I do not doubt that the FSA is a symbolic political body with zero chance of defeating the regime’s army,I also realized that most Syrians do not identify with those political figures they see on TV. That is why I believe dialogue among Syrians under international monitoring and guarantees,of safety and record keeping,etc,is the least costly way to end this crisis. The SNC arrogance is simply unacceptable,I suspected that they will dissolve,and I still stand by my statement.
Here is Fareed Zakaria on Syria:
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/10/zakaria-arming-the-syrian-opposition-is-risky/

IDAF –
I am pleased you spoke out for the resistance groups who do not have a voice in the world media.

The”silent resistance” may succeed for a while by following the path you outlined, but there will be a time when they must face the need to push back militarilly the destructive military and police forces fo the central government, and to give all Syrians a message of hope for the future, something everyone understands. Couple that with an action plan for the citizens who are on the sidelines but wish for a change. A simple statement such as equal rights for everyone and equal opportunity for all is a good starting place.

What imaginable ‘Shadow’ opposition the article is talking about?
-Nobody heard of them or their work and activities
-Their plans are inclusive to the members, the Syrian public don’t even know anything about.
-Their effort are not effective on the ground, they Will appear magically and suddenly to save Syria AFTER the regime fall.
-Their strength is in their discrete.
-The media doesn’t know anyone of them or report about them anywhere but in this article.

I’m sorry but no politicians in the world history succeed without being with people and known to thew-hen they are as hidden and away from everybody, unless they are some Syrian myth.

IDAF

“The amount of political opportunism, corruption, lack of vision and lack of independence in the SNC is staggering and identical to the Iraqi National Congress..The real opposition is maturing and growing in influence inside and on the ground away from the influence of Qatar, Turkey, Saudi, France or the US. It is a matter of time before the regime gives way..”

I am glad to hear that there are large activist networks on the ground that is maturing and have a vision, but don’t you think that it is time for us Syrians to stop vilifying the others and call them opportunistic and corrupt just because they are different.  Don’t understand me wrong, I have no emotional or physical ties to the SNC, but had it not been for the SNC’s and others hard work and dedication in rallying the world against the regime, Bashar and his thugs would have replayed Hama-I long time ago in every dissenting city and town and brutally silenced every and all opposing voices?

I personally would most definitely give my vote to a home grown leader whose vision is to preserve the rights of all Syrians, and at the same time the unity and the pride of Syria,  but I also like to give credit when credit is due.

Ehsani,
Do you think the talks about a deposit of $ by China and Ruusia in the SCB are credible?
I agree with Jad that we need to see those independent opposition movements and hear their political platform. If Egypt is a model,those groups are simply ladders to be used by Islamists to capture power. Look at the new Egyptian PA,you will only see men with beards and one woman (appointed) and a miserable rep of Al-Aqbaat who are over 12 million strong. I can not buy fish in water,many will agree.

3. Jad said:

What imaginable ‘Shadow’ opposition the article is talking about?

The mossad

Thanks, Mawal95, for this:

I’d heard a leak or rumour that under the newly drafted Constitution a person wanting to compete as a candidate in the Presidential election must receive the endorsements of 20 percent of the members of parliament, and another leak that it was 5 percent. I’ve since read another source, Qadri Jamil, who’s a member of the drafting Committee, who’s saying the percentage is 35 percent.

The official Chinese state press agency did indeed quote Qadri Jamil (one of the lucky few who new ‘party’ has been licensed).

If Xinhua quoted him correctly, it seems obvious why some might think the new constitution must be kept under wraps, and not shown to the people. First it must go to the moribund Syrian Assembly**, where the proceedings will occur in closed committee.

Delay, obfuscation, lack of attention to the desires of anyone other than the ruling powers …

From today’s SANA article:

President al-Assad expressed appreciation of the Committee members’ efforts to carry out this national task, calling upon them to shoulder their responsibility as a Committee charged with preparing the draft constitution to explain its articles to the citizens with all possible means so that the citizen is the one to have the final decision to approve the constitution.

“When the new constitution is approved, Syria will have passed the most important stage of laying down the constitutional and legal structure through the reforms and laws that have already been issued to take the country to a new era in cooperation with all spectrums of the Syrian people to achieve what we all aspire for in terms of developing our country to draw a brilliant future for next generations,” said President al-Assad.

From the Xinhua article:

Amending the constitution has been one of the main demands by Syrian protesters. In particular, they want the cancellation of Section Eight, which states that the Baath party is the leader of the nation and the society.

The amendment of Section Eight would open the way for the formation of parties besides the Baath and 11 other closely associated parties. The committee tasked with drafting the new constitution has decided to limit presidential terms to a maximum of two seven-year mandates.

Committee Member Qadri Jamil said President Assad will end this term in 2014 and can be elected to another 7-year term.

Qadri Jamil said, “According to the new draft constitution, future presidents will not be nominated by the Ba’ath Party. Every candidate must get 35 percent of the votes in Parliament. And there are also demands of age, degree and other qualifications for candidates.”

This is even worse than I thought. If there are age and (post-secondary) degrees necessary to get elected, what would be the “Other Qualifications”? Maybe we can get a Syria Comment insider scoop, and Jamil could give more of a sneek peek …

In Canada, age and degree restrictions would likely have kept a great crop of new MPs out of our Parliament. We would have missed out on the marvelous Laurin Liu (though perhaps not Djaouida Sellah). I just do not understand why the process and details are so hushed and secretive.
___________________

** there is a blank for the offical page for the Syrian Assembly. Who the particular members of that body may be, the system is not telling us. Whatever it does but serve as a hanger for a SANA story, this too is unknown. How Qadri Jamil got to be part of and spokesman for the committee, also obscure.

Today there was few interesting comments in an article in al-Arabiyah. The article is entitled: “The Challenge of the Rebels reaches the heart of the Syrian Capital Damascus”

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/12/194185.html

The article is really average, but the comments are interesting.

The ones overseeing the comment section blocked many comments, including mine of course, that did not fit the Saudi/Qatari agenda. While at the same time letting many take a free ride. They published 25 comments out of 163 for the one person threatening violence against the Alawis of course and invoking the decree of Ibn Taymiyah as usual.

Still here are the few interesting comments:

The first is by a Moroccan man who said that the army is a huge factor in overturning regimes. He said: ”

– انتم تدرون في حلقة مفرغةمغربي (زائر)
12/02/2012 م، 05:44 مساءً (السعودية) 02:44 مساءً (جرينتش)
كيف سيسقط النظام والجيش والمخابرات و الامن معه رئيس تونس ومصر واليمن وليبيا سقطو لانهم لم يتحكمو في الجيش بينما بشار الجيش معه الشعارات والفاخر بالصمود وقوة الشعب لاتجدي امام قوة جيش موالي للنظام واخواننا السوريين لم يفعلو كما طلب ثوار مصر و تونس واليمن باسقاط الرئيس وبقاء الجيش والنظام بل طالبو ايضا باسقاط الجيش و القصاص من قادته وعندما تكون المواجهة هي ضد الجيش فستكون النتيجة هيا مثل الجزائر تماما سحق الثورة وبقاء النظام

Another interesting comment is by a woman from Damascus cursing the Alawis and calling them names while asking them to keep their dirt out of snow-white Damascus, the Damascus of Nizar Qabbani.

103 – الشام لأهل دمشق الاصليين و يجب المحافظة عليها

دمشقية (زائر)

12/02/2012 م، 08:57 مساءً (السعودية) 05:57 مساءً (جرينتش)
يجب أستعادة دمشق الشريفة من ايدي المحتلين الأوباش النصيريين و عدم السماح لهم بتنجيسها مرة اخرى ..و بعد سقوطهم يجب ان نضع قانونا يحرم هجرة الريف الى المدينة لتزدهر الزراعة من جديد و يزدهر البلد مع المساعدة الكبيرة للفلاحين ،لان أراضيهم و قراهم جنة للناظرين. هي اولى بهم ولا ادري لماذا يهجرونها و يأتون إلينا… فالشام اختنقت و تلوث جوها و بليت بالأمراض بسبب هذا.. اتركوا الشام بحالها حتى يستطيع اهلها و مغتربيها الكثر( بسبب النظام ) إعمارها من جديد فنحن احن الناس على الشام ونفديها بروحنا و ليزهر الياسمين و يتنفس الصعداء كوصية شاعرنا الكبير نزار قباني

She comes back again with this gem

134 – الشام لأهل دمشق الاصليين و يجب المحافظة عليهادمشقية (زائر)

13/02/2012 م، 12:30 صباحاً (السعودية) 09:30 مساءً (جرينتش)
هيا يا ابطال دمشق الحضارة هبوا لنجدتها ونجدة إخوانكم في حمص ..الشهامة و العزة عنوانكم هبوا وعين الله تحرسكم ، طهروها من الدنس أعيدوا لنا بياض الياسمين بعد ان اسود من قذاراتهم . اهل دمشق الشرفاء الأتقياء اهل العز أعيدوا لنا مجدنا و كرامتنا …

IDAF,

What you said makes more and more important that Syria produce a system that will let the Syrian people chose without taking sides before the election, the fair system is what Syria needs, no who is better.let the people decide that.

Syria ‘categorically’ rejects Arab League decisions
(AFP)

12 February 2012
CAIRO – Syria on Sunday “categorically” rejected the decision by Arab foreign ministers to back the Syrian opposition and call for a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping mission, the Syrian ambassador to Cairo said.

“The Syrian Arab Republic categorically rejects the decisions of the Arab League” which he said “reflects the hysteria of these governments” after failing to get foreign intervention at the UN Security Council, Yusef Ahmed said in a statement.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/February/middleeast_February385.xml&section=middleeast

The content of this article is purely vicious. The SNC corrupt? How on earth can a body with no power, be corrupt? Because it receives funds from KSA and among it’s members are Muslim brothers?

The SNC is not a political party, but an umbrella of different movements with a spectrum of views. Why do you attack them in such a rude and mean tone?

Instead of uniting and joining hands, this article calls for more divisiveness and fragmentation of the Syrian people and opposition.

Shame on you Idaf.
.

When will Iraq be the AL president.?

Thanks, Ehsani, for introducing a new voice in reports for Syria Comment. As someone now (relatively) safe outside Syria, Idaf will I hope answer some further questions raised by his article.

He claims that he is in touch with all the key opposition groups. I wonder if he can name them, without “outing” anyone. If he has worked with Local Coordination committees, medical relief, communications, material support. It is hard to know how well-placed he is to make such summary judgements.

As someone who is in touch with all key opposition groups, I wish Idaf would at least give an anonymous narrative of some of these wonderful leaders-in-waiting he has discovered in the large activist networks.

If “Media, policy makers and think tanks should be educated about the richness of the opposition,” then here is his opportunity. This is a widely-read blog. He should take the opportunity to expand, in my opinion. Slogans are not enough. Denunciations are not enough.

Yes, we all might agree with the generalization that “international media is lazy and sloppy,” but if “the movements themselves are secretive in nature,” the key to educating the media is information.

If the movements and individuals work along “unifed broad lines,” what are they?

Ehsani, please encourage Idaf to discuss and answer questions if he is able to. Otherwise this is just another cry of rage and frustration, a re-demonizing of the SNC by someone who gives no specifics to his charges.

here what i think is going on this weekend!

It is clear there is something being cooked in the back doors of everyone house!!!
1- Turkey has shut up and its PM is not heard anymore, who knows maybe his Anastomoses has been leaking Syrian blood and his shit on his hands.
2- The Americans have soften their voice and not much being said but media rhetoric, and Hillary is talking to Turkish tomorrow that the opposition they have created both together have failed miserable and even many admits they are worse than the regime itself.
3- the Syrian regime took the battle to the end ( as he should) against all the killers of the Syrians ( people are happy that the Army is bounding the area where the mercenaries and terrorists are present). people asked for the Syrian army to protect them and it is over due that Assad had the gut to bombard this terrorists.
4- It is clear that the Americans know that Alqaida in Syria is not the answer to Iran in Syria both are bad news for the Americans. Fareed Zakaria and many others understand that very well, except the Americans who either naive or want to be naive, it is clear that the Americans cooked their meal but don’t want to eat it.
strange, better through the meal out before it rotten more out.
I think this is the case of the outside opposition state at the current time.
5- GCC is going to be the biggest losers in this equation in spite of their money and filthy rich life style, when their population rise to the moment there is not going to be anyone to defend this pig rich goat beards trashy princes/kings/retards.
6- Assad better learn if he passes this one, he better have a free and square election under the watch of international monitors, if he wins then he is sit for life as a king and if loses he better leave somewhere else on earth.
7- Russia and china proved to the world that fair is fair and no free pass for the Americans and the slippery slope the American tried in Libya will never pass this time.
8- finally Ghaddafi is dead now but one of his famous words to the AL is that everyone turn is coming and that proved beyond doubt to be true.
hola Saddam, Ghaddaffi, Albashir,bin zein. next is Abdullah x 2, Althani, etc….

Bravo Idaf!

Finally somebody said it. This is exactly what is going on in Damascus. These groups are not only the primary opposition, but they should be. Leaders without significant ties to what is going on on the ground will be hard to coalesce around. The future political leadership, when it does arise, must arise from within these groups.

It should be noted that while these groups bring people together with different ideologies, from what I’ve seen, they’re very decentralized and based around close groups of friends.

For those of you criticizing their method, you have to realize that they’re simply responding to the situation they’re faced with, Hafez and Abu Hafez left a legacy that makes it hard to find experience in organizing politically, and this is a first step for these groups.

@ 11
it is clear anytime the truth is told that the Mossad is angry, i guess, he is saying that the outside opposition are corrupt and could be worse then the regime itself! millions of dollars already disappeared in the hands of the opposition! Bush has funded this MB opposition with at least 50millions in the past and Obama continues to fund them.
that’s true and many has been saying that and even many believes that the Americans cooked a meal they don’t want to eat therefore they are looking for a way to throw it out before it stinks.

Listen, the SNC has made too many mistakes for these inside opposition to join with them. firstly, the SNC should not have gone out to say that they would sever the relationship with Iran and Hezballah. This comment reeks of opportunism because they know who they were trying to suck up too (Western and GCC states). If the SNC want to act like a true umbrella group then it would not have said such divisive things. There focus should have been into turning syria into a democracy and a civil/ secular state, the way it should have been after we defeated the Turks and betrayed by the west. this is whats important, and because they made such comments they hurt their credibility. This revolution is about the Syria people and our fight for self determination. the West, GCC, Turks are untrustworthy and i don’t think we as syrians need to be told how to deal with a dictator from other dictators.

Dear Idaf,
((Media, policy makers and think tanks should be educated about the richness of the opposition and how they should focus more on the real opposition, not the one shoved by the Aljazeera down the throat of Syrians (SNC) or the FSA myth that perfectly fits the agenda of regime, the Islamists, and the media, all at the same time.

As someone who is in touch with all key opposition groups and the activists on the ground,))

Could you name them please!

((The FSA is a myth, as there is no coordinated group of militants across the country, only hundreds of small militias that have nothing in common in terms of ideology, arms, political awareness))
– Hundreds!! What is your “ground group” scource?
– A national army, unlike Assad thugs, need not have one ideology or political inclinations.

((FSA have nothing in common for that matter?!!))
How about protecting people!
How about saving lives?
How about freedom from tyranny?
How about freedom from Alawis despotism?
What does matter to you?
We are living a crisis.
The priority is to saving lives and putting an end to the murderous regime!
Other matters, including the shape of future Syria and its constitution have been amply addressed; Any real practical applications will have to wait until the transitional period ensues.
Until then, your groups efforts at networking and practicing responsible activism are to be commended, without belittling the sacrifices of their brethren who chose to share a different responsibility.

((But new more realistic, mature, civic and political powers are taking shape on the ground and will be emerging as powerful players soon))

The “realistic and mature” would have had neither the time nor the space to even write an anonymous piece like yours on this blog, had it not for the sacrifices of the brave demonstrators and FSA fighters, buddy!
Their presence and activism owe their existence to the political and ground support of SNC and FSA.
Efforts of all activists, whether visible or unseen are complementary!

((The reality is happening on the ground inside (and online on closed social media networks) with brave and thoughtful groups of Syrians who are working on interim solutions for the conflict, for long term ones for a sustainable state and for justice rather than revenge))

So you undervalue the representativeness of the hundreds of revolution websites that support SNC and websites, and the demonstrators’ support of the FSA!

Would you kindly name a website of your favorites of these networks, that share your valuation of FSA?

((Syrians who want a solution should focus on channeling their energy towards reducing the impact of the fall of the regime rather than supporting the SNC/FSA or supporting the regime out of fear of the “FSA”, the Islamists or the militants))

May I ask how do you envision the regime is going to fall if the demonstrators who trust and embrace the FSA go home?
Could you please name your “realistic and Mature” groups that will take charge of effecting the change; how? and when?

((The movements themselves are secretive in nature as the only survival tactic))
Goodness me!

So you accuse media of being lazy and seeking sensationalism for not focusing on your “secretive, mature and realistic groups”
Could you please tell us how they are supposed to find out about these groups if they are so secretive and you are anonymous, yourself.

Change requires courage and transparency.
You and your groups seem to have neither!
FSA and SNC pledged their efforts and are paying their lives to advance the cause of freedom of all Syrians, irrespective of ideology or ethnicity.

Your piece about the secretive yet trustworthy, mature yet flippant, savvy yet claim no ownership of a website have given no tangible indication of their existence outside the scribbles of your passionate opinion piece.

Realising how difficult and risky it is to come out and speak up against the regime, I would like to take this opportunity to commend your courage in breaking the silence.

It is your responsibility not the media to make your voice heard.
Your contributions to the future of Syria are as needed and desirable as, and need not be exclusive of others.

Cheers!

As

As long as there is no known parties with agendas for the opposition they will remain invisible.

I asked on constant basis many people inside Syria from different positions about why they do not organize politically? They all (anti assad and pro assad) showed inability to organize.

The article may be right about the fast maturation of Syrians politically, but, again, I really doubt that things are at an advanced stage especially with the constant crackdown by al-Assad, who would not show that much patience for unwanted political dissent that does irk him and the absence of the known agenda and leaders.

Take Facebook activism for example: I am for one is lost with the huge number of pages, where many are chaotic run by rambling idiots. The years of the one party rule had produced political midgets out of the Syrian people.

Political parties with known agendas and leaders is the only way.

Qatar failed to convince the AL body to recognize the SNC as the legitimate rep of Syrian opposition,it also failed in passing a resolution asking for the SNC to be the sole rep of the opposition in Tunisia. Of interest is the reservation of Saudi Arabia,despite the hot air by Saud Alfaisal,and the opposition of Algeria,Lebanon,as expected,refused to play the Qatari game.
خرجت قطر من المولد بدون حمص اليوم و لكن لن تتوقف المحاولات القطريه لان الموضوع السوري صار قضية كرامه لأمراء الماعز
The short term survival of the regime seems like a done deal,but nothing beyond that is guaranteed,the old days when almukhabarat treated Syrian citizens like old furniture are gone for good.

18. Ghufran said:

Qatar failed to convince the AL body to recognize the SNC

Why don’t they recognize the SNC and set the example for the rest of the world

look who is advising whom, That is fun, he is protecting the women,

——————————————————————————–

ملك البحرين يهيب على الأسد الإصغاء لشعبه حقنًا للدماء

وكالات GMT 23:16:00 2012 الأحد 12 فبراير

اعتبر ملك البحرين حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة أن الشعب السوري هو وحده الذى يقرر ما إذا كان يتعين على الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد التنحي، لافتًا إلى أنّ التهديد الايراني اضطره إلى استدعاء قوات “درع الجزيرة” الخليجية لاعادة الاستقرار إلى البلاد.

——————————————————————————–

ملك البحرين حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة
المنامة: أكد ملك البحرين حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة أن التهديد الايراني اضطره إلى استدعاء قوات “درع الجزيرة” الخليجية لاعادة الاستقرار الى البلاد، موضحاً ان المعارضة في بلاده بأنها ليست كتلة واحدة. وفى سياق آخر أهاب عاهل البحرين بالرئيس السورى بشار الأسد أن يصغي لشعبه حقنا للدماء، معتبرا أن الشعب السوري هو وحده الذى يقرر ما إذا يتعين على الرئيس الأسد التنحي.

وقال الملك لـ “دير شبيغل” الالمانية إنه يأسف للأحداث التي العام الماضي لافتًا إلى أنّ بلاده ليس بها معارضة من كتلة واحدة لها نفس الرؤى “فمثل هذا الشئ ليس موجودا في دستورنا لكن هناك أناسا لهم وجهات نظر مختلفة وهذا أمر لا بأس به”. أضاف الملك حمد ان هتافات المحتجين بسقوطه لا تعد سبباً يدعو لسجنهم، وقال: “هي فقط قضية تصرفات. ولكن عندما يصيحون «يسقط الملك ويعيش خامنئي» فهذا يعد مشكلة بالنسبة للوحدة الوطنية”.

وقال الملك إنه طلب المساعدة العسكرية من مجلس التعاون الخليجي لحماية “المنشآت الاستراتيجية في حالة أصبحت إيران أكثر عدائية”.

ويعتبر بعض الشيعة في البحرين خامنئي مرشدا روحيا لهم. ودائما ما يتهم انصار الحكومة جمعية الوفاق الوطني الاسلامية كبرى جماعات المعارضة في البحرين بوجود صلات تربطها بخامنئي وهو ما تنفيه الجمعية بشدة.

وفى معرض حديثه عن إعلان حالة السلامة الوطنية قال ملك البحرين إن القرار لم يتخذ فى هذا الشأن إلا بعد مضي أربعة أسابيع على بدء تلك الأحداث الموسفة، مشددا على أن أعمال العنف ذات الخلفية العنصرية، والتى أدت إلى سقوط قتلى وجرحى هى التى حتمت اللجوء إلى ذلك الإجراء.

وذكر الملك انه اعلن حالة الطوارئ لحماية النساء والاجانب الذين تعرض بعضهم لهجمات. وقال ان النساء في البحرين شعرن بالذعر “ومن الواجب على أي رجل محترم أن يحمي النساء، ولهذا كان لا بد علي أن أحميهن”.

واجرت الحكومة بعد الاضطرابات بعض الاصلاحات ومنحت البرلمان المنتخب المزيد من السلطات للرقابة على الوزراء وعلى الميزانية.

من جهة ثانية، افاد شهود عيان ان قوات الأمن البحرينية فرقت بعد ظهر امس تظاهرات شارك فيها مئات الاشخاص انطلقت من عدة مناطق وقرى شيعية باتجاه دوار اللؤلؤة الذي فرضت وزارة الداخلية والحرس الوطني طوقا أمنيا مشددا حوله.

http://www.elaph.com/Web/news/2012/2/716136.html

إغلاق النافذة

Regarding the new constitution:

دلة يتوقع الاستفتاء عليه أوائل الشهر المقبل…الرئيس الأسد يتسلم نسخة من مشروع الدستور الجديد ويؤكد أن المواطن «صاحب القرار النهائي بإقراره»

أجرى الرئيس بشار الأسد أمس «نقاشاً معمقاً حول بعض مواد» مشروع الدستور الجديد وذلك خلال استقباله اللجنة المكلفة إعداد المشروع.

وأوضح بيان رئاسي أن الرئيس الأسد تسلم من رئيس اللجنة المحامي مظهر العنبري نسخة من مشروع الدستور الجديد «للاطلاع عليه وطرحه للاستفتاء العام».
وقال الرئيس الأسد: إنه حالما يتم إقرار الدستور تكون سورية قد قطعت الشوط الأهم ألا وهو وضع البنية القانونية والدستورية عبر ما تم إقراره من إصلاحات وقوانين إضافة إلى الدستور الجديد للانتقال بالبلاد إلى حقبة جديدة بالتعاون بين جميع مكونات الشعب تحقق ما نطمح إليه جميعاً من تطوير لبلدنا يرسم مستقبلاً مشرقاً للأجيال القادمة. وفي تصريحات لـ«الوطن» أشار المتحدث الرسمي باسم اللجنة سام دلة إلى أن «نقاشاً معمقاً» جرى خلال الاجتماع الذي استمر «نحو ثلاث ساعات» وتناول «المادة الثالثة من مشروع الدستور والتعددية السياسية التي أقرها ومدة ولاية رئيس الجمهورية وعدد مرات تجديدها، وغيرها من المواد».
وتنص المادة الثالثة على أن «دين رئيس الجمهورية الإسلام» كما هو الحال في الدستور الحالي، كما نص مشروع الدستور في إحدى مواده على أنه: «يقوم النظام السياسي للدولة على مبدأ التعددية السياسية، وتتم ممارسة السلطة ديمقراطياً عبر الاقتراع، وتسهم الأحزاب السياسية المرخصة والتجمعات السياسية الانتخابية في الحياة السياسية الوطنية».
وحلت هذه المادة محل المادة الثامنة من الدستور الحالي التي تقول: إن «حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي هو الحزب القائد في المجتمع والدولة ويقود جبهة وطنية تقدمية تعمل على توحيد طاقات جماهير الشعب ووضعها في خدمة أهداف الأمة العربية».
كما حدد مشروع الدستور مدة الولاية الرئاسية بـ«سبع سنوات ولولايتين» ما يعني أن تجديد الولاية سيكون لمرة واحدة فقط، في حين حدد الدستور الحالي مدة الولاية بسبع سنوات تاركاً عدد مرات تجديدها مفتوحاً.
ولفت دلة إلى أن أجواء الاجتماع كانت «إيجابية جداً وكان الرئيس الأسد منفتحاً واستمع لنقاشاتنا وآرائنا وطروحاتنا، وأكد أعضاء اللجنة أنه كان هناك عدد كبير من الآراء حيال مختلف مواد مشروع الدستور (157 مادة) لكنهم شددوا على أن هذا المشروع في النهاية هو نتاج عمل توافقي وجماعي لأعضاء اللجنة».
ووفق البيان الرئاسي، فإن الرئيس الأسد «أعرب عن تقديره للجهود التي بذلها أعضاء اللجنة لتحقيق هذه المهمة الوطنية ودعاهم إلى تحمل مسؤولياتهم كلجنة معدة لمشروع الدستور في شرح مواده للمواطنين بكل الوسائل المتاحة ليكون المواطن صاحب القرار النهائي بإقراره».
وعما إذا كان الرئيس الأسد طلب من اللجنة إعادة النظر في أي من مواد مشروع الدستور قال دلة: «أعتقد أن المشروع سيطرح على الرأي العام للاستفتاء عليه كما سلمناه للسيد الرئيس» موضحاً في الوقت نفسه أن أي تعديل على مواده «عائد للرئيس الأسد».
ورداً على سؤال توقع دلة أن يكون موعد الاستفتاء على مشروع الدستور «أوائل شهر آذار القادم» وقال: إنه سيتم «خلال اليومين القادمين الترويج له وإطلاع الشعب عليه عبر وسائل الإعلام ونشره في عدد من الصحف وفي موقع التشاركية الإلكتروني العائد لرئاسة مجلس الوزراء ليكون الناس على بيّنة من مشروع الدستور قبل الاستفتاء عليه».
ولن يكون هناك أي إشراف قضائي على عمليه الاستفتاء وأوضح دلة أن «قانون الاستفتاء الصادر عام 1973 ينظم العملية ولا يتضمن أي إشراف قضائي عليها كما هو الحال في جميع بلدان العالم» مشيراً إلى أن وزارة الداخلية «ستقوم بإنجاز الخطوات الخاصة بعملية الاستفتاء».
وعما إذا كان الاجتماع تناول الأوضاع الراهنة التي تمر بها سورية قال دلة: إن 90 بالمئة من مدة اجتماعنا تناولت مشروع الدستور والمدة المتبقية تطرقت إلى الوضع الراهن حيث استعرض الرئيس الأسد الأزمة التي تواجهها سورية بشكل كامل وأبدى تفاؤله الكبير بالخروج من الأزمة بفضل التماسك والوعي الكبيرين اللذين يتميز بهما أبناء الشعب السوري».
راضي محسن

http://alwatan.sy/dindex.php?idn=117507

Ghufran,

It is of course possible that some Foreign countries help the Syrian Central Bank with hard currency deposits. No one can or will verify any information of this sort of course.

William Scott Scherk,

It was actually Dr. Landis who asked IDAF if he could publish his comment which started as an email discussion at first. IDAF is a fine young mind. In my opinion, he has his finger on the pulse of what many call the “other” opposition in Syria. Even those that disagree with him ought to ponder and think about what he has to say.

Adonis again 🙂

أدونيس يهاجم الدعوات للاستقواء بالغرب

وجه الشاعر السوري المقيم في الخارج أدونيس انتقادات لاذعة إلى المعارضة السورية والربيع العربي، منددا بالدعوات التي توجهها هذه المعارضة إلى الغرب لدعمها، كما انتقد وصول الإسلاميين إلى السلطة في عدد من البلدان العربية.
وقال علي أحمد سعيد إسبر المعروف باسم أدونيس في مقابلة مع مجلة بروفايل النمساوية تنشر الاثنين “كيف يمكن بناء أسس دولة بمساعدة نفس الأشخاص الذين استعمروا هذا البلد؟” في إشارة إلى الانتداب الفرنسي على سوريا من عام 1920 إلى عام 1946.
وأضاف أدونيس “أنا لا أدعم المعارضة السورية ضد الرئيس بشار الأسد، وأي تدخل عسكري غربي في سوريا ستكون له نفس عواقب غزو العراق عام 2003، وسيدمر البلد”.
كما أعطى أدونيس صورة قاتمة للربيع العربي. وقال إنه أعجب ببداية الثورات في العالم العربي، لكنه تحول إلى انتقادها مع وصول الإسلاميين إلى الحكم في تونس ومصر إثر الانتخابات الأخيرة التي جرت في هذين البلدين.
وقال “لا توجد إسلاموية معتدلة” مشبها الإخوان المسلمين الفائزين بالانتخابات المصرية بـ”الفاشيين”. واعتبر أن الثورات في العالم العربي لا يمكن أن تنجح إلا إذا قامت على “أسس علمانية”.
وكان صاحب “الثابت والمتحول” قد أثار ضجة برفضه الثورة انطلاقا من المساجد، لكنه دعا في يونيو/حزيران الماضي الرئيس السوري إلى أن “يفتدي” أخطاء تجربة حزب البعث الحاكم و”يعيد الكلمة والقرار إلى الشعب السوري”.
وقال في “رسالة مفتوحة” نشرها في صحيفة السفير اللبنانية إن “حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي لم ينجح في البقاء مهيمنا على سوريا بقوة الأيدولوجية، وإنما بقوة قبضة حديدية أمنية”.
ويبلغ أدونيس الثانية والثمانين من العمر، من منطقة اللاذقية، انتقل للعيش في لبنان عام 1956، قبل أن يقرر الإقامة في فرنسا عام 1985 حيث عمل أستاذا في جامعة السوربون.

http://syrianncb.org/2012/02/12/%D8%A3%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%B3-%D9%8A%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%B1/

لبنان والجزائر يتحفظان … دمشق ترفض القرارات «الهستيرية» … والأسد يتسلّم مسودة الدستور
الوزراء العرب يطلبون التدخل العسكري الأجنبي في سوريا

دفع مجلس وزراء الخارجية العرب الأزمة السورية امس نحو المسار الأشد خطورة، الذي يعيد الى الأذهان السيناريو الليبي بحذافيره، عندما استدعى التدخل الدولي بشكله العسكري الذي يعني المزيد من الخراب والدمار والدم في سوريا، من خلال مطالبة مجلس الامن الدولي بإصدار قرار بتشكيل «قوات حفظ سلام عربية ـ اممية مشتركة للإشراف على تنفيذ وقف إطلاق النار»، في خطوة مفاجئة تقفز فوق الفيتو الروسي الصيني المؤكد على مثل هذا القرار، وتمهد لتشكيل مثل هذه القوات من دون غطاء الامم المتحدة ومن خارج مؤسساتها.
وطلب المجلس الوزاري العربي في قراره، الذي تحفظ عليه لبنان وحصرت الجزائر تحفظها باثنين من بنوده، وقف جميع أشكال التعاون الدبلوماسي مع النظام السوري، وقرر تقديم الدعم «السياسي والمادي» للمعارضة السورية. وسارعت دمشق الى إعلان رفضها لهذه القرارات «جملة وتفصيلا»، معتبرة ان القرار العربي «أظهر حالة الهستيريا والتخبط التي تعيشها حكومات عربية بعد فشلها الأخير في مجلس الأمن الدولي لاستدعاء التدخل الخارجي في الشأن السوري واستجداء فرض العقوبات على الشعب السوري».

واتهمت قطر والسعودية بالتأثير على قرارات الجامعة العربية.
وعلمت «السفير» أن رئيس الحكومة وزير الخارجية القطري الشيخ حمد بن جاسم آل ثاني طرح نصاً حول سوريا، خلال الاجتماع الوزاري العربي حول فلسطين، يتضمن فقرة فيها «يقرر المجلس الوزاري العربي الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري على أنه ممثل للشعب السوري، على أن يعلن الاعتراف رسمياً في مؤتمر أصدقاء سوريا في تونس».
واستفسر عدد من الحاضرين منه إذا كان قراراً أم مشروع قرار، فرد حمد بأنه قرار، لكن وزير خارجية لبنان عدنان منصور قال إن هذا القرار خطير جداً، فرد حمد «يمكنك التحفظ». وقال منصور «أنا أرفضه ولا أتحفظ عليه». وقال وزير خارجية العراق هوشيار زيباري «موضوع الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري أمر سابق لأوانه، ولم نتفق عليه. نحن اتفقنا في الاجتماع السابق (حول سوريا) على بحث الموضوع في تونس».
واستغرب وزير خارجية تونس رفيق عبد السلام حصر الموضوع بالمجلس الوطني، موضحاً أن هناك أطيافاً كثيرة في المعارضة السورية، ولا يمكننا تجاهلها، طالباً ترك الأمر إلى اجتماع تونس. ورد حمد «70 إلى 80 في المئة (من المعارضة) يمثلها المجلس الوطني».
وطالب وزير خارجية مصر باعتماد القرار الأول والاعتراف أن يكون في تونس، وأن نكتفي في الفقرة بالدعم المالي والسياسي تمهيداً للاعتراف بها في تونس. ورفض حمد الفكرة نهائياً.
وكانت هناك مداخلات لعدد من وزراء الخارجية أبرزهم اللبناني والجزائري والعراقي الذين اعترضوا على الفقرة، فيما تمسك المصري بموقفه الاعتراف لاحقاً وأيده التونسي في ذلك. وقال الجزائري إننا مع المعارضة لكننا نريد منها أن تتحد قبل الاعتراف بها وإذا لم يتحدوا لا يمكننا معرفة كيف نخاطبهم.
اعترض حمد بشدة على الموقف الجزائري، وهنا قال وزير خارجية الجزائر لحمد «إذا كنتم تريدون تكسير الجامعة العربية فالجزائر لن تشارك في هذا التكسير. نحن متفقون على أن يكون هناك إجماع على هذا الأمر».
وسأل حمد من سيشارك في مؤتمر تونس فرد عليه عدد من الوزراء بتحديد الموضوع لاحقاً. وقدمت الجزائر اقتراحاً بأن كل دولة تأخذ على عاتقها الاعتراف بالمعارضة، لكن حمد أصر على الفقرة التي تقول بالاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري، فيما تمسك لبنان والجزائر ومصر والعراق بموقفهم. وأدرك حمد عند هذه اللحظة أن الجو غير مؤات لطرح هذه الفقرة، قبل أن يتم التوصل إلى اتفاق تدعو فيه تونس المجلس الوطني السوري إلى حضور المؤتمر، وعلى هذا الأساس تم رفع الجلسة.
في هذا الوقت، تسلم الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد من أعضاء اللجنة الوطنية المكلفة إعداد مشروع دستور نسخة من مشروع الدستور للاطلاع عليه وتحويله إلى مجلس الشعب قبل طرحه للاستفتاء العام. وأعرب الأسد عن «تقديره للجهود التي بذلها أعضاء اللجنة لتحقيق هذه المهمة الوطنية، ودعاهم إلى تحمل مسؤولياتهم كلجنة معدة لمشروع الدستور في شرح مواده للمواطنين بكل الوسائل المتاحة ليكون المواطن صاحب القرار النهائي بإقراره». وكان الأسد اعلن في كانون الثاني الماضي ان الاستفتاء سيتم في الاسبوع الاول من آذار المقبل.
وقال الأسد «حالما يتم إقرار الدستور تكون سوريا قد قطعت الشوط الأهم، ألا وهو وضع البنية القانونية والدستورية عبر ما تم إقراره من إصلاحات وقوانين، إضافة إلى الدستور الجديد، للانتقال بالبلاد الى حقبة جديدة، بالتعاون بين جميع مكونات الشعب لتحقق ما نطمح اليه جميعا من تطوير لبلدنا يرسم مستقبلاً مشرقاً للأجيال المقبلة».
وفي القاهرة، قرر وزراء الخارجية العرب، في بيان بعد اجتماعهم برئاسة رئيس الحكومة وزير الخارجية القطري الشيخ حمد بن جاسم آل ثاني، إنهاء عمل بعثة المراقبين العرب الحالية في سوريا، وقبول استقالة رئيسها محمد الدابي من منصبه، وتعيين مبعوث عربي خاص الى سوريا، ذكر مسؤول في الجامعة العربية ان الأمين العام نبيل العربي اقترح ان يكون وزير خارجية الأردن الأسبق عبد الإله الخطيب، الذي كان مبعوثاً من الامم المتحدة الى ليبيا، قبل الحرب الأطلسية عليها.
ودعا الوزراء «مجلس الأمن إلى إصدار قرار بتشكيل قوات حفظ سلام عربية أممية مشتركة للإشراف على تنفيذ وقف إطلاق النار». وأعلنوا انهم سيطلبون «من المجموعة العربية في الأمم المتحدة تقديم مشروع قرار للجمعية العامة في أقرب الآجال يتضمن المبادرة العربية وباقي القرارات الصادرة عن جامعة الدول العربية». ومن المقرر ان تعقد الجمعية العامة للامم المتحدة اجتماعاً غداً الثلاثاء مخصصاً لبحث الوضع في سوريا.
وتحفظت الجزائر على الدعوة لمجلس الامن وتقديم مشروع قرار الى الجمعية العامة للامم المتحدة، فيما تحفظ لبنان على جميع ما جاء في البيان الختامي. (تفاصيل صفحة 15)
وأعلن الوزراء «وقف جميع أشكال التعاون الدبلوماسي مع ممثلي النظام السوري في الدول والهيئات والمؤتمرات الدولية، ودعوة كافة الدول الحريصة على أرواح الشعب السوري إلى مواكبة الإجراءات العربية في هذا الشأن». ورحبوا «بدعوة تونس لاستضافة مؤتمر أصدقاء سوريا المقرر انعقاده في 24 شباط الحالي»، وأعلنوا «فتح قنوات اتصال مع المعارضة السورية وتوفير كافة أشكال الدعم السياسي والمادي لها، ودعوتها لتوحيد صفوفها والدخول في حوار جاد يحفظ لها تماسكها وفعاليتها قبل انعقاد مؤتمر تونس».
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http://assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2074&articleId=1216&ChannelId=49350

Ehsani, thank you for the note on Idaf’s contribution to discussion. Like Revlon I salute him for opening the subject and giving personal witness. I further hope he will enter discussion, answer critical questions, and offer some specifics — as I underlined, media follows Syria Comment. If Idaf ‘has his finger on the pulse of what many call the “other” opposition in Syria,’ then he may be a good conduit of information about these forces.

Ghufran, you post a report of a recognition-failure of the SNC. Can you please add a link to the source of your information?

A Torrent of Disinformation
The NeoCon Propaganda Machine Pushing “Regime Change” in Syria
by AISLING BYRNE

“War with Iran is already here,” wrote a leading Israeli commentator recently, describing “the combination of covert warfare and international pressure” being applied to Iran.

Although not mentioned, the “strategic prize” of the first stage of this war on Iran is Syria; the first campaign in a much wider sectarian power-bid. “Other than the collapse of the Islamic Republic itself,” Saudi King Abdullah was reported to have said last summer, “nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria.”

By December, senior United States officials were explicit about their regime change agenda for Syria: Tom Donilon, the US National Security Adviser, explained that the “end of the [President Bashar al-] Assad regime would constitute Iran’s greatest setback in the region yet – a strategic blow that will further shift the balance of power in the region against Iran.”

Shortly before, a key official in terms of operationalizing this policy, Under Secretary of State for the Near East Jeffrey Feltman, had stated at a congressional hearing that the US would “relentlessly pursue our two-track strategy of supporting the opposition and diplomatically and financially strangling the [Syrian] regime until that outcome is achieved”.

What we are seeing in Syria is a deliberate and calculated campaign to bring down the Assad government so as to replace it with a regime “more compatible” with US interests in the region.

The blueprint for this project is essentially a report produced by the neo-conservative Brookings Institute for regime change in Iran in 2009. The report – “Which Path to Persia?” – continues to be the generic strategic approach for US-led regime change in the region.

A rereading of it, together with the more recent “Towards a Post-Assad Syria” (which adopts the same language and perspective, but focuses on Syria, and was recently produced by two US neo-conservative think-tanks) illustrates how developments in Syria have been shaped according to the step-by-step approach detailed in the “Paths to Persia” report with the same key objective: regime change.

The authors of these reports include, among others, John Hannah and Martin Indyk, both former senior neo-conservative officials from the George W Bush/Dick Cheney administration, and both advocates for regime change in Syria. Not for the first time are we seeing a close alliance between US/British neo-cons with Islamists (including, reports show, some with links to al-Qaeda) working together to bring about regime change in an “enemy” state.

Arguably, the most important component in this struggle for the “strategic prize” has been the deliberate construction of a largely false narrative that pits unarmed democracy demonstrators being killed in their hundreds and thousands as they protest peacefully against an oppressive, violent regime, a “killing machine” led by the “monster” Assad.

{…}

http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/06/the-neocon-propaganda-machine-pushing-%E2%80%9Cregime-change%E2%80%9D-in-syria/

One of the ‘patriot’ armed militiaman of FSA asking the support of Israel!!?

Rebel Syrian Officer Phones Israeli Official, Urging Intervention
http://youtu.be/cxNbixK3qKA

“Deputy Minister for Development of the Negev and the Galilee Ayub Kara appeared on Israel’s Knesset channel and spoke over the phone with defecting Syrian Army officer Abu Bilal, who urged Israel to support the Syrian populace against President Bashar al-Assad’s terror.”

Al-Watan (state-controlled) and Daypress News (state-controlled) report some muffled nothing about the new ‘draft’ constitution.

Reading the straight text, it is impossible to know how the next step is to be accomplished. Unnamed sources point to mid-March as the referendum day. The vote will not have any judicial supervision. The ‘committee’ of gnomes was charged by President Assad to “assume their responsibilities as a committee prepared to explain its [draft constitution’s] provisions to citizens by all means available.”

What does that mean? Daypress and SANA do not bother to name a single personage from the committee. Only Assad is mentioned. As-Safir’s story is even more mumbling and incoherent: the same SANA-ized boilerplate with a splash of further Assad quotes (this is machine-translated from the Arabic original here).

« President Assad open and listened to our discussions and our views and our proposals and assured Committee members that there was a large number of opinions about the various articles of the draft Constitution (157 items), but stressed that this project in the end is the product of a consensus and collectively to members of the Committee »

What the heck is in the new constitution, then? The report comes close to telling, then pulls back:

And whether President Assad asked the Committee to review any of the articles of the draft constitution, said Dallah: «I think that the project will be put on public opinion to a referendum as Slmnah to Mr. President», explaining at the same time that any amendment to its articles «return to President Assad».

[In] the next two days, promotion and inform the public by the media and published in several newspapers and at the site of participatory e-return for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers to be people on the aware of the draft constitution before the referendum »

This is terrible reporting, in my opinion.

27. jad said:
((One of the ‘patriot’ armed militiaman of FSA asking the support of Israel!!? ))

You do not listen to the videos that you post, do you?
Neither the caller nor the Israeli official uttered the word FSA.
The accent of the caller is Palestenian.

The claim of the caller being an FSA, based on the lable of a video clip and the promotion of such video can only be done with carelessness or malicious intent at smearing the FSA.

Syrian Rebels Likely Behind Aleppo Bombings

Suicide car bombings at two Syrian security facilities Feb. 10 killed at least 28 people and wounded hundreds more, the latest in a string of increasingly sophisticated attacks since November 2011 targeting the Syrian regime’s military and police infrastructure. The Syrian government accused “terrorist” rebels of conducting the attack. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebels denied any role in the bombings but issued a countercharge that the government itself staged the bombings to undermine the rebels. Despite its denial, the FSA or one of its offshoots most likely conducted the strikes and has denied responsibility in order to avoid being tainted by accusations of terrorism that could alienate potential foreign backers.
{…}
Several indications from the attacks demonstrate the party (or parties) responsible was operationally sophisticated and capable of executing the steps of the “attack cycle.” These steps consist of selecting the target, operational planning, deployment and attack and media exploitation. A group must be able to conduct extensive surveillance throughout the phases, acquiring the materials, successfully build the devices in a clandestine manner without alerting the authorities, and then have the device function as designed. The fact that they were able to successfully complete each of those steps despite a heavy security presence in Aleppo indicates this attack was carried out by a sophisticated group who possesses a great deal of experience in tradecraft ranging from surveillance to bombmaking.
{…}
It is likely that FSA soldiers or individuals associated with the FSA were behind the most recent attacks as well as those recorded since November 2011. There are indications that elements within the FSA are receiving at least some training and military support from foreign backers, which likely has played a role in developing the capabilities associated with carrying out IED attacks on government and security facilities. The FSA’s motivation in launching such attacks is not only to inflict damage on government installations and personnel in retaliation for the security forces’ attacks on the opposition movement, but also to elicit a harsher crackdown from the Syrian regime. A brutal crackdown would likely attract even greater international attention and cause a humanitarian crisis, which could prompt foreign military intervention — an FSA goal since its inception.

The Free Syrian Army has denied responsibility for the attacks, however. Opposition activists and members of the FSA said the facilities were heavily protected and no cars are permitted to park in the area and suggested that the attacks were staged by the regime. Such accusations have been prevalent since the first attack on a security facility in November. The opposition’s motivation for denying responsibility and blaming the government is to avoid having their movement tarred as terroristic in nature, a charge the government has leveled against the opposition since the unrest began.

It is very unlikely the Syrian regime staged this attack on their own facilities, as they do not stand to benefit from such a move besides having another opportunity to call the opposition “terrorists.” After the attack, gruesome images of dismembered corpses were immediately posted on the Syrian state media website in efforts to elicit a visceral reaction and convince Syrians and outside observers that the opposition movement should not be supported. Whoever was responsible, any attack on the security facilities harms the Syrian regime by raising serious questions about the strength of Syria’s internal security apparatus, which is central to the regime’s ability to hold power.

There is no reason to believe attacks on hardened security infrastructure will cease any time soon, nor will the propaganda war over responsibility. The regime will try to respond by cracking down on the opposition movement where it can while avoiding the kind of overreaction that could invite foreign intervention.

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/syrian-rebels-likely-behind-aleppo-bombings

Violence in Syria escalates by the day. The drumbeat for war in Washington mounts. Why Obama should go slow.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/02/12/why-obama-should-go-slow-in-syria.html

It is no wonder, then, that U.S. hawks chime in with their tried and true panaceas: secret arms aid, open arms aid, air protection for starters, bombing, whatever. In typical form, Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman went further and said: “The bloodshed must be stopped, and we should rule out no option that could help to save lives.”

Yet the hawks do not make clear who would supply the arms, nor exactly who would receive them. Small arms, not heavy weapons, are now flowing from the Arabs and the Turks. Ask them and they’ll tell you that with more weapons, they foresee an all-out civil war, perhaps spilling into their countries. Assad would be deposed, but the price would be very high. Muddying the water further, there are lots of Syrian factions with widely divergent and conflicting views. Some want foreign arms and more; others don’t. Most haven’t given a clear thought to governing post-Assad.

Life after Assad probably would be more volatile than post–Hosni Mubarak Egypt. The Syrian political map is quite explosive: a potential rulership of Islamic extremists; Alawites like Assad who depend almost entirely on his rule; Christians who greatly fear the extremists for what they did to Christians in Iraq and Egypt; and good, solid Sunni businessmen who might not have the stomach for a battle. Nor can outsiders expect to control this ménage.

27. jad said:

One of the ‘patriot’ armed militiaman of FSA asking the support of Israel!!?

They already have israel’s and al-qaeda’s support.

I sure hope you are right. I hope that there are such “rational political opposition groups ” working inside and believe in working towards a secular state where all is equal under the law and protect all minorities. I think this is the perfect time to push for a dialog with the government and have people inside the country rally around these groups and hopefully eventually have elections and peaceful transition of power. I can’t possibly support the so called FSA with all the threats and violence they are showing. Some syrians say they are justified, the regime pushed them to violence. There is no justifications to cutting soldiers heads off (as Paul Wood reported in his article in the guardian) just because they think they are “Shabiha” most soldiers are us, they are our sons in the service. When I imagine a scenario of the regime falling and the militias roaming the streets with guns I get petrified. I have many friends in Homs who are doctors and have nothing to do with politics had their offices ransacked by clueless people with weapons.(freedom fighters to some). An article in the nytimes about post gadafi Libya sent chills down my spine of a possible outcome for Syria. We lived under this regime for years and we know it. At least offer an alternative that will better lives…all lives not just the ones that say Allah Akbar.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/09/world/africa/libyas-new-government-unable-to-control-militias.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=Libya&st=cse
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-homs-frontline-baba-amr?INTCMP=SRCH
An eye for an eye will make all syrians blind…

Turkey trapped by their discriminative laws on refugees

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/arab-league-brings-syria-more-isolation.aspx?pageID=238&nID=13618&NewsCatID=352

“I gave instructions today to lodge a request with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva on the subject of humanitarian aid,” Anatolia News Agency quoted Davutoğlu as saying during a visit to Washington. “Turkey is launching an initiative at the U.N. office in Geneva to put in place a flow of humanitarian aid towards Syria,” he said. As the OHCHR does not have a humanitarian remit, the initiative would likely be taken up by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).”

That’s why

The Turks have a problem, because according to their laws they don’t accept refugees for people coming from non-european countries. That’s an oddity of their law. This is why they have is been calling the syrians their ‘guests’ and bore all the costs of housing etc..
It is costing a lot and it is dragging on.
They can’t get UN funds without the Syrians been declared ‘refugees’, which is against their law.
This is why they are invoking a ‘human tragedy’ to try to get some money from some organization other than the UNCHR without declaring the syrians as “refugees” as ‘refugees’ have rights they are not ready to give them.

http://blog.amnestyusa.org/justice/refugees-in-turkey-unsafe-harbor/

صراعات المنطقة بعيون اقتصادية: الأجندة الخفية

ما بعد الفيتوين الروسي والصيني غير ما قبلهما، خريطة استراتيجية جديدة في طريقها إلى الرسم في المنطقة بأبعاد سياسية وعسكرية واقتصادية، قد تكون مقدمة لحرب باردة من نوع جديد، مع انقسام العالم إلى معسكرين واضحي المعالم، في أجواء تذكّر بما كان سائداً قبل اندلاع الحروب العالميّة

حسن خليل
كان لافتاً ما صرّح به الجنرال المتقاعد ليونيد إيغاشوف، عضو مجلس القيادة العسكرية الروسية سابقاً، بقوله عندما سئل عن المناورات الروسية في حال جرى ضرب إيران عسكرياً: «سوف تستعرض هذه المناورات استعداد روسيا لحماية مصالحها الوطنية بقوة السلاح، ولتعزيز موقفها السياسي بالقوة العسكرية». ربط الجنرال السابق سوريا بإيران، وقال إنهما حليفا روسيا المضمونان، وتساءل إن كانت الضربة ستوجه إلى سوريا أو إلى إيران أولاً، جازماً بأن أيّ ضربة لإحداهما هي ضربة للمصالح الروسية، وستؤدي إلى خسارة كبيرة لها. ولذلك، فإن روسيا بدفاعها عن سوريا إنما تدافع عن مصالحها القومية وعن العالم الحر ضد الفاشية المستشرية أخيراً على غرار النمط الهتلري.

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الصين وروسيا

يجمع الخبراء المصرفيون على أنّ من غير المنطقي (انطلاقاً من السؤال الأخير) على الغرب أن يواجه الصين وروسيا اقتصادياً، ومن ورائهما الهند، تحت أي ظرف، نتيجة ترابط الاقتصاد العالمي والمديونية العالمية. أما بالنسبة إلى العالم العربي، فليس لروسيا تبادل تجاري يُذكر سوى السلاح، وزبونها الأول هو سوريا بعد أن خسرت ليبيا.
أما الصين فالتهديد بمقاطعة بضائعها عربياً أشبه برمي حصاة في بحر هائج. فبحسب فلينت لافريت، الباحث في «مؤسسة أميركا الجديدة»، الصين فقدت ثقتها بالولايات المتحدة في إدارة النزاعات في الشرق الاوسط، ولذلك فهي قلقة بشأن أمن تمويلها بالطاقة من هذه المنطقة. صحيح أن حجم التصدير الصيني إلى دول الشرق الأوسط، بما فيها تركيا، قد تضاعف من 28 مليار دولار سنة 2005 إلى 59 مليار سنة 2010، ولكن استيرادها أيضاً ارتفع إلى 65 مليار دولار من 34 ملياراً. حجم التصدير الصيني إلى المنطقة يساوي حوالى 7% فقط من التصدير الاجمالي، يقوم به صغار التجار، بينما استيراد الصين حيوي، لكون أكثره نفطاً وغازاً تقوم به الدولة.
وتعتبر الصين أكبر مستورد للنفط الشرق أوسطي في العالم، حيث تستهلك حوالى 23% من التصدير الإيراني الذي يساوي حوالى 11% من الحاجة الصينية. كذلك فإن الصين وروسيا تتعاملان مع المنطقة بدون إملاء رغباتهما إلا في إطار علاقات العمل، عكس الولايات المتحدة التي تمارس الضغوط مقابل توفير الحماية الأمنية لدول المنطقة، ولا تتردد دول الخليج في الجهر بذلك. في المقابل، تُعتبر الصين الشريك التجاري الأول لأميركا (يبلغ حجم التصدير إليها حوالى 240 مليار دولار، والاستيراد 77 مليار، وهذا يساوي عشرة أضعاف حجم التبادل بين الصين وإيران). فهل ستختار الصين بين أميركا وإيران؟ وهذا السؤال بمنحى آخر يُسأل للروس.
الجواب ليس بهذه البساطة، ولن يأتي من باب حجم التبادل التجاري الذي لن توقفه مواقف سياسية في محطات ما، حيث يقول جوني الترمان، مدير مركز الدراسات الاستراتيجية الدولية ـــ لندن، إن الصين لن تضع نفسها في موقف اختيار، وستبقي علاقات مع الطرفين، لكن تطور الأمور في سوريا اليوم والمحاصرة المستمرة لإيران دفعتا بعض المراقبين إلى الاختلاف مع الترمان بشأن هذا التقييم؛ فروسيا والصين تنظران بقلق إلى السيطرة شبه الكاملة عسكرياً للولايات المتحدة وحلفائها على منطقة الشرق الأوسط، وخاصة دول الطاقة. فهناك القاعدة الأكبر في قطر، والقاعدة البحرية للأسطول الخامس في البحرين، والقاعدة الفرنسية في أبو ظبي، والقاعدة المزدوجة مع بريطانيا في عُمان. ولذلك فإن روسيا والصين قلقتان من إمكان الابتزاز المستقبلي لهما للحصول على الطاقة، وهذا ما يبرر خاصة الموقف الصيني الداعم لروسيا، حيث للأخيرة اكتفاء ذاتي في الطاقة.

حدود الحصار ومأزق تركيا

يتساءل المراقبون عن إمكان صمود إيران وسوريا مالياً واقتصادياً في وجه محاصرتهما، لكون الدول المعنية لا تستطيع إرضاخهما عسكرياً. مما لا شك فيه أن العملات الرئيسية من الدولار والجنيه الاسترليني واليورو، باتت غير متوافرة للدولتين المستهدفتين، كذلك هي الحال بالنسبة إلى الحصار الاقتصادي من تصدير مواد رئيسية إليهما، كالمواد الأولية أو استثمارات تحتاج إليها الدولتان لتطوير بنيتهما التحتية أو النفطية. لا تظهر حتى الآن جدّية تطبيق حظر استيراد النفط والغاز ومشتقاته، وما هو واضح حتى الآن أن الحظر ما هو إلا تهويل إعلامي لن يبدأ تطبيقه قبل تموز 2012، ولذلك ردّت إيران بتهديد معاكس.
صحيح أن الأمن القومي الروسي والصيني مهددان بالدرع الصاروخية الاميركية وبالتمدد الاسلامي على النموذج التركي الذي يرتبط بالعرق التركماني والنزعة الانفصالية، كما حصل في الشيشان أو بعض مقاطعات الصين سابقاً، وصحيح أن تركيا هي لاعب أساسي إن لم تكن اللاعب الأساسي كأداة لتنفيذ هذا التهديد من قبل الناتو، لكونها أكبر مركز له خارج أوروبا، لكن تركيا معنية أيضاً بألا تتفاقم الأمور خارج السيطرة، لأن نموّها الاقتصادي واستقرارها في العشر سنوات الأخيرة وارتفاع سعر عملتها قائمة أساساً على الاستقرار الاقليمي، بعد أن يئست تركيا من أوروبا ووجّهت بوصلتها نحو الشرق الغني بدل أن تلتحق بأوروبا مستجدية. لكن تركيا خففت من لهجتها التصعيدية تجاه سوريا، وهي أصلاً لم تصعّد إطلاقاً تجاه إيران نتيجة شعورها بأن أي مواجهة حتمية ستزعزع الاستقرار السياسي التركي نتيجة تعقيدات تركيبة المجتمع فيها، وستهدّد ركائز الاقتصاد الذي استغرق سنوات مريرة ليصل إلى ما هو عليه، والذي يعتمد على حركة تجارية تصل إلى 30 مليار دولار مع العراق، فضلاً عن الاستثمارات فيه وفي كردستان، وإلى 15 مليار دولار مع إيران ويتجه تصاعدياً إلى 40 مليار خلال الخمس سنوات المقبلة. إذن هناك حدود معينة تربط يدي تركيا للمساهمة في الحصار على سوريا وإيران.
بالنسبة إلى حركة البضائع والتجارة البينية، فمن الصعب تطبيق مقاطعة ما من دون أخذ قرارات حكومية بذلك، لأن الشعوب نادراً ما تلتزم، فكيف ستفعل ذلك في هذه الأجواء غير المنطقية، وهي التي لم تطبّق فعلياً برنامج مقاطعة إسرائيل ولا البضائع الدنماركية في أزمة الرسوم الكاريكاتورية.

{…}

إلى أين؟

التطورات الأخيرة في المنطقة فتحت نافذة استراتيجية لروسيا والصين لفرض نفسيهما شريكاً فعلياً في النفوذ على مصادر الطاقة قد لا يحصلان عليها مستقبلاً إن بقيتا متفرجتين اليوم. روسيا حتماً لا ثقة متبادلة بينها وبين الولايات المتحدة، أما الصين فثقتها تتزعزع باستمرار نتيجة التدخل الأميركي في شؤونها الداخلية ومطالبتها المستمرة بالمساهمة في خطّها السياسي التي رأت الصين أنها تفضل النأي عنه، وآخرها قلقها العميق من جدية التوسع العسكري الأميركي مشرقاً.
أما بالنسبة إلى الأمن القومي الاقتصادي، فقد كتبت جريدة التايمز البريطانية عن الاحتياط النفطي العراقي بأنه سيكون قريباً الأكبر في العالم، ليصل إلى 350 مليار برميل، بعد أن كانت الأرقام السابقة تقدّره بـ143 مليار برميل. وهذه الأرقام تجعل العراق الأهم استراتيجياً بين دول النفط، وخاصة أن التنقيب يجري على عمق قليل، عكس الدول الأخرى. ومن المتوقع في حال جرى الاستثمار فيه أن يرفع إنتاجه اليومي من مليوني برميل يومياً إلى 6 ملايين برميل خلال العشر سنوات المقبلة.
أما إيران، فقد ثبت أن لديها الاحتياط الثاني في العالم من الغاز بمقدار 33 تريليون متر مكعب، أكثره في مناطق غير متصلة بعضها ببعض. إضافة إلى ذلك، وبحسب مركز الدراسات النفطية الإيرانية، فإن إيران لديها ثالث احتياط نفطي في العالم، وثاني مصدّر أيضاً. فإيران تنتج حوالى 4.2 ملايين برميل يومياً، تصدّر منها حوالى 2.6 مليون برميل، وتتوقع وكالة مهر الإخبارية أن يصل إيراد إيران من الطاقة إلى 250 مليار دولار إذا ما طوّرت حقولها في المستقبل.
هذه الأرقام كألحان الموسيقى للآذان الروسية والصينية، خاصة بعد مقاطعة الشركات الأميركية والأوروبية لعمليات التنقيب. فمن المعلوم أن كلاً من إيران والعراق سينفقان بين 100 مليار و500 مليار دولار خلال السنوات المقبلة في تطوير قدراتهما في الطاقة، وهذه المبالغ مغرية جداً للشركات الصينية والآسيوية.
لكن الأهم أن الصين وروسيا لن تُفرّطاً بفرصة سانحة طرأت عليهما نتيجة الإدارة الغربية للأزمات، لتصبحا شريكاً منافساً ومضارباً لتأمين أمنهما القومي الاقتصادي من جهة، ولإعادة التوازن عسكرياً في ضوء الاندفاع القوي والعناد الأميركي لإكمال نشر منظومة الصواريخ في تركيا وروسيا وبولندا حتى مشارف شرق آسيا.
لا أحد يمكنه أن يتوقع ما ستؤول إليه الأمور، وكيف يمكن أن تتفاقم. ولكن الثابت أن الحالة الردعية القائمة حالياً بين المعسكرين هي جدّية، ولو حتى بين أميركا وحلفائها من جهة وإيران وحلفائها من جهة أخرى. فالأكيد أن أيّ مغامرة من أحد الطرفين لاختبار الآخر ستؤدي إلى كوارث قد تهدد الاستقرار العالمي، ولا بد من إيجاد ممر يسلكه الطرفان لإعادة تسوية ما تقدم على الاعتراف بأن الساحة تسع الطرفين، وإلا قد تصل الأمور إلى ما يشبه أزمة الصواريخ الكوبية سنة 1961.
صحيح أن التهديد الأميركي يصل إلى مقاطعة بعض الشركات الآسيوية إذا التزمت تعهدات في سوريا وإيران، لكن يعتقد الباحثون أن التطورات الأخيرة ستجعل روسيا والصين خلف إيران وسوريا بالكامل، ولن تسمحا لهاتين الدولتين بأن تضعفا بعدما وصلت المواجهة إلى هذه الحدود. لذلك بات العالم في حرب باردة جديدة، ولم تبدأ المواجهة حتى الآن، ولكنه في حرب فاترة مع بعض الفقاقيع. إنه عالم مجنون تحكمه الغطرسة وغرور القوة، مع مفارقة واضحة: أحد طرفي هذا الصراع يعتبر نفسه في مواجهة تقليدية، بينما يجد الطرف الآخر أنه في صراع وجودي.
هل وصل العالم إلى ظروف ما قبل الحروب العالمية حيث خلا من العقلاء؟

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/34973

Here they come…
Egypt’s economy is crippled by unrest but GCC states could offer vital help
Majid Jafar
Feb 13, 2012
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/egypts-economy-is-crippled-by-unrest-but-gcc-states-could-offer-vital-help

Syria…let your conscience govern
12/02/2012
By Tariq Alhomayed
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=28455
….
“The Arab League today must take three major steps; the first to expel the al-Assad regime from its organization. Secondly, it must recognize the Syrian National Council (SNC), and thirdly it must call for the establishment of the “friends of the Syrian people group”, to support the unarmed Syrians and undertake diplomatic efforts for everything relating to the Security Council.”

Result: NONE

What happened to the post typed when I woke up this morning? I think that was today, oh yes it was, and it was deleted totally. You see, I studied marketing, now help me out here, what did you, whoever removed it, objected to, no hard feeling, I have copy of it, just wants the data, ok, how one can learn without it.

[NOTE – the post contained crude national stereotypes, and edged into provocation. ]

The situation in Syria, a key piece in a strategic confrontation

By Scarlett HADDAD | 13/02/2012
L’Orient Le Jour 13 February 2012 ( translated from french)

We are seeing now a race between the Russian project and the pressure from the Arab League and the international community to bring down the Syrian regime.
On the one hand, the regime of Bashar al-Assad is trying to save time, trying to tame those he regards as terrorists, especially in their strongholds in Homs and Edleb, and the other hand the opponents to the regime seek to increase the pressure diplomatically encircling and pushing the opposition to unite and strengthen themselves militarily.

Diplomatic communities closer to the countries of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) reveal that the Russians – who fully support the regime for strategic reasons – have a proposed solution that consists in pushing some opponents to engage in a dialogue with the regime to bring about structural reforms and to form a new government that would include members of the Baath Party, independents and opponents, with a substantial part granted to the Kurds.
The same sources claim that the Syrian regime has promised to accelerate the reform process and the holding of a national dialogue, but the problem is that the opponents, even those inside are been submitted to pressures from the radical opposition that rejects any form of dialogue with the regime.

That is why it is necessary to first weaken “the hotbeds of the rebellion” in Homs and Edleb to pave the way for such a dialog.
The last visit of the Russian Minister of Foreign Syria has been particularly important in this regard. This has ensured the regime’s intentions and his determination to push forward the reforms, while asking about developments on the ground.

With its Chinese allies, he is said to have promised he would do his best to bring some opponents to accept a dialogue with the regime. But this project meets both the continuing military operations, in Homs and Edleb in particular, and an upsurge in violence across the country, including Aleppo, via car bombs and suicide attacks .

For the Syrian regime and its allies, it is a clear attempt on the part of the armed opposition to prevent any breakthrough towards a national dialogue. For critics of the regime, it is clear that whenever the latter retakes areas from the armed opposition, a new violence flares in the country to redistribute the cards and cause an international diplomatic uproar preventing any possibility of contact with moderate opponents. Moreover, the regime and its allies are linking the renewed violence with diplomatic meetings in the Security Council and Cairo, so that the images of victims mark public opinion and influence decisions.

The diplomatic sources close to the BRICS added that the regime still has many elements of strength, including the incredible cohesion of the Syrian army, which surprised many Western analysts.
This army, which has nearly 400,000 elements, including thousands of officers, has only seen so far the defection of a colonel, Riad el-Assaad, founder of Free the Army of Syria, and a general, Sheikh Mustafa, who launched the offensive Zabadani alone without coordinating with al-Assaad. Besides all attempts to push both men to integrate the same military formation have failed so far, al-Assaad refusing to be under the orders of Sheikh, even if it has the rank of general.

The regime makes use of this kind of conflict between the deserters and opponents in general, as it considers the cohesion of his army quite satisfactory.

Assad also continues to have the support of minorities, although many efforts are being made to make Christians and Druze to distance themselves from him, and finally, he is still supported by the merchant class, the economic situation of the country being considered quite acceptable.

Aleppo plants operate at full capacity to meet the Iraqi market which has opned its doors, while the surplus crop is purchased by Iran. So for now, economic sanctions have not had a decisive impact on the regime, and as noted by a diplomat, these sanctions have never toppled any regime. One need only recall the case of Iraq under Saddam Hussein submitted for over ten years to a severe embargo.
For all these reasons, sources close to the BRICS believe that the Assad regime is still strong and can take a long time, barring the unforeseen. Especially since he has the strategic support of Russia which regards Syria as its bridgehead in an area particularly rich in energy resources, and Iran, which considers the fall of the Syrian regime as an attempt to weaken it.

But it must simultaneously accelerate the reform process, that the Syrian president committed to the Russian authorities.

Meanwhile, the Western camp seeks to circumvent the Security Council blocked by the double veto Russia and China, by increasing the pressure of the Arab League and pushing the international recognition of the Syrian National Council, while giving a tacit green light in arming the opposition. This announces new waves of violence in Syria.
The situation remains confused and Syria has become a centerpiece in the standoff that pits the United States and its European and Arab allies to Iran and its allies Russian and Chinese targets.

The situation in Syria now crystallizes the new division of the world and it leaves no one indifferent. Especially not Lebanon where the politic of staying away advocated by the Prime Minister is every day a little more exposed to developments in the field and criticism from both sides. A position increasingly uncomfortable on the backdrop of political and religious tensions.

ينصر دينك يا إيداف!

Haytham Male7 is unhappy that AL and the gulf goat’s princes didn’t recognize his MB council yet or handed any of the ’empty’ Syrian embassies to take care of the Syrian expats…as if they have any power to change the toilet papers in those embassies!

المالح: كنا ننتظر أكثر من ذلك خاصة الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني ممثلا رسميا

وصف عضو المكتب التنفيذي في “المجلس الوطني السوري” هيثم المالح، قرارات وزراء الخارجية العرب بـ”القرارات التي لا بأس بها”، لافتا إلى أن “المجلس الوطني كان ينتظر أكثر من ذلك، خاصة لجهة الاعتراف رسميا به ممثلا للشعب السوري”.
واضاف المالح لـ”الشرق الأوسط” انه “نحن في مرحلة نحتاج فيها لكيان سياسي يمثل السوريين في الخارج، وهذا الأمر مفروض أن يحسم في القريب العاجل”، كاشفا أنه “كانت هناك إشارات إيجابية في الأيام القليلة الماضية لجهة اعتراف مجلس التعاون الخليجي بالمجلس الوطني”، متوقعا أن “يتم ذلك قريبا، خاصة أن أكثر من سفارة سورية فرغت من موظفيها، وبالتالي، بات يتوجب على المجلس الوطني أن يسير مصالح الشعب السوري في الخارج”.
واعتبر المالح أنه “إذا نجحت الجامعة العربية بالتعاون مع مجلس الأمن في إرسال قوات حفظ سلام دولية إلى سوريا، فإن ذلك سيضع حدا للمجازر التي يرتكبها النظام بحق المدنيين العزل”، وأضاف “يبدو أن الروس أدركوا أنهم وقعوا في فخ كبير، وها هم اليوم يتصلون بأكثر من طرف وفريق للإعراب عن ندمهم”، متوقعا “تغييرا قريبا في موقفهم”.

http://aawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&issueno=12130&article=663415&feature=

Sara #33 wrote:

“There is no justifications to cutting soldiers heads off (as Paul Wood reported in his article in the guardian) just because they think they are “Shabiha” most soldiers are us, they are our sons in the service.”

Paul Wood said the FSA killed Shabiha, not soldiers, but didn’t specify how. The Shabiha cut off the heads of prisoners who had their hands tied behind their backs. Below is the relevant part of his excellent article. I agree no heads should be chopped off, even the most hardened murder, caught in the act should be given a fair trial, something we haven’t seen in 42 years in Assad’s Syria.

“Afterwards one of the Free Army fighters showed me a video he had taken in December. A dozen men in Syrian army uniform were lined up facing a wall. They arms were raised; one turns to the camera looking petrified. Some were still bleeding. Despite their army uniforms, he said their ID cards showed they were Shabiha, or “ghosts”, the hated government paramilitary force.

“We killed them,” he told me.

“You killed your prisoners?”

“Yes, of course, that is the policy for Shabiha.”

I checked with an officer. While soldiers were released, he said, members of the Shabiha were executed after a hearing before a panel of Free Syrian Army military judges. To explain, they showed me film taken from the mobile phone of a captured Shabiha. Prisoners lay face down on the ground, hands tied behind their backs. One by one, their heads were cut off. The man wielding the knife said, tauntingly, to the first: “This for freedom.” As his victim’s neck opened, he went on: “This is for our martyrs. And this is for collaborating with Israel.””

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-homs-frontline-baba-amr

حازم نهار
هاجس “الاعتراف”:
أصبح الهاجس الأساسي لـ “المجلس الوطني السوري” هو الحصول على اعتراف عربي دولي، ربما لأن هذا “الاعتراف المحتمل” هو البوابة الوحيدة التي بإمكانها من جهة أولى إنقاذ المجلس من التفكك، والتغطية على قصور فعله السياسي خلال الفترة الماضية من جهة ثانية. أعتقد أن الأساس هو القيام بأداء سياسي رفيع وإثبات فاعلية حقيقية إزاء المهام الجوهرية للثورة، لأن ذلك وحده يمكنه أن يأتي باعتراف لا يكون عبئاً على الثورة والمعارضة والمجتمع السوري ككل، بل وعلى المجلس ذاته.

https://www.facebook.com/hazm.nhar/posts/248677685212247

Bahrain’s King Says Assad Should Listen to His People

The king of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa, has called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to listen to his people. Hamad told SPIEGEL in an interview that it was up to the Syrians to decide whether Assad should step down. “The best advice for him is from the Syrian people,” he said.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,814664,00.html

NORMAN said :

” I hunk it might be the right time for the Christians to ask for their own country in the Mideast or be treated equally.”

Well, we got Lebanon from the Sunnis, as a Christian homeland, unfortunately your Arab Natonaists and Baathists could not tolerate the fact and wanted Iranian Muslims to run Lebanon.

Idaf,
Beside fully agreeing with Revlon, that you are neither specific nor fully in touch with the reality in Syria. Further comments are needed to complete Revlon’s point. Opposition groups such 23 of February, The Workers Party, Riyad Turk’s group, or the Arab Socialist Union in addition to other leftist groups don’t constitute 4,000 member at best. You can add sympathizer and other affiliated liberals the numbers could reach to 60K. Perhaps adding family and friends the number could reach 200K. Simply put the Muslim brotherhood can tally such a number in Aleppo alone. We can add the disorganized western leaning liberals to triple the number to around 600K but they are disorganized without political representation. Unless you can educate the rest of us a little, name some of the groups you have mentioned. Give us some numbers at least, or just where about can detect there work?

Change in Syria requires a unified opposition. People and the media need faces to bring some legitimacy to its reporting. So don’t blame it on the media alone. How can you rally the streets in Syria and keep the momentum against the regime going? Or do you want this momentum crushed? Who forced the bloody outcome in Syria but the regime itself? The Assad family utilize force, yet complain about it at the same time ready to convince the public that others want to destroy Syria (Syria=Assad or nothing formula). Simple equation drilled in minorities mind during Bashar’s rule, while his father utilized the peripheries (villages against city center).

Unfortunately many are still resisting to the reality that Islamists are coming to power. Islamists have built their forces not only because they have been marginalized, but this regime has not allowed any political discourse or participation. Religious groups in Syria as in any other place around the world have the means to organize and build communities through places of Worship. Similar opportunity was denied to seculars since the Nassir’s UAR, then the arrival of Baath in Syria. Certainly, Baath party is the singular organization that seculars especially among minorities can find as a shelter against the possible rise of Islamist.

Many of us may not want MB’s in power, but the longer you keep Sunni out, the more radicalized (Islamic wise) the Sunni majority in Syria is becoming; A perfect formula to break Syria apart. The sooner you can get the current regime out of power the better the chances Syria will avoid an all-out civil war and its collapse as a nation. I’ve said it since early 80’s, compare the mainly secular Sunni’s of Syria during 1960’s that identified with Europe to the current Sunni’s who tend to identify more with Saudi Arabia. I see it in my family let alone the rest of Damascus.

To affect the future liberals should actively participate with the SNC to have a voice. Facing off with the MB will lead to an autocratic religious regime paranoid of minorities with significantly weak liberal elements. Steering them into Democracy is the only possible outcome other than having them shape the future alone. To shape the future of Syria there has to be a united front where neither Sunnis view minorities as complicit in their oppression, nor for the minorities to be marginalized and oppressed. The scariest scenarios is spelled by the likes of Tom Friedman that Syria was stitched together by the Europeans. He ignores the history of the most diverse society that lived peacefully since dawn of civilization. Like it or not this is the Syrian society I know and it will prevail united.

Syria categorically Rejects the Arab League’s Resolutions as hostile act

Syrian Arab Republic categorically rejects the Arab League resolution issued on Sunday, Syria’s Ambassador in Cairo Yousef Ahmed said today, reminding that, since the beginning, Syria was not concerned in any resolution issued within its absence.

“The Arab Ministerial Council’s decision has shamefully reflected the reality of abducing the Arab joint action, the League decisions and falsifying the Arab collective will by governments of Arab Countries led by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.. it also showed a state of Hysteria and stumble that these governments are passing through after their failure in the UN Security council to call for foreign intervention in the Syrian affairs,” Ahmad, Syria’s permanent Representative to the Arab League added.

http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/13/400096.htm

Idaf is a real person talking about real people in a real situation about which he really knows something and has a real stake.

How refreshing to read it. It’s what SC is here for. Sure, it’s his particular perceptions, interpretations and opinions but it’s something that feels authentic and linked to people inside Syria.

The reality of what people actually do and think and feel on the ground in situations like Syria is light years removed from all the desk judgements and theorising and fantasising and criticising that people here go on with.

As Idaf says:”They are multiple movements shaping and reshaping on weekly basis. Most activists are learning and maturing with time. They change their views and jump from one group to another according to events and developments. When one’s friend or family gets detained or killed they move from peaceful to supporting violence. When you argue with those supporting violence they change their mind, etc. The movements are in constant change but you can notice the fast organic maturity.”

For those who don’t welcome what else Idaf says, check out the evidence-based studies that support his real life observation on the separation of politics and active revolution.

Joshua Landis and Nadim Shehadi on Syria

Two very smart friends — Josh Landis and Nadim Shehadi — had interesting things to say in the comment section of the last post. I hope neither of them mind me bringing those comments up to the main page so that other readers can weigh in. The exchange was touched off by an interview that Josh recently gave on Charlie Rose, where he argued that Syria could be descending into civil war.

…

http://www.oyetimes.com/news/107-middle-east/17847-joshua-landis-and-nadim-shehadi-on-syria

It is not that we don’t like what Idaf has to say. Rather where is the flesh in his story? He may have experienced some small group. We don’t want to risk the life of any Syrian, but we need some sense of how wide spread and in what communities. We want to believe!

Tried to post this comment before I went to bed and it never appeared:

As long as there is no known parties with agendas for the opposition they will remain invisible.

I asked on constant basis many people inside Syria from different positions about why they do not organize politically? They all (anti assad and pro assad) showed inability to organize.

The article may be right about the fast maturation of Syrians politically, but, again, I really doubt that things are at an advanced stage especially with the constant crackdown by al-Assad, who would not show that much patience for unwanted political dissent that does irk him and the absence of the known agenda and leaders.

Take Facebook activism for example: I am for one is lost with the huge number of pages, where many are chaotic run by rambling idiots. The years of the one party rule had produced political midgets out of the Syrian people.

Political parties with known agendas and known leaders is the only way.

update on the syrian spy scandal here in Berlin

Der Spiegel has talked with german secret service agents. Apparantly the regime has tried to arrest 3 german spies in return for the arrest of 2 spies in Germany. The regime has tried to find out the whereabouts of three BND spies in Damascus. According to the magazine those three were already in Beirut.
Much more informations were given of the work of the alledged spies, and as it looks now the spies focused almost entirely on the regime oppostion groups here in Germany. Informants of the spies have collected data of opposition meetings as well as providing high resolution portrait photographs of syrian regime critics for the military security service in Damascus. The pictures and reports were sent out from internet cafes throughout Berlin and the german BND was able to collect some of those reports before they reached their destination. The security services suspects further informants to operate within Germany. The sources told DER SPIEGEL that the scene is definitely
weakend and especially the arrest of Akram O. who worked as an local worker in the embassy left an impression. He always referred himself as an advisor to the ambassador here in Germany.

#30. Jad

I don’t know why there is such a huff and puff from you about a story headlined “Syrian Rebels Likely Behind Aleppo Bombings”.

Well, let’s hope they are. And that it wasn’t the regime or Mossad or Al Queda (all discounted by people inside Syria). Because it would be a very natural course of events for Syrians to blow up the HQ of the hated security service, the symbol and source of so much inhuman suffering, cruelty, pain, fear and humiliation.

I desperately hate that anyone blows up anything and harms human beings and spreads destruction and fear. But that act symbolises Syrians getting to the root of their problem and doing something that feels necessary and right to all the people who suffered from that building.

The security services are reportedly getting exhausted, and now they are getting afraid. Their torture chamber, terror planning facility and citizen surveillance centre got targeted. Only those linked to them could object to that.

# 49. HAT

The clear wide picture you want is not possible in situations like Syria. Analysts, historians and expert observers use fragments like Idaf gives to help put together a jigsaw and see what picture emerges. That’s why I am interested in it.

Idaf
I am very happy to hear that you are now safe and working with the opposition, and I am also pleased to see one of the old timers and perhaps one of the real “Founders” of SC back to reclaim rationality. You, EHSANI, and without a doubt the new moderator, who must be congratulated and appreciated, have already accomplished a lot in putting the breaks on what has been for the past year a mad-house of malicious cut and paste and masked sectarianism.

As I expected, your post was promptly dismissed with cynicism evident in malicious loaded words by those who care not what you had to say. Others, and to my relief, mostly were those on the opposition’s side (Revlon, HAT, and William) were far more interested and interesting, and came up with a series of thoughtful pointed questions some of which may not be answered without extreme care for the sake of safety of activists including yourself.

I would be a liar if I said that your post, along with the above referenced challenges will not affect my own outlook. But I think that one of most profound statements was made by HAT:

The sooner you can get the current regime out of power the better the chances Syria will avoid an all-out civil war and its collapse as a nation.

I fully agree with this excellent statement for many reasons that I will put forth in an upcoming post on 7ee6an. Until then, I think people like you can reinforce the weak bridge between those on the inside and those who are working on the politics and diplomacy of the Syrian revolution. More importantly, the increasing presence of those like you on the outside due to the repressive regime will provide a powerful voice that forces others to listen to all sides of this fragmented opposition.

For now, if you have a chance, please watch George Sabra’s description of his days on the inside (links provided below). At one point in part 1, he describes a set of three meetings he had with 150 lawyers (50 at a time), during which one of the young lawyers stood up and said what amounts to an appreciation of the work some of the leading opposition members have done over decades, as well as a warning that their time in jail and their heroic work can not be viewed as a license for them to hijack this popular revolution and/or to act as its regents.

Open Dialog with George Sabra

Part 1. George’s notes

Part 2. Q&A

Sincerely
OTW

Interview with Guido Westerwelle regarding Syria
( translated)

Spiegel: Mr. Minister, can you explain the behavior of your friend the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Syrian question?

Westerwelle: Russia is driven to my assessment by the fear that it will lose its influence in the region. Therefore, it has regrettably voted in the UN Security Council resolution against Syria. We must make clear to Russia that its own strategic interests are not jeopardized if it stood up on the right side of history.

Spiegel: It seems a long way for Russia to reach such an insight.

Westerwelle: The visit of my esteemed colleague Sergei Lavrov in Damascus,was surely not successful. He has not conveyed the message that I had hoped for.

Spiegel: Thats a very reserved formulation. Lavrov has claimed that the Syrian dictator Assad is doing everything to stop the violence.

Westerwelle: The Russian side has repeatedly stated in negotiations in recent days that it does not only see the government as the only source of violence but also the opposition. I have with Hillary Clinton and other colleagues made it clear that we do not accept such a relativist view . The Assad regime, has responded to rightious protests for more freedom with violence and more violence . What I have been told by the UN High Commissioner Navi Pilllay about the violence in Syria is so disgusting that I do not want to repeat that here in front of you.

Spiegel: What happens if the Russians remain unrepentant?

Westerwelle: We will not give up despite the failed resolution. We are preparing the next round of EU sanctions. We have made the suggestion to form a contact group of friends of a democratic Syria to set up more political pressure..I will not rule out that, we go once again to the United Nations, whether in the Security Council or the General Assembly. We support the proposal of a joint observer mission of the Arab League and the United Nations and the appointment of a UN special envoy to Syria.

Spiegel: Turkey is considering setting up on its borders protection zones for refugees on Syrian territory.

Westerwelle: We are already helping humanitarian causes. We want to help more the refugees that is clear. We will also consult with Turkey, because it takes up by far the largest refugee population.

Spiegel: You advocate a protection zone on the Syrian territory which would be secured militarily?

Westerwelle: Those are questions which can be discussed if there are concrete plans.

Spiegel: Who will develop these plans?

Westerwelle: Everything we do, we agree upon closely with the Arab League, which takes its political leadership role very seriously. This is a positive development,which we see developing in the shadow of these sad events.

Spiegel: But you must have your own idea of what will happen if the Russians and Chinese would retain their veto.
Westerwelle: I’ve just said, what we do to increase the pressure. That’s what were at a bilateral level. I’ve decided that for now we do not send a new ambassador to Syria. Four members of Syria’s embassy in Berlin, were expelled.

Spiegel: Is your verbal determination for Syria so strong because no one calls for a military mission in which Germany might have to participate?

Westerwelle: We were not neutral in Libya. But we decided that we will not participate with German soldiers at the intervention there.

Spiegel: Why do you treat Syria not as hard as Iran? Americans and Europeans imposed drastic sanctions without a proper UN vote.

Weesterwelle: We have already eleven rounds of sanctions against Syria behind us, and others will follow. Iran is something else: A nuclear-armed country would constitute a significant threat to the security situation in the region, including Israel, our partner. It would be a significant threat to the security architecture of the world.

SPIEGEL Interview with the King of Bahrain

‘Arab Spring? That’s the Business of Other Countries’

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,814915,00.html

# 53 Off the Wall

I join you in yearning for the old SC and the quality contributors to the comments section, including Idaf, before “what has been for the past year a mad-house of malicious cut and paste and masked sectarianism.”

The sad truth is that some of those you refer to have only taken an interest in Syria and discovered SC after the situation there made shock headlines. Others appear to be commenting in SC as part of their job requirements.

The AL has in effect declared war on Bashar yesterday. They publicly vowed to fully support the opposition financially and politically. General Assembly to discuss Syria today. Is it going to be another humiliating day for Bashar, now in the international arena?

I am sure the roth of the dethert is worried.

This would be very helpful if you could provide a list of these other Syrian opposition groups, or best maintain a page about them.

Thanks in advance!

I am looking forward for a good meeting in Tunisia,on the 24 of february, the friends of democratic Syria,very important things will happen there, and yes today The general assembly of the UN is great, the time for Assad to gloat is over.

The impossible challenge to the Arab League: How can the armed groups agree to a ceasefire?

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-resumes-shelling-rejecting-peace-force-080736923.html
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

“In order to deploy a peacekeeping mission, you need the agreement of the receiving side.

“In other words, you need to agree something resembling a ceasefire. But the problem is that the armed groups that are fighting the Syrian regime do not answer to anyone and are not controlled by anyone.”
{..}

#57 Tara

“Is it going to be another humiliating day for Bashar”

Which was the first?
I guess you are mixed up, until now the strongest public humiliation has been to the GCC and there ‘friends’ with the veto. They have still not recovered as they show numerous symptoms of hysteria.

the corporate-financier media led by CNN, and in particular CIA-asset Anderson Cooper, has conducted a non-stop propaganda campaign based entirely on “activist” say so centered around the Syrian city of Homs. Journalistic integrity and neutrality have been shamelessly abandoned, evident by CNN headlines reading, “Ruthless Assad rides wave of slaughter.”

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29251

#58 Majedalkhaldoon

“very important things will happen there”

Sure! As the AL meetings, the UNSC etc… that made things worse.
Maybe the presence of the USA will help to make it even worse, as it always does.
Important, yes, useful no.

Familiar sounds: America is faced with “evil”, what to do?

Why Obama Should Go Slow in Syria
Feb 13, 2012 12:00 AM EST
Violence in Syria escalates by the day. The drumbeat for war in Washington mounts. Why Obama should go slow.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/02/12/why-obama-should-go-slow-in-syria.html

Faced with evil, Americans always want to be on the side of the angels. So American interventionists, hawks, and human-rights types are banding together, as they did in Libya, to stop President Bashar al-Assad from killing his people. But when interventionists become avenging angels, they blind themselves and the nation, and run dangerously amok. They plunge in with no plans, with half-baked plans, with demands to supply arms to rebels they know nothing about, with ideas for no-fly zones and bombing. Their good intentions could pave the road to hell for Syrians—preserving lives today, but sacrificing many more later.
{…}

I hope the author this post is correct and that the democratic (real) opposition can gain traction relative to others. I think that this opposition however might find it shares the fate of the Egyptian liberals and is marginal because of a poor electoral showing in a polarized environment post – Assad.
The real opposition should in my opinion offer now a set of constitutional proposals that will protect the rights of the minority communities who are still supporting the regime because they fear an illiberal future….
This would contribute to a peaceful outcome…

China silent on call for Syria peacekeeping force
By AP News Feb 13, 2012 6:27PM UTC
http://asiancorrespondent.com/75895/china-silent-on-call-for-syria-peacekeeping-force/

BEIJING (AP) — China refused Monday to say if it backs an Arab League call for the U.N. Security Council to create a joint peacekeeping force for Syria, the latest bid to end the violence that has killed more than 5,000 there.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin refused to directly answer repeated questions on whether it would support the league’s call. He said China backs the Arab League’s “political mediation efforts.”

He reiterated China’s stance that it wanted to see Syrian authorities and opposition forces “properly solve their disputes through dialogue.”
{…}

China, for its part, offered no clear signal of its intentions. “Relevant moves by the United Nations should be conducive towards lessening tension in Syria, pushing political dialogue and resolving differences, as well as maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East, rather than complicating things,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin, told a regular news briefing in Beijing, Reuters said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/world/middleeast/syrian-forces-continue-attack-on-homs.html?_r=1

54. Juergensaid: “…Iran is something else: A nuclear-armed country would constitute a significant threat to the security situation in the region, including Israel, our partner. …”

There you have it, the huge double standard. When will the Western nations work for a completely nuclear-weapon-free Middle East?

Burhan Ghalioun’s hopeful new vision

Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the opposition Syrian National Council, welcomed the moves as “a first step” towards the fall of Assad’s regime.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/14/world/middleeast/syrian-forces-continue-attack-on-homs.html?_r=1

UK rebuffs Arab League latest ‘breakthrough’ request

UK says ‘no Western troops in Syria force’
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/uk-says-no-western-troops-in-syria-force.aspx?pageID=238&nID=13671&NewsCatID=351
CAPE TOWN – Agence France-Presse

British Foreign Secretary William Hague called for urgent talks on an Arab League proposal for peacekeepers in in Syria today, but said Western nations were unlikely to join the force.

“I don’t see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground, in any form, including in peacekeeping form,” he told a news conference during a visit to South Africa.

“But of course if such a concept could be made viable we will be supporting it in all the usual ways.” He added that success depended on a “credible ceasefire” being established and an end to President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on civilians.

“Of course for peacekeepers to operate successfully, there must be a peace to keep. So far it has not been possible to secure that,” he said.
{…}

Zoo,

The French did the same 🙂 a double slap in the face of Qatar and KSA!

حذّر وزير الخارجية الفرنسي آلان جوبيه من اي تدخل عسكري خارجي في سورية.
المصدر: وكالات-عربي برس

http://arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=22625

Western media ‘selective’ in Syria reports
Published: 13 February, 2012, 13:42

http://rt.com/news/media-syria-reports-winstanley-153/

Reports about hundreds of dead and wounded coming from Syria on a daily basis has become commonplace in Western media, while the sources of such information often are not verified properly, investigative journalist Asa Winstanley told RT.

According to Winstanley anti-Assad media willingly cite unconfirmed information from sources on the ground in Syria or Iran because the govts of each “are seen as anti-Western regimes.” But when reporting on Israeli military actions in Palestine, the same media use activists on the ground far less regularly.

“The media seem to be quite selective of the pass [of information],” Winstanley claims.

For example, mainstream channels, like BBC, Al Jazeera and CNN, were taken in by Mousab Azzawi, a man who called himself a spokesperson for a UK-based group Syrian Human Rights Observatory. After appearing on TV, Azzawi’s political views like calling for a no-fly zone and international intervention into Syria were widely quoted.

But later on, the founder of the Observatory Rami Abdulrahman said Azzawi has nothing to do with SOHR and that the organization is strongly against a no-fly zone over Syria.

“It is just embarrassing, for example for the BBC, to say ‘Well, we did not properly checked this guy,’” Winstanley says, describing the situation with controversial Syrian opposition spokesperson getting prime time on leading TV channels.

“For the situation in Syria, it is very difficult to get reliable information from anyone,” says Winstanley, naming the regime not allowing free access for foreign journalists in the country as the main reason for that.

Winstanley finds the opposition Syrian National Council being openly in favor of establishing no-fly zone over Syria a ridiculous move, since there has been not a single claim that the Assad regime bombed people.

“[The] no-fly zone seems to be a political pretext to invade [Syria],” claims Asa Winstanley.

“Any foreign intervention into Syria would be a disaster,” Winstanley says, claiming it will not only lead to a huge confrontation but would increase the support of the regime within the country as well.

As the example of Iran has proved any threats from outside give a regime the right to say “you have to support us because otherwise you can get bombed.”

Jad

I guess it is not Bashar al Assad who is ‘increasingly isolated’ and ’embattled’ but it is the Arab League under the “supreme guidance” of Qatar as they keep coming up with new counterproductive and desperate demands to cover up the failure of the previous ones.

More ‘huff an puff’ about the terrorists attack in Aleppo, and NO, Syrialover, bombing and terrorism acts should be ‘objected’ by all not ‘Only those linked to them’.

Louai Hussein after his accusation of the Syrian regime in the terrorists attacks in Damascus changed his mind and thinks that Alqaeda might be behind those attacks after all:

معارض سوري: لا أستبعد ضلوع القاعدة في تفجيرات دمشق وحلب

قال رئيس تيار بناء الدولة السوري لؤي حسين في مقابلة مع قناة “روسيا اليوم” إن دعوة زعيم القاعدة أيمن الظواهري السوريين الى عدم الاعتماد على الحكومات الغربية أو العربية في ما وصفه بالانتفاضة ضد نظام الرئيس بشار الاسد، هي محاولة لإستغلال الانفلات الأمني الذي تشهده البلاد.

واعتبر المعارض ان الانفلات الأمني الذي حصل تسببت به السلطة خلال قمعها للحراك الاحتجاجي في سورية، وبالتالي تسببت في فتح الحدود وظهور بعض التيارات والمجموعات المتطرفة، مؤكدا ضرورة اخذ تهديدات القاعدة على محمل الجد، لان الانفلات الأمني يسمح للقاعدة بدخول البلاد والعمل “على اطراف” الحراك الشعبي وان القاعدة ستجد في سورية اهدافا كثيرة وسهلة الوصول.

كما لم يستبعد لؤي حسين ضلوع القاعدة في التفجيرات الأخيرة التي وقعت في دمشق وحلب، مشددا على ضرورة مواجهة القاعدة ليس الى جانب النظام بل بانهاء هذا النظام، الذي تسبب بدخولها.

http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/578438/

Pretty soon, Russia and China will slap the ‘genius’ goats’ princes again:

لافروف: موسكو تريد ايضاحات حول بنود قرار ارسال بعثة حفظ السلام الى سورية
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/578463/

الصين تتجنب الاعلان عن موقفها ازاء ارسال قوات سلام الى سورية
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/578482/

Zoo
Soon, Russia and China will slap them too.

@WSS

You call my unwavering support to Israel and my encouragement to the Likud bravery in calling for storming the Temple Mount a “Provocation”. I really want to donate money for this cause. Do you know of any Israeli organization that campaign for the legitimate Jewish National right to build the Temple?

67. zoosaid: …“Of course for peacekeepers to operate successfully, there must be a peace to keep. So far it has not been possible to secure that,” he said. …

The Arab League and its Western backers are making the same mistake they made at the UN Security Council. For any of these peace plans to be effective they have to work first with the opposition to create an agreement to enter into a political process in Syria. Their petulant refusal to do so up to now is blocking any ceasefire, any meaningful government reforms, and any non-violent deposing of the Assad regime. Stop calling names and start working constructively. What good is a new constitution without opposition input and backing, what good are elections without opposition participation??

Commenter Idaf above says: “The FSA is a myth, as there is no coordinated group of militants across the country, only hundreds of small militias that have nothing in common.” But, as already mentioned by Revlon #17, it is a fact and it is no myth that all the street protesters nationwide every Friday for the last few months have been chanting and extolling the FSA by name (“jaysh el-hur”).

Meanwhile as quoted by commenter Juergen above, the foreign minister of Germany Guido Westerwelle said shortly after the UNSC veto by Russia & China: “The Russian side has repeatedly stated that it does not only see the Syrian government as the only source of violence but also the opposition. I have with Hillary Clinton and other colleagues made it clear that we do not accept such a relativist view.”

That is a spectacularly and extraordinarily bigoted view. It is in denial of the reality plain to us all.

UN Ibrahim Ja3fari speech ,a lot of it culd be used against him,
I like the libyan speech.

الدكتور بشار الجعفري الجمعية العمومية 13-2-2012
http://youtu.be/21DfRO7QGLU

مداخلة د بشار الجعفري امام مجلس حقوق الانسان 13 2 2012
http://youtu.be/BAM2RIrQ_Jc

The Libyans are now a ‘model’ for human rights after all the killings they did and still doing..how convincing!

The Syrian Opposition’s Great Mistake

As the Syrian opposition abandons non-violent protest for armed resistance, many people think this means that President Bashar al-Assad and his Baathist regime are in even deeper trouble than before. On the contrary, it means that Assad and the Baathists are winning.
{…}
Non-violent protesters have a whole menu of actions they can take to undermine the regime’s authority: mass demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins, stay-at-homes and much more. They also have a strict rule never to use violence against the regime and its servants – not because the protesters are pacifists, but because non-violence works better.

It gets better results because if the protesters avoid violence, it is almost impossible for a dictator to unleash all the force at his command. The regime’s troops and police will kill a few protesters each day, or even a few dozen, but they are psychologically deterred from mass killing because the protesters pose no direct threat to them.
{…}
It is a disaster for the Syrian opposition: their death-toll has now risen to hundreds each week, but the deaths have less moral impact because they are happening in what is becoming a mere civil war. Ugly and destructive though that will be, Assad’s regime has a better chance of survival now than it did when the protests were strictly non-violent.

Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-syrian-oppositions-great-mistake.aspx?pageID=449&nID=13512&NewsCatID=418

“Why don’t you hear about them?”

Stop believing the spin. NATO, Inc isnt looking for democracy or freedom truthers. Its looking for a compliant Syrian client government. Those ‘rogue splinter factions’ (meaning the real average man-on-the-street) dont have the power or obediance to deliver it. Once the next NATO-backed puppet is installed, these successor puppets will be given a free hand to smash the said dissident ‘rogue terrorists’ ala Libya and Iraq.

Or maybe NATO will import the Taliban to rule- who they’re currently in talks with to reinstall as Afghanistan’s government. Al Qaeda’s already got boots on the ground in Syria so the two could link up with NATO’s other proxy, the Muslim Bros for the “Jasmine Revolution” to come full flower.

I liked the article by Idaf but it has some contradicting paragraphs.
For instance:
Syrians who want a solution should focus on channeling their energy towards reducing the impact of the fall of the regime rather than supporting the SNC/FSA or supporting the regime out of fear of the “FSA”, the Islamists or the militants.
—————–

Fine I personally agree; but with this solution you are asking Syrians to make a choice.

———————-
Then:

Everyone should stop simply forcing the Syrians to chose between the Regime or SNC/FSA/Islamists. These are not the only options.
———-
In this sentence you are asking not to make a choice.
Well if you need to soft land the regime you must support it at least for now until all outsiders are out. Then we work on changes.

After exposing the manipulations of the aerial photos done by the State Department and used in Ford interview in the media, here:

The State Department Lies With Its Satellite Pictures Of Syria – No Artillery “Deployed”
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/02/lying-with-pictures.html

Syriatruth get even deeper to explain about other lies in the aerial photos presented by Ford, be ready to hear more about similar lies soon:

السفير الأميركي في دمشق يقوم بأكبر عملية نصب واحتيال ، و”حمير”المعارضة تنقاد وراءه

فورد استخدم صورا ملتقطة في العام 2011 ، وادعى أنها في هذا الشهر، علما بأنها لقوات عسكرية مرابطة في حمص منذ ربع قرن تقريبا!؟

ملاحظة : التحقيق التالي أعده الصحفي السوري نزار نيوف لصالح البرنامج السوري في “المركز الأوربي لدراسات وأبحاث الشرق الأدنى في لندن”، وقد أعاد صياغته بالعربية خصيصا لموقع”الحقيقة” ، مع إضافة بعض التعليقات القاسية التي عرف بها أسلوبه، وبعض الشروح المخصصة للقارىء السوري والعربي عموما.

لندن ، الحقيقة ( خاص من : نزار نيوف): في العاشر من الشهر الجاري ، وعلى صفحته الخاصة من موقع ” فيسبوك”، نشر السفير الأميركي في دمشق روبرت فورد صورة ملتقطة بالأقمار الصناعية لمنطقة حمص ، وبشكل خاص “باباعمرو”. وهي من شركة “ديجيتال غلوب” لخدمات الأقمار الصناعية التجارية. وقد أعاد الموقع الرسمي لوزارة الخارجية الأميركية نشر الصورة مع الاستنتاجات التي توصل إليها فورد، فضلا عن صور أخرى خاصة بالخارجية الأميركية. وبعد أقل من ساعة على نشرها ، سارعت المواقع العربية والأجنبية ( انظر هنا فورن بوليسي ، مثلا) إلى استنساخها وترديد ما ادعاه وادعته وزارته بشأنها ، بما في ذلك مواقع المعارضة السورية كلها ، بشقيها الوطني ـ الديمقراطي ، الذي تمثله ” هيئة التنسيق الوطني” و حركة معا من أجل سوريا ديمقراطية”.. إلخ ، و الشق العميل الذي يمثله ” المجلس الوطني السوري” المدار من قبل أجهزة الاستخبارات الأجنبية ، الأميركية والفرنسية والخليجية ، وسواها.

الصور تدعي ، أو بالأدق : السفير وإدارته جعلاها تدعي، أنها تظهر ( في باباعمرو) عربات مدفعية وبنايات محترقة و حفرا ناجمة عن قصف مدفعي! أما في الزبداني بريف دمشق ، فهي تظهر ما أسمته “عربات مدفعية تدعم عمليات أمنية تقوم بها الحكومة السورية”!

ما قام به فورد ووزارته يشكل واحدة من أكبر عمليات الاحتيال التي لا يقوم بها إلا نصّاب خسيس وحقير. إذ إن الهدف منها هو تحضير الرأي العام العالمي وتحريضه استباقيا على قبول فكرة الغزو العسكري لسوريا على غرار ما حصل في بنغازي تماما . فيومها فبركت الدول الغربية أكذوبة رخيصة زعمت أن طوابير من دبابات نظام القذافي في طريقها إلى بنغازي لإبادة أهلها ، وبالتالي لا بد من مسارعة الحلف الأطلسي لإنقاذهم! وهذا ما حصل بعد “الغطاء” الذي وفرته جامعة الكلاب العرب تحت إدارة عمرو موسى ومن ورائه جواسيس واشنطن في دول الخليج. وقد تبين بعد الحرب أن الأمر لم يكن سوى “فبريكة” رخيصة مثل بقية الأكاذيب الأخرى كحكاية المرتزقة الأفارقة وحكاية اغتصاب الجنود الليبيين للنساء! لكن الأحقر من فورد ووزارته ، والأكثر خسة منه ، هم أولئك المعارضون الذين اجتروا أكذوبة السفير ووزارته ورددوا مزاعمهما مثل قطيع من الأغنام والبعير دون أن يفكروا ولو للحظة واحدة بمناقشة ما قالاه أو التدقيق فيه، ناهيكم عن التدقيق في الصور. والحق إن جريمة هؤلاء أكبر ونذالتهم أخسّ وغباءهم أشد وأدهى ، لأنهم أبناء البلد ويعرفون المنطقة أكثر من أي شخص آخر.

على مدار اليومين الماضيين كنت أحلل الصور وأدرسها بعمق ، مع الاستعانة بصور “غوغول إيرث” و ” ويكيمابيا” لمطابقة المناطق الجغرافية التي يتحدثان عنها وتحديد إحداثياتها بدقة. وإليكم ما توصلت إليه بعد 16 ساعة من العمل المتواصل:

[…]

http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6692/Default.aspx

The media fake scenes by Scott Creighton

http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/lyin-joe-lieberman-praises-brave-syrian-freedom-fighters-and-calls-for-a-new-coalition-of-the-willing/

As Arab League Proposes al-Khatib, Libya UN Fiasco & Banning Not Answered

http://www.innercitypress.com/syria1khatib021212.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 12 — When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Jordan earlier this year, he apparently didn’t even speak with Abdel Elah al-Khatib, the Jordanian politician and businessman who had a rocky term as UN envoy to Libya, complete with conflicts of interest, and then quit.

On February 9, the day after Ban told the media he had discussed a joint envoy with the Arab League’s Nabil Elaraby, Inner City Press asked Ban’s spokesman Martin Nesirky when, in fact, Ban last spoke with al-Khatib. Nesirky said he found find out and answer the question, but four days later has not.

Al-Khatib never disclosed nor stopped his business activities, which Inner City Press showed included links to a Gaddafi-affiliated bank in Libya, while serving as envoy. He demanded private jets and made UN staff assigned to help him cry, from abuse. Then he was eased out by current UN envoy Ian Martin, and quit — all this according to well placed sources in the UN Department of Political Affairs, and then unconvincingly denied.

Equus,
Thank you for the link.

‘Syria Danny’, Disgusting!!

“CNN promotes Lyin Joe Lieberman and a brand new “Gay Girl in Damascus” psyop! Now they got “Syrian Danny” who is a British citizen pleading for a NATO bombing in Syria. This guy says the only thing that can save the country he does not live in is for the United States or Israel to bomb the shit out of them like we did in Libya. How brave of him sitting in London somewhere to ask NATO to blow up Syria.”

Global Media Promotes Syrian “Activist” Begging For Military Invasion
‘Syria Danny’ – British citizen used as poster child for war propaganda

“We want Israel” and “NATO to “Bombard Syria”…how pathetic is that!
CNN about Syria with activist danny abd aldayem 2
http://youtu.be/SO2e-lnCUmY

http://www.prisonplanet.com/global-media-promotes-syrian-activist-begging-for-military-invasion.html

Escalating situation in Syria evokes fears of similar Iraqi fate – 2012-02-13

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/13/c_131407673.htm

DAMASCUS, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — The accelerated situation and the obsession of almost all world countries, including major powers, about the Syrian crisis have drawn many question marks about the future of this small but influential country and evoked fears that it’s nudged towards a new Kosovo or at least a new Iraq.

The Syrian government’s decision to harshly track down alleged terrorist groups in restive Syrian cities has been encountered by vitriolic criticism from world countries, accusing it of capitalizing on the recent Russian and Chinese veto at the UN Security Council that has blocked a resolution condemning the Syrian government’s violence against protesters.

The harsh crackdown also raised concern about new measures against Syria, including a possible military intervention or at least an imminent civil war.

Internally, terrorism is strongly beating. The northern province of Aleppo was rocked on Friday with two suicide blasts that claimed the lives of 28 people and the injury of 234 others.

[…]

Syrian representative challenges meeting on human rights in Syria – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_122696452.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — Bashar Ja’afari, the Syrian permanent representative to the UN, on Monday attempted to stop a UN General Assembly meeting on recent events in his country on the basis of an alleged violation of assembly procedures, but was overruled.

While stating his objections before the assembly at the start of Monday’s session, Ja’afari said that the president of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, called the meeting based on a “political paradigm which is totally irrelevant to established practice” as well as prior assembly resolutions.

“Therefore, my delegation objects to the convening of this meeting and calls to cancel it because there is a core violation in the procedural mechanisms on which the meeting was held and because there was a legal violation that also violates the procedures that govern the work of the General Assembly,” said Ja’ afari.

The meeting was set to discuss a report of the Human Rights Council (HRC) on Syria that was adopted during a special session of the HRC on Dec. 2, 2011 with 37 nations in favor, four against, and six abstentions.

[…]

Chinese state councilor, U.S. secretary of state hold phone talk on ties, Xi’s visit, Syria – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-02/14/c_122696430.htm

Dai and Clinton also had a frank and in-depth exchange of views on the current Syria situation.

Both of them agreed that all kinds of violence should be immediately stopped and the peace and stability of Syria and the Middle East should be achieved through political settlement.

Dai stressed that the Syria issue was essentially Syria’s internal affair. China’s position on Syria had been objective and fair, and its attitude was responsible, which was in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations.

He said China’s open and aboveboard behaviors could stand the test of history. China backed the efforts of Arab countries to solve the Syria issues through political settlement and would cooperate with the international community to play a constructive role in solving the Syria issue properly.

At UN, Pillay Testifies Over Objection of Syria, Which Invokes Al Qaeda

http://www.innercitypress.com/ga5syria021312.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 13 — When the General Assembly session on Syria began Monday morning, Syrian Permanent Representative Bashar Ja’afari made an objection or point of order, that the session was merely on the whim of the Qatari President of the GA, and not in accordance with GA rules.

He asked for an “independent” legal opinion from the UN, presumably from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s top lawyer Patricia O’Brien.

Not responding to the legal argument, the PGA asked the Syrian if he wanted to object under Rule 71 and have a vote. To some, it was akin to a judge responding to an objection by saying, shall we poll those in the courtroom? And so the meeting proceeded.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay recounted what her office has found. Afterward, Inner City Press asked Pillay what she made of Ja’afari’s statements about Al Qaeda killings. She said that can be reviewed by Commisison of Inquiry.

[…]

Britain ‘would provide support but not troops for Syria peacekeeping mission’ – 13 February 2012

Britain would provide funding and support for a joint United Nations-Arab League peacekeeping mission in Syria but could not go as far as contributing troops on the ground, William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, suggested on Monday.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9079546/Britain-would-provide-support-but-not-troops-for-Syria-peacekeeping-mission.html

87. 873 said:

“Why don’t you hear about them?”

Stop believing the spin. NATO, Inc isnt looking for democracy or freedom truthers. Its looking for a compliant Syrian client government. Those ‘rogue splinter factions’ (meaning the real average man-on-the-street) dont have the power or obediance to deliver it. Once the next NATO-backed puppet is installed, these successor puppets will be given a free hand to smash the said dissident ‘rogue terrorists’ ala Libya and Iraq.

Or maybe NATO will import the Taliban to rule- who they’re currently in talks with to reinstall as Afghanistan’s government. Al Qaeda’s already got boots on the ground in Syria so the two could link up with NATO’s other proxy, the Muslim Bros for the “Jasmine Revolution” to come full flower.
—————————————————————-
I rest my case.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099957/Video-proof-Libyas-freedom-fighters-turned-brutal-torturers.html

97. ann said:

Britain ‘would provide support but not troops for Syria peacekeeping mission’ – 13 February 2012

So Brits just in it this round for reconaissance? Great chance to spy on Syria for their pending attack. UK advisors already in country along with their Muslim terror/protester proxies.

Test…

Russia’s concern for besieged Syrian Christians – February 13, 2012

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=30013

The recent Russian and Chinese vetos of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria have been condemned in the strongest terms by Western diplomats — Hillary Clinton called it a ‘travesty’ and the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, tweeted her ‘disgust’ at the way events had proceeded.

At first glance, the reasons for the Russian veto seem obvious. Russia has important material interests in Assad’s Syria: it continues to make major arms sales to the Assad regime — mainly high-end weaponry such as anti-air defence systems — and Syria hosts the only Russian naval base outside the former Soviet Union, at Tartus.

Furthermore, the Medvedev/Putin administration, itself beset by domestic political protest, has little interest in promoting norms of international censure and intervention into contested — even violent — political situations.

So it is easy to view the Russian veto as merely the outcome of a cynically realist assessment of its interests by the Russian regime. And, of course, it is in part.

[…]

The Friends of Syria meeting, there will not be supporters of Assad there,over 70 country responded and will attend, It will be great if Colonel Ryad Al As3ad attends.it will announce the begining of assad departure.

Who did Bashar Jaafari quote today? Not Um Kalthum I hope.

My name is Michelle Fuchs, editor at LaRouchePAC.com. I am greatly concerned for the situation in Syria. We do NOT believe this is a homegrown confrontation between Assad’s government and the people of Syria. We know- and have documented the evidence in various widely-distributed videos- that this is an operation run from the outside, as part of a broader operation of chaos which is ultimately aimed at Russia and China.
I invite you to view the following videos, and please get back to me with any feedback you might have.
Thank you,
Michelle Fuchs
202-360-1415

Morning Overview · Obama’s Alliance With Al-Qaeda?
http://larouchepac.com/node/21556

LPACTV Feature: 9/11 · 10 Years Later
http://larouchepac.com/10yearslater
Eight months before the September 11, 2001 attacks, Lyndon LaRouche forecast that the United States was at high risk for a Reichstag Fire event, an event that would allow those in power to manage through dictatorial means an economic and social crisis that they were otherwise incompetent to handle. We are presently living in the unbroken wake of that history.

Lyndon LaRouche The Great Threat We Must Conquer Feb. 7th Webcast.
http://larouchepac.com/webcasts/20120206.html
Take special note of question 5: “Consequences of the Fall of Assad”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche International Webcast Feb. 11th

The global mainstream media is feverishly creating a poster child for the planned invasion of Syria, by affording a British citizen who claims to be a Syrian “activist” endless air time during which he constantly begs for a U.S., Israeli or NATO-backed bombing campaign to depose President Bashar Assad.

http://www.prisonplanet.com/global-media-promotes-syrian-activist-begging-for-military-invasion.html

UN action on Syria should comply with UN Charter: China – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_122696498.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — China on Monday called for “positive and constructive role” of the international community on Syria, saying that the UN action on Syria “should comply with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter” and the basic norms guiding the international relations.

Wang Min, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the statement as he was addressing the UN General Assembly, which met on Monday to discuss the human rights situation in Syria.

“The international community should play a positive and constructive role,” Wang said. “The actions of the United Nations on the Syrian issue should comply with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, help ease the tensions, help promote political dialogue and defuse disputes, and help maintain peace and stability in the Middle East region, rather than complicate the issue,” he said.

“China has always maintained that constructive dialogue and cooperation is the only right way to promote the protection of human rights,” Wang said, adding that China has been all along following the developments in Syria.

Turkey improves its relation with Israel

Obama’s Opportunity in Syria
Dov S. Zakheim
February 13, 2012

….
The Syrian crisis may be prompting a more positive development that is of great importance to Washington: a slow, but steady, improvement of relations between Israel and Turkey. Having been misled by Bashar al-Assad once too often, and concerned about an even greater influx of Syrian refugees, particularly Alawites and Christians, Ankara is now the most forceful proponent of regime change in Damascus. But this development represents a major volte-face for Turkish diplomacy and an acknowledgement that its “neighborhood policy,” so highly touted by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, is now in tatters. With the outcome of the Syrian civil war highly uncertain, and the possibility that the war will result in a government that is less friendly to Turkey, relations at some level with Israel offer an attractive alternative.
…
The events in Syria are, of course, highly unpredictable. At one extreme, Assad could miraculously remain in power, though few observers anywhere think he will. At the other extreme, the Islamists may seize the reins of government, though Syria’s various minorities will mightily resist such an outcome and bloodshed could continue for some time. There are a host of other scenarios that could also materialize.
{..}

#102 MajedAlkhaldoon

“it will announce the begining of assad departure.”

Keep predicting as the opposite always happenned!

Zoo

Can we not change the number of dots on a particular day. Day to day variability is ok. I have a burning desire to copy everything you do, but also like to have an opinion too. And also fyi, it annoys me when some pro regime copy what we do. They lack originality.

Over the weekend, police in Britain launched a spate of headline-grabbing arrests of senior reporters and editors from The Sun, Murdoch’s flagship daily tabloid, as part of an ongoing investigation into the bribing of police and other public officials.

So let’s see if these complicit media reporters (FOX, CNN, MSNBC, BBC, al Jazeera) follow soon.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/02/13/murdoch-foe-mark-lewis-may-file-suit-in-the-u-s.html

اغتيال ويتني هيوستن
ومابين السياسة والفن كتب @asadabukhalil ساخرا: “الجزيرة تؤكّد أن شبيحة النظام السوري هم الذين قتلوا ويتني هيوستن.”
ورد عليه @aledrisy: “العربية تنفي ما ورد، وتؤكد أن طهران وراء اغتيال ويتني هيوستن، رداّ على حزمة العقوبات التي فرضتها الولايات المتحدة على إيران!”
وكتب صاحب @5orm: “ويتني هيوستن ماتت .. سبب آخر للاستمرار في الإضراب وإسقاط النظام الذي منعها من إقامة حفلات في مصر.”
أما @modyabdelhaleem فقد غرد قائلا: “قناة العربية 8 دقائق تقرير مصور عن ويتني هيوستن؟! طيب ليش؟! إحنا مالنا؟ أعتقد أنه في مصايب أهم نحكي عنها؟! ولا خلصت الموضوعات؟”
وكتبت @tounsiahourra : “الرجاء من المرحومة ويتني هيوستن أن تؤكد خبر وفاتها، إحنا مش مستحملين إشاعتين في يوم واحد، لكن هي بنت حلال ماتت في الوقت المناسب حتى تنسوا شوية.”
وعلق @KareemLailah: “تقبل التعازي بالمغنية الراحلة ويتني بنت عبد الشكور هيوستن في منزل الشهيد حمزة الخطيب بدرعا، شكر الله سعيكم.”

[WARNING – Please include links to quoted material ]

Via JAD #86:

Non-violent protesters have a menu of actions: mass demonstrations, strikes, sit-ins, stay-at-homes and much more. A strict policy by the protesters to never use violence against the regime and its servants produces better results for protest movements than violence can. It makes it almost impossible for the regime to unleash the formidable physical force it commands. The regime’s troops and police are psychologically deterred from mass violence themselves when the protesters pose no direct threat to them. Whereas if the protesters do attack the regime’s security forces, the soldiers and police are released from this inhibition and will use their powers to “protect” themselves. If physical force is what decides the confrontation, the regime almost automatically wins, because the force it can deploy is so much greater. As soon as protesters turn violent, the balance of power shifts in favour of the regime.

The resort to violence by the protesters moves the daily news cycles inside the country away from the demands for political change and onto the violent mayhem and the fatalities of the State’s security personnel. This strengthens the support for the forces of law and order among the mainstream public opinion, which strengthens the established government’s political position. It weakens the political attractiveness of every anti-regime faction including the factions who disavow violence.

I say repeatedly, violence committed against the forces of law and order is a losing strategy for the dissidents because it alienates mainstream public opinion and because the power to overthrow the regime by physical force is one of the powers that the dissidents don’t have. But non-violent methods were and are also a losing strategy for the dissidents. E.g. the dissidents designated a day for a General Strike several times but the observance of each of those General Strikes was paltry. The last would-be “General Strike” was on 11 Dec 2011 and they haven’t ventured to try one since.

The Syrian government stands strong because the uprising does not have the support of the people of Syria — it’s as simple as that. What’s much harder for me to comprehend is why most of the outside world has gross bigotry against this government. Bigotry to such a degree that the foreign minister of Germany pretends (or perhaps believes in all sincerity) that armed rebellion isn’t now an integral part of the protest movement.

Seven months ago, former MI6 officer Alastair Crooke penned this piece:

Unfolding the Syrian Paradox

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MG15Ak02.html

Many among the Syrian diaspora rejected his perspective, out of hand.

Read it again and see how right he was and still is.

The Rev Dr Peter Mullen is a priest of the Church of England and former Rector of St Michael, Cornhill and St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London. He has written for many publications including the Wall Street Journal.

Our foreign policy on Syria is the same as al-Qaeda’s – something isn’t right here
By Peter Mullen
February 13th, 2012
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/petermullen/100137025/our-foreign-policy-on-syria-is-the-same-as-al-qaedas-something-isnt-right-here/
Al-Zawahiri, chief of al-Qaeda, has pledged his terrorist organisation’s support for the rebels in Syria. How reassuring to see therefore, that our very own Foreign Secretary, William Hague, and al-Qaeda are on the same side. Quite a triumph for foreign policy that: discovering that we share one of the main aims of the international jihadist gang we have been trying to exterminate for the last decade.

Naturally, the bien pensants, the neocons and the obsessive democrats in the West – notably in the BBC and whole sections of the press – are all on the side of the Syrian rebels. They always salivate juicily at the prospect of a dictator being brought down. It’s a pity that these wishful thinkers don’t have a little more foresight – or even better memories.

For they imagined the downfall of Saddam would restore the fertile crescent to conditions resembling the prelapsarian Garden of Eden. But after nine years in which hundreds of thousands have been killed, Iraq is a worse hell hole than it was when Saddam was running the show. The West’s no fly zone, designed to help the Libyan revolution, was a military success. The only trouble is that the triumphant revolutionaries have turned out not to be tweeting democrats, arranging utopia on their mobile phones, but quite as savage as the regime which they displaced.

The protesters are back in Egypt’s Tahrir Square a year after the uprising that was supposed to have got rid of the tyrant Mubarak has managed to leave the corrupt generals still firmly in charge. Unrest continues – largely unreported – in Bahrain and Yemen.

[…]

Street names are just one example that Google is part of the universal conspiracy against Bashar. Type in يلعن and see what the first search suggestion is. يلعن روحك يا حافظ

In addition to scraping the bottom for news sources to validate their racist, genocidal views, menhebaks will also have to find search engines that don’t offend. I am sure geniuses from Iran and Hezbollah are working on that right now.

Here’s the CNN report on Danny Abdul Dayem, a heroic, peaceful activist with a British mother who grew up in Homs. Is he any less of a Syrian than Asma, who spent all her life abroad, returning only to participate in the theft of our resources?

http://youtu.be/ZrRLf4CBH9o

Danny is our hero. Here are yours

شام اللاذقية مسرب عصابات الأسد تتسلى على المدنيين طريق الحرش
http://youtu.be/tw17wjnnj84

Should Turkey stop talking and intervene militarily to deserve a great-power status?

Turkey’s Test
Anne-Marie Slaughter
2012-02-13
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/slaughter5/English
…
Yet Turkey is in the best position by far to demonstrate to Assad that the international community is serious about stopping the killing. Working closely with local coordinating committees, it should provide logistical, intelligence, weapons, training, communications, and even air support to help the Free Syrian Army establish no-kill zones along Syria’s northwest border.

In particular, Turkey could help the FSA to cut the Syrian army’s lines of communication, and deny government forces access to entire areas through the coordinated use of early-warning intelligence and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. The FSA might then be able to isolate local Syrian army commanders and try to negotiate truces and defections, ultimately building a defensible chain of population centers. If that strategy fails, Turkey and Arab League states would have to contemplate sending in ground troops, with extensive logistical and intelligence support from NATO.
…
States that are eager to enjoy the trappings of great-power status – the deference accorded their diplomats, high-level global parlays abroad and important diplomatic conferences at home, and the assumption that they must be consulted on major events or crises in their regions – must accept the burdens that go with it. They must be prepared not just to talk, but to act

The fall of the Assad’s dynasty is inevitable.  I wish and pray that somehow Assad doesn’t take Syria to the Abyss with him…I am against infiltration of Arab fighters into Syria to help us.   

Fallujah, Iraq — Not so long ago, Syrians worked to send weapons and fighters into Iraq to help Sunnis fighting a sectarian conflict; suddenly, it is the other way around.

The New York Times

A belated celebration of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday on the outskirts of this western Iraqi city on Saturday quickly took on the trappings of a rally for Syria’s rebels. Young boys waved the old green, black and white flag Syria adopted in the 1930s after declaring independence from the French. Others collected money to send aid and weapons to the fighters opposing President Bashar al-Assad’s government across the border.

“I wish I could go there with my gun and fight,” said Sheik Hamid al-Hais, a tribal leader interviewed at his compound in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province.
…

Like Iraq and Afghanistan before it, analysts say, Syria is likely to become the training ground for a new era of international conflict, and jihadists are already signing up. This weekend, Al Qaeda’s ideological leadership and, more troublingly, the more mainstream Jordanian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, called for jihadists around the world to fight Mr. Assad’s government.

Nowhere is the cross-border nature of sectarian hostilities more clear than in Iraq’s western desert, where Sunni Arabs are beginning to rally to the cause of the Syrian opposition and, in the process, perhaps strengthen their hand in dealings with an antagonistic Shiite-led national government in Baghdad.

A weapons dealer who operates in Anbar, who said he goes by the alias Ahmed al-Masri, said, “Five months ago I was told that the Syrian brothers are in need of weapons. I started to buy the weapons from the same guys that I previously sold to — the fighters of Anbar and Mosul. I used to bring them from Syria; now it’s the other way around.”

The man said he was selling mortars, grenades and rifles, and that his contact in Syria was also an Iraqi. In some instances, he said Iraqis were giving away weapons, and in those cases he charged money only to transport them across the border.

“It’s a good business, but it’s not easy money,” he said. “It’s risky, but this is life.”
….

Abdul Rahim al-Shammari, the head of the provincial council’s security committee in Mosul, said explosives and weapons were being smuggled through the border village of Rabia. A weapons trader in the area, who spoke anonymously because of the nature of his work, described smuggling weapons parts in empty cigarette cartons and said he recently made a $4,000 profit selling a PKC rifle. Across the border, he said, some Syrians were trading sheep and cows for weapons.

The sympathies for the Syrian rebels here in Anbar are borne from centuries-old tribal connections and, as a region dominated by Sunni Arabs, a shared sect.

More..

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/world/middleeast/for-iraqis-aid-to-syrian-rebels-repays-a-war-debt.html?_r=1

103. Tara

Bashar Jaafari doesn’t need to quote anyone to make outstanding and powerful speeches.
Maybe HBJ should learn one of two verses of Adonis to make his boring speech a bit more lively, but he probably doesn’t have any clue who is Adonis.

Russia may consider joining peacekeeping mission to Syria: diplomat – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_122696496.htm

MOSCOW, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — Russia does not rule out its participation in a possible Arab-UN peacekeeping mission in Syria, if the operation complies with the UN Charter and is agreed by the Syrian government, said Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov Monday.

“The deployment of such a mission should be negotiated with the Syrian government. This raises the question of its composition, tasks and mandate,” Bogdanov told Echo Moscow radio station.

“If we agree to the terms of its deployment, if the principles based on the UN Charter and international relations are observed, we will see no problem there,” the diplomat said.

He added Moscow is holding consultations on the Syrian issue with all its partners, but Russia is not ready to attend a meeting of “Friends of Syria” set for next week in Tunis.

[…]

#116 Tara

Don’t you think it is maybe better to deal with a lesser devil than with the Iraqi Islamists extremists?

Dear MAVAL95,

I‘m sure you are the same person as YaMaraGhalba. I recognize your style!

So why did you change your identity? (Just want to be 17 again?)

You seem to be a “professional” commentator.

Well, how much…?

[WARNING – please do not bait or taunt other commentators with speculation about their IDs or with claims of impersonation or double-accounts]

Tara #116

Turning Syria into a failed state filled with militias and terrorists was Assad’s plan from the beginning. He knew he couldn’t contain the Arab Spring when it reached Syria, so from the first day he talked about the Islamist terrorists boogeyman and kept pounding Sunnis until it became a reality. He also released some Al Qaeda members from jail during the amnesty.

Why go through all this trouble? He looks at Afghanistan and sees the hated Karzai chugging along in a U.S.-backed dictatorship, and saw how Ali Abdullah Saleh was handled with care because of Yemen’s Al Qaeda problem. Syria didn’t have terrorists before, so Assad is doing all he can to bring them in so he can legitimately argue that the chaos after his fall would be worse than the massacre of thousands of civilians here and there.

After spending billions on the tourism sector, it looks like we are getting some unwanted visitors. I don’t understand how menhebaks can warn about this for months, and then focus all their efforts on conspiracy theories and media wars rather than avoiding this path. They should demand more border patrols instead of the futile, criminal shelling of Homs and Zabadani.

The destruction of Syria is Bashar’s reform plan. As the president with ultimate control of the country and the head of the one-party system in place since 1963, who else is there to blame? The non-existence FSA? The weak, disorganized SNC? The tiny minority of people who came out in protest? Or is it the people patrolling the borders and running the intelligence services who lost track of terrorism and instead focused on who is singing a Kashoush song in the street.

NATO newest client state speaks:

Libya expels Syrian ambassador

[…]

[NOTE and WARNING – please provide links to quoted material]

Source: Trend (Azerbaijan), 10 Feb 2012

United States weighing Syria peacekeeping mission 8)

Monday, February 13, 2012

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/02/13/national/w125230S55.DTL

The United States is considering how an international peacekeeping force might operate in Syria.

White House press secretary Jay Carney says the U.S. has begun looking at options for a peacekeeping force, perhaps administered by the United Nations or Arab nations. The Syrian military rejects calls for peacekeepers, calling such as move unjustified interference in internal affairs.

Carney said nothing about U.S. involvement in such a force, although the U.S. has contributed peacekeepers to some U.N. missions.

#118 Ann

AL will never be able get a ceasefire on the ground unless it in in communication with both the Syrian government and the armed opposition groups.
As a result of the AL constant attack on the Syrian government all communication is cut therefore making it absolutely impossible for the AL to get a ceasefire and therefore calling for ‘peacekeepers’ without a peace is irrelevant.

The Syrian government is the only one who can reach a “ceasefire” with the armed rebels like the one they reached in Zabadani.
For now, the armed rebels are not ready to compromise because they are boosted by some Arab and western countries who are providing funds, weapons and promises for more.
It is only when the armed rebels will be in a dire and desperate situation, that they will be encline to negotiate a surrender. That is what the Syrian army is attempting to do, making their life so miserable by pounding relentlessly their strongholds hoping that ultimately they’ll call for a stop.
Then the ‘peacekeepers” ( Arab, western, Russians) can get in, not before. There is a long way to go and many civilians collateral casualties before this happens.
It is a war of attrition.

Halabi

“Turning Syria into a failed state filled with militias and terrorists was Assad’s plan from the beginning.”

Brilliant assessment! I wonder why he did not welcome all the Iraqis extremists a few years ago, it would have a been a shortcut.

Bashar Al Assad´s Regime (not Bashar who seems to be no one but the regime that puppets him) has been given too many chances to stop the killing and massive repression. Many countries tried to help save Assad´s position but the regime did not accept. The regime is composed by many people who would lose their beneffits. And the worse thing is that we know who they are, from the first to the last, because we know all those people we had to pay bribes and comissions. Consequently in the event of a regime´s fall they will be accounted properly.

Assad´s Regime seems to believe that they can play many cards before it is too late. They can change alliances in a flexible way. They showed how they managed to play with all actors inside Syria, in the regional scene and also at a global level.

But they seem to ignore that when the UN, the AL, US, France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and many others have taken some steps to end the regime it is a process that is not flexible and that has no turning back possible. There are two different languages here being talked and all translators have been killed.

This may be interesting to you (about the armed uprising in Syria).

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/02/201221315020166516.html

Unlike what the regime likes to claim, Nir Rosen says many sunni sheikhs he met who were involved in (or even leading) the armed uprising were actually sufis, and only few salafi fighters.

He also tells about the role of Palestinians, especially in Homs and Latakia.

Irritated,
I guess that you didn’t know, FSA, Alqaeda, SNC and this thing called ‘Syria Danny’ are all regime’s followers!!

Humanist #127

Thanks for the post. Nir Rosen confirms that armed opposition has started late April 22, contrary to what AlJazera itself claimed to be a regime invention.

“AJ: When did the armed struggle begin?

NR: The first acts of armed self-defence or opposition in Syria took place by late April, especially after April 22 when Friday demonstrations throughout the country were met with live fire, causing many deaths.

By the end of April, individuals in Homs’ Bab Amr and Bab Sbaa neighbourhoods took up arms to defend themselves. At first they used shotguns and hunting rifles, along with rocks and improvised weapons. In Homs, the first armed group was established in Bab Sbaa in May. Likewise, the first accounts of armed resistance in Idlib, Deraa, Damascus and its suburbs date from late April.
…

A local conflict rendered regional and hostage to “cold war mentality” that is the tragedy of the Syrian people as they try to evolve out of the dark ages imposed by the security house of cards built by the late President for life.
Fouad Ajami describes the regime as the arsonist par excellence and I believe it did exactly that by branding the protests as armed gangs and a conspiracy and then resorting to creating a sectarian conflict in which it wants to appear to be bringing stability back. It did also threaten and on this blog echoes of it were pronounced about exporting the mess to Turkey and Lebanon and Iraq.
As the efforts to limit its freedom to create more fires and its cards slip away from its hands with the departure of Hamas and the defensive tone of HA leader in his latest speech it seems it has less options.
China is distancing its foreign policy from that of Russia and they do not want to tie their fate to that of Putin let alone Fredo Corleone.

There is no going back and each week I expect the revolution to peter out and fizzle and each week I am amazed at the bravery of people going out and demonstrating.

Russia is being limited in its ability to thwart action and we are moving to a Kosovo like scenario where the resolution at the UN even though non binding will allow individual members to act.

A little every day the playing field is being evened out with the forces of the regime and with time there will be final and lasting change with or without the Corleone Casino

Here is a lighter side to enjoy
http://www.asmaassad.com/asmaassad.htm

For those who missed Al Ja3fari speech, especially to fan #103, here it is in full, enjoy!
الكلمة الكاملة للدكتور بشار الجعفري 13 2 2012
http://youtu.be/PnUJ2h63mMA

80. Aldendeshe said:

@WSS

You call my unwavering support to Israel and my encouragement to the Likud bravery in calling for storming the Temple Mount a “Provocation”. I really want to donate money for this cause. Do you know of any Israeli organization that campaign for the legitimate Jewish National right to build the Temple?

0 14
__________________________________________________________________

This is looking good, on percentage level 1-100 we have 14% against building the temple and 84% for it. Not bad.

The absurdity of the “peacekeeping plan” exposed…
” In the end a diplomatic resolution that includes talks with the Assad regime may be the only option.”

Arabs set to fail with latest Syria plan: analysts

By Jocelyne Zablit | AFP – 6 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/arabs-set-fail-latest-syria-plan-analysts-163345309.html

An initiative calling for a joint UN-Arab League peacekeeping mission to Syria is likely to fail but raises the stakes and further isolates the embattled regime in Damascus, analysts said on Monday.
….
Analysts said that a new Arab League resolution was likely to meet the same fate as previous texts put before the UN Security Council and rejected by Russia and China, both staunch allies of the Assad regime.

They also pointed out that any decision to send peacekeeping troops to Syria requires approval by Damascus as well as a ceasefire, both of them unlikely scenarios.

“It’s contradictory for the Arab League to call for the UN peacekeeping force, which requires the approval of the host government, while at the same time calling for an end to diplomatic cooperation with Syria,” said Yezid Sayigh, an analyst with the Carnegie Middle East Centre in Beirut.

“This call sadly raises the political pressure but it may have a counter-productive effect of underlining even more that the league of Arab states has run out of real options that are game changers,” he added.

[…]

101. ANN said :

“Russia’s concern for besieged Syrian Christians –”

Russia and the Orthodox Chruch must stop picking fights with Muslims – in Cyprus, in Nagorno-Karabakh, in Bosnia.

In Yemen, a religious fatwa to influence a ‘democratic’ process

Voting for Hadi is a religious duty, say Yemeni clerics
Mohammed Al Qadhi
Feb 14, 2012
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/voting-for-hadi-is-a-religious-duty-say-yemeni-clerics

SANAA // There is only one candidate in Yemen’s upcoming presidential election, but more than 200 clerics yesterday made it a ‘religious duty’ to vote for the sole candidate.
…
Sheikh Mohammed Al Hazmi, one of the clerics who signed the statement, said the call is a “religious fatwa that means voting is a religious duty in order to get the country off its crisis”.

Bronco,

“Don’t you think it is maybe better to deal with a lesser devil than with the Iraqi Islamists extremists?”

Read this

“I checked with an officer. While soldiers were released, he said, members of the Shabiha were executed after a hearing before a panel of Free Syrian Army military judges. To explain, they showed me film taken from the mobile phone of a captured Shabiha. Prisoners lay face down on the ground, hands tied behind their backs. One by one, their heads were cut off. The man wielding the knife said, tauntingly, to the first: “This for freedom.” As his victim’s neck opened, he went on: “This is for our martyrs. And this is for collaborating with Israel.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-homs-frontline-baba-amr

Who is more evil than who?  Beheading people in the name of god or beheading people in the name of Bashar?   

And Bronco, Was it not the Syrian regime who exported Islamic fighters to Iraq?  Have you noticed that you always exonerated the Syrian regime from any evildoing it has committed?  Why? Can you please give me one reason for seeing no evil when it comes to Bashar?      

Irritated,

” Jaafari doesn’t need to quote anyone to make outstanding and powerful speeches.”

Irritated, nope..not my taste.. Pseudointellect and un-refined as opposed to brilliance, charm, sophistication. I know fine quality (even in pro-regime, a difficult task, I know) when I see it. Not appealing at all….

Zoo

3 dots today it is. 😉

I am sadder today than usual. May be because it is Valentine day tomorrow?

Hatred is prevailing and it is becoming etched in the psyche of a nation.

Halabi

You have a great sense of humor… I am afraid I wake up some day and find that I too secretely adore Bashar. After all, Ann said so.

tsk tsk tsk……

الخطيب يعتذر عن تعيينه مبعوثا لـ «الجامعة العربية» الى سوريا
عمان – الدستور

اعتذر وزير الخارجية الاسبق عبدالاله الخطيب عن مقترح جامعة الدول العربية تعيينه مبعوثا للجامعة الى سوريا. وقال الخطيب لـ”الدستور” إنه لم يوافق على المقترح كون الامور غير واضحة تماما، رافضا الخوض في التفاصيل. وكان امين عام جامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي قد اقترح تعيين الخطيب مبعوثا للجامعة الى سوريا تنفيذا لقرار وزراء الخارجية الاخير. وكان العربي قد التقى الخطيب امس الاول في القاهرة للتباحث في المقترح.

http://www.addustour.com/ViewTopic.aspx?ac=\LocalAndGover\20122\LocalAndGover_issue1580_day14_id392092.htm#.TzmpvE6PV8E

Pentagon plans attack on Syria despite the UN
http://youtu.be/91TKW4TPBmg

[Uploaded by RTAmerica on Feb 13, 2012]

“Nearly a week ago, China and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to oust the Bashar al-Assad’s government. The remaining members of the UN Security Council criticized the two countries for the veto, but Russia and China fear Syria will share the same fate as Libya. Russia took matters into their own hands by offering to host peace talks between the Rebels and the Syrian government but the rebels have refused the offer. But despite the UN Security Council’s failed resolution the US prepares for military actions against Syria ignoring the UN. Here is our report.”

The policy of terror unleashed in Syrians hospitals is truly unthinkable.. Hospital staffers became the torturers.  Injured kidnapped from the operating rooms.  Doctors and nurses persecuted for their helping hands…  It takes great amount of savagery not to sympathize with the ill and the wounded.

In Syria, the regime is making hospitals and health staff part of its system of repression. This is exactly what happened in Bahrain a few months ago, where it was publicly denounced by Médecins Sans Frontières.

Even in the worst of circumstances the most basic respect for humanity demands that hospitals are protected and health staff are authorised to carry out their work. But in Syria today, a policy of terror is seeing injured demonstrators persecuted within hospital walls, and reprisals made against any doctors who attempt to treat them.

{…}
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3825352.html

Let us not forget that the miserable state of affairs in Syria was only possible with a regime that transformed Syria into a primitive political kingdom.this is from Assafir today:
http://m.assafir.com/content/1329096795012891700/first

Feb 12, 2012
Samira, the military and feminism!

On Wednesday February 8th, Egypt’s head of military court has made a statement urging media outlet to halt the coverage on the “Virginity Tests” case. This decision came at the backdrop of the unraveling court case filed by Samira Ibhrahim.  But who is Samira Ibrahim and why does the Military Forces want to ban publication on the matter?

Samira was arrested in Tahrir Square during a protest on 9 March and was subjected to virginity testing alongside other six women in military prison.  Initially, the military generals adamantly tried to deny the facts. It wasn’t until a CNN interview where an anonymous general admitted it. Later, in a meeting with Amnesty International, the Head of the Military Intelligence Department explained that those tests are performed to “protect the army against possible allegations of rape”. The statement reveals that not only such tests already occur, but it was a routine procedure by prison officials to avoid female prisoners’ claims of sexual violence. This statement is of much concern because we don’t know the extent of abuse female detainees is exposed to while perpetrators are easily getting away with it.

Human rights groups in Egypt filed a case in front of the administrative court on behalf of Samira Ibrahim, the only detainee who decided to defy the authority, speak up and take it to court despite the threats she was receiving.  Late December, the court made its historic rule to ban “Virginity Tests” and deemed it a violation of both Egyptian constitution & legislation and the International Agreements that Egypt is party to. The court rule is considered an official acknowledgement that those tests actually took place and that those responsible must be brought to justice. However further legal developments were not as promising, as only one military doctor has been brought to justice in front of military court, notorious for its lack of independence and fair trial procedures. The charges against that doctor were changed from sexual assault to public indecency which amounts to much less punitive action. Moreover, the case has been postponed several times and the fate of her case is still unclear.

[…]

http://rwac-egypt.blogspot.com/2012/02/samira-military-and-feminism.html 

British citizens writing to the Guardian:

Arms trade fuels violence in Syria

• What was the UN going to do if the Syrian vote went through? US, UK and French forces undertake months of “humanitarian bombing” like in Libya and then walk away? All the international bodies can do is encourage talks. Don’t be hypocritical about Russia arming the Syrians, when Obama has sold $50m of arms to Bahrain that will be used to attack its citizens. And let’s not forget the $60bn’s worth of arms to Saudi Arabia.
Janet Salmon
Richmond, Surrey

• Simon Tisdall laughs off President Assad’s claim that the US has been involved in trying to destabilise his regime (9 February), but WikiLeaks evidence reported in the Washington Post on 17 April 2011 shows that the US has indeed had a hand in supporting anti-Assad elements. It started under President Bush and leaked emails suggest it continued at least into 2010.
Colin Burke
Manchester

[Link added by Moderator]

To defeat Bashar It may take long, however external factors will shorten the course,More and more we hear about peace keeping force,(pkf), the west will not fight because they are going through financial crisis, someone has to pay for the cost of war,so how much the war will cost?who will pay for it?and would Jordan agree to help?It will be much cheaper to finance the FSA and supply them with weapons,they can cause war of attrition,(WOA)it alaways win.Tunis meeting must support such policy.

#139. Tara

To cheer you up for St Valentine

UAE Islamic love guru urges women to enjoy sex
AFPBy Lara Sukhtian | AFP – 8 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/uae-islamic-love-guru-urges-women-enjoy-sex-031708902.html
…
“On the eve of Valentine’s day, Lootah is calling on Muslim and Arab women everywhere to “embrace love and love making.”
{………….}

#137

“Can you please give me one reason for seeing no evil when it comes to Bashar? ”

Didn’t I say “lesser evil” ?

148. ZOO said:

#139. Tara

Just hold on ZOO, you are making things worse here. She should watch this video to see what the sheikh has to say first.

Jad,

Thanks for sharing the Ja`fari speech video. I was looking all over for it. I read all the news stories about what Pillay said and there was not a single word about Ja`fari speaking.

Halabi,

There is stupid, and then there is you. You’re really something special. Are you also a believer of the equally-brilliant assessment that Syria, Hizbullah, and Israel are secretly allies working to undermine the democratic 100-year-old Gulf family
monarchies?

[WARNING – do NOT indulge in personal attacks]

Venezuela slams Western powers for seeking regime change in Syria
2012-02-14 06:07:51
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_122696661.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — Venezuela on Monday criticized Western countries for their efforts to arm, finance and train opposition militia in Syria to topple the Syrian government, saying that “they do not believe in political dialogue for finding a peaceful solution to the situation in Syria.”

The statement came as Jorge Valero, Venezuela’s deputy foreign minister to North America and permanent representative to the UN, was taking the floor at a plenary meeting of the UN General Assembly on the human rights situation in Syria.

“On behalf of humanitarian assistance, of the defense of human rights, and of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’, imperial powers, and some of their allies, arm, finance, advice and train opposition militias to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad,” he said.

“It is evident that these powers and their allies do not want peace, they do not care about human rights or democracy, they do not believe in political dialogue for finding a peaceful solution to the situation in Syria,” he said. “They seek a regime change in order to replace — through violence — the government of President Bashar al-Assad.”

“For that reason, they belittle the political reforms that the Syrian head of state has carried out,” he said. “For this reason, they despise the mediation efforts of the Russian Federation, which seek a peaceful and negotiated to the situation in that country.”
{.}

Zoo@139

Loved it.  The woman is very progressive.  I too support sex education in school and I also support her call to all women in the eve of St. Valentine to enjoy love.

My turn now, this is the best quote I read about love in a while. 

*Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn’t it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and opens your heart and it means someone can get inside and mess you up. You build up all these defenses. You build up a whole wall of armor for years, so nothing can hurt you. Then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life. You give them a piece of you. They don’t ask for it. They do something dumb one day like smile at you, and then your life isn’t your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside of you and eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so a simple phrase like ‘maybe we can just be friends’ or ” I am sorry, I am not interested in establishing any contact…” turns into a glass splinter working it’s way into your heart, it hurts, not just in the imagination, not just in the mind. It’s a soul-hurt, a body-hurt, a real gets-inside-you-and-rips-you-apart pain. I hate love*

{………….}

Hilarious

Bahrain’s King Says Assad Should Listen to His People
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,814664,00.html

As if Bahrain is super calm.

It is amazing the mountain of lies mounted on every western media news about Syria.
CNN, Fox, BBC, French 24 are showing Syria going on Flames and worse that the Syrian army is the cause.
I got off the phone with people who have people in Damascus and other towns, who confirmed to me that the terrorists in Homs are burning tires on the top of the roofs to pretend that it is bombs from the artillery… The mercenaries in Homs are using the innocent people as a human shield… all the footage by the western media has fabrication add it.

many people reporting the situation in Damascus, Homs is much calmer and the people on the ground are more convinced that foreigners are fighting in Syria, which is not help to the revolution but it makes it weaker, bloodier and rejected by more Syrians.
it is clear that the support of the regime if not strengthening is not wavering either.
no mass population joining the so called revolution and every new terrorist attack anywhere in Syria it reminds the population of the bloody hands of the MB and the devil work of the USA in Iraq, it makes Syrian rejecting anything from the outsiders, the west has failed miserably in Syria this time!!! first they didn’t understand Syria geopolitical fabric and that Syria is not Libya. USA is retracting its position on Syria and will see that a dialogue with Assad being on the Helm is the answer at least for months if not years.
The other side who is not wavering is Russia and China and the west has to accept and also respect that it is not blank check anymore.

The sectarian war between Alawite and Sunni spreading to Lebanon where in Tripoli, there have been some eruption of conflicts.
it is the best thing can happen for Assad that the conflict spread to Lebanon and the can of warm opens up and burns the MB and its allies.
reports all over the news about Alqaida spreading already in Syria, the same Alqaida, Assad helped the Americans to destroy in Iraq what an irony!!!
It is clear that the money Bush gave to the Syrian opposition went to no one but Alqaida in Syria what a coincidence that Obama is supporting same policy of Bush.
if anyone can stop and think about this, will conclude that America is who created Alqaida in the first place and using it to kill the Arabs each others.
Only history will tell!!!

This is what is coming to Syria ,

——————————————————————————–

تهجير أسر مصرية قبطية بعد علاقة جنسية بين مسيحي ومسلمة

صبري حسنين GMT 19:00:00 2012 الإثنين 13 فبراير

أثار قرار لجنة تحكيم عرفية طرد 8 أسر قبطية وأسرة مسلمة من قرية في محافظة الإسكندرية، على خلفية وجود علاقة جنسية بين شاب مسيحي وفتاة مسلمة، الكثير من الغضب بين نواب برلمانيين ونشطاء قبطيين. معتبرين أن هذه القرارات جائرة على الأقباط، وتزيد من إحتقانهم، فضلاً عن أنها تعدّ إهداراً لسيادة القانون، التي قامت الثورة من أجل تثبيتها، مطالبين بأعمال القانون، وتجاهل الجلسات العرفية، التي كان النظام السابق يتبعها في التعامل مع الملف القبطي.

——————————————————————————–

تهجير جماعي لأقباط يثير غضب أوساط مصرية
صبري حسنين من القاهرة: بدأت الأحداث في قرية شربات في مدنية العامرية في محافظة الإسكندرية، تزامناً مع إحياء المصريين الذكرى الأولى لثورة 25 يناير، عندما تداول بعض أهالي القرية مقاطع فيديو على الهواتف النقالة، يظهر فيها شاب مسيحي مع فتاة مسلمة في أوضاع غير لائقة.
سرعان ما تطورت الأحداث، فهاجم الآلاف من الأهالي منزل أسرة الشاب، وأحرقوه، كما أحرقوا محالاً تجارية عدة مملوكة لثلاث أسر مسيحية أخرى، بعد تدخل كبيرهم بإطلاق النيران من سلاح ناري آلي، ما أدى إلى إصابة أربعة مسلمين بجروح خطرة، حيث تلقى أحدهم رصاصة استقرت في العنق، وآخر أربع رصاصات استقرت في الكبد والطحال والفخذ، ومازالوا يتلقون العلاج في المستشفيات.

تهجير 8 أسر مسيحية
تدخل محافظ الإسكندرية والقيادات الأمنية وعدد من القيادات القبطية والإسلامية، لاسيما القيادات السلفية في الأزمة، وعقدت جلسة صلح عرفية، إنتهت إلى تهجير أسرة الشاب والفتاة إلى خارج القرية، وإجبارهم على بيع منازلهم وممتلكاتهم، وعدم العودة إليها مرة أخرى.

شملت قرارات التهجير ست أسر قبطية، هم أعمام وأخوال الشاب القبطي، إضافة إلى أسرة التاجر المسيحي، الذي أطلق النيران أثناء الأحداث، فأدت إلى إصابة المسلمين الأربعة.

أحكام سلفية
ووفقاً لحنا فوزي عضو إتحاد شباب ماسبيرو في الإسكندرية، فإن الجلسة العرفية تمت برعاية قيادات السلفيين، مشيراً إلى أنهم هم من أصدروا الأحكام بتهجير الأسر المسيحية، بحجة الخوف على حياتهم وممتلكاتهم.

وأضاف فوزي لـ”إيلاف” أن الأقباط يرفضون مغادرة قريتهم، التي عاشوا فيها لسنوات طويلة، فضلاً عن أنهم يشعرون بالظلم الشديد، لأنهم يُعاقبون بطريقة جماعية على جرم هم منه أبرياء، إضافة إلى أن المتهم في القضية سلّم نفسه إلى الشرطة، ويحاكم حالياً أمام القضاء.

وأوضح فوزي أن الأزمة الأخطر هي أن منازل ومتاجر الأقباط تعرّضت للحرق والنهب، وقدرت الخسائر بنحو ثلاثة ملايين جنيه، ولكن لم يصدر حكم من الجلسة العرفية بتعويضهم، ولم يتم القبض على من أحرقوا تلك الممتلكات، ولم يقدموا إلى المحاكمة.

[…]

http://www.elaph.com/Web/news/2012/2/716243.html

إغلاق النافذة

Mr Norman:

The logical turn of events in Syria means that all minorities should think how to live together separate from the….(you know who)..

A state for the minorities is a must when Syria breaks up in the future. There is no looking back. Minorities should think together because they should live together in a secular democratic modern state. You and I know that all minorities in Syria have the same mind set, so here you go.

Salam

Mjabali,

It is sad but that is what will happen in Syria if the government does not put down this anarchy,they have two flags, they have different vision for Syria as you said, Syria is in the beginning of a long dark tunnel.

I was trying to post my comment regarding IDAF article to no avail all day yesterday. It Never showed up:

This is what I was trying to post, what is wrong with that to be banned?

‏-As long as there are no known political parties with agendas and leaders for the opposition Idaf is talking about: this “opposition” will remain invisible.

I know from my personal experience and from what I have seen so far from the opposition against al-Assad is that most Syrians think they should hold positions and that is why you have many heads. There is not one single hierarchy and there are no decision makers that are voted to do that. All we have is leaders among the opposition. You need the people whom these “leaders” supposedly represent.

‏I have asked on constant basis many people inside Syria from different positions about why they do not organize politically?

They all (anti assad and pro assad) showed inability to organize. There is the regular fear from this topic that Syrians know.

‏The article may be right about the fast maturation of Syrians politically, but, again, I really doubt that things are at an advanced organizational stage especially with the constant crackdown by al-Assad, who would not show that much patience for unwanted political dissent. That irks him and now there is no margin for error from his side. He is helped by the absence of the known agenda and leaders.

‏Take Facebook activism for example: I am for one lost with the huge number of pages. You do not know who has the real news and who is fabricating. The one thing they all agree on is that Syria is burning and there are lots of death.

Many of these pages are chaotic run by rambling idiots. The years of the one party rule had produced political midgets out of the Syrian people.

‏Political parties with known agendas and known leaders is the only way.

Mr. Norman:

The sad thing I read from your link is that minorities of the whole Middle East have the same problems.

157. MJABALI said:

“A state for the minorities is a must when Syria breaks up in the future. There is no looking back. Minorities should think together because they should live together in a secular democratic modern state.”

MJABALI, I respect your writing and your thinking, but a state for minorities in Syria is not practical due to the following reasons:
1. There are Christians everywhere except Deir Alzour (small numbers).
2. The Alawites are now almost everywhere.
3. The Druze are concentrated in one specific area.
4. Secular Sunni Muslims who feel more at home with the above groups are everywhere.

Hence, it is not practical to think in these terms. Those groups (1-4) must continue to work hard as they have been for the last 50 years to make sure they stick together until Arabian gas and oil is exhausted or at least until Iran becomes secular (this could happen sooner than we think). Come to think of it, it might be cheaper for them to donate toward research into fusion technology so that oil and gas prices plummet and the Arabs can’t afford to fund those satellite channels anymore.

Dear Mjabali
I’m having the same problem, I think that there are certain words (‘id***’ is one of them) that if we write our comment go immediately into spam or moderation until the moderator check them and let them be visible.
‘Idiot’ is one of those words 🙂

Dear Mjabali
I think that the site activate its filter of certain words, so if we write any word of those forbidden ones the comment will immediately go to the moderation ‘jail’.
(id***) is one of them, i just write this word in a previous comment to explain to you the issue and it wont show, so we need to choose our words very carefully 🙂

مؤتمر تونس يُخرج القضية السورية من العباءة العربية إلى التدويل
مارلين خليفة

مهّد الاجتماع الوزاري العربي الذي انعقد في القاهرة يوم الأحد الفائت لقرار الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري في “مؤتمر أصدقاء سوريا” الذي سينعقد في تونس في 24 الجاري، وشهد الاجتماع محاولة عربية وتحديداً قطرية لم يكتب لها النجاح لتهريب قرار بهذا المعنى من القاهرة، بعدما قوبل برفض مطلق من لبنان والعراق الذي وصف وزيره القرار بأنه “سابق لأوانه”، ومن الجزائر التي قال ممثلها بأنه إذا اتخذ قرار مماثل “فلتأخذه كل دولة على عاتقها”، ولم يكن ممثل مصر بعيداً عن هذا الجوّ.
فبعد انتهاء الاجتماع المعني بسوريا وبدء الجلسة المخصصة للموضوع الفلسطيني وزّعت على الوزراء ورقة يتيمة تتضمن بنداً وحيداً هو “الاعتراف بالمجلس الوطني السوري كممثل وحيد للشعب السوري”، وصودف أن أمين عام جامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي كان خارج قاعة الاجتماعات منذ أكثر من نصف ساعة، في ما كان وزير الخارجية السعودي الأمير سعود الفيصل قد غادر نهائياً.
صُدم الوزراء العرب وسئل رئيس الجلسة وزير خارجية قطر حمد بن جاسم عن سبب توزيع هذه الورقة فأخذ الأمر بشكل طبيعي قائلاً بأن رئيس وزراء تونس طلب منه دعوة المجلس الوطني السوري الى مؤتمر أصدقاء سوريا وليس طلب الاعتراف إلا بمثابة تمهيد للاعتراف بهذا المجلس في تونس، وأما توزيعه “فلم يكن يهدف الى اتخاذ القرار في القاهرة بل للعلم، فحسب على أن يبقى سرّياً وغير متداول”.
عندها اعترض الوزير التونسي الذي تحمل بلاده “مشعل” الديموقراطية وتدعو الى تطبيق “النموذج التونسي” في سوريا، فقال لحمد بأنه طلب منه دعوة ممثلين عن المجلس الوطني السوري وليس اتخاذ قرار الاعتراف به!

أما أمين عام جامعة العربية نبيل العربي الذي عاد الى القاعة، فبدا “متفاجئاً” من الورقة الموزعة وادعى لما سئل بأنه لم يعرف بها مسبقاّ في حين أن “سكرتاريا” جامعة الدول العربية هي التي وزعتها على الوزراء الحاضرين.

وسأل رئيس الجلسة وزير الخارجية القطري حمد بن جاسم الوزراء “المذهولين” إن كان أحد منهم يريد الكلام، فقال وزير الخارجية اللبناني عدنان منصور أن كلمة لبنان ستسجل له في التاريخ: إذا مرّ قرار مماثل في جامعة الدول العربية تكون الجامعة قد تسببت بدمار سوريا وإشعال الفتن فيها وبدمار الشعب السوري، وما يحدث لا يسهم في الحوار وفي الحلّ السياسي.

[…]

http://assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2075&ChannelId=49379&ArticleId=1318&Author=%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86%20%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%81%D8%A9

Check out the picture of the UAE foreign minister…funny!
http://assafir.com/Photos/Photos14-02-2012/1339images_pic_D006423_20120213104638.JPG

Mjabali, Norman
With all due respect for both of you, I strongly disagree with your pessimist and the little faith you have in Syrians, they will prove you wrong.
Just have faith in the creativity of the Syrian society, don’t give up of any Syrian regardless how different their views may be from yours, we can make it and go out of this ugly tragedy but we have to work together as a society.

Tomorrow is 14 of February, the syrian opposition will be united with the lebanese opposition, against the Asad murderous regime

Mr. Darryl:

You are right no doubt: the state may not be practical because it would not be able to include them all. There are Christians everywhere in Syria, but there are no Alawis, Druz or Ismailis in many parts. There may be some Alawi kurds left in the north-east, but I have no idea where they are and what happened to them after the massacres of the 1930’s.

The coastal parts and around it contain a huge concentration of Alawis and Christians plus the Ismailis. That is the most possible site for that state.

The Druz are far from this but they live together in the south. These are factors that will play a part in case Syria breaks up.

The Saudi king’s hypocrisy
On Friday, the king delivered an angry speech denouncing the United Nations Security Council’s failure to act on Syria, where Saudi Arabia is supporting an Arab League plan for a “democratic transition” that would end the Assad regime. “The world is ruled by brains, by justice, by morals and by fairness,” he piously declared.

That same day, the Saudi ruler’s security forces were firing on protesters near the eastern town of Qatif, inflicting a fatality for the second consecutive day. Meanwhile, the regime’s diplomats were arranging for the swift deportation from Malaysia of a fugitive Saudi journalist, who fled the country after tweets he authored about the prophet Muhammad led to demands for his arrest and execution.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-kings-hypocrisy/2012/02/13/gIQA71wxBR_story.html?hpid=z2

Mr. Jad:

I will always work with people like you to save our country Syria.

I have faith to save Syria because I see the love for that country from many people, but, from what I see from many Syrians these days, the future looks dark and we should think and act well for this future before it is too late.

Some days I like to dream of the Syrian Phoenix coming from the ashes and amber to rise again.

Syria is burning in front of our eyes and to save it from breaking up is going to be hard, really hard.

Good article that poses important questions and sheds light on an unknown element of the opposition I do have a different view of what is likely to happen in the next little while:
* The regime will collapse in the next few months due to a combination of internal and external factors ( May 2012 according to one American Congressman I spoke to in January )
* Democratic elections for the first time in Syria since 1958 will be held, unfortunately due to half a century of oppression almost no organized political parties with defined platforms and agendas exist
* The SNC has largely disappointed many peolpe in the opposition in Syria and is not likely to be elected to power
* This leaves the Islamists, after all no tyrant (even Stalin) managed to erase God from public life ( though The Mighty Dollar has achieved that), and they remained organized and connected at grassroot levels, they will win a landslide victory in any democratic elections in Syria or any other Arab country in 2012, much to the chagrin of liberal,secular, democrats like myself
* Liberal,secular, democrats will return to Syria, team up with fellow-minded liberal,secular Syrians and form their own parties and start advocating their platform and policy
* In the next elections the liberals will elect these parties and the conservatives may elect “Islamist Light” parties that make compromises with the West, the Liberals, and the minorities…one of the two currents or a coalition of the two will be elected democratically and work for Syria and all Syrians

I am optimistic that the the intelligence, awareness, and sophistication of my compatriots will defeat tyranny (the Baath), prevent chaos and civil war from happening, and transform the country democratically…this may take a decade perhaps but Syria’s future is good…and none of that Assad Forever crap

All Assadsupporters should rehoice when Lyndon Laroche and his german wife Helga Zepp-LaRouche ( i refer to post 104) joined the cause to save this tyrann. But be careful, this is a political sect, here in Germany at least the secret service is watching their activities, antisemitism at least seem to be an entry fee to this elite club. I hate that they use the name of Germanys second most important writer: Friedrich Schiller who always wrote about liberty and freedom, and such an sect opens Schiller institutes ( i guess they want to fool people who know the famouy Goethe institutes which are government run ) in many countries. So all should be aware of the fact that this organization is not just a nutty assembly but also an dangerous political sect.

Like lions without teeth

UN General Assembly debates Human Rights Council report on Syria – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_131409288.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Feb.13 (Xinhua) — The UN General Assembly reviewed on Monday the human rights council report on the violence in Syria.

While all of the representatives of the 33 member nations speaking at the meeting called for an end to the violence in Syria through peaceful means, not all of them endorsed the Arab and European-sponsored peace plan.

That proposal was defeated on Feb. 4 in the UN Security Council by the vetoes from China and Russia, two of the five permanent members of the council.

At Monday’s General Assembly session, Belarus, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Nicaragua joined China and Russia in voicing opposition to that plan.

For his part, Vitaly Churkin, the permanent representative of Russia to the UN, said, ” After his trip to Damascus on Feb. 7, the minister for foreign affairs of Russia, Mr. (Sergey) Lavrov, described a perfectly realistic strategy for resolving the situation.”

[…]

Political process for resolution of Syrian crisis should be led by Syrian people: India – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_131407965.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — India on Monday called for a peaceful and political solution to the Syrian crisis, saying that a political process for the resolution of the crisis should be led by the Syrians people.

Manjeev Singh Puri, the deputy Indian permanent representative to the UN, made the statement as he was taking the floor at a plenary session of the UN General Assembly on the human rights situation in Syria.

“The problem in Syria being primarily political in nature, India has, from the beginning of the protests, called for a peaceful and inclusive political process to address the grievances of all sections of Syrian society,” he said.

“India is deeply concerned with the present situation in Syria that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and security forces personnel over the last 11 months,” he said. “We strongly condemn all violence, irrespective of whoever the perpetrators are. We also condemn all violations of human rights.”

[…]

Military intervention will fuel violence in Syria: French FM – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_122696507.htm

PARIS, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) — French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe opposed on Monday the military option in Syria, which he said would escalate violence in the unrest-torn country.

“We think that today any foreign military intervention would only aggravate the situation, particularly as there will be no decision of the Security Council which is the only body able to authorize a military intervention,” Juppe was quoted as saying by the local TV channel BFMTV.

Syria will be divided,it is unavoidable.in fact it already is.
Division is not a line you drew on a map,it is feeling not unified and feeling hatred
And full of revenge….That is the status now.THAT IS WHY THIS WAS STARTED
ANY WAY.
I disagree with any one who is optimistic and full of national feelings making him
Make an emotional judgement more than rational one.what is the percentage of
Jads,Killos,Normans,Mjbals,Gufrans…in Syria compared to Khaleds,Majeds,Aroors,Harmooshs,Revlons…I think that secula and noneriligous
Ratio is very low.Good hearted opposition people like Killo or Manaa are not represented on the street at all.If people like Alaaroor will run for any post in Syria
Today they will get most of the votes.
History will report that many people have made a lot of mistakes and caused Syria
To disappear after 5000 years on the map,Mistakes done by short term opportunists including the regime mistakes,Qater,SA,Turkey,US and the West.
Who wants to live In current Style Egypt Syria?Who wants to live in a country where MB is the engine and the power?Who wants to be represented by a parliament full of beards and shaved mustach wher Alaaroor sits on the front seat?…..
News coming from the northeast in the last few days that the Kurdish Jenni is sticking his nose and ears out and trying to bite the Syrian flesh.Kurdish gangs
Have been going to schools in Almalikeh on the Syrian-Turkish-Iraq angel,Attacking schools removing the Syrian flags and replacing them with KURDISH FLAGS.They also have changed the city name on the entrance to the city to a Kurdish name.
At the end of the day WHATEVER IS ISREAL’s BEST INTERESTS WILL BE DONE.It is in ISREAL’s best interests that Syria has to be divided and it will,into many states,or have parts of it be substates.Syrians are blindly doing bernard levy
Mission.
The Syrian Vas have fallen,It has been shattered ,the flowers died.

A message to all revolutionaries and their supporters.

Don’t be disheartened. What has been achieved so far has been remarkable. At the beginning in Daraa, if anyone had said that in a years time we would be in this situation it would have been unthinkable. The most that was expected was some localised short-lived demands for justice for the tortured children and perhaps some calls for reform. The persistence of the protestors against all odds has not ceased to amaze or surprise. Prepare to be surprised.

A couple of days ago I re-read the martyr Ghiath Matar’s last will and I think it is a timely reminder to all of us not to waver. Please read it again. Our martyrs will haunt the regime forever.

I’m spoilt for choice deciding on a quote but here is one:

“And my will to you to remain true to the principle we went out for, and to work toward achieving all the slogans we raised until they become a living reality, to persevere in your courage no matter how they tried to get you of to throw your ranks into disarray, don’t allow them to change you, don’t cheapen my blood, and the blood of the martyrs who gave their souls for a free Syria, don’t sell our sacrifices for any price. Don’t dialog with your executioners but wrest your rights from them with your determination to achieve victory.”

http://www.yanabi.com/index.php?/topic/422739-standout-images-thread/page__view__findpost__p__431139

[Originally from ‘The Walls’ blog.]

Arab Winter,Erdogan an Hamad Achievements In Syria:
1-A country on the Edge of civil war
2-Economical destruction which will take decades to fix,if ever
3-A country full of weapons imported and ready to use every day
4-kidnapping,Sectarian killing and lawless state
5-Establishing FSA totally under the control of Turkish mukabarat
6-SNC jihad in 5 stars hotels and restaurants in Istanbul and Aldoha
7-6000 civilian deaths,2000 soldiers deaths,many widows and many many wounded.
8-Alqaida in a full time business in Syria with tow magnificent jihadists gifts in Damascus and Aleppo causing 60 deaths and almost 1000 Wounded.
9-
10-
11-
I can go on an on and on ,but (revolutionists)Are blind and deaf so it is probably
Useless .

Updated Syria UN GA Resolution Emerges, With Observer Mission Dropped

http://www.innercitypress.com/las2syria021312.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 13 — Aside the daylong theater of Monday’s General Assembly session on Syria, a new draft GA resolution emerged.

On February 10, Inner City Press obtained and published that day’s draft. Now it publishes the version circulated after revisions based on the Arab League’s February 12 meeting, with most changes in Paragraphs 6f, 7, 8 and 11, dropping references to the Observer Mission that has been canceled. The Operative Paragarphs:

The General Assembly…

Welcoming the engagement of the Secretary-General and all diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the crisis,

1. Reaffirms its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria and stresses the need to resolve the current political crisis in Syria peacefully;

2. Strongly condemns the continued widespread and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities, such as the use of force against civilians, arbitrary executions, killing and persecution of protestors, human rights defenders, and journalists, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, interference with access to medical treatment, torture, sexual violence, and ill-treatment, including against children;

3. Calls upon the Syrian government to immediately put an end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians, protect its population, fully comply with its obligations under applicable international law and fully implement Human Rights Council resolutions S-16/1, S-17/1, S-18/1 and its resolution 66/176, including by cooperating fully with the independent international commission of inquiry;

[…]

[NOTE – Please do not post entire articles from copyrighted sources]

I know some have been upset at Turkey going quiet on the Syrian situation after initially taking a strong position. Perhaps the following is an explanation:

Trojan horse for the Syrian regime!
By Abdul Rahman al-Rashed

Monday, 13 February 2012

[Selected quote]:

The Arab League was used to prevent the European movement. It was used to conspire against Turkey during the Rabat meeting under the title of the “Arab solution” that aimed at keeping the Turks away. The Turks got angry and said frankly “we will leave you to resolve it”, although they were aware that no country is capable of confronting the Syrian regime except Turkey.

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2012/02/13/194420.html

the whole interview with Guido Westerwelle which i posted yesterday- funny i think DER SPIEGEL uses Google Translator for their english version…i almost came up with the same translation…

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,814977,00.html

Regime supporters on here and elsewhere mention the undemocratic nature of Qatar, Saudi etc and question their nerve to make demands of Syria.

That’s not the point. Such nations are coming under pressure from their populations who are demanding something is done so they have to be seen to be doing something. So lets not hide behind the nature of governments like Qatar and Saudi. What does the fact that their populations are with the syrian revolution say to you?

[Edited by SC Moderation. This is a second warning. Do not post unattributed, unlinked full-text articles. If this persists, the account may be suspended from posting to Syria Comment for two weeks.]

The failure of the syrian state for security
———————————–
The main reason for many Syrians to support the regime are security concerns. Many believe that only the regime and its Mukhabarat are capable of maintaining security for the civil society. But is this really the case?

The Syrian state failed to secure civil peace since the beginning of the uprising. Today, Syrian cities are ruled by members of the regime or the opposition. Most major cities are divided by sectarian lines. One can now argue wether or not the opposition is Salafi or Terrorist or something else.

However, even if the armed uprising consists of terrorists as the regime media states, then it is also obvious that it failed to secure the civil population. Instead it is bombarding suburbs without distinguishing between unarmed innocent civilians and “terrorists”. This strategy has been used for years in Palestine and particularly in Gaza. This collective punishment will fuel even more violence, since many families will lose loved ones.

The situation is deteriorating into civil war and is slowly sucking Syria’s neighboring country Lebanon into the crises. Salafis and fundamentalist terrorists, the main export good of Syria during the Iraqi war, are returning to Syria and continuing their own struggle for Sunni power in Syria.

Thus, the main reason stated in the beginning to support the Syrian regime is invalid. Now, it is time to support the best future for Syria, which is a comprehensive dialog with all sides.

http://wp.me/p1tlxA-U

Syrian regime used poisonous gas under Iranian, Russian supervision: dissident officer

A Syrian dissident military officer, Capt. Abdul Salam Ahmed Abdul Razek, said the Syrian regime is using internationally prohibited poisonous gas against protestors under the supervision of both Iran and Russia.

“The Syrian army used nerve gas to facilitate the invasion of Homs and was planning to do the same in Jebel al-Zawia and al-Zabadani,” Abdul Razek told Al Arabiya.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/14/194585.html?PHPSESSID=lgsb5jon0gi32ejhhpbpjbp7s2

juejo
what did the Aroor Angels use in Aleppo suicide bombing?
what did they use in Damascus suicibe bombing?
what they use in Almidan suicide bombing?
how did they kill Sadi Saoud while he was buying a cooki?
how did they kill Sari Hassoun?
how did they manage to kill 2000 syrian soldies?using what?
where is the evidence any way?if you are quoting liars what does that make you?

[Edited by SC Moderation. Do not indulge in personal attacks. ]

dear Syrian patriots

I do not thing its somber as I can feel it in some of your comments , its only another dark moment in our history…

be patient, we have a good president doing the right things, Russia and a lot of friendly countries are behind him and supporting Syria now.

I believe a new Syria will borne shortly

every one should have two faiths one is his own with the god, and the other is his love for Syria.
thank you for permitting me to comment.

Anton

“I believe a new Syria will borne shortly”

How true!

“Joshua Landis, the director of the center of Middle East Studies at Oklahoma University, said: “If Israel thinks he [Assad] is going down, why take risks by getting involved? … For Israel to get involved, it would be counterproductive.”

Landis, who blogs at Syria Comment, further explained: “You have an extremely weakened Gaza, Syria is still holding together as a country, and there aren’t militia that can run around and make trouble for Israel. They are making trouble for Assad, and that way Assad cannot act as an enabler of Hezbollah. Hezbollah is sitting there very anxious, Iran is anxious, and this is good for Israel.”

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/02/2012298108853411.html

The Iraq and Libya resolutions coming to haunt the UNSC.

“But her ( Navy Pillay) frustration also seemed directed at the inability of the United Nations, the Arab League or any other group to devise a workable proposal to help resolve the crisis in Syria, now nearly a year old.”

“The longer the international community fails to take action, the more the civilian population will suffer from countless atrocities committed against them,” Ms. Pillay said. ”

After abusing the UN for their own interests, the US and the western countries are surprised and ‘disgusted’ that it is now paralyzed.
Russia and China have decided that it is enough to have the Western countries using the UN for their own interests and they are now exercising their right to veto to the dismay of the US and their allies.
The grand ‘travesty’ that no one should ever forget is the UN session when the most advanced country in the world presented fake and falsified documents in the UN assembly to call for the the war against Iraq that turned out to be a human disaster.
When it became clear to the international community that all the arguments presented at the UN were fake, it was the first shock for many countries to realize that the UN could be very easily mislead by rumors and manipulated by false information. From there on, any USA UN’s interventions would become shrouded with suspicion. As France opposed the war in Iraq the blame fell mostly on the UK and the US.
The Libyan “humanitarian” resolution that turned out to be a “regime change” resolution was the second blow to the credibility of the UN, but this time the culprit was another member of the UNSC, France.
The UN is now a suspicious place. No ‘vague’ resolution will ever pass anymore, the Russian and China will put an immediate veto.
No way anymore to hide a regime change intention in a humanitarian appearance.
The sad result is that real humanitarian catastrophies can’t be handled forcefully by the UN other than by condamnation and sanctions that hurt even more the humanitarian situation of the civilians.

Maybe this will force the UN to consider political solutions to a country internal problem rather than counter productive threats and force.
Syria may be the trigger to a new way at the UN.

A draft of the new constitution it out this morning. It looks great and very progressive and secular with no religious biases. The president’s term is only five years and he can run again only once.

هـــــــــــام جداً لكل سوري : مسودة الدستور السوري الجديد
.by Bashar Al-Asad on Tuesday, February 14, 2012 at 6:57am ·.الفصل الأول

مبادئ عامة

الباب الأول

1. الجمهورية السورية جمهورية ديمقراطية نيابية ذات سيادة كاملة.

2. الجمهورية السورية دولة متنوعة قوميا و دينيا و طائفيا للجميع نفس الحقوق و الواجبات دون أي تمييز.

3. و هي وحدة سياسية جغرافية لا تتجزأ ولا يجوز التخلي عن أي جزء من أراضيها.

4. وهي جزء من منظومة عربية وإقليمية ودولية .

[..]

[NOTE – please do not paste entire articles, Facebook postings, opinion pieces. A description, an excerpt or excerpts, and a link to the full material is most practical and most welcome on Syria Comment]

http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/bashar-al-asad/%D9%87%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D9%80%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AC%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8B-%D9%84%D9%83%D9%84-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AF/10150679480768854

#187 Juergen

“Syrian regime used poisonous gas under Iranian, Russian supervision: dissident officer”

After suffering from the poisonous gaz themselves, supplied to Saddam Hossein by German companies, no one can believe that Iranians would use gaz against anyone.
These are the usual rumors and lies Al Arabiya reports to desperately try to demonize the victorious Syrian Army.

It’s the Syrian Republic; not Arab Republic. I love it!

الجمهورية السورية جمهورية ديمقراطية نيابية ذات سيادة كاملة

Majed97

Thank you for an interessting read.

If that is the genuine draft i would like to raise the following questions:

Why are the most important human rights as stated in chapter 2 subject to change? I dont know of any civilized constitution which would allow that such basic rights are subject for a novellation, to me that leaves the shadow of oppression on Syria.

Who can accept an constituition which was drafted by this regime who if you read carefully the constitution violated not only the current constitution but also noteworthy all international agreed human rights. To my understanding of democracy an new constitution will be drafted ( as we see in Tunesia) by the constitution parlament which will be selected after fair and democratic elections took place. But i assume in Syria the eyedoctor did not want to take an risk and thought its better to dictate the constitution and apply his idea of democracy on the Syrians, par ordre de Mufti. Lets see how long this constitution will last at the end.

Tara #153

“My turn now, this is the best quote I read about love in a while.”

That’s a destructive infatuation, not what St Valentine meant.
To run away from at all costs.

195. Majed97 said:

“It’s the Syrian Republic; not Arab Republic. I love it!”

After the way the Arabs treated Syria, who want to be associated with them by name.
Anyway most Arab countries are dumping the ‘arab’ to “islamic”

Save Us from the Liberal Hawks
Syria’s a tragedy. But it’s not our problem.
BY DAVID RIEFF | FEBRUARY 13, 2012
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/02/13/syria_is_not_our_problem

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of (humanitarian) war. That, at least, is what much of the U.S. policy elite seems to be pushing for these days in Syria. That many of the “permahawks,” like Fouad Ajami, Max Boot, and Elliott Abrams, who championed the George W. Bush administration’s decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein, are now calling for supporting the uprising against Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship should come as no surprise to anyone. Nor should similar calls from most of the liberal writers and editors associated with the New Republic magazine come as a shock. They, too, have been remarkably consistent, and the magazine’s current symposium on what needs to be done next in Syria is eerily reminiscent of the one it ran the year after the invasion of Iraq, which tilted so lopsidedly toward justifying the war, though not the way the Bush administration was prosecuting it.

What is surprising, though, is that despite the disaster of Iraq, looming withdrawal in what will amount to defeat in Afghanistan, and, to put it charitably, the ambiguous result of the U.N.-sanctioned, NATO-led, and Qatari-financed intervention that brought down Muammar al-Qaddafi’s regime, is how nearly complete the consensus for strong action has been even among less hawkish liberals, whether what is done takes the form of the United States and its NATO allies arming the Free Syrian Army, opening so-called humanitarian corridors, or encouraging Turkey and a coalition of the willing within the Arab League to do so. British columnist Jonathan Freedland summed up this view when he wrote recently in the Guardian that the West must not “make the people of Homs pay the price for the mistake we made in Baghdad.”
…
Meanwhile, despite the astonishing propaganda barrage in the media (for once, CNN, the BBC, and Al Jazeera were all on the same page!) that for all intents and purposes endorsed the claims about dead and wounded made by the anti-Assad insurgents (the disclaimers tended to come at paragraph three or four of a print piece, or the tail end of a video segment), the reality on the ground in Syria was far more complicated. A McClatchy news story quoted U.S. government sources as confirming that the recent attack against a Syrian government building in Aleppo had probably been the work of al Qaeda, thus confirming at least to some extent the claims the Assad regime has made about the role of jihadists in the rebellion
..
If the looming victory of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the failure of the democratic project in Iraq, and the fact that the most significant political outcomes of the Arab Spring in Egypt, Yemen, and Libya have been instability and the victory of political Islam have not chastened them — and clearly they haven’t — nothing will. Welcome to the second decade in a row of humanitarian war.
{…}

Jihadist Opportunities in Syria
By Kamran Bokhari
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2012/02/14/jihadist_opportunities_in_syria_99897.html
In an eight-minute video clip titled “Onward, Lions of Syria” disseminated on the Internet Feb. 12, al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri expressed al Qaeda’s support for the popular unrest in Syria. In it, al-Zawahiri urged Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to aid the Syrian rebels battling Damascus. The statement comes just days after a McClatchy report quoted unnamed American intelligence officials as saying that the Iraqi node of the global jihadist network carried out two attacks against Syrian intelligence facilities in Damascus, while Iraqi Deputy Interior Minister Adnan al-Assadi said in a recent interview with AFP that Iraqi jihadists were moving fighters and weapons into neighboring Syria.
{..}

Kurds have to take a position.

[Link added by SC Moderation. Please include a link to quoted material. ]

[ http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/11457/syrias-kurds-could-lose-out-in-post-assad-scenario ]

Syria’s Kurds Could Lose Out in Post-Assad Scenario
By Idris Ahmedi | 13 Feb 2012

Although Syria’s Kurds have a long history of opposing the central government in Damascus, they have so far refrained from widespread, proactive participation in the ongoing rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad’s Baathist regime. However, if they continue to limit themselves to being mere spectators to the unfolding drama, they may well find themselves deprived of any long-term political gains in a post-Assad Syria.
..
Adding to this fear is the Kurds’ unease with Turkey’s influence over the Syrian National Council, the rebels’ Istanbul-based government-in-exile. As long as the Kurdish issue in Turkey is not resolved and decades-old fears on the part of the Turkish political establishment of a pan-Kurdish drive for independence are not ameliorated, Syria’s Kurds cannot look upon Ankara’s role favorably. Absent unequivocal guarantees from Syria’s Sunni elites, the Kurds in Syria appear to have concluded that it would be irrational to back the council wholeheartedly.

It is possible, however, that the Syrian Kurds are making a strategic miscalculation. Should Syria’s Sunnis succeed in toppling Assad, the Sunni political elite may choose to invoke the Kurds’ lack of participation in the rebellion as a justification for ignoring Kurdish demands. Even in a less extreme scenario, their lack of widespread participation will very likely diminish the Kurds’ bargaining position in a post-Assad Syria.

[…]

What good if we have new constitution but brutal oppresion continues,freedom and dignity,and democracy what we want.
Allah,souryia FSA wa bass

Zoo,

Very true but still like the quote. It simply reflects the state of intense raw unabashed destructive emotion and that is that.

Homs today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsj1LK4rfW4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IXRBNRVAPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmG7FuHZRlg
.

@ HUMANIST: You are correct. I posted here under the penname Ya Mara Ghalba from mid Sep to mid Dec 2011. I keep copies of most of my posts. Sometimes I repeat myself by copy-and-edit of a previous statement. In the same file where I save old comments I also have summaries of significant developments and links to news reports at SANA.SY plus a lesser number of links to Xinhuanet.com. So e.g. if I want the date of the last anti-regime would-be “General Strike” I can quickly find it in this diary. I posted under the name “Mawal95” from early April to early July. Then quit the blog in disgust at the quality of it (and said so at the time). Then returned in September because Joshua said he was quitting the blog in order to finish a book about Syria in the 1950s. I adopted new penname “Ya Mara Ghalba” in September. I quit again in disgust in December. A month later I decided to return because although the quality hadn’t improved I do sometimes get valuable information out of this blog, primarily from the Comments, and I readopted “Mawal95” on second return. Personally I have to regard all the attention I’ve been giving to Syria as a waste of my time. There are good and useful things to do with my time totally unrelated to Syria. I intend or hope to disappear permanently. But for more than one reason I’ve been finding the Syria story very compelling to watch. And as I’m watching it I have an urge to comment.

[Apologies from SC Moderation for the earlier note regarding double-identities/double accounts. Thank you, Mawal95 for being clear about your posting behavior at Syria Comment]

Here is one of the frameworks that I view Syria in, recycled by copy-and-edit.

Supporters of the regime overwhelmingly dominate and manage the commerce and industry of Syria, and they are also in control of the trade unions, the mass media, the legal system, the army and police forces, the education sector, the university departments, the mosques and religious establishment, the private-sector civic organizations, the municipal councils of every city, town and county, and the central government itself. There is a genuine and non-bogus national unity among these people who form the society’s Establishment and Middle Class. They mutually support each other as a single nationwide Establishment unified in opposition to the rebels. It is theoretically possible for some sort of political party to be developed within this Establishment that would challenge and compete against the Baath Party. But there is no sign of that happening and it is not theoretically possible until after the rebellion is over.

Who are the rebels? A minority among the rebels are Salafis and Muslim Brotherhod members. For the most part the rebels are poorly-educated working-class people who have no ideas and no substantive agenda other than to howl at the Establishment. They draw some moral and political ideas from Islamic teachings, which they’ve gotten some education on. Thus they have some Islamist ideas & values much like the poorly-educated working-classes who voted for Islamist parties in recent elections in Egypt and Tunisia. However, looking at the whole of the poorly educated working-classes in Syria most of them support the Establishment and the regime, and reject the rebels. Syrian patriotism is one of the strongest cognitive planks of that support.

The regime is strong and is not going to collapse. But if the regime hypothetically collapsed (by foreign conquest or otherwise) it would be followed by semi-collapse and major demoralization of the broad Establishment. It would be a big blow against the whole social infrastructure that has been building itself for the last four or five decades. And nothing would be on hand to replace it with.

Majed97 #193

Had you been following the events in Syria, or the comments on this forum for that matter, you would have known that this is NOT the actual draft … some menhebakji just copied the draft that “Anwar Albuni” suggested back in 2005

http://bit.ly/wMcGhV

Mawal95

You deserve my full respect for being honest. I knew too all along. Your style is unique if you will. Can you continue the honesty and tell us the honest truth why you too unable to see the evil perpetrated by the murderous regime?

176. Syria no Kandahar

((I think that secular and noneriligous Ratio is very low))

Your statement does not tally with:
-99% approval voting for Assad and begfore hime his father
-65% approval ratings suggested by some SC commentors a few months into the revolution,
-or Alex’s facebook survey approval of 55%.

Therefore, either
– You are wrong, and need to be more optimistic that you will leave Revlon and the likes in the dust in any future fair elections,
or
– You are right, and Assad referenda were lies, recent related surveys were biased, the majority are justified in revolting to claim their stolen rights to fair representation, and the current carnage is carried out by a minority of people against the majority.

China is sending an envoy to discuss Syria with the chief of AL, and Russia is asking to meet with the GCC over Syria. Do China and Russia feel that they are risking a chance of being sidelined and isolated after the announcement of the new AL initiative and the future meeting of Freinds of Syria in Tunis?

#209 Tara

“China is sending an envoy to discuss Syria with the chief of AL, and Russia is asking to meet with the GCC over Syria.”

I think China and Russia want to reiterate to both organization that the only solution is political and the only political solution is dialog, and the only valid dialog is between the weaken Syrian government and the weaken opposition under the auspices of Russia and the AL.
While Russia has the power to force Bashar al Assad in making reforms suitable for the country, it has no control over the opposition. .
The Al and the GCC must make a clear effort not to fund and encourage disparate and antagonistic pieces of the opposition, but forcefully unify them and move them to the negotiating table.
I guess that it is the message they will pass on.
This is the only sound solution, there are no other at the horizon.

Bronco,

I have a general question for you. When is war or armed resistance justified in your opinion?

Hundreds of videos of group defections are now on record, not to mention the outnumbering non-videoed ones.

Yet to the doubtful and wishful thinkers, FSA member count shall remain in hundreds!

The funny thing is that they will always be mathematically right; one can express 40,000 as 400 hundreds!

الرستن 12-2-2012 أنشقاق ضباط جماعي.flv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZLnWCfPrSk
Uploaded by alrstn on Feb 12, 2012
الملازم أول أحمد عبد الفادر من مواليد حلب يطالب أهل حلب بدعم الجيش الحر

A prototype of secular, educated Shabbeha of Qirdaha brandishing two rifles.

http://www.facebook.com/Syria.Revolution.Intelligence#!/photo.php?fbid=306272672764211&set=a.194980847226728.50763.178929398831873&type=1&theater
#Latakia #Syria شبيحة اللاذقية
الشبيح رفعت كنعان من القرداحة. يقود سيارة بدون لوحة كيا ريو

Any news about Zabadani? Jisr Al Shoghour, Hama, Deir el Zor etc.. that were the ‘hotbeds of the rebellion’ ?
Have they recovered their normality? Why no reports from the westerm media anymore? I hope the same will be of Homs and Edlib soon.

Revlon

Davutoglu said 40,000. Did he base himself on the videos or which sources?

The US and its NATO lapdogs are not interested whether Syria will collapse if they interfere there. As with Libya, all they want is another power base from where to attack Iran. To them the people of Syria matter less than stray dogs – their greed and hunger for power are the only emotions driving them.

Tara #211

“When is war or armed resistance justified in your opinion?”

Only when the land is occupied by foreign forces:
Europe during the WW2, Palestine, Iran invaded by Iraq, Kuwait invaded by Iraq etc..
A revolution is a massive rejection of a dictatorship from within the country. When it turns to a civil war, it means that the country was not ripe for a revolution. Any foreign intervention to force it is suspicious and counterproductive on long term. It may takes decades but the revolution must come from within and accomplished by the people inside the country.

Oliver Stone’s son converts to Islam in Iran
AFP – 2 hrs 50 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/oliver-stones-son-converts-islam-iran-140347160.html
US filmmaker Sean Stone, son of Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone, converted to Islam on Tuesday in Iran, where he is making a documentary, he told AFP.

“The conversion to Islam is not abandoning Christianity or Judaism, which I was born with. It means I have accepted Mohammad and other prophets,” he said in a brief telephone call from the central Iranian city of Isfahan, where he underwent the ceremony.

Sean Stone’s famous father is Jewish, while his mother is Christian.

The 27-year-old filmmaker did not say why he converted.

According to Iran’s Fars news agency, Sean Stone had become a Shiite and had chosen to be known by the Muslim first name Ali.

Sean/Ali Stone has acted in minor roles in several of his father’s films, and has directed a handful of documentaries.

215 Irritated,
Will reply if you answer my earlier question first!

In spite of the siege and large scale attack on Homs, FSA units managed to capture over a dozen of Assad forces unit, including their commander, a General at their military security post in Qsair, in the Governorate of Homs

FSA unit commander pledged not to release them until two conditions are met:
-all qsair prisoners with assad forces are returned.
-assault on baba Amr stops.

The unit members carried the interview with professionalism; compare that to Assad, minority, secular forces!
The prisoners appeared to be unharmed and in good shape.
All of the high ranks and many of the files of the captured unit have Alawis names, although Qsair is a Sunni town!

أسرى الكتائب الأسدية لدى أبطال كتيبة الفاروق

Uploaded by farouqba on Feb 11, 2012

[CAUTION — please moderate use of sect/religious identifiers. There is a fine line between sectarian identification and unwelcome sectarian incitement. ]

Media manipulation is out, CNN using of ‘Alzahra’ destruction as an example not noticing that this damage and destruction is actually done by the armed militia backfired, I’m sure that wasn’t the innocent intention of CNN. Was it!:

High-Tech Trickery in Homs?

What was surely meant to be a clever display of media-friendly visuals to illustrate Syrian regime violence in Homs, has instead raised more questions than answers.

US State Department satellite images of the embattled city were posted on Facebook last Friday by US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, who complains: “A terrible and tragic development in Syria is the use of heavy weaponry by the Assad regime against residential neighborhoods.”

The “satellite photos,” says Ford, “have captured both the carnage and those causing it — the artillery is clearly there, it is clearly bombing entire neighborhoods…We are intent on exposing the regime’s brutal tactics for the world to see.”

But within 24 hours, the blog Moon of Alabama had taken a hammer to the ambassador’s claims. A detailed examination of satellite imagery by the bloggers revealed numerous discrepancies in Washington’s allegations. Mainly, their investigations point to the fact that Ford’s satellite images were “of guns training within military barracks or well known training areas and not in active deployment.”

Moon of Alabama posts its own satellite images, graphics and diagrams to bolster its argument – and these are well worth a look.

[…]

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/high-tech-trickery-homs

St Valentine in Iran

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/photo-of-the-day-slideshow-1309242001-slideshow/valentines-day-increasingly-seen-tolerated-courting-opportunity-photo-054141280.html

Several shopkeepers in Tehran told AFP that demand for rose bouquets, sentimental cards with the English word “love”, chocolate, perfume and even teddy bears was strong, adding to a growing trend of recent years.

The owner of one Italian restaurant, who asked not to be identified, said his establishment was booked up well in advance by couples.

In Saudi Arabia

In Saudi Arabia, in 2002 and 2011, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine’s Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items, as the day is considered a Christian holiday. In 2008 this ban created a black market of roses and wrapping paper.

The Brits ‘will’ [They are already doing that and their men are training the militiamen i n Lebanon and Turkey] be ‘supporting’ the armed militias in Syria with weapons and intelligence:

صحيفتان بريطانيتان تكشفان عن توجه لندن لدعم المسلحين في سوريا بالعتاد والمعلومات الاستخبارية

“Cameron and Sarkozy to discuss help for Syrian rebels”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/feb/13/cameron-sarkozy-discuss-help-syrian-rebels

“UK to aid Syria rebels”
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/article4123736.ece

الغادريان و”صن” : رئيس الوزراء البريطاني سيبحث يوم الجمعة مع الرئيس الفرنسي زيادة المساعدة العسكرية للمسلحين في سوريا

لندن ، الحقيقة ( خاص من : سامر ياغي): كشفت صحيفة الغارديان البريطانية أن رئيس الوزراء البريطاني ديفيد كاميرون سيلتقي الرئيس الفرنسي نيقولا ساركوزي يوم الجمعة القادم لبحث” إمكانية زيادة دعم المتمردين في سوريا(…) بما في ذلك تقديم الاستشارات العسكرية” . وتشير عبارة ” زيادة” إلى اعتراف ضمني بأن هناك دعما للمسلحين في الوقت الحالي، ولكن غير كاف!

على الصعيد نفسه، كشفت صحيفة “ذي صن” الصادرة في لندن أيضا أن الحكومة البريطانية ” تضع خططا في الوقت الحالي لتزيد المتمردين (المسلحين) في سوريا بالدروع وأجهزة الكومبيوتر المحمولة والهواتف العاملة بوساطة الأقمار الصناعية”. وقالت الصحيفة في عددها الصادر اليوم” اتضح يوم أمس أن الحكومة (البريطانية) تريد مساعدة الكفاح المرير لإسقاط الرئيس السوري الطاغية بشار الأسد بمعونة غير قاتلة”، مشيرة إلى أن ” المعدات (التي ستقدم للمتمردين) سيجري استخدامها لتنسيق الهجمات ” ضد الجيش السوري. وبحسب الصحيفة، فإن الحكومة البريطانية ” ستساعد المتمردين أيضا في مجال تكنولوجيا الاتصالات”.

يشار إلى أن صحيفة” لوفيغارو” الفرنسية كانت كشفت في تشرين الثاني/ نوفمبر أن المخابرات الفرنسية تقوم بتقديم معلومات استخبارية للمسلحين السوريين عبر الأقمار الصناعية لاستهداف الجيش السوري، كما وتساعدهم على تهريب السلاح من شمال لبنان إلى مدينة حمص. كما موقعا مقربا للاستخبارات العسكرية الإسرائيلية كان كشف قبل أيام أن قوات خاصة بريطانية وقطرية تدير عمليات المسلحين في أربع أحياء داخل حمص. ورغم أن مساعد وزير الخارجية الروسي أعرب عن قلق بلاده من هذه المعلومات ، فإن الحكومة البريطانية لم تنف ذلك.

[WARNING – do not paste entire articles to the comment threads here at Syria Comment. The next full-text paste will be followed by a temporary ban on posting. Please abide by this repeated request from SC Moderation]

http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6697/Default.aspx

218. Revlon

Which question?

http://www.arabist.net/blog/2012/2/14/syrian-regime-fakes-supportive-roy-interview.html

Syrian regime fakes supportive Roy interview

This is rather ludicrous. The acclaimed French Middle East specialist, Olivier Roy, famed for his “failure of political Islam” book, has issued a statement disowning an off-camera interview of him on France 2 that was rebroadcast on Syrian television. In the interview, Roy is heard saying “There is no doubt about this, Bashar al-Assad will be the first Arab leader who will win against the West,” followed by a long praise of the Syrian president.

Except Roy never conducted any such interview on France 2 (or anywhere else). Syrian TV faked it.

See Roy’s statement after the jump (French).

Communiqué d’Olivier Roy

Désinfo: Isolé diplomatiquement, Bashar al Assad s’invente des soutiens imaginaires en Occident

Preuve de sa faiblesse au plan international, le régime syrien forge de toute pièce des interventions occidentales en sa faveur. Le 5 février, la télévision officielle syrienne diffusait (en voix off) une fausse interview du professeur français Olivier Roy, qu’il aurait donné à la télévision française France 2, et qui lui fait dire ‘cela ne fait aucun doute, Bashar al Assad sera le premier leader arabe qui gagnera contre l’Occident’, en se lançant ensuite dans un panégyrique en faveur du leader syrien. L’information a ensuite été relayée par des sites d’informations proches du régime et promu sur youtube par groupes pro-Bashar., puis reprise en français dans le site de propagande InfoSyrie.

Olivier Roy n’a jamais donné d’interview à France 2 sur la Syrie pense que le régime Bachar al Assad finira par s’effondrer. Le plus tôt sera le mieux.

En arabe :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X66bi01K3LQ

http://www.syria-times.com/?showpage=3&id=7619

http://www.nadyelfikr.com/showthread.php?tid=4711

En français

http://www.infosyrie.fr/decryptage/intervention-armee-en-syrie-la-france-coupee-en-deux/

Truth sometimes takes time to become public domain

Egypt state press escalates dispute over U.S. NGOs
Reuters – 3 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-state-press-escalates-dispute-over-u-ngos-134448764.html

…
“America is behind the anarchy,” declared the front page of Al Gomhuria newspaper. “American funding aims to spread anarchy in Egypt,” read the front page of Al Ahram newspaper. The papers are two of Egypt’s most widely-distributed dailies.

Alternative Scenarios for Syria – Feb 14, 2012

Faster-faster-faster-as fast as possible-still faster. The diplomatic maneuvers around Syria develop around the pattern described in the famous remark made by Schumann to one of his piano pieces.

Last Sunday the League of Arab States suggested sending peacekeeping forces to Syria, including the UN’s «blue beret» as well as military contingents of a number of Arab countries. Moscow and Beijing reacted quite rapidly.

«The Syrian issue is the internal issue of that country», said Dai Bingguo, a member of China’s State Council responsible for China’s foreign policy, in his telephone conversation with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that took place on Monday. It is a soft «no».

In his turn Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s Ambassador to the UN, in his speech on Monday at the plenary session of the UN General Assembly explained: “As far as the Arab League’s initiative to deploy in Syria joint peacekeeping mission of the League and the UN, it needs to be reviewed in detail. The deployment of the peacekeeping forces requires a consent from the receiving party”.

[..]

[NOTE & WARNING — do not cut and paste full-text articles to Syria Comment. This account’s posting privileges will be curtailed if this practice does not stop.]

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/02/14/66076189.html

As usual of #219, he ‘professionally’ celebrate the ‘killing’ and strongly support ‘violence’ and without any doubt encourage ‘sectarianism’…how ‘Lovely’!…

[WARNING – do NOT indulge in personal attacks against Syria Comment commentators. The personalized language above is unacceptable]

Here is what ‘professionally’ happens before, during and after the video footage is taken:

شريط يظهر تعرض جنود مخطوفين من الجيش السوري وقوات حفظ النظام لتعذيب وحشي بهدف إرغامهم على الإدلاء باعترافات كاذبة

حمص ، الحقيقة ( خاص): أقدم مسلحون ينتمون لما يسمى ” كتيبة خالد بن الوليد” و ” الفاروق” ، اللتان تنشطان في حمص ، على اختطاف عدد من الجنود السوريين وتعريضهم للتعذيب من أجل إرغامهم على الإدلاء باعترافات كاذبة وفق الطريقة نفسها التي تلجأ إليها أجهزة مخابرات السلطة في أقبيتها. وأظهر شريط بثه هؤلاء القتلة عددا من الجنود السوريين وعناصر حفظ النظام وهم رهن الاحتجاز في أحد أقبية هؤلاء القتلة الذين ينشطون تحت اسم ” الجيش السوري الحر” الذي يعمل تحت إشراف أجهزة الاستخبارات الأجنبية .وبدت آثار التعذيب والتشويه على وجوههم بشكل واضح . فأحدهم تشوه أنفه وخده الأيمن وبدت عليه آثار التعذيب كما لو أنها حروق . أما الثاني فبدا من الواضح أن عينه اليسرى مغلقة بسبب الورم الناجم عن الضرب . وبدا مخطوف ثالث وقد أصبح خده الأيسر كما لو أنه تعرض للسلخ! أما الرابع فالدم كان لم يزل ينزف من أنفه حين التصوير، فيما خده الأيسر كما لو أنه تعرض للضرب بهراوة أو للرفس بحذاء عسكري!

الأكثر فجورا هو أن المجرم الذي يتحدث في الشريط باسم القتلة الخاطفين كان يلقي خطبة مطولة عن “المعاملة الحسنة” التي يلقاها هؤلاء في وكره!

يشار إلى أن القوات الخاصة السورية التي اقتحمت منطقة “الإنشاءات ” و ” باباعمرو” خلال الأيام الماضية ، بعد حفرها أنفاقا من تحت الأبنية على مدى أسابيع واستخدامها كهاريز الصرف الصحي للوصول إلى القتلة ، ولم يحسّ المجرمون إلا وهي تلقي القبض عليهم وتقتل بعضهم الآخر ممن ذهل بالمفاجأة وحاول الفرار ، عثرت على سجون وأقبية تحت الأرض في تلك المنطقة أين منها أقبية وزنازين المخابرات الجوية و فرع فلسطين الأكثر شهرة! فقد كانت مليئة بدماء المخطوفين الذين جرت تصفيتهم في هذه الأقبية ، و بالكلاّبات والقضبان المعدنية التي كان يقيد بها الرهائن خلال تعذيبهم!

دفعة جديدة من الأسرى لدى أبطال لواء خالد بن الوليد
http://youtu.be/DTQM29QYcqI

224. newfolder

Olivier Roy fake interview
There has been thousands of fake videos, fake satellite photos, fake news, why not fake interviews? In the media propaganda war all weapons are allowed. No need to be surprised, it is a question of creativity, no?

This is what Ga’afary was trying to respond to by accusing Google of conspiring against his boss’s eternal hold on Syria.

Briefing to the General Assembly Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights [Syria]

13 February 2012New York

Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the General Assembly,Excellencies,Ladies and Gentlemen,

I thank you for the invitation to address you on the human rights situation in Syria under the agenda item “Human Rights Council.” The worsening human rights situation in Syria has prompted the Human Rights Council to hold three special sessions, to dispatch one fact-finding mission and one independent Commission of Inquiry. The President of the Human Rights Council shared the report of the Commission of Inquiry with this Assembly on 29 November last year.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to now update you on the current human rights situation in Syria.

The violent Government crackdown on peaceful protests demanding freedom, dignity and social justice in Syria has continued unabated for eleven months now. While no exact figures can be provided due to our lack of access to the country, credible reports indicate that Syrian security forces killed well above 5,400 people last year, including civilians as well as military personnel who refused to shoot civilians. Due to extreme difficulties in substantiating the events on the ground, it has become almost impossible for my Office to update the death toll in the past two months. However, we are certain that the number of dead and injured continues to rise every day. Tens of thousands, including children, have been arrested, with more than 18,000 reportedly still arbitrarily held in detention. Thousands more are reported missing. 25,000 people are estimated to have sought refuge in neighbouring and other countries. And more than 70,000 are estimated to have been internally displaced.

While the protests have remained largely peaceful, reports of armed attacks by anti-government fighters against Syrian forces have increased, also with consequences on civilians. According to the Government, some 2000 military and security personnel have been killed.

I am particularly appalled by the ongoing onslaught on Homs. Since 3 February, in further escalation of its assault, the Government has used tanks, mortars, rockets and artillery to pummel the city of Homs. According to credible accounts, the Syrian army has shelled densely populated neighborhoods of Homs in what appears to be an indiscriminate attack on civilian areas. More than 300 people have reportedly been killed in the city since the start of this assault ten days ago. The majority of them were victims of the shelling.

Reports indicate that hospitals, which were already struggling to cope with all those injured in recent weeks, are now overwhelmed. People have set up makeshift clinics throughout the beleaguered city. Medical supplies have been depleted. Shells have struck at least three makeshift clinics resulting in casualties.

Due to heavy shelling, residents have been effectively trapped in areas under attack. Electricity and communication have been cut off in some neighborhoods. And food remains scarce.

The humanitarian situation in Homs is simply deplorable. Similar accounts of intensifying assault and worsening of humanitarian situation have been received from Zabadani, Dar’a, and al-Rastan. The risk of a humanitarian crisis throughout Syria is rising. The failure of the Security Council to agree on firm collective action appears to have emboldened the Syrian Government to launch an all-out assault in an effort to crush dissent with overwhelming force. Yet, as the Secretary-General has said, “the lack of agreement in the Security Council gives no license to the Syrian authorities to step up the attacks on the Syrian population. No government can commit such acts against its people without its legitimacy being eroded.” “The appalling brutality we are witnessing in Homs…is a grim harbinger of worse to come.”

Excellencies,

The nature and scale of abuses committed by Syrian forces indicate that crimes against humanity are likely to have been committed since March 2011. Independent, credible and corroborated accounts indicate that these abuses have taken place as part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians. Furthermore, the breadth and patterns of attacks by military and security forces on civilians and the widespread destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure indicate approval or complicity of the authorities at the highest levels.

Since anti-government protests started, security forces and Government-supported Shabbiha militias have been responsible for killing thousands of people through attacks on peaceful protests and in large-scale military operations in several cities. They have used a ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy to crush peaceful protests. Several defectors from military and security forces have said that they received orders from their commanders to shoot unarmed protesters without warning. Snipers on rooftops are reported to have targeted protestors, ambulances, and bystanders who were trying to rescue the wounded and collect the bodies of those killed.

Civilians have borne the brunt of the violence, as cities such as Homs, Hama, Dera’a and Idlib have been blockaded and curfews imposed. During the blockades, residents have not been able to obtain water, food and medical supplies. Military and security forces have targeted residential water tanks and water pipes. The blockades had often made it impossible to get the injured to hospitals. Hospitals have been used as detention and torture facilities. Ambulances have come under fire, and many of the injured and sick have been turned away from public hospitals in several cities. Wounded detainees have been subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment in military hospitals. Evidence gathered indicates that doctors and medical workers have been pursued, arrested, and tortured by the security forces. Increasingly, most of the wounded avoid going to public hospitals for fear of being arrested or tortured. The injured are largely treated in underground hospitals established in apartments, on farms, and at private homes. Hygiene and sterilization conditions are rudimentary and the mere possession of medical supplies is being punished.Ladies and Gentlemen,Reliable information indicates that Syrian military and security forces have launched massive campaigns of arrest, arbitrarily detaining thousands of protestors, activists and other suspected of anti-Government sentiments or activities. Some have been involuntarily and forcibly disappeared. Credible information show patterns of systematic and widespread use of torture in interrogation and detention facilities by Security forces. According to information provided by army defectors, they received orders from their commanding officers to torture. Extensive reports of sexual violence, in particular rape, in places of detention, primarily against men and boys, are particularly disturbing.Children have not been spared. Children have been killed by beating, sniper fire and shelling from Government security forces in several places throughout Syria. As of the end of January, security forces have killed more than 400 children. Children, as young as 10, have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention. Children have been kept in solitary confinement. They have also been kept in overcrowded cells with adults, often deprived of food and water. Schools have been used as detention facilities, sniper post and military bases.

Distinguished Members of the General Assembly,

I am outraged by these serious violations. I am very distressed that the continued ruthless repression and deliberate stirring of sectarian tensions might soon plunge Syria into civil war. The longer the international community fails to take action, the more the civilian population will suffer from countless atrocities committed against them. This Assembly, in its resolution of 19 December 2011, condemned human rights violations and use of force against civilians by Syrian authorities. It called on Syria to comply with its obligations under human rights law. However, the gross, widespread and systematic human rights violations have not only continued but also sharply escalated.

Excellencies,

The Government of Syria has manifestly failed to fulfil its obligation to protect its population. Each and every member of the international community must act now to urgently protect the Syrian population.

The League of Arab States has responded resolutely to the events in Syria and its efforts should be supported. Unfortunately Syria failed to fully comply with the League’s Observer Mission and persisted in its violent crackdown. The League should continue its effort to compel Syria to end the violence. My Office remains ready to provide appropriate assistance to the League of Arab States if the League so requests.

International and independent monitoring bodies, including my Office and the independent Commission of Inquiry must also be allowed into Syria. And humanitarian actors must be guaranteed immediate, unhindered access.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Fact-Finding Mission, the Commission of Inquiry on Syria, and I myself have all concluded that crimes against humanity are likely to have been committed in Syria. I have encouraged the Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court. All Member States must ensure that these crimes do not go unpunished.

Yet, these crimes continue to be committed as I speak.

The Universal Declaration for Human Rights, adopted by this Assembly more than 60 years ago, makes clear that it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law. The people of Syria are asking for the rights that every human being is entitled to. And they are looking to this Assembly to speak with one voice to support them in this endeavour.

Thank you.

223. irritated,
Do you see Jr regularly, in person?

Syria rejects UN Human Rights Council report – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/14/c_122701641.htm

DAMASCUS, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Syria’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday totally rejected the report by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), regarding it as “new allegations.”

“The HRC has turned into a tool in the hands of the countries that are targeting Syria and ignoring the terrorist acts carried out by the armed groups,” the ministry said in a statement carried by state-run SANA news agency.

Premier Wen: no protection for any party on Syria issue – 2012-02-14

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-02/14/c_122701624.htm

BEIJING, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said here on Tuesday that China would not render protection to any party, including the Syrian government, concerning the issue of Syria.

“The fate of Syria must be decided by the Syrian people on their own,” Wen said at a joint press conference with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso after they held the 14th China-EU leaders’ meeting.

He stressed that the current priority is to “prevent war and chaos,” in an aim to shelter the Syrian people from greater suffering.

Bronco@216

So in your eyes, injustice is a relative concept not defined by the act itself but rather by the perpetrator?

You justify fighting an occupation by a “foreign” force and you withhold the same justification fighting an occupation by your own people?

If evil is committed by your countrymen or even by your family members, does it cease of being evil.

How do you patch that?

Revlon #231

I don’t.
Will you tell me now if the 40,000 soldiers of the FSA is a reality or another of Davutoglu’s fertile imagination?

Tara

“evil”, “good”, these moral concepts may have a place within a society, but they have no place in politics or when you talk about war and armed resistance. These concepts have been too often abused to justify the worst massacres in human’s history.

There is nothing called a forced occupation on a piece of land “by its own people”. If there is, then the occupiers are outlaws to the central internationally recognized government and should be dislodged and punished.
There is nothing clearer than that.

Bronco

You are evading the question. It is rather a simple one..

Is injustice a relative concept not dependent on the act but rather dependent on the perpetrators?

It is not important for me to “win” the argument, any argument..I just want to explore the thought process.

#Tara

I don’t think there is absolute justice. This is why there are tribunals, lawyers and laws that define justice and that vary from country to country.
For example the Sharia based justice is certainly not an absolute justice. It is specific to a country with specific traditions and religion.
What is justice in some countries is a injustice in others.
Yet there are some basic tenets of justice that are common to most countries on this planet.

Bronco @238

Correct, but the answer is unrelated to my question. I will give you a pass though and will not press the issue any further… Tara just can’t help not being nice.

What will now happen to the 2-3 Million Iraqi refugees inside Syria? Just another collateral damage? Why do we never hear a word about that no other country was that generous as Syria in hosting that many refugees from Iraq?

All the media is saying might sound onesided and it certainly could be onesided, because there is no doubt whatsoever we have foreign backing be it military or financial. But we surely find common ground with regards to the Syrian regime, Bashar Al Assad and the “Syrian State TV” ( whose coverage seems to be onesided as well). The regime has done mischief and its legitimacy and credibility have suffered a major blow.

As this article proves the Syrian State TV is nothing more than a proaganda channel for Bashar Al Assad ..

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/12/194118.html

Blitzkrieg of the faithful so-called ophthalmologist :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-snYcGuPvI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxtQQ2H2GEI

As linked to by #128 Humanist, here’s Nir Rosen’s assessment of the role of Islam among the armed rebels:

“The Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood ideologies are not important in Syria and do not play a significant role in the revolution. But most Syrian Sunnis taking part in the uprising are themselves devout. They do not read religious literature or listen to sermons. Their views on Islam are consistent with the general attitudes of Syrian Sunni society, which [mostly] is conservative and religious. All the fighters I met – in the provinces of Homs, Idlib, Hama, Deraa and the Damascus suburbs – were Sunni Muslims, and most were pious. Many fighters were not religious before the uprising, but now pray and are inspired by Islam, which gives them a creed and a discourse. They are not fighting for Islam but they are inspired by it. Some drink alcohol, which is forbidden in Islam, and do not pray. And their brothers in arms do not force them to pray. Some fighters are also influenced by a general sense of Sunni identity, but others do not care about this. I encountered one armed Salafi group in Idlib. Some fighters are the sons or nephews of people who were jailed during the 1980s for alleged membership of the Muslim Brotherhood.” http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/02/201221315020166516.html

I accept that as a good and correct statement. Nir Rosen said it in the context of trying to answer a question about what do the rebels think they are fighting for. Nir Rosen did not have the discourse to answer that question. His answer was something like “they are fighting because they are in a fight”. Neither Nir Rosen or the rebels have that discourse, except for a vacuous negative “down with the regime”.

To Syria No Kandahar
Thank you for your recent comment and I surely hope the future of Syria and its people is more positive than your description:
* No one will erase Syria,it has been around forever and will continue to be around forever, we will all work towards that
* To suppose that the country will be divided into several states just because different opinions exist is unrealistic, no country in the world will show the 99.997% unity fabricated by Assad’s mukhabarat, differences and plurality enrich societies and political life as long as democratic principles,human rights, and the rule of law are there
* If Syrians democratically elect a parliament full of bearded men and veiled women then it is their democratic choice, who am I to dictate to peole who to elect? I am not Hafez Assad!!
I will accept any government my countrymen democratically elect, I will demand from this government to establish political life, democratic elections ( never again 99.997%), the rule of law, and human rights…it is very unlikely that a religious party of any color ( Islamic, Christian, Jewish, Hindu..whatever) will be able of achieving these aspirations..God rules heavens, but Man rules the earth, they will win the first round but a better alternative will eventually prevail
Hope for the best 16 years of Nazism and 5 years of rebuilding did not stop the German people from regaining European supremacy
We shall overcome..veneceremos!!

Without belittling the sacrifices made by the Bahrainis, would it be fair to say that if they showed half of the determination, commitment and willingness to sacrifice that the syrians have shown, they may have achieved alot more than they have? At least it wouldn’t have been as easy for the rulers and Saudi to suppress the uprising.

Having said that it is unfair to criticise or expect such huge demands.

In fact we should aknowledge the praiseworthiness of the sacrifices of the Syrian people. MashaAllah.