 6:04 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

بيان تجمع القوى الوطنية في السويداء
by تجمع القوى الوطنية في السويداء on Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 3:32pm

بيان

تجمع القوى الوطنية في السويداء

نحن فعاليات سياسية وثقافية واجتماعية ولجان تنسيقية في محافظة السويداء نعلن توافقنا على العمل معاً تحت اسم: تجمع القوى الوطنية في السويداء، كما نعلن أننا جزء لا يتجزأ من الثورة السورية المجيدة التي دخلت شهرها السابع وما زال السوريون يقدمون الشهداء كوكبة تلو الأخرى، عاقدي العزم على الوصول إلى حقهم في الحرية والكرامة مهما تكن التضحيات كبيرة.

خلال الأشهر الماضية قُدمت للنظام مبادرات ونصائح عديدة من الداخل والخارج، وأعطيت له مهل زمنية كافية، لكي يعيد النظر بسياساته القائمة على الخيار الأمني، لكنه لم يستجب لصوت الحكمة والعقل، بل أوغل عميقاً في ممارساته العنيفة والوحشية، حتى أصبحت الضحايا بالآلاف، وأعداد الجرحى والمعتقلين والمفقودين والمهجرين تفوق الحصر. أضحت سوريا جراء ذلك في خطر محدق، فمقدرات البلد تهدر على الخيار الأمني العسكري، والعقوبات الاقتصادية تشد الخناق على أعناق المواطنين وتدفع باقتصاد البلد إلى الهاوية، وجيش سوريا يواجه شعبها، وخطاب الفتنة والمؤامرة يهدد وحدتها الوطنية وكيان شعبها بالتمزق. وهذا كله يؤكد بأن النظام الحاكم غير قابل وغير قادر على الإصلاح، وأنه بات عقبة أمام أي تغيير حقيقي ينتقل بالبلاد من الاستبداد إلى الحرية والديمقراطية، لذلك:

أولاً، على النظام الحاكم أن يرحل نزولاً عند رغبة الشعب السوري الذي أسقط النظام سياسياً وأخلاقياً، وذلك حقناً لدماء السوريين، وحفاظاً على مقدرات البلد، وصوناً لوحدتها الوطنية ووحدة أراضيها، وحرصاً على هيبة جيشها وتماسكه، وحفاظاً على الدولة ومؤسساتها من الانهيار، وكي لا تتحول سوريا إلى ورقة في مهب الريح تتلاعب بها إرادات الدول كيفما تشاء.

ثانياً، إننا نؤيد المجلس الوطني السوري، وندعو هيئة التنسيق الوطنية وجميع أطياف المعارضة، في الداخل والخارج، لاستكمال تمثيلها في المجلس الوطني والبناء على ما تم إنجازه والتسامي فوق الحساسيات الحزبية، وأن تقف صفاً واحداً إلى جانب ثورة الشعب السلمية، وتعمل على تشكيل الجسم السياسي الموحد لهذه الثورة. لقد أصبح الوقوف إلى جانب ثورة شعبنا وتبني مطالبها واجباً وطنياً وأخلاقياً ملزماً لا يحتمل التأجيل ولا التأويل، ويرقى فوق أي خلافات أيديولوجية أو حساسيات شخصية أو نوازع ذاتية، وهذا ما يعمل النظام على تعزيزه بين صفوف المعارضة لكي تبقى منقسمة على ذاتها ومتفرقة، وعاجزة عن إيجاد بديل له.

ثالثاً، إننا نؤكد للنظام أن السويداء لم ولن تكون خارج الركب الوطني للسوريين جميعاً، ومهما حاول النظام أن يكبلها، ويقطع أوصالها بحواجزه الأمنية، ويجيش أهلها بعضهم ضد بعض، ويحيدها عن ثورة الشعب السوري فإنها لن تكون ورقة بيده في حسابات الفتنة والفرقة اللتين حاول جاهداً أن يبني ممارساته عليهما. إن مصدر الشرعية هو الشعب، ولن يستطيع نظام أن يضمن شرعيته وبقاءه إذا ما استخدم القوة وواجه الشعب بالحديد والنار، واستهتر بكرامة أبناء شعبه وحياتهم.

المجد والخلود لأرواح الشهداء

عاشت سوريا حرة ديمقراطية

الموقعون حسب الترتيب الأبجدي :

1. تنسيقية محافظة السويداء .

2. تنسيقية محافظة السويداء / شهبا .

3. تنسيقية محافظة السويداء / صلخد .

4. حركة البعثيين الأحرار في السويداء .

5. فرع الاتحاد الاشتراكي الديمقراطي العربي في السويداء .

6. فرع حزب البعث الديمقراطي في السويداء .

7. فرع الحزب اليمقراطي السوري في السويداء .

8. لجنة إعلان دمشق في السويداء .

9. لجنة العمل الوطني .

10. لجنة المهندسين الأحرار في السويداء .

11. لجنة محامي سوريا من أجل الحرية في السويداء .

12. مجموعة من الأدباء والفنانين والمستقلين في السويداء .

13. لجنة السويداء للتغيير الديموقراطي -المغتربون .

14. منظمة حزب العمال الثوري في السويداء .

15. منظمة حزب الشعب الديمقراطي في السويداء .

16. نساء السويداء من أجل التغيير الديموقراطي .

السويداء 10/ 10/ 2011

October 11th, 2011, 6:05 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

Rumors about a coming explosion in central Damascus organized by Ali Mamlouk. It would be atributed to the MB salafis terrorist sionist conspiration in order to show good will syrians and intl community how bad the opposition is. I hope it does not take place. If I owned I building in central Damascus and I had denied a purchase offer from Makhlouf mafia tonight I could not sleep quiet well tonight.

October 11th, 2011, 6:06 pm

 

zoo said:

632 Haytham
“The political opposition is not giving any such order and does not agree on such practice.”

The “political” opposition, the SNC has no control whatsoever on the criminals who know exactly what to do to create chaos that serves their own agenda ( that temporarily matches the one of the SNC: Delaying the reforms and weakening the regime)

By systematically putting all the blames on the government even when the murder is dubious like the one of the son of the Mufti, the SNC is tacitly encouraging more murders.

In my view, unless they make a clear declaration that they oppose violence on BOTH sides and stop blaming the government for any murder under vague assumptions, I consider they are accomplice to the assassinations and totally discredited to bring peace to this country.

October 11th, 2011, 6:13 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Interrogation @ 664

Do you really know where Syria is on the Map?
Have you ever met a real Syrian?
When is your flight back from la la land?
Please bring back with you the other fellow who keeps shouting Reality

Leave SNP and geo-weapon fella back there.

October 11th, 2011, 6:21 pm

 

zoo said:

Erdogan loosing his temper again.. This time to Sarkozy:

“You should give advice first to yourself and behave yourself,” Erdoğan said in reference to France’s colonial past.

“If you fail to think big and choose to make petty calculations out of economic concern, you should know that Turkey is not an easy bite to swallow,” Erdoğan said, slamming Sarkozy’s comments, which were made in Yerevan last week.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-gov8217t-opposition-join-in-sarkozy-slamming-2011-10-11

Turkey’s EU Minister Egemen Bağış called French President Nicolas Sarkozy “totally helpless” ..
It would be better… if Mr. Sarkozy abandons the role of historian and looks for the ways to solve the economic problems of the European Union, of which his country is a membe.” Bağış said, calling Sarkozy’s recent remarks “attempts to abuse the domestic politics” of France. Bağış also said Sarkozy is trying to hide his loss of support in France.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=bagis-calls-french-president-sarkozy-as-8216helpless8217-2011-10-09

October 11th, 2011, 6:22 pm

 

Tara said:

I like men who cries !

I had never seen a crying prime minister before

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=i-had-never-seen-a-crying-prime-minister-before-2011-10-10

Monday, October 10, 2011
mab@hurriyet.com.tr

This weekend, two pictures printed on papers deeply moved the public.

One of these showed the tears the prime minister shed for his mother.

I don’t know about you, but up until now I had not seen any of our leaders crying publicly. It is almost seen as an embarrassment to shed tears, to cry. It is perceived as a sign of weakness. Leaders used to try hard not to show their feelings in public.

….

October 11th, 2011, 6:33 pm

 

zoo said:

A Turkish view of the various groups competing to represent “The Syrian Opposition”

Wanted: The real face of Syria’s opposition

Tuesday, October 11, 2011
İPEK YEZDANİ
ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News
As the European Union applauds the formation of an opposition Syrian National Council, different opposition groups supportive of other political strategies make the Syrian opposition look divided.

The European Union hailed and welcomed the creation of the Syrian National Council (SNC) as a positive step forward yesterday, but it is still not clear who the real representatives of the Syrian opposition are due to divisions between different groups.

“In the last seven months, different groups or committees have been created by different opposition groups both inside and outside Syria. These groups have different strategic views. In fact, anybody who gathered five people together abroad started to say he created a high committee,” according to Halit Hoca, one of the founders of the SNC.

The Turkey-based SNC that announced its formation 10 days ago in Istanbul aims to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Others support the views of Russia, which has called on al-Assad to make reforms, while still others support the line of the Arab League Initiative, which proposes an earlier set of presidential elections to bring an end earlier to al-Assad’s current term that expires in 2014.

The recently-formed SNC includes representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Damascus Declaration, Kurds, Islamists, Syriacs, grassroots activists, some leftists and Arab tribes.

Opposition groups that support the line of Arab League Initiative support the idea of a withdrawal of the army and armed security from civilian areas, dialogue toward a national unity government and then a transition to democratic pluralism.

Another newly formed leftist group represented by Hasan Abdul’azim, chairman of the National Union of the Forces for Democratic Change, supports Russia’s proposal for the solution in Syria, which has called on al-Assad to make reforms.

“Different opposition groups support different ideas, however, we support the idea of toppling the al-Assad regime,” Hoca said. “The Syrian National Council is not in its last shape yet, we will continue including different groups in the council, but so far we represent the largest opposition groups in Syria.”

Some 90 representatives of the Syrian opposition, including members of the SNC, participated in a weekend conference organized by the Olof Palme Center, Agence France-Presse reported. The opposition group leaders agreed that “the international community’s role, demanding to have observers on site, and that minority groups should be given legally binding protection” once a new regime is in place, Jens Orback, the center’s secretary general, told reporters.

Another opposition: Syrian Technocrats’ Alliance

Meanwhile, a group of Syrians opposed to al-Assad have created an alliance of technocrats to help fill a void of expertise within the opposition and lay out a road map for Syria once its current leadership falls, the group’s founder told Reuters on Oct. 10.

Set up by U.S.-based doctor and activist Ayham Haddad and the owner of Orient TV Ghassan Abboud, the “Syrian Alliance for Democracy” was born out of frustration at the slow pace in forming a structured opposition.

“The Syrian opposition [has not been able to] form an organization to represent the people and still disagrees [among themselves],” Haddad said.

October 11th, 2011, 6:33 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@Zoo# 669

A agree with you, We will invite them to do so.

October 11th, 2011, 6:39 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

حركة البعثيين الأحرار في السويداء .

5. فرع الاتحاد الاشتراكي الديمقراطي العربي في السويداء .

6. فرع حزب البعث الديمقراطي في السويداء .

7. فرع الحزب اليمقراطي السوري في السويداء .

I take it you all former Baathist shit, you owe us cash, a lots of cash, my advice to you is to stay under cover of the not so democratic Baathist, or be ready to work for us for free until all taht you owe is paid up.

October 11th, 2011, 6:47 pm

 

zoo said:

Tara

It is not unusual to see political personalities crying, including Obama when his grandmother passed away.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CP586_1103ob_D_20081103192752.jpg

Erdogan is a very emotional guy, as we have seen at many occasions.
While it is touching to see this kind of manifestation in his personal life, I am not sure that bursts of anger with hard words against another president are well received in the diplomatic world.

October 11th, 2011, 6:47 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Look at this staement that AREAL said
Regime change dangerous for Syria

Acctually regime change is good for Syria, it is only dangerous to Assad and his supporters

October 11th, 2011, 6:50 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

So many subhumans with intelligence less than a bug making fun of geo weapon. Like if any that have knowledge of these weapons giva dam about what they have to say. That is like my dog barking at me if she did not like my necktie, do I suppose to change it?

October 11th, 2011, 6:53 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

@ Majed #665

I am pushing my friends at the SNC to meet with the National Coordination Commission people. I contacted people from NCC, too. We are trying to solve some issues.

October 11th, 2011, 6:59 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

“….Do you really know where Syria is on the Map?…..’

I do, it is dump, a barrow full of holes with millions of Syrian hamsters crawling in it. Hell it is world famous for low level of intellect.

October 11th, 2011, 7:01 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

What did the dog say

Yaa, as if your mom would let you have a dog in her basement.

Don’t Take your Medication

October 11th, 2011, 7:02 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

This is the message that I sent to a friend of mine from the NCC

لهذا أنا أطلب من قيادات هيئة التنسيق تفهم الجهود و التضحيات التي قدمها الأستاذ برهان، و إذا أرادت فعلاً مساندته و مساعدته فعليها الانضمام إلى المجلس. هذا يبدو شديد الالحاح بعدما تبين أن النظام يحاول بمساعدة روسيا تفصيل معارضة على مقاسه.

.

October 11th, 2011, 7:03 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Now you know why SNP would rather see the Baath for another 5 million years than this mentally filthy creatures ruining Syria and turning it into Hamster holes in the ground.

October 11th, 2011, 7:07 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrians Pro-Gov call for a massive Rally “Syria is my Homeland & Bashar is our Leader”

DAMASCUS- About 60 groups of Syrian Pro-Gov activists inside Syria called on Monday for a massive rally in Damascus, Sabe`a Bahrat Sq (7 sees Sq).
The organizer stated that they have been officially authorized and they also have asked all civil and official establishments to support and join them at this “Rally; which they expected to gather more than 1 million Syrians at it” as they told the press.

Wednesday Rally activity would be also followed by signing a huge two flags, Russia & China, to show “Gratefulness for their stance and support for Syria.”
http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=99491

October 11th, 2011, 7:08 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

YOU WILL NEVER, EVER, EVER,EVER, REMOVE ASSAD OUT OF SYRIA, I DARE YOUR SHARMOUT ALLAH. BY MY WILL, BY MY NAME, BY MY POWERS.

October 11th, 2011, 7:09 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

685 Thus Spoke Gargamel

October 11th, 2011, 7:17 pm

 

Tara said:

Zoo

If you say so…Nevertheless, I like people who know how to feel….to cry for a loved one,  to feel pain, to recognize a true affection, to show anger, to forgive…and particularly in case of leaders, to differentiate pseudo-adoration out of coercion or out of lie from real one, to not giggle retard-ly amidst spilled blood…too much to ask?  

But why the double standards?  Diplomatic for Iran to issue sharp criticism to Erdogan in regard to Bashar and not diplomatic for him to ask a former colonizing power to face its past?

October 11th, 2011, 7:19 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

KEEP ON BARKING UNTILL THE DAY YOU DIE, ASSAD WILL RULE, BECAUSE “I” DO NOT LIKE YOUR KIND TO PUT FOOT IN SYRIA.

October 11th, 2011, 7:19 pm

 

Dale Andersen said:

Memo To: SYRIAN NATIONALIST PARTY

RE: “…subhumans with intelligence less than a bug…”

Good one, Dude! You sound like Besho, your Daddy Long-Neck. Remember when he called the protestors germs? Are bugs better than germs?

You decide…

October 11th, 2011, 7:22 pm

 

irritated said:

From death to life, from opponent to supporter in 5 days: The Magic wand of the Medias.

6 October 2011

• Sheikh Nawaf al-Bashir, the head of the large Baqara tribe in Syria’s eastern governate of Deir Ezzour and a PROMINENT OPPONENT of President Assad, has been KILLED after being TORTURED, Syria’s council of tribes has said, AL-ARABIYA reports.

11 October 2011

Sheikh Nawaf al-Basheer: I Refuse to Draw Strength from External Sides, Reform is Internal Issue
(Dp-news – Sana)

DAMASCUS- In an interview with the Syrian TV broadcasted Monday evening, Sheikh Nawaf al-Basheer of al-Bakara clan stressed that he refuses the issue of drawing strength from external sides because the reform in Syria is an internal issue.

Sheikh al-Basheer pointed out to the necessity of giving room for the reforms to be implemented.

He added that he supported the peaceful demonstrations calling for political and economic reforms until criminals showed up in the protests, warning the Syrians against the misleading and instigating channels which lost their creditability.

”I appeal to all Syrians and peaceful demonstrators who are keen on their Homeland and its unity not to listen to the satellites of sedition and to give chance for the political reforms under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad,” said Sheikh al-Basheer, asserting that any political reform needs stability and security and not confusion.

”We stand against those killers and criminals, owners of foreign agendas, foreign schemes exploited and changed the demonstrations from peaceful ones to demonstrations of violence and killings,” added al-Basheer.

”Syria, the most ancient civilization of history, is proud of its leader” added Sheikh al-Basheer calling on the Syrians to stand united behind their President al-Assad as to confront and foil the foreign agendas and plots.

October 11th, 2011, 7:25 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

i and “I” @ 688
Captalizing the letter i loses its value when surrounded by equally capitalized letters. I think a small i is more suitable in that context, or perhps a sub-script i .

October 11th, 2011, 7:28 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

وائل الحافظ : الثورة السورية هي كميلاد المسيح وسوف تكون حدث تاريخي يتم الـتأريخ به

You are right, it is just like Jesus of Nazereth miracle birth, fiction and fraud. Born in Nazereth, but Archeological digs discovered the city was not there when he supposedly born. And that is teh Syrian Revolotion, made up of paid foreign mercenaries an da whole a lot of expandable ideots, 16000+ of them, non of them know a shit about tectonic weapon. In fact most never had an Ipod, owned a laptop, they just bowed down in Mosques 5 times and bended over for the sheikh and 10 times a day bowed down for the Mukhabrat and Allawite Lords, why, because they are Syrian Hamsters, 16,000,000 of them poluting that place and infecting it with rat germs.

October 11th, 2011, 7:36 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

REALITY
I rest my case, leave him in La La land, the man believes he is talking to a real Hamster.

October 11th, 2011, 7:40 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Haytham
The meeting has to be secret,since they have to go back to Syria, they will be arrested if they meet publicly.

October 11th, 2011, 7:45 pm

 

jna said:

Iran with real problems vrs. USA: How will US retaliate against Iran for alleged assassination plot? http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2011/1011/How-will-US-retaliate-against-Iran-for-alleged-assassination-plot

“Revelations Tuesday of an alleged Iranian-directed plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States on American soil will plunge already-confrontational US-Iran relations to new depths.”

October 11th, 2011, 7:47 pm

 

zoo said:

Tara

Sorry, there are no comparison on the words used by Iran against Erdogan that were firm but diplomatic and polite and Erdogan who used very demeaning words toward Sarkozy, just read what he said, treating Sarkozy of ‘helpless’ and telling to ‘mind his own business’

I just observed that when Erdogan looses his temper, he can’t control what and how he says and does: not a quality for a diplomat.

October 11th, 2011, 7:56 pm

 

zoo said:

Any doctors on SC? The Doctor’s Syndicate is open to expat Syrian doctors.

Syrian Cabinet approves Bill on Syndical Organization of Doctors

DAMASCUS- During its weekly session chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Adel Safar, the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill on the syndical organization of doctors which annuls Law No. 31 for 1980.

In a statement to journalists after the session, Health Minister Dr. Wael al-Halqi said the bill on the syndical organization of doctors includes new articles allowing army doctors to join the syndicate to make use of the benefits it provides, which will benefit more than 13,000 doctors.

He said that the bill allows physicians who had been working abroad for more than five years to rejoin the syndicate and maintain their membership and benefits, in addition to providing additional money to the syndicate and its retirement fund.

{…}
http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=99503

October 11th, 2011, 8:03 pm

 

uzair8 said:

A comment posted today on AJE Live syria blog comment section:

SFOs statement

The value of a shabbiha according to reliable security source

When the regime enters the villages and district that are loyal to it, it takes volunteers under the name of (shabbiha), forcing them to sign an agreement that includes humiliating clauses that show the reality of the value of those who fight and defend Bashar Assad, and here are the conditions:

1- Parents and family must never claim the price of blood
2- This shabbih is not considered marty because if so, his parents and family will be entitled to a pension and employ one of his relatives, adding some privileges to access education for his brother or his son or else..
3- His death is not made public
4- Not an official funeral held for him and then buried under the cover of night
5-His parents and his relatives will not claim his wages in case he dies.
6- His daily salary is 1500 syrian pounds and on friday 2000 syrian pounds
And he accepts these conditions under the name of humiliating: with our soul and blood for Bashar.

There was a demonstration for several days in the governorate of Tartus pro-regime demands the return of their sons who are fighting with the regime under the name of shabbiha, after they suffered heavy losses following the Syrian free army operation impact.

October 11th, 2011, 8:14 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Another comment from the same blog:

This is what happened at Damascus University
SFOs
the resignation of Dr. Haidar Haidar happened yesterday
2011/10/10 at the Faculty of Natural Sciences the Department of Physics at the University of Damascus : a students’ eyewitness gave an account : doctor in mathematics khawla Haidar Haidar entered the first year students’ hall and wrote on the blackboard the following words: that the story of armed gangs in Syria is a false one and that it is thearmy and security men were killing the the demonstrators, she therefore announced her resignation from the University of Damascus in protest and wrote her name and signature. The hall was full of warm applause by thestudents during five minutes.And thus a person from among the students went and highlighted a security ticket to the Dr., and the sutdents tried protect her and smuggle her outside of the hall, and no one knows her fate And then a large numbers of security men were seen in the campus resort

October 11th, 2011, 8:15 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Check this link and see why Syrians are refusing more hamsters to rule them: Those 20 patents for Syria about half of them are mine. So there are 11 more Syrians that don’t live in Hamsterstan:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_utl.htm

October 11th, 2011, 8:16 pm

 

AIG said:

SNP,

Compare the line for Syria with that of Israel and you will understand why the Hamster is right. The Assad regime killed the potential of Syria by this factor: 20,000 Israeli patents to 20 Syrian patents. Do you really think Israelis are 1000 times smarter than Syrians? The Assads are a wrecking ball.

October 11th, 2011, 8:28 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Tara
You mentioned that SC is getting board ,are you planning to leave it?
Revlon and Uzair8,Sheila and Syrian hamester,are you considering quitting SC?

October 11th, 2011, 8:34 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

@AIG

No, but Israel is fortunate that no crud like Syrian hamsters pollute its gene pool. Don’t be deceived, these people are out to take Syria few hundred years backwards. He does not even understand what tectonic weapon is, hell, my 10 year old girl knows about it, and you expect this guy and whoever he is booting for to bring Syria to the 20th century level, let alone the 21st. If you don’t know about it, just shut up and don’t mock people for knowing about it. That is the principal that Syrian Society rule itself by, it is not Assad or Baath party that brought Syria to this low level, no, don’t believe this crap, it is the people that brought the Assad’s and Baathist to this low level. No matter what governmental system ruled these people, it will always fail and be brought down to their low level. They never had a government before that they excelled under. They were ruled by foreign powers all their lives since thousands of years. When they finally became independent for few years, they trashed the country until Assad shows up with his iron fist and three hundred thousand Mukhabrat to keep them in shape and maintain that little progress you see today, a 19 century one.

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/cst_utl.htm

October 11th, 2011, 8:50 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

New SC Salafi NewZ

Mr. Aboud,

You better get back here. SYRIAN HAMSTER is stealing the show.

http://www.moonbattery.com/armed-hamster.jpg

October 11th, 2011, 8:51 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

مثقفون أحرار لسورية حرة
السلطة السورية تعترف بالمجلس الوطني!
الكاتب:غسان المفلج – المصدر: صحيفة السياسة الكويتية
التاريخ:11أكتوبر 2011
——————————————————–
هدد وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم بإجراءات مشددة ضد أي دولة تعترف ب¯”المجلس الوطني السوري” الذي تشكل في اسطنبول, مذكرا الدول الغربية أيضاً بالتزاماتها تجاه البعثات السورية لديها ومهدداً بمعاملة بالمثل, موجهاً تحذيراً مبطناً إلى تركيا قائلا إن سورية ليست مكتوفة الأيدي ومن يرميها بوردة ترميه بوردة. وكان كل من الأسد والمعلم استقبلا وفداً من مجلس دول الألبا التحالف البوليفي, الذي يضم مجموعة دول في أميركا اللاتينية بينها فنزويلا وكوبا وبوليفيا ونيكاراغوا والأكوادور. ويضم الوفد أربعة وزراء ونائبين لوزراء الخارجية قالوا جميعا إنهم جاؤوا بزيارة تضامنية مع دمشق.
قبل ان اتطرق لتصريح وليد المعلم حول المجلس الوطني السوري المعارض امام وفود بعض وزراء خارجية اميركا اللاتينية, اود الاشارة إلى أن هذه الدول فيها حكومات تمثل توليفات يسارية مختلطة, وهذا يوضح ايضا ان سياسات الدول بيسارها ويمينها, هي مصالح, واستجرار الدعم للنظام القاتل لايعتبره السادة من يرفعون شعار لا للتدخل الخارجي, هو تدخلا, وليس تدخل إيران تدخلا اجنبيا ايضا فإيران المقاومة والممانعة, باتت جزءاً من الداخل السوري سواء للنظام او لهذا النوع من المعارضة. الاموال الإيرانية المتدفقة على هذا النظام هي من تقتل شعبنا, ومساعدة اليسار في اميركا اللاتينة أيضا تصب في المجرى نفسه, والمضحك أن هؤلاء يتحركون جميعا لدعم النظام” اليساري الممانع العلماني” باشراف إسرائيلي مباشر وغير مباشر..لأن هذه الدول تعرف أكثر من معارضتنا الكريمة, حقيقة الموقف الاسرائيلي وثقله, وما شكله ويشكله من غطاء لهذا النظام منذ اكثر من اربعين عاما. والشيء بالشيء يذكر لما له علاقة وتماس مباشر الآن مع الوضع السوري,فقد اطلق وزير الخارجية التركي احمد داود اوغلو سلسلة من المواقف الحادة والرسائل النارية, التي تصل إلى حد التهديد المبطن, تجاه الأسد. ولم يوفر من انتقاداته إيران والأمين العام ل¯”حزب الله” السيد حسن نصر الله. وتوقع داود اوغلو, في لقاء مغلق مع صحافيين أتراك, إن الأزمة في سورية امتحان صعب جدا للنظام الدولي وللجيران. وإذ أعرب عن قلقه من احتمال صدام مذهبي يشمل كل المدن السورية ومن حرب أهلية, أضاف من الممكن أن نشهد انقلابا داخل السلطة وبعد أن اعتبر أن موقفنا مبدئي من الوضع في سورية, قال لو أردنا إسقاط النظام في سورية لفعلنا ذلك عام 2005 في أكثر اللحظات صعوبة للأسد, وكان بإمكاننا ذلك. لقد كشف اوغلو مغزى بدء العلاقة المتميزة تلك الايام مع النظام السوري, وما تبعها من فتح قناة التفاوض التركية مع اسرائيل….وهذا ما اشار اليه قسم من المعارضة السورية تلك الايام, وما بعدها حول هدف الغزل التركي السوري بينما كان القسم الآخر من هذه المعارضة يطالب بفك العزلة عن النظام!! ولوحة المعارضة السورية الآن توضح تماما أن التمايز داخل صفوف المعارضة ليس وليد هذه اللحظة من عمر الثورة السورية, وهذه العودة هي ليعرف شبابنا الذين كانوا اطفالا في تلك المرحلة ما الذي كان يدور وخاصة بعدما باتت الاعلام التركية ترفع إلى جانب علم حزب الله في شوراع دمشق, بمباركة قسم كبير من هذه المعارضة وهم انفسهم لم يتغيروا انهم حصان طروادة النظام في جسد المعارضة السورية..وكان التناغم الاسرائيلي التركي في تلك الايام في اوجه بخصوص هذا الملف, وهو حماية النظام السوري,والذي رفع العزلة عن النظام لاحقا…وتوجت جهود هذا الغزل باستقبال ساركوزي للأسد في عيد الثورة الفرنسية, انه تغول المصالح, لدرجة أن العالم لم يعد يخجل. كلها تكالبت على شعبنا, لكن شعبنا مستمر في اعطاء دروس في الحرية والكرامة.
وليد المعلم في تصريحه التهديدي هذا ضد اي دولة تعترف بالمجلس الوطني السوري المعارض, هو عبارة عن اعتراف أنه بات هناك جسد مؤسسي يخافه النظام وطرف بدأ النظام يحسب حسابه, لايهم فيما بعد ما الذي يأتي المجلس من شتم وتخوين, وبخاصة بعد اغتيال المناضل مشعل التمو عضو الامانة العامة لهذا المجلس, التصريح والاغتيال هما اعتراف ببدء سلسلة من الاجراءات لضرب هذا العدو الذي انبثق من لقاءات اسطنبول التشاورية, إنه اعتراف بالضد, بينما كل التيارات التي تدعو للحوار لايقيم لها وزنا, ولايعير طروحاتها أي اهتمام, سوى تغطية بسيطة من الاخبارية السورية أو قناة الدنيا!! إن تصريح وليد المعلم هذا يضع هذا المجلس أمام أحد تحدياته, كما ترافقت مع تهديدات اطلقها مفتي الأسد بدر حسون, بأنه سيرسل الاستشهاديين إلى الدول التي تدعم اسقاط النظام, كما كان يرسلهم للعراق ولبنان والاردن والبحرين ومصر.
يجب شكر وليد المعلم على اعترافه هذا….!

October 11th, 2011, 8:56 pm

 

uzair8 said:

702 MAJEDKHALDOUN:

SC is becoming quiet but that is a good sign. This means the pro-regime camp has been silenced (refuted) to some extent.

About boredom. We have to remember why we are here in the first place. There is a propaganda battle going on and we (anti regime) have to counter the lies and present the truth. We may not be able to help our suffering brethren directly or physically but we can play our part as on here.

A anti regime presence on here is vital otherwise the discredited Menhabek arguments will return and dominate due to sheer lack of opposition on here.

I have been intending to reduce (or stop) my time online to do other things but I think the Syrian revolutionaries need to maintain a presence on here.

I hope to contribute when I can (along with my inseperable friend NEW REGIME NEW HOPE)

Lastly. SC will lift up regularly as the situation develops with inevitable twists and turns.

October 11th, 2011, 8:56 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Ten-Year Olds in the 20th Century NewZ

SNP,

Can you help me find out more about these geo-tectonic weapons? How do they work? What do they look like? Are the Jews involved in some sort of nefarious way?

Dale Andersen – chime in if you have anything in your Zionist misdeeds file.

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

October 11th, 2011, 9:10 pm

 

uzair8 said:

Shaykh Al-Yaqoubi denounces Hassoun’s threats

In a strong statement, the prominent Syrian scholar Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi denounced the threats made by the Mufti of Syria Ahmad Hassoun to send suicide bombers to Europe and the USA if Syria is attacked.

In his statement, shaykh Al-Yaqoubi said: “Hassoun does not represent the Syrian Clerics nor does he have a mandate from the Syrian people.” He …added, “the Mufti has no right to threaten anyone on behalf of the Syrian people. These outrageous threats are an indication of his disrespect of the millions of Muslims living in Europe and the USA. We strongly denounce these empty threats which would only distort the image of Islam and Muslims around the world. They would only lead to more paranoia of Islam and discrimination against Muslims. It is strange that he issues such threats to support the regime, while he was silent against Israel, even when Syria was attacked by Israeli warplanes.
Instead, the Mufti sent a curse against Palestinian martyrs and condemned them, when he spoke at the European Parliament.”
Shaykh Al-Yaqoubi also stressed that the regime lost its legitimacy when it started shooting its own people and after it sent tanks to bomb mosques. As such, all members of this regime including the Mufti have no authority to speak on behalf of the Syrian people.

Shaykh Al-Yaqoubi stated that while the people of Syria did not request military intervention by Europe and the USA, and are against it, the Syrian people “welcome all the support that these countries are offering to our people in their struggle for freedom. The Syrian people are grateful to all the peoples, governments, and politicians who have stood by their side.”
It should be noted that shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi is one of the main driving forces behind the demonstrations with his fatwas and words of encouragement to the Syrian people, and with his denunciation of the Syrian regime since the beginning of the uprising. For that he was sacked of his job as a lecturer at the Grand Omayyad Mosque and as the Chief Imam at the Al-Hassan mosque in Abu Remmaneh, the most affluent quarter of Damascus. He was banned from public speaking and had to leave the country.

http://www.facebook.com/shaykhabulhuda

October 11th, 2011, 9:19 pm

 

Ghufran said:

The three amigos
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/11/assads-syria-ruling-family
امام الحرم النبوي الشريف يهاجم الشيعه السعوديين
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=latest%5Cdata%5C2011-10-11-18-10-14.htm

October 11th, 2011, 9:20 pm

 

Ghufran said:

شبع السوريون من هذيان البعث العروبي و ارجوا ان يتركوا الدين للبيت و مراكز العباده
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today%5C11qpt477.htm&arc=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-11%5C11qpt477.htm

October 11th, 2011, 9:36 pm

 

AIG said:

SNP,

The Israeli gene pool is very similar to the Syrian gene pool. Enough with the racism. It is the government method that made the difference.

I tried explaining this to Alex and the other regime supporters on this blog. The objective data is completely damning: 20 Syrian patents compared to 20,000 Israeli ones and the Syrian population is 3 times as large as the Israeli one. An Israeli on average is 3000 times more effective than a Syrian in producing patents! Think about it for a moment.

Now, Israelis are average people. We are not smarter than average or more stupid than average. We are really, really average. All the data shows that. The only difference is that our government allowed us to unleash our creative potential and the Assad regime completely killed the creative potential of the Syrians in Syria. Just put them anywhere else, and Syrians are creative as anybody else.

Every single regime supporter must think hard how it is possible that they are supporting a government that has made Syrians 1/3000 as creative as Israelis.

October 11th, 2011, 9:36 pm

 

Ghufran said:

اين نزار ؟
كلماته القديمه لم تفقد بريقها

ثقافتنا

فقاقيع من الصابون والوحل
 
فمازالت بداخلنا
 
“رواسب من ” أبي جهل
 
ومازلنا
 
نعيش بمنطق المفتاح والقفل
 
نلف نساءنا بالقطن
 
ندفنهن في الرمل
 
ونملكهن كالسجاد
 
كالأبقار في الحقل
 
ونهذا من قوارير
 
بلا دين ولا عقل
 
ونرجع أخر الليل
 
نمارس حقنا الزوجي كالثيران والخيل
 
نمارسه خلال دقائق خمسه
 
بلا شوق … ولا ذوق
 
ولا ميل
 
نمارسه .. كالات
 
تؤدي الفعل للفعل
 
ونرقد بعدها موتى
 
ونتركهن وسط النار
 
وسط الطين والوحل
 
قتيلات بلا قتل
 
بنصف الدرب نتركهن
 
يا لفظاظة الخيل
 
قضينا العمر في المخدع
 
وجيش حريمنا معنا
 
وصك زواجنا معنا
 
وقلنا : الله قد شرع
 
ليالينا موزعه
 
على زوجاتنا الأربع
 
هنا شفه
 
هنا ساق
 
هنا ظفر
 
هنا إصبع
 
كأن الدين حانوت
 
فتحناه لكي نشبع
 
تمتعنا ” بما أيماننا ملكت ”
 
وعشنا من غرائزنا بمستنقع
 
وزورنا كلام الله
 
بالشكل الذي ينفع
 
ولم نخجل بما نصنع
 
عبثنا في قداسته
 
نسينا نبل غايته
 
ولم نذكر
 
سوى المضجع
 
ولم نأخذ سوى
 
زوجاتنا الأربع

October 11th, 2011, 9:42 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

Syrian Nationalist Party
Metaz k M Aldendeshe
Chief Strategist

When Ghada Shawwaa a Syrian Christian women won the only Olympic medal ever won by Syria, she won the Gold in 1996 summer Olympic, she was treated into hero welcome and was given so much gold and cash, car, you name it by the Assad Government. In all other countries and Societies, this win would motivate many to emulate her experience and win again, but not Hamsterstan Society like Syria. This is not the Government fault, which provides free education, free university and all the financial and logistic support you need if you to excel, financial aid for University, scholarship abroad etc., yet there is not one other Syrian who has taken advantage of all that, inspired by Shawwa to have the will, train and compete. NONE. Why would you blame the Assad’s for this lack of achievements, they provided, the people did not excel, did not even care or have the inspiration, not even a motivation. This is just one example of many. That mentality in Syria is primarily social and religious. Unlike Iran which maintain a Shia sect of Islam, a rather progressive form of Islam, in Syria, the majority of Syrians attend the Sunni Mosques that not only don’t inspire the youth and promote achievements, but they actively, purposely discourage it, so the majority of population is dull and creativity is stifled in majority Mosques culture. In fact, in progressive political culture, even under the Baath party which restricted cultural expansion to minimum, just the Arabism and Socialism, is by far more progressive and prevalent than what the mosque did offer.

Why Sunni Islam is performing in an inferior way to Shia Islam? Look at Shia Iran, they make own satellites, own space launchers, own fleets of warships, excelled in Nano technologies, they are at par with many western countries and are financially far more secure and better managed than many of them. Why country like Lebanon owes more than 50 billion in debt, one that it can never be paid ever. Why Lebanon for 50 years could not defend its borders until few rag tag Shia fighters trained by Iran, Hezbollah managed to kick Israel out of Lebanon 3 times in the past 30 years. Why not Lebanese forces was able to do that, why not Sunni clown (damm.. forgot his name) the one that got blow up, managed to do that? Why it took Shia Moslem to do so. Why 22 million Syrians could not put a fight to liberate the Golan, liberate Iskenderun, oh, they blame Assad and Alawaites for that failure, what a joke, how could less than 2 millions of Alawites rule over 20 million Syrians Sunni for 50 years? Just how they can do that, if it were not for either the Sunni majority support for them or total Hamestrization mentality of Sunnis.

You telling me now that they shed the hamster fur and took human brain and skin, hell no, what they showed us in the past Seven months, what they spoke to us for all that time, what are they saying and doing right now, even a casual observer, can see that they are a bunch of paid mercenaries and losers going about the same dam routine they did 50 years ago. Not one iota of intellect, strategy or focus. They are lousy Sunni stupid Syrians who showed us the worst of what the Syrians are all about and nothing presented that will inspire others to join and have hope for.

October 11th, 2011, 9:50 pm

 

Ghufran said:

عند جهينة الخبر اليقين
رغم الحوادث و التعليقات الصحفيه لا تزال علاقة الملك السعودي و الملك السوري مقبوله
يشترك الرجلان في النفور من حاكم قطر و الخوف من موجة الديمقراطيه
شعرة معاويه التي انقطعت مع قطر لا تزال موصوله مع السعوديه رغم ما يظهر في الميديا
يصر احد الوسطاء ان السعوديه قبلت سرا بتحويل سوريا من جمهوريه لمملكه و لم تمانع في حكم الاسد لثلاثين عاما و في توريث الحكم لبشار لان الديمقراطيه عند العائلات المالكه ترف غربي و افكار مستورده
ستكون السعوديه اخر من يقطع شعرة معاويه مع الاسد و لولا الخوف من ايران لكان الموقف السعودي اكثر صراحة في دعم نظام الاسد
السوريون ليس لهم معين في كفاحهم ضد التسلط الا رب العالمين و سواعدهم
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2011/10/111004_saudi_seige.shtml

October 11th, 2011, 10:15 pm

 

irritated said:

335 Hussam

“So answer the Q: are you irritated from Sunnis succeeding!?”

If Turkey is a ‘success’ , it is a Turkish success, not an ethnic or religious success, at least I hope so because what do you do with the Alevis and the non-sunnis, they are not part of the ‘success’?

For example, I would say Saudi Arabia is a Saudi disaster, not a Sunni disaster.

October 11th, 2011, 10:21 pm

 

Haytham Khoury said:

مارغيلوف: “على القيادة السورية إنقاذ الوضع.. هذه آخر فرصة لها”

١٠ تشرين الاول ٢٠١١

رأى رئيس لجنة الشؤون الدولية في مجلس الفيدرالية (الشيوخ) الروسي ميخائيل مارغيلوف أنه “على القيادة السورية أن تستغل فرصتها الأخيرة من أجل إنقاذ الوضع على الساحة السورية”، مطالبا النظام السوري بـ”البدء فوراً بالحوار مع المعارضة”.

مارغيلوف وفي مؤتمر صحافي بمشاركة وفد لممثلي المعارضة السورية يزور موسكو للقاء كبار المسؤولين في وزارة الخارجية الروسية وشخصيات من الأوساط الاجتماعية الروسية، شدد على أن المعارضة التي ستشارك في الحوار “يجب أن تكون شاملة لجميع التيارات، وليست تلك التي تروق للنظام فقط”.

وقال مارغيلوف: “على السوريين أن يعالجوا هذه المشكلة بأنفسهم، وبلا تدخل أجنبي، ولكن عليهم أيضاً أن يتذكروا، أن هذه هي فرصتهم الأخيرة”.

وشارك في المؤتمر رئيس اللجنة الوطنية لوحدة الشيوعيين السوريين قدري جميل ورئيس الحزب السوري القومي الاجتماعي علي حيدر والقيادي في جبهة التغيير والتحرير عادل نعيسة.

وكان من المتوقع أن يشارك في المؤتمر أيضاً المعارض ميشيل كيلو والمنسق العام لهيئة التنسيق الوطنية حسن عبد العظيم والاقتصادي المعارض عارف دليلة، غير أنهم لم يحضروا.

وأوضح مصدر لـ”أنباء موسكو” أن أسباب غياب المعارضين الثلاثة عن المؤتمر، تكمن في “رفضهم للموقف الروسي تجاه ما يحدث في سوريا، والذي أوضحته روسيا حين استخدمت حق النقض (الفيتو) ضد قرار أممي يدين جرائم النظام”.

October 11th, 2011, 10:37 pm

 

Hans said:

Alex

I am interested in the correlation between the numbers of DISLIKE ( or the LIKE for that matter) and the frequency of posting by that person I think it is easy for Alex to do get us such a correlation!
I wonder if X has a propaganda or agenda to spread. If many people support it “the least to say that the people on SC are in support of such propaganda” or if x poster gets too many dislike then people on SC is not in agreement with X ( or hate him) but the latter can be excluded by the amount of dislike get frequent posters. it is unbiased because we don’t really know who get most of dislike on their comments statistically can’t be due to chance given the large sample (N), no outliers should be excluded though.
it is a easy stat you can get us through simple use of the IP’s.
it is not to change anyone views on the matter but to have better idea where SC stands in regards to repeating x’s agenda and the response from the Y’s to the X’s.
and probably I don’t want to know the names I am just curious about the result.

October 11th, 2011, 10:53 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

@717
It is meaningless, I rarely click it and knowing the large traffic in here, it looks like few do so, just the kids and Israeli do.

October 11th, 2011, 10:59 pm

 

zoo said:

Turkish Sanctions on Syria?

Trade with Syria OK, minister says
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
ANKARA – Anatolia News Agency

Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan has said Turkey’s trade with Syria continues to increasing.

Commenting on Syria’s decision to ban import of products that have more than a 5 percent customs duty, Çağlayan said yesterday that Syria has lifted the ban, and thus, Turkey’s exports to Syria maintained the same level with last year.

“We have a serious amount of products shipping to the Arabian Peninsula via Syria,” he said

Çağlayan also said that despite the current problems, Turkey’s trade with Israel continued, too.

{…}
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=trade-with-syria-ok-minister-says-2011-10-11

October 11th, 2011, 11:07 pm

 

NK said:

Describing the Iranian regime as progressive is crazy

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/12/us-marziehvafamehr-idUSTRE79B0CS20111012
“Iranian actress sentenced to 90 lashes, 1 year in jail”

Comparing the resources of Lebanon with those of Iran is crazy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_in_Iran
“Energy resources in Iran consist of the third largest oil reserves and the second largest natural gas reserves in the world.”

Claiming you’re Syrian and then misspelling the name of the most famous Syrian Athlete is stupid/crazy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghada_Shouaa
Ghada Shouaa, غادة شعاع and not Shawwaa شواء !!!!

Thinking that being the son of the chief peasant of Tal Kalakh (of all places) qualifies someone as “nobility” is crazy

As Hamster said: don’t take your medications.

October 11th, 2011, 11:12 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

AIG,

Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps Assad supporters don’t care about creativity, or patents, or freedoms, or elections, or the economy, or (in Ann’s case) human rights?

October 11th, 2011, 11:14 pm

 

Revlon said:

702. Dear majedkhaldoun,
” Tara
You mentioned that SC is getting board ,are you planning to leave it?
Revlon and Uzair8,Sheila and Syrian hamester,are you considering quitting SC?”

I will continue visiting, posting and commenting as long as I find that useful.

I share with Tara the feeling that that something has changed on SC!
The latter has coincided with the change in style of editorialship brought in by the new eteemed team of editors and probably also has to do with the establishmhment of new realities after 7 months into the revolution.

Joshua used to throw in many local, regional and international related news from bothsides of the divide, with relatively little personal input.
Such used to provide lots of amunition for heated debates.

Comapratively, Ehsani and Alex have thusfar emphesized economy. They have provided proportionately fewer headlines and heavier balancing moderation in presenting information.

Those who value balanced moderation would see the positive side of this change.
Others who value debating myriads of raw material as well are bound to miss the virtual drama of heated discussuions.

The stead fastness of the revolution and the establishment of the SNC has brought some calm confidence to the Ma’s camp.

On the other hand, the failure of the regime to stiffle the revolution in spite of caliming the opposite on more than one occasion, the exposure of their ineptness in top leadership as well as in military, security, and their mobe thugs have brought sobering have brought the Mn’s camp sobering reality of an inevitable and impending change.

October 11th, 2011, 11:18 pm

 

Syrian Nationalist Party said:

@NK

We just left this comment on another Middle East pro neocons website:

(regarding the Iranian actress lashes) After watching couple clips:

It appears to be silly adolescent movie, Iran is oriented toward serious life and future, you can be supported if you to excel in sciences but not in promoting decadent western culture (that is how they view it) Iran is not Amsterdam, and it is an Islamic Republic. The rule are harsh and can be strict, but they are fair and clear, if you don’t want to be part of it, just leave it to live in other places. What disturbs me more is that when Conservative Moslems immigrates to California, and then try to turn the place into a Moslem Country. That is not the deal, I moved away from the culture you made back home, why the hell you are following me here, get out and go back to live in the culture of your lifestyle is the fair way.

And NK and crue, soon you will be all barking eternally alone on this blog, until teh paychecks stops. We are almost done here.

October 11th, 2011, 11:34 pm

 

ghufran said:

Hasan AbdulAzeem
(I was surprised he gave an interview to Champress.a pro regime site)
ردت هيئة التنسيق الوطني لقوى التغيير الديمقراطي في سورية على المبادرة الروسية حول امكانية استضافة موسكو لجلسات حوار بين المعارضة والسلطة بأن دمشق وليس أي مكان آخر ستكون ساحة لجلسات الحوار بعد ان يهيئ النظام “المناخ الملائم” للحوار , فيما رأت ان الشعب وليس أي جهة أخرى هي التي تمنح الشرعية لأي حزب أو تكتل سياسي , واذ أشارت الى وجود محاولات من قبل (المجلس الوطني السوري) لـ “الاستئثار واحتكار” صوت المعارضة لنفسها وان تغييب التيار القومي في مؤتمر اسطنبول مقصود, دعت “الحكماء والعقلاء” في (المجلس) أن يعملوا على وحدة المعارضة وفق رؤية وثوابت وطنية مشتركة , في الوقت الذي طالبت بآلية مدنية لـ”حماية” المدنيين من العنف من خلال الضغوط السياسية و ليس عبر التدخل العسكري , فيما رأت ان لها الحق بان تتواصل مع أي هيئة أو مؤسسة دولية لكن بشكل علني وواضح كونها معارضة وطنية وجزء من “البديل الديمقراطي” , كما شددت الهيئة على عدم وجود قنوات للحوار مع السلطة واعتبرت مشاركة المعارضة في الحكومة هو “تجميل للسلطة”.
وأشار المحامي حسن عبد العظيم، المنسق العام لهيئة تنسيق قوى التغيير الديمقراطي في سورية في حديث خاص لـ شام برس الى وجود محاولات من قبل (المجلس الوطني السوري) لـ”الاستئثار واحتكار” صوت المعارضة لنفسها , مذكراً بأن السلطة ومن خلال نهجها “الشمولي” و”احتكار السلطة” على مدى عقود لم تستطع إلغاء الاحزاب السياسية ، اضعفتها نعم ,لكن لم تلغيها من خلال عدم الترخيص لها وممارسة المضايقات ضد أعضائها وملاحقتهم واعتقالهم , فإذا كانت السلطة لم تسطتع إلغائها وبالتأكيد لا يستطيع “المجلس الوطني” إلغائنا أو إلغاء أي قوة أو تيار .

نستطيع أيضاً ان نُخرج مظاهرات ولافتات تعتبر هيئة التنسيق الممثل الشعبي للحراك ..
ولفت عبد العظيم الى وجود شخصيات ضمن “المجلس الوطني” من لديه الرغبة في إلغاء وإقصاء وتهميش دور هيئة التنسيق , مؤكداً ان البعض يريد اعتبار “المجلس” هو الممثل الوحيد للشارع ” المنتفض ” والمعارضة وهذا خطأ أمل عبد العظيم ان لا يتكرر , مشدداً على ان هيئة التنسيق تستطيع أيضا أن تخرج مظاهرات ولافتات تعتبر هيئة التنسيق الممثل الشعبي للحراك ,واصفاً هذه التصرفات بالخطرة تؤدي الى تقسيم الشارع بدلا من أن توحده .
ودعا المنسق العام لهيئة التنسيق “الحكماء والعقلاء” في (المجلس) أن يعملوا على وحدة المعارضة وفق رؤية وثوابت وطنية مشتركة , وبعيداً عن الطرح الإيديولوجي والعقائدي وبعيداً عن المهاترات الاعلامية.

الشعب وليس أي جهة أخرى هي التي تمنح الشرعية لأي حزب أو تكتل سياسي ..
من جهة أخرى رأى المحامي المعارض ان وزير الخارجية وليد المعلم ومن خلال تهديده للدول التي تعترف بالمجلس الوطني بانه “حاول ممارسة ضغوط على الدول لعدم الاعتراف بـ”المجلس” معتبراً ان الدول “غير ملزمة” بالاستجابة لهذه الدعوة”, وان الشرعية لأي كيان أو تكتل سياسي يستمد شرعيته من الشعب وليس من السلطة , منوهاً ان دول العالم كانت تعترف فقط بالحكومات القائمة في مختلف البلدان , لكن بعد أحداث 11 أيلول في أمريكا وفي ظل ما يجري في العالم من مطالب للحريات الاساسية وحقوق الإنسان وخصوصاً في دول العالم الثالث,بدأت الحكومات تتصل بقوى واحزاب المعارضة لننظم “الشمولية ” للتعرف على هذه القوى ,وماذا تمثل وما برنامجها إن كان سلمياً او قائماً على العنف ,وعندما اسست هيئة التنسيق الوطني في دمشق اتصلت بنا عدة جهات وسفارات للتعرف على نرنامجنا ، مشدداً على ان الهيئة لم تطلب الاعتراف بها , بل عرفت نفسها كجزءا من الشعب , معتبراً أن المعارضة اليوم يمثلها تجمعين كبيرين هما هيئة التنسيق الوطني المعارضة في الداخل والتي تم 15 حزب وغالبية الشخصيات الوطنية المستقلة المعارضة في الداخل والخارج , والطرف الأخر “المجلس الوطني” الذي شكل في تركيا مؤخرا ووحد أطراف جديدة التيار الإسلامي ” الإخوان المسلمين ” والتيار الليبرالي و”إعلان دمشق” , غامزاً في قناة “المجلس الوطني” انه يحاول الاعتراف به ككيان سياسي , لافتاً الى أن طلب التدخل الخارجي أو العسكري في أي دولة يتطلب من “كيان سياسي معترف به على غرار “المجلس الانتقالي” في ليبيا , وذكّر هنا ان “المجلس الانتقالي الليبي” شُكل وتم الاعتراف به عربياً ودولياً, وبعدها طلب المجلس من الجامعة العربية التدخل وبدورها الجامعة العربية طلبت من مجلس الأمن التدخل عسكريا في ليبيا .رافضاً في الوقت نفسه التشكيك بنوايا أعضاء “المجلس”.

نطالب بآلية مدنية لـ”حماية” المدنيين من العنف ..
كما أشار الى أطراف في “المجلس الوطني” التي كانت سابقا تشارك في “الاستبداد” الداخلي وتتحدث اليوم وتطلب تدخل عسكري , ونحن كهيئة نطالب بآلية مدنية لـ”حماية” المدنيين من العنف والاعتقال , وذلك من خلال الضغوط السياسية والاقتصادية التي لا تمس مصلحة الشعب , و ليس عبر التدخل العسكري.
وكشف أن الاجتماع الذي عقدته المعارضة في الدوحة تم الاتفاق خلاله على تشكيل “إئتلاف وطني موحد” للمعارضة السورية في الداخل والخارج , حيث تم الاتفاق بحسب عبد العظيم على مشروع بيان وعلى آلية تنظيمية للمعارضة بحيث تكون القيادة في الداخل باعتبارها تتعامل مع الوقائع بشكل مباشر وعلى الأرض على أن يكون لها أمتداد للخارج .
وتابع عبد العظيم “أصدرنا كهيئة بيان موافقة على هذا المشروع بهدف توحيد المعارضة في إئتلاف موحد ورؤية سياسية مشتركة وليست رؤية عقائدية إيديولوجية غير قابلة للتلأويل حيث تضم مايلي :
1_ إسقاط النظام “الاستبدادي الأمني” وبناء دولة ديمقراطية برلمانية تعديدية تداولية.
2_ رفض العنف والأنجرار إلى التسلح.
3_ رفض النعرات الطائفية والمذهبية .
4_ رفض التدخل الخارجي وخصوصا العسكري لأنه يؤدي إلى تدمير الدولة وليس النظام ويعرض وحدة سورية إلى الخطر . مؤكداً ان هذه الرؤية لم يتم التوصل إلى اتفاق حولها مع “المجلس” , وقد أجرينا مؤخراً محاولات لاستكمال هذا الاتفاق مع “المجلس الوطني” على أساس هذه النقاط للاندماج في كتلة معارضة موحدة يعبر عن الحراك الشعبي ودور الشباب والتي يجعل من خلالها إمكانية تسريع التغيير الديمقراطي وتجنيب سورية المزيد من الخسائر في الأرواح والاقتصاد , مؤكداً وجود شخصيات من المجلس رفضت أن تكون القيادة في الداخل .

تغييب التيار القومي في مؤتمر اسطنبول مقصود..
ولفت المنسق العام لهيئة التنسيق إلى تعمد البعض في المجلس تغييب التيار القومي في الداخل عن الاجتماع الاخير في تركيا ,مشدداً على أن أي تجمع للمعارضة يجب أن يحرص أن يضم كل أطياف المعارضة وكل الشخصيات التي تمثل هذه التيارات مؤكداً أن الهيئة طلبت من المجلس الوطني عقد لقاءه الأخير في دولة عربية مثل بيروت أو القاهرة لكن أعضاء المجلس اصروا على عقد اللقاء في اسطنبول ومع ذلك رحبنا به وطالبناه بالعمل على توحيد المعارضة.

العمل العسكري أخطر من “الاستبداد”..
واذ اعتبرعبد العظيم “الاستبداد” والحكم “الشمولي” و”احتكار السلطة” يضر بسورية ، فان التدخل الخارجي والعمل العسكري أخطر من “الاستبداد” لانه قد يؤدي إلى احتلال أو تقسيم أو إلى توترات طائفية كما حدث في العراق .

نحن كمعارضة وطنية جزء من “البديل الديمقراطي” ويحق لنا أن نتواصل مع أي هيئة أو مؤسسة دولية لكن بشكل علني وواضح…
وفي رده عن سؤال حول سهولة اللقاء مع السفير الامريكي واستحالة اللقاء مع النظام , رأى عبد العظيم أن اللقاء مع السفير الامريكي يختلف عن اللقاء مع النظام, فالسلطة لا تعترف بنا كقوة وأحزاب ومعارضة بل تقول أن هناك شخصيات من المعارضة ,وهي تنكر وجودنا أساساً ,والحوار يتطلب اعتراف متبادل ونؤكد هنا كهيئة أنه لا يستطيع أحد بما فيه السلطة إنكار وجودنا.
وتابع المنسق العام لهيئة التنسيق “نحن كمعارضة وطنية جزء من “البديل الديمقراطي” , والاطراف العربية والإقليمية والدولية من حقها أن تتعرف على هذا “البديل الديمقراطي” وينغي أن تكون اللقاءات في وضح النهار وليس سرياً, مذكرا بأن التجمع الوطني الديمقراطي من تاريخ 23/12/2001 أعلن برنامجه السياسي وزارنا ممثلين عن السفارات الهولندية والتشيكية والفرنسية و الإسبانية بين 2001 و 2005 ليتعرف على برنامج التجمع , كذلك عندما شُكلت هيئة التنسيق الوطني أردات أطراف دولية وإقليمية التعرف على برنامج الهيئة ورؤيته السياسية اذا كانت ديمقراطية سليمة أو تحتوي على العنف , ويحق لنا أن نتواصل مع أي هيئة أو مؤسسة دولية لكن بشكل علني وواضح.

السفير الأمريكي “تحسس ” فقام بالزيارة والسلطة افتعلت”الذوبعة” حول الزيارة..
وبيّن عبد العظيم ان السفير الامريكي خلال زيارته مكتب هيئة التنسيق الوطني أراد أن يتعرف على برنامج الهيئة بعد أن “تحسس” بان الهيئة تمثل شريحة من المعارضة في الداخل والخارج, متهماً السلطة بإثارة “الذوبعة” حول هذه الزيارة ,لافتاً إلى أن السفير الاسباني وقبل يوم واحد زار مكتب الهيئة ولمدة ساعة ونصف ولم تحدث أي إشكالية او بلبلة , كما زارنا قبله وفد السفارة الصينية , وأكد عبدأطلعنا السفير الأمريكي على رؤيتنا من خلال الرفض القاطع للتدخل العسكري وأننا كهيئة نعمل على بناء دولة ديمقراطية تعددية , مجدداً ترحيبه في أي جهة تريد التعرف على برنامج الهيئة .

النظام ليس لديه نية بالاعتراف بالمعارضة و ندائه للحوار ما هو الا محاولات لكسب الوقت ..
ورأى عبد العظيم ” ان النظام الى الآن ليس لديه نية بالاعتراف بالمعارضة أو بالأزمة أو حتى بـ”الانتفاضة السلمية” التي تطالب بـ”الحرية والديمقراطية والعدالة الاجتماعية وإنهاء حكم الحزب الواحد” , بل دأب (النظام) على وصفها بأنها مؤامرة خارجية وفتنة وعصابات مسلحة وتعامل معها على هذا الاساس “الحل الأمني” , مردفاً ان ما يقال عن الحوار ما هو الا محاولات من قبل السلطة لكسب الوقت لإنهاء حالة الاحتجاج “السلمي” من جهة , ولكي يظهر أمام الدول الخارجية أن السلطة تسعى للحوار مع المعارضة من جهة أخرى , مجدداً موقف الهيئة من الحوار أننا لا نذهب إلى الحوار قبل توفر “المناخ الملائم له”, من خلال إنهاء “الحل الأمني” وسحب الجيش والأمن من المدن والبلدات, والسماح بالتظاهر السلمي , وإطلاق سراح المعتقلين السياسين و, الاعتراف بالمعارضة كطرف سياسي , وعند تحقيق هذه المطالب تعهد عبد العظيم بأن يأتي بوفد يمثل كل أحزاب المعارضة في الداخل والخارج وحتى من شباب الحراك ” التنسيقيات ” من أجل وضع مشروع دستور جديد وقانون انتخابات وأحزاب وجمعيات وقانون الإعلام .

الأزمة الحالية هي امتداد لأزمة الثمانينيات ..
وشدد المعارض السوري ذو الثمانين عاماً على “ان هيئة التنسيق لا تبحث عن مكاسب حزبية أو أي كسب ذاتي او شخصي بل تبحث عن حل أزمة وطنية عميقة , معتقداً أن الأزمة الحالية هي امتداد لأزمة الثمانينيات التي رأى أن ملفاتها ما زالت عالقة حتى اليوم ,سواء ملف حالة الطوارئ و”الاعتقال السياسي” والمفقودين والمنفيين والمبعدين , الى جانب قانون 49 لعام 1980 الذي يجرم من ينتسب لـ”لإخوان المسلمين” و”ملف الأكراد ” , معتبراً الأحداث الجارية جاءت لتعمق من هذه الازمة , مكرراً حرص الهيئة على حل هذه الازمة بالطرق السياسية السلمية ,للانتقال بسورية إلى شاطئ الأمان بأقل الخسائر .

سحب الجيش والامن من البلدان والمدن اختبار حقيقي لسلمية الحراك ..
وعن سؤالنا حول ضمانات خروج الجيش من البلدان والمدن ان لا تقوم مجموعات مسلحة بالاعتداء على المواطنين والممتلكات العامة والخاصة كما تطالب المعارضة , اقترح عبد العظيم مبادرة وصفها بالـ”محك” الحقيقي لسلمية الحراك , بان يعود الجيش إلى ثكناته وسحب الأمن والسماح بالتظاهر السلمي دون أي قيود بوجود عناصر من الشرطة فقط , هنا يظهر إن كان الحراك مسلحاً أو سلمياً , مستدركاً بتوجيه دعوة الى المتظاهرين بتطويق واحتواء العناصر المسلحة في حال فإذا تعذر ذلك يطلب هنا مساعدة الأمن والجيش , واصفاً العناصر المسلحة في المظاهرة بأنها “أداة” لتشويه الحراك السلمي ,
ورأى عبد العظيم أنه هذا المقترح يبدأ الاحتقان والغضب وحالة العنف بالتراجع ويؤدي إلى اعتراف السلطة بالازمة وتبدأ بمعالجتها واصفا هذا المقترح بالمحك ,مكرراً رفض الهيئة لفكرة التسليح أو العنف .

انتقاد للفيتو “الروسي الصيني” في مجلس الأمن ..
وانتقد عبد العظيم للفيتو “الروسي الصيني” في مجلس الأمن , لأن القرار لا يحتوي على عقويات او يدعو الى التدخل الخارجي , بل “يراعي” مطالب الشعب السوري وإقناع السلطة بضرورة تحقيق هذه المطالب , مستدركاً “لو كان هذا مشروع القارا الأممي يتضمن التدخل العسكري لكنا باركنا الفيتو الروسي الصيني, كا شفاً عن زيارة قام بها وفد من السفارة الصينية قبل يومين يضم السكرتير الأول في السفارة للشؤن السياسية بعد أن توضح لهم أن الهيئة هي حركة معارضة وطنية تتحرك في الداخل ولها برنامج سلمي, وطالبناه في تفسير موقف بلاده في مجلس الامن وحرصنا على العلاقات الودية والاحترام المتبادل بين الشعبين .

قادرون على زيارة الجامعة العربية والعواصم العربية لكن أولويتنا الآن هي توحيد المعارضة و”مأسسة” الهيئة..
وحول الموقف العربي تجاه الأحداث في سورية , أشار عبد العظيم إلى أن الامين العام لجامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي و خلال زيارته الأولى إلى دمشق , لم تكن لديه فكرة عما يجري في سورية, كان يعتقد أن سورية تتعرض لمؤامرة خارجية بسبب موقفه من القضية الفلسطينية ودعمه لحركات المقاومة في فلسطين ولبنان والعراق , وفي الزيارة الثانية أدرك العربي أن المسألة ليست فقط السياسة الخارجية بل السياسة الداخلية للسلطة حيث استأثرت في الحكم من خلال حزب واحد وخلل في الاوضاع الاقتصادية بسبب سياسية اقتصاد السوق, فجاء الى دمشق وحمل مبادرة أكثر وضوحاَ, ليست كما نطمح لكنها أكثر تقبلاً دعت من خلالها السلطة إلى وقف العنف وسحب الجيش والسماح بالتظاهر السلمي وإطلاق سراح المعتقلين وإجراء حوار لترتيب عملية انتقال إلى النظام التعددي الديمقراطي , والسلطة بحسب عبد العظيم لم تستجب , معتقداً أن الهيئة قادرة على زيارة الجامعة العربية والعواصم العربية لكن أولويتها الآن هي توحيد المعارضة وبلورة آليات ومؤسسات ومكاتب هيئة التنسيق السياسية والإعلامية والشعبية , وبعد ذلك يمكن للهيئة أن نبعث وفد ليزور موسكو والقاهرة وتونس كون سورية جزء من الوطن العربي وجزء من العالم ,ونحن معنيين أن تكون علاقتنا إيجابية مع الدول العربية والإقليمية والدولية وعندما يكون لأي جهة معارضة مشروع وطني سلمي فإن الدول العربية والإقليمية تسعى إلى الاتصال بهذه الجهة .

دمشق وليس أي مكان آخر ستكون ساحة لجسلات الحوار ..
وعن اقتراح رئيس لجنة الشؤون الدولية في مجلس الاتحاد الروسي ميخائيل مارغيلوف باستضافة موسكو جلسات للحوار بين النظام والمعارضة , رأى المنسق العام لهئية التنسيق “أن أي حوار حقيقي وجاد يأتي بعد توفير “المناخات”التي ذكرناها سابقاً , مشدداً على ان دمشق وليس أي مكان بالعالم هي المكان الوحيد لاجراء الحوار كونه المشروع وطني ، ونحن كهيئة نعول على البعد الداخلي كأساس لأي تغيير سياسي , والبعد العربي يأتي في المرتبة الثانية ويأتي البعد الإقليمي والدولي كعوامل مساعدة ومكملة وليست أساسية .
ووصف عبد العظيم الموقف الروسي والصيني بالهام جداً كون البلدين لهم علاقات إإيجابية ومؤثرة مع النظام تستطيع من خلال ذلك الضغط عىيه للمطالبة بوقف “الحل الأمني” وتفعيل الحل السياسي أكثر من أي دولة أخرى, مطالباً هذه الدول الى جانب البرازيل والهند وجنوب إفريقيا للوقوف إلى جانب الشعب السوري ومطالبه العادلة , والضغط على السلطة من أجل الاعتراف بالازمة وضرورة التغيير الديمقراطي الشامل لبناء دولة برلمانية تكون نموذجا للمنطقة .

مشاركة المعارضة في الحكومة هو “تجميل للسلطة”..
وحول وجود مبادرة روسية لتشكيل حكومة وحدة وطنية تشارك فيها شخصيات من المعارضة رأى عبد العظيم أن مشاركة المعارضة في السلطة هو “تجميل للسلطة”, معتبرا أن الازمة تحتاج إلى تغيير بنيوي كامل للنظام وللسلطة والدولة والمؤسسات ,لتكون الإرادة للشعب وهو مصدر السلطة

تلقينا اتصالات من قبل هيئة الحوار الوطني ..
واذ جدد نفيه بعدم وجود قنوات حوار مباشرة مع السلطة كشف عبد العظيم لـ شام برس عن اتصالات من قبل هيئة الحوار الوطني برئاسة نائب الرئيس فاروق الشرع , وذلك بعيد تشكيل “المجلس الوطني” في تركيا , كما تلقى اتصالاً من عضو بهيئة الحوار وصفه بالصديق رفض الكشف عن اسمه وذلك بعد المؤتمر الاخير للهيئة يوم الخميس الماضي , حيث دُعيت هيئة التنسيق للحوار , ردت هنا الهيئة انه ” لم يحدث أي جديد على الأرض ” .

لم نتسرع باتهام أي جهة باغتيال تمو لانه سيكون اتهام سياسي..
وحول اغتيال المعارض الكردي البارز مشعل تمو حمل المنسق العام لهيئة التنسيق السلطات مسؤولية الكشف عن ملابسات حادثة الاغتيال ,والجهات التي تقف وراء هذه الجريمة , مشدداً على عدم التسرع باتهام أي جهة لانه سيكون بحسب عبد العظيم اتهام سياسي , وكون تمو ينتمي الى طرف قومي في سورية تزيد مسؤولية مضاعفة على السلطة لكشف المسؤولية ومعاقبة الفاعلين, معتبراً استمرار دوامة العنف واغتيال شخصية معارضة لها تداعيات خطيرة, معزياً سورية وشعبها العربي والكردي باستشهاد تمو.

وحول دعوة العقيد المنشق الفار رياض الأسعد قائد ما يسمى “جيش سورية الحر” دول العالم بامداده بالسلاح , رفض عبد العظيم فكرة التسلح معتبراً ان قوة “الحراك الشعبي” بسلميته ونبذ العنف والطائفية

October 12th, 2011, 12:12 am

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Moderator pls note SNP’s disgusting comments.

Sharmout Hussein, Sharmout Ali, Sharmout Ahl al Bayt, Sharmout Karbala.

October 12th, 2011, 2:19 am

 

Son of Damascus said:

@ SNP

You are a hypocrite. You cry foul when you feel threatened, yet at the same time call other people’s deity a whore.

Your version of Syria resembles Nazi Germany. Why do you want to wipe out the Sunni population in Syria? Your party’s name is Syrian NATIONAL Party, whats so nationalistic about what you are saying?

Do you really believe by stooping to bigotry you are going to make your point better?

Syria is for all Syrians, no matter what religion, sect, or background.

Why do you, and your party want to deny Syrians their rights to freedoms?
Why do you, and your party actively and consistently slander a large portion of Syria’s population?
Are you a member of the Syrian National party or the Baath party?
If you are not a member of the Baath party, why do you back them so much? Are you not the “opposition”?
Is your party just a lap dog party? Do you just follow orders, and do as you are told?

Please note these questions are not sarcastic, I would just like to know more about SNP. They are just a list of question compiled by observing your posts, and I am just wondering if they are your personal beliefs, or your party’s as well.

Regards

Son of Damascus

October 12th, 2011, 2:43 am

 

Khalid Tlass said:

Sharmout Shiaa, Sharmout Khomeini,

October 12th, 2011, 2:45 am

 

Khalid Tlass said:

No use talking to SNP like that, only bullets work for the likes of him.

October 12th, 2011, 2:49 am

 

Son of Damascus said:

@ Khalid Tlass

What you write is an insult to the martyrs that died savagely. We should respect and honour them, and not sully them by stooping to the level of the regime.

Syria is for ALL. Alawi, Christian, Armenian, Kurdy, Shii3i, hell even if you believe in the flying spaghetti monster!

Being a bigot and a racist is not conducive to the cause. It is actually counter productive and plays into the hands of the legalized mafia we call the regime.

We are better, the martyrs that died, the people being tortured, the mothers that are spending sleepless nights wondering where are their children, are better than the regime.

We must focus on moving Syria forwards not backwards. The people that died, arrested, tortured all wanted the same things; respect, dignity and freedom.

Lets continue their cause, in an honourable and just way. Lets not use the same low level tactics these thugs have been forcing ALL Syrians into the past 40 years.

regards

Son of Damascus

October 12th, 2011, 3:06 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Leaving!

MAJEDKHALDOUN @ 702

How long do you think “i” can stay around after AP@704 blew out “my” cover.

October 12th, 2011, 4:28 am

 

Tara said:

Majedkhaldoon

When I said SC losing its appeal, I did not mean it is becoming boring. I meant that SC is turning into a hate site. I am all for expressing political opinion but when repeated terms such as “kaka kaba” or “kaka Jesus” by mentally disturbed individuals are allowed, it ceases from being a site to discuss politics, religious, and culture and morphs into something else. This is not coming from a religious zeal. I do not have one. I am here to be influenced by the opposing opinions and I am indeed becoming influenced but in the wrong way. The site is teaching hatred, bigotry, and intolerance. Feelings that I refuse to have but appear rampant on SC nowadays.

October 12th, 2011, 7:12 am

 

Obama totes his Iranian smoking gun « said:

[…] sting, Inter Press Service. 4. The Iranian Connection, Foreign Policy, October 12, 2011. 5. The Issue Of Foreign Intervention – US Calls on Assad to “Step Down Now”. Robert Ford, making a difference (By Ehsani), Syria Comment, October 7 2011. 6. Robert Ford: […]

October 18th, 2011, 12:20 am

 

The ‘great game’ in Syria « In These New Times said:

[…] manage Al-Jazeera, Al-Intiqad, 20 September 2011. 6. See here. 7. See here. 8. See here. 9. See here. 10. See here. 11. See here. 12. See here. 13. See here. 14. See here. 15. See here. 16. […]

October 22nd, 2011, 3:58 pm

 

The ‘great game’ in Syria | The Global Realm said:

[…] to manage Al-Jazeera, Al-Intiqad, 20 September 2011. 6. See here. 7. See here. 8. See here. 9. See here. 10. See here. 11. See here. 12. See here. 13. See here. 14. See here. 15. See here. 16. See […]

October 25th, 2011, 8:39 pm

 

The ‘great game’ in Syria « Middle East atemporal said:

[…] manage Al-Jazeera, Al-Intiqad, 20 September 2011. 6. See here. 7. See here. 8. See here. 9. See here. 10. See here. 11. See here. 12. See here. 13. See here. 14. See here. 15. See here. 16. […]

October 26th, 2011, 2:09 pm

 
 

Syria and Iran: the great game | Alastair Crooke | Comment is free | The Guardian said:

[…] opposition council, put together by Turkey, France and Qatar, is caught out by the fact that the Syrian security structures have remained near rock solid through seven months – defections have been negligible – and Assad's popular support base are […]

November 5th, 2011, 8:07 am

 

Syria and Iran: the great game | Alastair Crooke - NET2 World News said:

[…] opposition council, put together by Turkey, France and Qatar, is caught out by the fact that the Syrian security structures have remained near rock solid through seven months – defections have been negligible – and Assad’s popular support base […]

November 5th, 2011, 8:18 pm

 

Syria and Iran: the great game | Alastair Crooke | Comment is free | The Guardian « All-out US-China nuclear war, looming, to wipe out one-fourths of the earth. said:

[…] opposition council, put together by Turkey, France and Qatar, is caught out by the fact that the Syrian security structures have remained near rock solid through seven months – defections have been negligible – and Assad’s popular support […]

November 6th, 2011, 4:44 am

 

Syria and Iran: the great game « In These New Times said:

[…] opposition council, put together by Turkey, France and Qatar, is caught out by the fact that the Syrian security structures have remained near rock solid through seven months – defections have been negligible – and Assad’s popular support […]

November 7th, 2011, 6:40 am

 

The perils of regime change in Syria - Global Dashboard – Blog covering International affairs and global risks said:

[…] the Assads have much more going for them then any of these other rulers. Despite some desertions, Syria’s military and internal security apparatus remains a cohesive force unlikely to disintegrate anytime soon. The economic and political elites are more cohesive, and […]

November 22nd, 2011, 7:26 am

 

Syria and Iran: the great game | Alastair Crooke - World Bad News : World Bad News said:

[…] antithesis council, put together by Turkey, France and Qatar, is held out by a fact that the Syrian confidence structures have remained nearby stone solid by 7 months – defections have been immaterial – and Assad’s renouned support bottom are […]

November 25th, 2011, 7:44 am

 

Suryoyo Hayastan said:

Syria’s Christians live in fear… If ASSAD goes then second Geocide period beginning for poor Armenians
In fact; when ASSAD goes, Holocaust comes

November 29th, 2011, 3:14 pm

 

The perils of regime change in Syria | Fragile States Resource Center said:

[…] the Assads have much more going for them then any of these other rulers. Despite some desertions, Syria’s military and internal security apparatus remains a cohesive force unlikely to disintegrate anytime soon. The economic and political elites are more cohesive, and […]

December 28th, 2011, 8:47 am

 

The 4th Media » Syria and Iran: The Great Game said:

[…] opposition council, put together by Turkey, France and Qatar, is caught out by the fact that the Syrian security structures have remained near rock solid through seven months – defections have been negligible – and Assad’s popular support base […]

January 16th, 2012, 3:39 am

 

Syria and Iran: The Great Game By Alastair Crooke | Sailan Muslim - The Online Resource for Sri Lanka Muslims said:

[…] opposition council, put together by Turkey, France and Qatar, is caught out by the fact that the Syrian security structures have remained near rock solid through seven months – defections have been negligible – and Assad's popular […]

January 16th, 2012, 6:16 am

 

Siria e Iran nel Grande Gioco « AGERECONTRA 2012 said:

[…] dell’opposizione siriana, messo insieme da Turchia, Francia e Qatar, è colpito dal fatto che le strutture di sicurezza siriane sono rimaste solide quasi come la roccia per sette mesi – le defezioni sono state trascurabili – e la base di […]

February 22nd, 2012, 2:40 am

 

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