The first thing to appreciate about the Syrian economy is that the Syrian Establishment and the government is safe and secure from a political uprising regardless of whether the economy does poorly or not. The heads of private sector enterprises, including the tourist industry, will stick loyally to this government because there is no viable alternative to it.

Why,

Re: # 333 “This is the best time to buy SP! I’ll do that now.”

See Ehsani2 reply #347.

You think it is too late for you to ask for a refund?

Tara

No Tara, in the contrary I’ll buy more… You trust or you don’t.

Why,

You trust men…. I trust history.

What is your opinion about the latest EU sanctions against key figures in Iran? Too aggressive?

“But within Syria, as I’m sure most people on this board can agree, such a stigma effect would be very mild, while the main effect of the embargo would be to corrode economic prosperity and modernization”

I find such a statement absolutely extraordinary. So we are supposed to refrain from any and all actions that might damage this dictatorship, because it might effect the economy in some way?

Is someone whose brother has been shot dead supposed to stay at home, because tourism in his city might suffer?

Is a family whose village has been invaded supposed to suffer tank shelling and roaming gangs of thugs, because foreign investors might be scared by TV pictures of them taking refuge in Turkey?

Are university students supposed to stay in their dormitories while the regime’s bullies beat up students in a nearby faculty, because the newspaper headlines will mean less Brits and French visiting the Umayad mosque?

No, and a thousand three hundred no. Instead of ridiculous statements like “economic sabotage”, put the blame squarely where it lies; on the regime, whose propagation of fantasies of roaming Salafis in the country, and whose *INCOMPETENT* handling of events, have done more harm in three months to Syria’s economic prospects and chances for direct foreign investment, than all the scheming and conniving the Neo-Cons ever managed in a decade.

I’m in Syria, I earn my livelihood in Syria. Everything I have, I had to work damn hard for. I don’t have the benefit of a rich daddy to tide me over, nor Baathist connections to land juicy government projects. I earn my way in this world through all the sweat I put into my education, and by my single minded focus on my craft.

And I say, bring it all on. Oil sanctions, the works. Freeze every bank account that’s remotely connected to the regime and Iran. Cut of every penny that comes into the regime’s pockets.

Didn’t Professor Landis trumpet Lebanon’s resilience despite two disastrous tourist seasons? What makes anyone think that the Syrian people are any less resilient? The Syrian people will survive anything that economic sanctions can do. After all, we’ve survived 40 plus years of Baathist mismanagement.

But of course, we all know who gets scared the most from talks of sanctions; Baathist scum and their ilk. I will lose no sleep in putting a dent in Makhlouf’s ill gotten gains.

It seems a long way forward Syrians have to go though; currently they don’t have other options.

Taking calculations of likelihood and rewards, Syrians may have once had a good deal before this uprising; today many can’t stand the old situation any more.

The sanctions will not target the regime alone, it will hurt all Syrians, it is at least less harmful than military intervention, both solutions have low likelihood of success of improving lives of Syrians; However this is the fate of nations with failed corrupted management!

This long struggle may be an advantage, it will help Syrians learn and grow, enduring risks of civil wars and conflicts, it can be an opportunity to develop leaders in a country of 40 years single imposed leadership!

Unlike many opposition supporters, I am against trying to mess up the economy for a couple of reasons:

First, as Yazan said in the previous post comments, only downtrodden poor Syrians are going to feel the pinch. These people have suffered enough already.

Second, there’s no guarantee that a collapse will fatally harm the regime. Mugabe and Saddam being case in point.

Mawal95 @300 previous post

yes it was me who said month ago that the cell phone services is not working and i can’t call my family ,that was for the first two days when the army entered Bab el Sbaa however it was not a general cut off as cell phones were working at least in Nuzha and 3akrama .

Democracynow,

Exactly. Thank you. This is a very important point that most people skim over. To me, this is a class-struggle at heart, and a part of a larger struggle. I don’t want to replace a bunch of blood-sucking vultures, with another group of blood-sucking vultures. To both, it seems; “le droit du pauvre est un mot creux.”

Democracy Now @6 and Yazan @8

I respect your position .thank you

الثورة بين الاستبداد والوصايـة الدوليـة

سليمان تقي الدين
تمارس تركيا ومن ورائها الغرب الوصاية على سوريا. لم يسبق لدولة أن وضعت جدول أعمال دولة أخرى على هذا النحو من الإملاءات. ليس هناك دبلوماسية بهذا الشكل. ما يجري في سوريا كبير وخطير وشلال الدم لم يتوقف منذ ثلاثة أشهر. لا شيء يبرّر عنف النظام ولا تأخير ثم تعثر العملية السياسية التي أعلن استجابته لها ونواياه في الإصلاح. لكن لا شيء يبرّر لأي طرف خارجي أن يتصدّر قيادة عملية التغيير ويضع نفسه بديلاً عن خيارات الشعب ويحدد ما يريد الشعب وما لا يريد. تجاوزنا فعلاً ازدواجية المعايير التي يتعامل بواسطتها المجتمع الدولي مع حقوق الشعب والإنسان إلى تجليات من السلوك الاستعماري العنصري الذي يستهين بالكرامة الوطنية. تجرّعنا تدريجياً هذا التدخل الأجنبي لأننا ندرك العلاقة العضوية بين الاستبداد وضعف المناعة الوطنية. قبلنا ونقبل مكرهين كل تدخل تحت شعار حقوق الإنسان وحماية المدنيين من قبل ما يسمى «المجتمع الدولي». لكننا حتى اللحظة لم نجد في هذا التدخل «الأطلسي»، من ليبيا إلى غيرها، ما يفيد أن حقوق الشعوب وحقوق الإنسان هي التي تصان أو يمكن أن تصان من وراء إدارة هذا الصراع وهذا العنف، وصولاً إلى بسط النفوذ الأجنبي بشكل أكثر فجاجة من ذي قبل وبشكل أكثر ظلماً وأكثر كلفة من الأوضاع العربية المزرية. المسألة لا تقف عند هذا الحد. إن التوتر على الحدود السورية التركية يؤسس لانفجار خطير في المشرق العربي. إذا تصرفت تركيا على أنها الوكيل الإقليمي المفوّض بإدارة هذه المنطقة، وقد صار موقفها أكثر وضوحاً إلى أية مصالح يهدف وفي أي اتجاه تخطط للنظام السياسي، فهي تستدرج وربما بدأت تستدرج المواجهة مع إيران. هذه المواجهة يريد الغرب لها أن تقع بدليل التهديف الدائم على دور إيران في دعم ومساعدة النظام السوري على قمع الاحتجاجات الشعبية.
وبقطع النظر عن المعلومات أو التفاصيل فلن يكون ممكناً إسقاط النظام في سوريا إلا بعد نشر الفوضى من حدود البحر المتوسط إلى الخليج العربي. ولن يتشكل نظام إقليمي إلا على ركام من الحروب الصغيرة والكبيرة التي تغطي فيها النزاعات والمصالح الدولية والإقليمية على حركات الشعوب المطالبة بالحرية.
لا نمارس دور الواعظ ولكن دور الناقل لحدود ما يعرف بالتجربة، وليس فقط بالنظر، لمخاطر هذا المسار الذي يطيح بإنجازات الشعوب وليس فقط بمواقع الأنظمة. لسنا نقول إن الشعوب العربية غير مؤهلة لممارسة الديموقراطية. ولا نقول إن ثقافة المنطقة وهويتها التاريخية تشكلان عائقاً معطلاً للتقدم والديموقراطية. لكن هذا التشابك بين إرث التخلّف السياسي والاجتماعي وبين المشروع الإمبريالي ليس مسألة ثانوية.
هكذا يصعب الانتقال إلى الديموقراطية الفعلية، بمعناها الإنساني العميق لا بصندوقة الاقتراع الشكلية، ما لم تسيطر الشعوب على مصائرها بوعي وتجد حلولاً لمشكلات معقدة مثل القبلية والطائفية والجهوية والتطرف والعصبيات الدينية والتدخل الخارجي. ليس الاستبداد فرداً وإلا لما كان أسهل من تغيير التاريخ. الاستبداد بنية متكاملة اجتماعية تحتاج إلى تفكيك بأدوات الحرية والأحزاب الديموقراطية والمشاركة السياسية وبترسيخ منظومة قيم مختلفة في العمل والإنتاج والمساواة وتكافؤ الفرص ورفض منطق الامتيازات. تجمع الشعوب على الحرية والديموقراطية وعلى ضرورة التغيير وعلى إزالة الاستبداد، وهي مَن يكسر القيود السياسية. لكن الشعوب تعيد إنتاج سلطة عليها أن تضمن أفضل ما يمكن أن تكون. الثورة لحظة انفجارية تاريخية أما بناء الدول فمهمة تاريخية دائمة. هكذا يختلط أحياناً الفارق بين الانقلاب والثورة. ليست حاجتنا إلى انقلابات في السلطة بل إلى ثورات تعيد بناء الدولة على الأسس التي تلائم حاجات الشعوب وطموحاتها. الثورة اندلاع غير مسبوق لكل عناصر التدخل السياسي والأمني والاجتماعي والثقافي في الداخل والخارج. ما يحدد مستقبلها توازن القوى لا الأفكار والبرامج وحدها. كلما ضعفت مقوّمات الداخل غلبت المصالح الفوقية البعيدة عن مصالح الشعوب.
ما يعنينا الآن رؤية الموقف الدولي وهو يتفرق ويجتمع مع هذا وضد ذاك. من السذاجة التعاطي مع هذه المواقف بمنظور المبادئ بعد أن استهلكت نفسها في العراق واليمن وليبيا والسودان وفلسطين. لن نسأل لماذا يمارس المجتمع الدولي كل هذا الحماس في توقيع العقوبات وإدانة سلوكيات الأنظمة ويوفر كل هذه الحماية لإسرائيل. لكننا نسأل عن طبيعة التغيير الذي يريده المجتمع الدولي وإلى أين يدفع النزاعات الداخلية والإقليمية؟! من المؤكد أن الحراك العربي حاجة تاريخية فرضت نفسها وأن «الشعوب» ليست مسؤولة عن مأزق النظام الرسمي العربي الذي ينهار تاركاً خلفه المآسي والدمار.
لكن الشعوب ليست فاعلة خارج القوى والتيارات السياسية التي تقودها وتضع لها خطوات حركتها ونشاطها. فهل تتصرف هذه القوى والتيارات المؤطّرة الفاعلة بمسؤولية عن ضرورة التغيير وضمان المسار الديموقراطي أم ستنزلق إلى حيث تتحوّل وسيلة إلى تحقيق أهداف عند اللاعبين الكبار الدوليين والإقليميين؟
ما ندعو إليه هو التفكير في برنامج التغيير وخطواته وقواه وعلاقاته وضماناته وليس العزوف عنه. إن المنطقة كلها في دائرة التصدّع الخطير.

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=1880&ChannelId=44300&ArticleId=3089&Author=%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%20%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%8A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%86
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The barrel of Qatar is working:

أمير قطر يبدأ زيارة لأنقرة

بدأ أمير قطر الشيخ حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني، أمس، زيارة لأنقرة، استهلها بإجراء محادثات مع الرئيس التركي عبد الله غول، تناولت، بحسب وكالة «الأناضول»، العلاقات الثنائية والإقليمية.
وذكرت الوكالة التركية أن الاجتماع الذي عقد في القصر الرئاسي التركي كان مغلقاً، وقد حضره عن الجانب التركي غول ووزير الخارجية أحمد داود أوغلو، ووزير المالية محمد سميسك، وعن الجانب القطري الشيخ حمد بن خليفة، ورئيس الوزراء ووزير الخارجية حمد بن جاسم بن جبر آل ثاني.
كما التقى أمير قطر رئيس الوزراء التركي رجب طيب أردوغان في اجتماع مغلق استغرق ساعة وربع الساعة، وشـارك فيه أيضاً داود أوغلو.
(«السفير»)

“الدبلوماسيّة الساركوزيّة في المأزق السوري

يبدو أن الدبلوماسيّة الفرنسيّة تعيش مأزقاً سياسيّاً متعدّد الجوانب في ما يخصّ الأزمة السوريّة، ولا سيما بعد الانغماس الذي تعيشه في الحملة على ليبيا. مأزق يعبّر عنه على نحو خاص وزير الخارجية ألان جوبيه، الذي يبرّر مواقفه من الأزمة السورية «بعدم الكيل بمكيالين»”

“ويضرب مصدر دبلوماسي فرنسي، تحدّثت إليه «الأخبار»، كمثال على ذلك، برقية دبلوماسية حرّرها، أواخر نيسان الماضي، السفير الفرنسي في دمشق إيريك شوفالييه، ويقول إنها أثارت جدلاً حاداً في كواليس الخارجية وصلت أصداؤه لاحقاً إلى أروقة قصر «الإليزيه»، لتفجر إحدى «نوبات الغضب المدوية» التي يشتهر بها الرئيس ساركوزي. وكان السفير إيريك شوفاليه، الذي يعدّ أحد أكثر كوادر الخارجية الفرنسية دراية بشؤون الشرق الأوسط، قد كتب في البرقية أنه «يجب منح فسحة من الوقت للرئيس السوري بشار الأسد (…) ولا يجب استبعاد أن تكون هناك أطراف خارجية تعمل بالفعل على تغذية الاحتجاجات والتظاهرات».”

“وقد لقي ذلك البيان صدى متزايداً، وبالأخص منذ أن زج عرّاب «الفلاسفة الجدد» الفرنسيين، برنار هنري ليفي، بالرئاسة الفرنسية نحو تزعم الحملة العسكرية على نظام العقيد القذافي في ليبيا، بالرغم من تحفظات غالبية الكوادر الدبلوماسية الفرنسية، بمن فيهم وزير الخارجية ألان جوبيه، الذي لم يكن على علم مسبق بمبادرة الرئيس ساركوزي باستقبال ممثلي «المجلس الوطني الانتقالي» الليبي في قصر الإليزيه، في حضور برنار هنري ليفي، ما دفع الصحف الفرنسية الى التساؤل: من هو وزير الخارجية الفعلي: جوبيه أم ليفي؟
حيال تفاقم هذه «النزعة المكارثية»، التي لا تفسح المجال لأي صوت دبلوماسي يحمل نبرة مغايرة أو مقاربة مخالفة لـ«الهوى الساركوزي»، عمدت «جماعة مارلي» الى إصدار بيان ثان، نُشر أمس في صفحات الرأي بجريدة «لوموند»، تحت عنوان: «الدبلوماسية الفرنسية أصبحت مجرد قصر رملي». وقد حمل هذا البيان الثاني بشدة على ما تتسم به الدبلوماسية الساركوزية من تخبط، في غياب أي «رؤية استراتيجية متماسكة». وفي مرافعة مدوية ضد «دبلوماسية المظاهر والتصريحات الفاقعة»، كتب ائتلاف الدبلوماسيين الفرنسيين: «على شواطئ «دوفيل» التي احتضنت قمة G8، وعلى «الكروازيت» التي ستستقبلG20، من السهل تمثيل لعبة مسرحية لإيهام الناس بأن فرنسا تمتلك الإمكانات الفعلية لتجسيد الطموحات الدبلوماسية التي تعلن عنها (…) لكن بمجرد الولوج إلى الكواليس تتبخر الأوهام، ليتضح أن الدبلوماسية الفرنسية مجرد قصر رملي يشارف على الانهيار».
وخلص البيان إلى القول: «إن دبلوماسية الأزمات والخبطات الإعلامية هي التي تحتل الصدارة. ولكن، بخلاف دبلوماسية قاعات الاستقبال المزدهرة، فإن الدبلوماسية المؤثرة ودبلوماسية التعاون تعانيان بشدة. وإن فرنسا الآن بصدد خسارة معركة «القوة (الدبلوماسية) الناعمة»، التي لا يمكن أن تُكسب سوى على أرض الواقع، وعلى المدى الطويل…»
ولم يفوّت البيان فرصة التذكير بأن وزير الخارجية الحالي، ألان جوبيه، كتب بالاشتراك مع خلفه في الخارجية، الوزير الاشتراكي الأسبق هوبير فيدرين، مقالة في «لوموند»، في حزيران 2010، انتقدا فيها هيمنة مستشاري الرئاسة على الخارجية الفرنسية، في عهد برنار كوشنير، حيث كتبا آنذاك: «إن الآلية الدبلوماسية (الفرنسية) تقترب من الانكسار».”

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/15440
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لقاء تشاوري للمعارضة الاثنين

نقل موقع «إيلاف» عن ناشطين سياسيين قولهم إنهم يعدّون لعقد لقاء تشاوري يضم شخصيات معارضة مستقلة يوم الاثنين في فندق الشيراتون في دمشق من دون أن يضم أي شخصيات من السلطة أو من الأحزاب السياسية. وقال الناشط السياسي لؤي حسين في اتصال هاتفي أجرته «إيلاف»: «هو لقاء تشاوري لشخصيات ومواطنين سياسيين غير حزبيين من المعنيين بالشأن العام».
ورداً على سؤال عما إذا كان هذا الاجتماع هو ذاته مؤتمر الحوار الوطني، قال حسين: «لم نكن نعدّ لمؤتمر. كنا نعدّ للقاء تشاوري». وعن سبب استثناء الأحزاب السياسية المعارضة في الداخل، بيّن «لم نستثنِ أحداً، هو اجتماع لهذه الفئة، فئة المعنيين بالشأن العام المستقلين، ولا تنطبق هذه الدعوة على الأحزاب». وعن عدد المشاركين أجاب «سنحاول أن يكونوا مئتي مدعوّ من الداخل والخارج».
(الأخبار)

Any one has an opinion in regard to the green movement?

watch how security forces and thugs vandalize property and cars in Barzeh, and of course Syrian media and the min7ibak idiots then turn around and blame the peaceful protesters for destroying their own property:

Norman, you are right, kill 30,000 primitively to save civil war. Sure, Bush and cronies are your Heroes then since he did Iraq-in, 1,000,000 + dead later. In his mind, he saved American lives for God’s sakes from WMDs. Golda and Hitler thought they were doing the right thing, following their ideology and saving their pure race. Spare us your logic, please. Align yourself with killing the innocent, and you are no friend of mine. If your mother died in Hama, you wouldn’t be posting this B.S. Medicine is not politics. You can scientifically amputate the leg to save the body, but you cannot wipe a city to save a country and be sane.

If you would have been reading some moderate Islamic sites or interpreting the Quran correctly, why hasn’t your heart softened? And you wouldn’t be justifying the killings, that is for sure. No true Muslim will justify a loss of a single innocent life.

One more thing, Norman, you don’t know all the facts, you don’t know who is calling the shots 100%, but one thing for sure innocent people are dying. And you, like many others like to believe that is okay for the greater good, as if “all the people” in the streets are slaves of KSA and a foreign plot. Did it occur to you that while there may be foreign intervention and foreign interest, there are many innocent voices calling for change – heart and soul? No one knows the out come of this crisis, but change is needed, even the President said so himself. I don’t see how it can come from Syrian leadership anymore. And, please spare me your American demonstration license requirement, Who would dare?

Abughassan, unfortunately many people view Syria being ruled as though 2/3 are Islamists. If someone got together with friends to form a flying model plane club or a get together with a few men who happen to be bearded, then they are all suspects, Islamist, MB, etc… No one dares. That is why, we in Syria are in retardation. This is us, this is Syrians, we suspect each other and try to out smart the next guy. It has more to do with Aroubeh than religion. Don’t blame it just on Bashar, blame us. I don’t know if you are newbie, but most commentators here are anti-Sunni. And some say they are Sunni, but they are not because the stuff they comment makes you want to hug AIG or a Akh-ra Palace for that matter.

Majedkhaldoon, aren’t you tired yet? Same old, same old, just more vulgar.

Guys, I still find some of the articles informative on SC, but this blog, it’s owners and administrators are biased, affiliated and have an agenda. And, yes SC is monitored: you are not anonymous. For whom and why, I couldn’t care less. Yes, I am sure.

WD and others,

Do you think that the new sanction against the Syrian government and the Revolutionary guards of Iran meant to combine them together to make it look as they are fighting the Shia Alawi crescent, for the sake of the Saudis, and do you think that the failure of the deal between Saudi Arabia and Syria over Lebanon was meant to instigate a Sunni, Shia war that we see now.

Tara

#4 Sanctions?. They seem to have been useful for smart countries to stimulate their creativity in becoming self sufficient, improving their scientific knowledge, and ultimately export goods to Western countries who thought for long they had the monopoly of technical knowledge.
– The sanctions on Gazoline import to Iran has triggered them to build more refineries, now they export gazoline!
– The ban on weapons, has triggered Iran to build a powewful weapon industry and now they are sending satellites without the help of western countries (how many did KSA or Egypt sent? They all use a foreign country to do the job for them)
– The weakest link is the international financial system almost completely controlled by the US. Yet, I think with time, Iran will find a way to bypass it.

Why,

It appears symbolic to me. Don’t you think?

One reason why some people have fled the Jisr area.

Husam said,

(( If you would have been reading some moderate Islamic sites or interpreting the Quran correctly, why hasn’t your heart softened? And you wouldn’t be justifying the killings, that is for sure. No true Muslim will justify a loss of a single innocent life.))

Can you tell me how the MB justified to you the killing they did in the seventies?,

I agree with you though that there is a lot of killing as it seems that nobody wants to accept the others ,

I for one never been against Sunni or shia or Atheist , and what i hate the most that the president is hated for being Shia more than for what he did and i think yes there are many problems in Syria with most important one that i see is the inability for a well educate hard working Syria to do well and be able to live a good comfortable life that he can get married, rent a house and support his family, The problem in what i see going on in Syria is anarchy that will destroy the economy and make people poorer ,

Anyway it is good to bring you back, as i was thinking about what you would say in these hard times,

You said,(( If your mother died in Hama, you wouldn’t be posting this B.S.))

The sons and daughters of the people who were killed by the MB, just for being Alawi or Christians, are asking you the same thing, I wonder what will you say to them.

“No true Muslim will justify a loss of a single innocent life.”

And yet it’s the Muslims that have been conducting the murders and mutilations we have witnessed during this revolution as well as during the Hama incident. The Islamists on this forum are justifying these horrendous acts, aren’t they aware that such acts are denounced in the Quaran? Wasn’t it the prophet Mohamad who said do not mutilate even a rabid dog?

Isn’t it the Islamist sheikhs that have been declaring jihad against the government and advocating hundreds of thousands of deaths and giving fatwa’s for rapes of selective sects telling their followers that heaven awaits them if they carry out their orders?

As I understand it, men of religion are supposed to understand the contents of the Quaran and relay the information to their followers correctly, not interpret the words in their own perverse way and hand out fatwa’s that suit them.

Yes, there are innocent voices calling for change, and their voices were heard. Unfortunately the innocent voices were overtaken by the violent ones who are not interested in reforms to better the country, only in achieving their sick agenda at any cost.

Measures taken to harm the Syrian economy will hurt those who are already suffering, and foreign intervention will destroy the country. Do those who are advocating foreign intervention in Syria think their families will be spared when a missile is launched in their city destroying everything in its path? Would they accept the ‘mistakes’ that NATO have been making in Libya or the ‘mistake’ that happened in the Qana massacre at the hands of the Israeli’s as a sufficient excuse?

revolutionary comedy in Syria. Mocking the regime’s media and it’s hypocritical supporters

ABOALI – they can always get money from the wahhabi’s in lebanon and the gulf countries to help repair their car windows 🙂

ABU HAFEZ ABU HAFEZ ABU HAFEZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8gJOjy7LJs

The balanced and patient attitude of Turkey contrast with the video-hysteria overflowing Youtube and Western TV news channels.

Turkey monitoring Syria closely: Davutoğlu

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-monitoring–syria-closely-davutoglu-2011-06-24

“Maneuvers to end within a week
A former Syrian intelligence official told the Daily News on condition of anonymity that the maneuvers near the border were not a show of force and that the troops would be pulled back within a week.

“We have never thought of any show of force and it is not a situation that exists only at the Turkish border, we sent troops to almost all our borders since the turmoil occurred near the borders as they give easy access to terrorists from abroad,” he said.”

Tara

I think there are two reasons for the weakening of the US rhetoric and sanctions against Iran.
The US is leaving Afghanistan soon. They need to have Iran on their side to ensure security, now they have (finally) become suspicious about Pakistan’s real motives.
There is also an important transformation in Iran. The heir of Ahmadinejad, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, is a liberal man, his anti- theocracy views are provoking harsh criticism from the conservative establishment, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ironically the US may want to support Ahmadinejad to ensure that the next president would be Mashaei.

http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/04/22/ahmadinejad-grooms-mashaei-as-irans-president-wikileaks/

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

Husam,

Hello. Thanks for your earlier kind remarks.

I have no doubt in the future. We will get there and it’s just a matter of time.

I was in significant pain yesterday recalling the savagery that was committed in Hama but my pain is all gone today watching the heroism and perseverance of the peaceful demonstrators. Check Revlon earlier post in regard to the ever increasing locations of the demonstration. I even may consider keeping the damascene citizenship for now although I was already accepted in Izraa…

Just for the sake of fairness, I do not believe Prof Joshua is biased. To the contrary, I believe he is very genuine and his affection to Syria is not less than ours.

Abdel Halim Khaddam : A National Transition Council?

“Abdel Halim Khaddam has declared yesterday on Radio Sawa that there are consultations among syrian personalities to create a National Transition Council, like the one in Libya.”

If this true, that’s a good news for the opposition united in calling for destruction but disunited when it comes to construction.
They found their unifying leader.

Why,

Tara 2 cents: I think Iran has the potential to be the strongest regional power but this Islamic image is too prohibitive. Islam or any other relegion for that matter should be practiced in the hearts and souls only and be a personal thing and that is it. I prefer an image for Iran similar to Turkey. The Islamic image is just not attractive.

You did not tell me your opinion of the green movement. Was it a conspiracy?

Tara

The green movement is limited to students, the intelligentsia and facebook afficionados, it has not grassroot basis.
I think the green movement is becoming aware that Ahmadinejad is preparing an exit from the theocracy though Mazaie. I believe the next election will see a very big change in Iran.
It’s been almost 30 years after the ‘revolution’.
Syria must be ready for similar ups and down when and if the government will collapse. I dread to see that…

SYAU: Don’t read my comments, just skip them over. All racists, anti-anything, please do same.

Norman: While I don’t know much about the MB and its history, any fool will tell you the MB did not indiscriminately shoot unto crowds. Perhaps they did assassinations of whom they viewed as enemies. I am not justifying it, however, there is a huge difference Norman and I am shocked that a guy like you can’t make that simple distinction.

First of all, I disagree 100%; the President is not hated for just being Alawi, and certainly not by all Syrians. But his policies, his circumstances, and his inaction in the last 11 years resulted in dispair for many people. Do you think it is ok for someone to stay in power for 10, 20, 40 years? Look at the ruling idiots in KSA, no different. Seriously, don’t you live in the US! Why do you hate it that 60-70% of Washington is controlled by Zionist? But not when Syria is 90% by Alawis? I have no beef with Alawis as individuals and as Syrians like everyone else. Shouldn’t the best man govern regardless of his creed, race or color?

What about the video @ 13, Norman? We did not have Iphones in Seventies! Peaceful protestors suddenly become enemies of the state due to fabricated “Islamist , yeah, they did it those Mohammad lovers, men of religion B.S.” Same rhetoric you hear day in day out on this Blog. Sectarian violence in Iraq was instigated and aided by Mossad and Blackwater operatives. All it takes is a camp fire (vandal) to start hectares of fires.

Norman, btw, I still love my Jewish partner of 12 years and my Christian neighbour of 8 years and my best Budhist friend of 27 years and my 2 little Muslim twin birds.

You ask: what Husam was thinking in these difficult times. I am ashamed to be Syrian, Norman. Last year, I thought I was attacked for speaking my mind and defending my religion. Now, and especially after reading more hatred and racism on this blog I am asking myself:

1) What do people really get out of commenting here? I mean, no one swayed 1 inch in one year, they actually got more extreme.

2) What is it to be Syrian?

Husam,

Usually I would skip over comments such as yours, but when you talk about no true Muslim justifying a single loss of life when they are carrying out the murders and mutilations, that caught my attention. What in your mind makes me racist, that I’m against the MB? I think there is no one more racist than they are and the proof is in their actions.

Why

I was afraid that you would call it a “Zionist conspiracy” too.

It would be hard to believe that most Iranians are happy with a theocracy. At least judging based on my western Iranian friends. They are vey cultural and pretty secular.

I do not believe Syrians want Islamic rule in Syria but I am concerned the more oppression practiced by the regime, the more likely the chance of radical elements to steal our revolution.

Tara,

As much as I am dragging my feet on commenting again, I will just give you a small glimpse.

When team A is always getting fouled, and team B is always getting away with murder without a blink of eye, you wonder what the motive is. When for months, all you saw was pictures of black niqabi women and racist glorified writers (buddies) bashing Islam and spreading misconceptions, you wonder what the motive is. When they call for a revision and rewriting of the Quran, the Sunnah and Islam in general like they did Christianity, you know what the movtive is. Tara, it is all there. Lots and lots Syrians come here, get insulted and eventually get tired and leave.

J.L, Alex, and the rest of the old gang are too busy nowadays, but when they had time to spare they did not waste their efforts to tell you: come on, get over it already.

I came back here to get news summaries and links from a few posters, some even that were not here then.

Be well, Salams.

Husam said,

(( Sectarian violence in Iraq was instigated and aided by Mossad and Blackwater operatives. All it takes is a camp fire (vandal) to start hectares of fires.))

Husam,
What is going in Syria is laying the ground for outside intervention overt or covert and the Mossad, Blackwater and others are probably intervening to continue the violence with knowing or u knowing help of some people from the regime and from the opposite , what we should do is take a deep breath and understand that our future is in our hands and what we are doing is destroying Syria instead of building a better one, and yes i agree with you that the guilty should be punished and the good be rewarded and i definitely agree with you that all Syrians should be equal in rights and in obligations and that the people who fail they fail for who they are not for where they come from and what religion they belong to , so let us all fight corruption, policies and ideas and offer better ones fighting the wrong policies of the Regime that depended heavily on minorities and Sunni elite with another religous motivated movement will only stir a civil war, a Mandala is needed in Syria .Do we have one, I do not see any.

Syau,

The brutal killing committed by Assads in Hama that mounted to 20,000-30,000 civilians is not morally equivalent to the crimes committed by MB in term of the enormity.

Insisting otherwise is self -degrading.

I suggest the response be something like” we understand your pain. Losing the life of a single human being is strongly condemned and never justified. What happened had happened. We can not change it. We understand your pain and we hope you also understand ours. let us start new”

I follow your comments closely Syau and I hate for you not to see it how it should be seen.

Tara

The educated people in Iran do not like a system that limit their thoughts and movements. But the majority of Iranians don’t care about wearing a tchador or not, ( By the way most women in small city wore the tchador at the time of the shah.. nothing new).
The majority of Iranians are fed up not to have a decent job to feed their family, that is their main problem, not the theocracy that they see just as a nuisance.
In Saudi Arabia where there is even less freedom, nobody moves, why? because most have money and comfort.
I do worry about the future of Syria, and reading what people say about the post Bashar era, I think it may make everyone regret to have pushed so fast for a change.
I think that Syria will probably be heavily influenced by moslem extremists disguised in sheeps and lead by a strong authoritarian regime as Algeria was in 1990 that lead the country to an unheard violence for almost 10 years. The present oppression may appear like a picnic. When you unleash free violence, only violence will prevail for a long time, nothing can easily calm the desire of revenge and hatred.
Read this:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=assad-bound-to-go-says-former-turkish-diplomat-2011-06-24

Norman,

The guy that never eats meat, earns $3/day, and is willing to die doesn’t know Blackwater or Whitewater for that matter. I am not the guy to convince. People are fed up. Now, you want to tell the Arab world wait, take a deep breath (while you and I sit in the back yard in America)? They have been breathing hot air for the past 50 years across the M.E. It is too late Norman, why can’t you see it? The train left already.

Killing them, will only make them grow stronger and more determined.

Norman, stop being afraid of the past, look to the future.

Husam,

i just wanted to tell you that what created misery in Iraq will do that in Syria as the goal is the same , destroying any chance for the Arabs to evolve into better societies,

I want what you want for Syria a country that all have opportunities that they do not have to work in the Gulf or migrate West as i did, I just feel that we should do it peacefully, I definitely do not want anybody to die as i understand the need to change but do not want to destroy Syria to build again, as you said blood will bring more blood and revenge will produce more revenge then Syria as i know it will not be there for the future Syrians or for our children if they want to go back, one day, peaceful change is what Syria needs,

Good news:

لقاء المعارضة
وعلى صعيد الحراك السياسي الداخلي، أُعلن في دمشق أن أكثر من 200 “معارض سوري مستقل” سيعقدون يوم الاثنين المقبل “لقاءً تشاورياً في فندق شيراتون دمشق، وذلك تحت شعار “سورية للجميع في ظل دولة ديمقراطية مدنية”.
وقال مراسل بي بي سي إن “من أبرز المشاركين في اللقاء المعارضين ميشيل كيلو وعارف دليلة وفايز ساره وغيرهم من الداخل والخارج من معارضين غير حزبيين، دون مشاركة لأي من رموز السلطة”.
وأضاف أن الاجتماع “سوف يأخذ شكلاً تشاورياً للتداول في الوضع السوري الراهن وكيفية الانتقال إلى دولة ديمقراطية مدنية، كما سيتناول المجتمعون السبل الآيلة إلى الانتقال السلمي والآمن بسورية إلى نظام ديمقراطي”.
ومن المقرر أن يستمر اللقاء يوماً واحداً فقط تُعلن في ختامه مجموعة توصيات على شكل مقترح يُقدَّم إلى الرأي العام وللسلطة، وبشكل يسمح بإتاحة المجال أمام جميع شرائح المجتمع لبناء الدولة الديمقراطية المنشودة.
وجاء في ورقة العمل، والتي حصلت بي بي سي على نسخة منها: “إن التغيير المقصود يرتكز على تنازل السلطة عن جزء كبير من سيطرتها على الدولة والمجتمع”، مشيرةً إلى أن “الخطوة الأولى في هذا المسار يجب أن تبدأ ببناء الثقة بين السلطة والشعب عبر تراجع العملية الأمنية إلى الخلف وتقدم العملية السياسية إلى الأمام”.
كما تناولت ورقة العمل إيجاد الوسائل للتصالح مع النخب السورية وإطلاق يدها للعمل في الحياة العامة، “باعتبارها الشريك الوحيد للسلطة في خياراتها الإصلاحية والتغييرية.”
كما تطرقت الورقة إلى قضية الإعلام، داعيةً إلى إيجاد “مناخٍ إعلامي مؤاتٍ عبر السماح لكل سوري بالوصول إلى المعلومة الصحيحة كي يتمكن من تشكيل رأيه السياسي والعمل على وقف الحرب الإعلامية من قبل المؤسسات الإعلامية الرسمية ضد المحتجين والمتظاهرين”.
كما دعت الورقة إلى إنشاء مجلس وطني تشريعي بمشاركة حزب البعث الحاكم وشخصيات مستقلة، بحيث يتألف من 100 عضو، واعتبار الحكومة الحالية حكومة تصريف أعمال وأن تتم الدعوة إلى انتخابات تشريعية عامة في فترة لا تتجاوز الستة أشهر.

Why,

Interesting interview. I hope that does not materialize. And if it happened, Bashar lack of sight is to be blamed We did not intend on revolutioni until he started the killing and the torture. Every day passes without him curbing his thugs is only going to further ignite the revolution . Nobody expecting the infra structure for democracy to be built in a wk. We all understand it takes time. What he needs to do is to curb all of his security apparatus and “sacrifice” Maher to Marbella. Then and only then we can talk.

Tara,

Unfortunately in any time of war, whether it be a world war or a civil war, civilian casualties will occur. There were many deaths in Hama, and I understand what you are looking for, but you also need to be aware that prior to entering Hama, notice was given by the government to those not affiliated with the MB to leave as there were going to be measures taken to eradicate Syria of the MB and their terrorism.

There were many deaths as a result of the MB’s insurgency and slaughters. If the government didn’t halt their actions, they would still be conducting the same evil actions today. You can’t say the government killed more therefore they are more brutal, what happened was a result of the MB’s murders, insurgencies, terrorising, slaughters of intellectuals ,declarations of jihad against the government and so on. Many deaths would have been prevented if the residents that stayed behind just left as they were advised.

One of my uncles was captured and put through some of the most horrendous torture. I would hate to think what would have happened if he wasn’t able to escape thanks to some who had a conscience and helped him, the same people that listened to the call from the government and left. As I said before, Hafez Assad gave us 40 years without the MB, I will be eternally grateful for that.

And yes, what happened had happened and we need to move on. Living in the past only serves to destroy one from the inside out. Look to the future, look to reforms and a better Syria, we shouldn’t allow outsiders to destroy Syria and we should put a stop to the voices of evil such as A3rour and the influence they have over their followers.

I do understand your pain, I am going through the same, everyday and it increases on Fridays. I have many family members in Syria and am terrified that they are harmed by the violence during the demonstrations. Three aquaintences have already been the victims of the uprisings, they were murdered and mutilated, my brother in law and nephew were travelling in the same transport vehicle that the same group who murdered the three farmers were in. Luckily they were caught during hightened security checks.
My uncle was on his way from Tartous to his house on the outskirts of Homs, the taxi he was travelling in was ambushed 4 times by the gangs, at every exit they took. If it wasn’t for the taxi drivers quick thinking and driving experience, they too would have been victims. A 1.5 hour trip took them 5 hours because of these gangs and their ‘checkpoints’. Now security personnel are on top of the situation in Homs I hear. Hopefully this madness will all be over soon.

الجنرال آشتون تشن حرب التجويع ضد الشعب السوري
الكاتب بسام القاضي
25/ 06/ 2011

http://www.bassam-alkadi.com/content/view/600/44/

حين تحدثنا عن أن العقوبات ضد شخصيات في النظام السوري لا تستهدف هذه الشخصيات، بل تستهدف إجبار الشعب السوري على قبول الاحتلال الغربي والانتفاض المسلح ضد النظام السوري، سخر بعض شبيحة المعارضة ممن لن تتوقف شهوته للدم والسلطة قبل أن يتبوأ كراسي السلطة.

واليوم تكشف الجنرال آشتون وثلتها الغربية عن حقيقة العقوبات، بضم شركات سورية إلى قائمة العقوبات ضد سورية، وهي الشركات التي تعيش منها عشرات آلاف الأسر السورية، خاصة مؤسسة الإسكان العسكري التي شكلت دائما أكبر تجمع عمال في سورية كلها، في القطاعين الخاص والعام.

ولما لم آشتون وجنرالات الحرب الغربيون حججا إضافية حول “أشخاص” في النظام، تحولوا إلى صيغ لم تعد تستطيع أن تستر عورتهم. فها هي هذه الشركات تعاقب لأنها “تمول النظام السوري”؟! فأي عمل وأي ورشة وأي شركة لا “تمول النظام السوري” إذا؟!
أليست كل الشركات والورشات والمصانع والمقاهي والفنادق تدفع الضرائب لوزارة المالية في سورية؟ طبعا. فهي إذا “تمول النظام السوري”؟!

هذه هي الحقيقة المرة، حين انكشفت السياسة الغربية الطامحة فقط إلى احتلال بلدنا وتمزيقه، والتي لا تهتم بحقوق إنسان ولا حيوان، والتي فوجئت بأن الشعب السوري يتحرك بقوة ضد مخططاتها لتقسيم سورية وسلبها، ويبتعد بسرعة شديدة عن أمراء الحرب من الطرفين، متجها نحو بناء سورية ديمقراطية وآمنة في الوقت نفسه.. حين انكشفت حقيقة شبيحة المعارضة خارج سورية ممن باعوا شرفهم وضميرهم في مؤتمري انطاليا وبروكسل، وباعوا وطنهم من أجل فتات على طريقة الفتات الأمريكي في العراق وأفغانستان وليبيا… ها هي الدول الأوروبية وأمريكا، بلسان الجنرال آشتون التي تخفي تحت سترتها اللطيفة أنياب المارينز ولعاب شركات النهب الفرنسية والألمانية والبريطانية.. ها هي تبدأ الحرب ضد الشعب السوري في لقمة عيشه، مترافقة مع حرب إعلامية تبلغ هذه الأيام أقذر مستوياتها، لإجبار الشعب السوري على تسليم بلده لتلك الجيوش والمصالح الغربية تحت مسمى “إسقاط النظام السوري”!

وفي الوقت نفسه، ما زال البعض يعطي عملاء هذه الجيوش، ممن يسعى ويروج في الدوائر الأوروبية والأمريكية لأبشع أنواع الكذب والنفاق، وهو آمن مطمئن يعيش في رفاهية ويتاجر بدم السوريين والسوريات، ما زال هذا البعض مستعدا لتقديم الشعب السوري برمته، ضمنا أقاربهم الشخصيون، كباشا على مذبح أسيادهم الجنرالات، مقابل كرسي سلطة موعود، مقابل أوهامهم أنهم سيسقطون النظام السوري ويحتلون كراسيه!

وما زال بعض مدعي الحرية والديمقراطية في سورية يغضون الطرف عن ذلك، ويتناسون بكل صفاقة الحقائق على الأرض، وانكشاف حقيقة أهداف “الضغط الأوروبي والأمريكي على النظام السوري”، بصفتها حربا على الشعب السوري نفسه، وعلى سورية البلد نفسها، لا هدف لها سوى تدمير الوطن وبيعه رخيصا في سوق النخاسة الجديد الذي تديره المصالح المشتركة الغربية اليوم بعد انتهاء الحرب الباردة.

فهل ما زال هناك من يدافع عن أن هذا “الضغط” هو بسبب من النظام السوري؟ أو أنه يهدف إلى “حماية المدنيين”؟ أو إلى “إيقاف العنف ضد المتظاهرين السلميين”؟ أو ما إلى ذلك من كذب ونفاق؟! وهل من يسأل “رموز” المعارضة اليوم إن كان حديثهم عن أنهم “لا يهتمون بالعقوبات على النظام” ما زال ساري المفعول اليوم أيضا؟!

فإذا، هنيئا لهؤلاء استمتاعهم اليوم بمن يجوع شعبهم كرمى عيون كراسيهم. هنيئا لهم أن يبيعوا بلدهم بواحدة من التنك.. هنيئا لهم أن يكونوا عار هذا البلد وقذارته التي لا تختلف بشيء عن عار وقذارة من باعه من المجرمين باسم الأمن، والمجرمين باسم الله، والمجرمين باسم الحرية. فهم جميعا ليسوا إلا تجار دم ومجرمين يبيعون وطنهم بأبخس الأثمان..

ولكنهم لن يحصلوا سوى على عارهم.. فسورية ستبقى سورية الموحدة القوية، وستمضي في طريقها نحو الديمقراطية والأمن، والحرية والاستقرار.. فيما سيذهب كل هؤلاء إلى مزابلهم الخاصة التي خصصتها لهم أشتون وشلتها.. مثلما ذهب غيرهم في دول ومناطق آخرى.

#39

I’m so sad that the MB has somehow managed to rear their ugly head once more.

How can we get rid of this menace? Hama #2 is no longer an option with the government getting demonised by the world media conspiracy.

Thanks Jad, That is great news.

Syrian Commando,

I have faith in president Bashar Assad and I know Syria will be rid of the MB’s evil once and for all. I know the reforms and the new party law will please the Syrian citizens and with that, the influence of the MB will be severed, forever hopefully.

Memo to: DMOCRACYNOW

RE: “…only downtrodden poor Syrians are going to feel the pinch. These people have suffered enough already. Second, there’s no guarantee that a collapse will fatally harm the regime. Mugabe and Saddam being case in point…”

It’s been a liberal mantra for the past twenty years that “sanctions hurt the poor and not the dictators.” That’s crap. It hurts the rulers in that it demonstrates to the ruled in a very material way the dictator can no longer provide for their needs. Remember that the deal was, we support you and you reward us. When sanctions hit, the lower level’s commitment to the dictator starts to shift as they see his largess dry up.

Every dictator needs help to effectively impose his rule. The people who help him work for pay. His policemen and jailers and spies and torturers don’t serve him because they love their job. They do it for pay and when the paychecks are suddenly slow in coming or stop altogether….well, you get the picture…

Mugabe is a bad choice for demonstrating the sanctions don’t work. No one cares about him. He rules over a shit hole far, far away from Europe and America. Essentially, Zimbabwe is South Africa’s problem. And South Africa pretends as if Zimbabwe doesn’t exist…except for the illegal aliens.

Now as for Saddam, the sanctions hurt him badly. The eight year Iran-Iraq left him broke. Then in desperation, he invaded Kuwait to add the Kuwaiti oil revenues to the Iraqi treasury. He failed and the sanctions started. Over the next fifteen years, Saddam’s hold on Iraq grew weaker and weaker because he had difficulty paying his nasty little helpers. And when the US invasion happened, the Baathist dictatorship went POOF!

When sanctions hit, it’s the world telling the target country to clean up its act. Unfortunately, in most cases, the country in question fails to get the message. And there’s years and years and years of crying, cussing and moaning and blaming the messenger. Human nature, I guess…

Poor Bashar Assad. He doesn’t know it, but he’s a dead man walking.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Dale_Andersen/bashar-assad-speech-syria_n_880207_93398788.html

4. Tara said:
Why,
“You trust men…. I trust history.
What is your opinion about the latest EU sanctions against key figures in Iran?”

Interesting platitude. But what does it mean, since history is often little more than what is written by men- and the most corrupt and useless among them; the Victors who were ruthless enough to do anything to ‘win’ history’s battles and so get to season their Victor’s script accordingly. Questionable.

From “Allawi post” (sorry so late, have to drag yesterday’s post into todays post)
310. EHSANI2 said:
Dear 873 (#285),
What you wrote about the U.S. economy and the debt levels leading to default is not credible. You are not the first to give this prognosis. There is a cottage industry of commentators and even economists who predict the imminent demise of the U.S. economy. I believe that they are mistaken.

Ehsani,
Your cottage industry includes former Fed heads, CNN Money, CNBC, Bloomberg Business and WSJ. Hardly mere ‘cottage’ cranks. There have been so many informed analyses of the death of the USD, US default and complete collapse by mainstream as well as non-mainstream respected news sources that I hestitate to spend time replying to your post. Meredith Whitney is right on the money w/ her Muni bond collapse scenario. Julian Robertson, Marc Faber, Nouriel Roubini… Carl Icahn returned 7 billion worth of investers money back in Mar (BEFORE Fukushima) saying he would no longer be responsible for losing others’ assets in the coming collapse. In one of the most serious, “Pimco- WORLD’S LARGEST BOND FUND- dumped ALL US govt-related securities, including US treasuries and agency debt” back in early March. CNBC Mar 10, 2011
Japan, biggest holder of US debt after China, is imploding itself after its nuclear tsunami tragedy and can no longer prop US up. China began dumping dollars and US ‘investment instruments’ years ago.

China ratings house says US defaulting: Report
June 10, 2011 Straits Times

BEIJING – A CHINESE ratings house has accused the United States of defaulting on its massive debt, state media said on Friday, a day after Beijing urged Washington to put its fiscal house in order.
‘In our opinion, the United States has already been defaulting,’ Guan Jianzhong, president of Dagong Global Credit Rating Co Ltd, the only Chinese agency that gives sovereign ratings, was quoted by the Global Times saying.

Washington had already defaulted on its loans by allowing the dollar to weaken against other currencies – eroding the wealth of creditors including China, Mr Guan said.

Its not in the future. Recent Fed auctions drew so few buyers of US debt that the Fed has begun printing up more monoploy money to “buy” its own debt! (months ago) All of this has been well covered in the public domain for YEARS.

This doesnt include the DERIVATIVES debacle.

In the real economy? The unfolding catastrophe across America’s bread basket. Midwest crops are being flooded out from Montana to St Louis. Nuclear power plants are being submerged, with plutonium runoff into the Mississippi Delta. If one of the damns on the upper Missouri goes, downstream is toast, and of course The Madrid fault is on an even uglier level that is beyond the pale to discuss.

http://www.cartoradiations.fr/Fort_Calhoun.php

To lightly dismiss all these factors as ‘conspiracy theory’ or ‘cottage industry of doomsayers’ suggests a scary refusal to look reality in the face.

My opposition to political islam is not limited to Sunni movements ,it is also true in Iran where Shia clerics confiscated public land,received bribes and legislated oppression and brutality. Anybody who advocates islamism is in denial,religion must stay at home.however,labeling all conservative Syrians as islamists is wrong and even dumb,most non urban Sunni communities and a growing percentage of urban Sunnis belong to this category,yet,most are peaceful and trustworthy people. Let us remember that corruption,poverty and oppression were crucial factors in the new wave of political islam ,and we can not blame the opposition for those diseases as much as the regime .
..بلاد كثر فيها المسلمون و قل فيها الاسلام …لو كان الفقر رجلا لقتلته. الفقر في الوطن غربه ..للتذكير فقط
Syrian expats have a special feeling of outrage when they are treated well outside their mother land but the minute they have to deal with Syrian government officers,their honeymoon comes to an end..

#19 Dear Norman, current events of the Syrian revolution, in my judjement, have largely discredited the Regime’s official scenario to what happened in 7ama in 1982.

You Siad: “Can you tell me how the MB justified to you the killing they did in the seventies?”

As I am not an MB member nor lived 7ama ordeal, I can not give you factual response to this, partly rehtorical question.

The regime and Others have offered the following scenario, chronology, and perspective for 7ama Massacre/”Events”
1. First, there was UNPROVOKED assasination of eminent, civilian 3alawi personalities.
2. MB lead an armed rebellion in 7ama city. They killed government personnel, and used civilians as human shields.
3. The government intervened militarily to and succeded in averting a civil war.
4. 7ama events are a bright example of the war on terrorism.

Having been personally living the experience of The Syrian revolution 2011, the above publicised Regime’s scenario evokes an eperience of deja vu!

Dar3a, Homs, 7ama, Baniyas, TalKalakh, and Jisr AlShughoor have been enduring Facebook-YouTube muted, 7ama Sydrome.
– The regime have been offering unsubstantiated stories of armed infiltrators of Islamists/Salafist/MB.
– Civilians have been suffering killing, torture, disappearance,destruction of property and becomming refugees.
– The regime have been offering exactly the same justifications: The averting of Civil war and saving of “SYRIA”

Dear Joshua, I wonder if it is timely and/or appropriate to host a senior member of the MB as well as a non-MB senior citizen from 7ama to provide this forum their side of the story, and in perticular addressing the regime claims.

A question for all the government supporters: please answer me back truthfully, are you supporting Bashar because you think there is no one in the opposition that is credible ( like me ) or you support him because you think he is doing a good job ? in other words if we have someone who will continue the current foreign policy and keep Syria together and prevent any retribution or civil strife and improve the human rights, curb mukhabarat and corruption, would you support him? or you think Bashboosh is doing a good job on all the above ?

Carbage to be imported to syria:
عن موقع أنا سلفي
هل يجوز للنصارا الانضمام لحزب النور السلفي؟
نعم شريطة الموافقه علا تطبيق الشريعه ولاتنسو ان اغلب النصارا يريدون تغيير دينهم
هل يجوز للشيعه الصلاة في مساجد اهل السنه؟
نعم يجوز لهم الصلاة مع المسلمين عسا الله ان يهديهم
هذه هي الحريه والديمقراطية التي سوف يتم استيرادها بدما الاف السوريين
ان هذا مجرد سراب وهذيان
ويل لامة كثرت فيها طوائفها وقل فيها الدين

#5,6, 8 Dears, I do believe that the regime will scream quit first, in the economic, finger-biting confrontation.

The Syrian economic system is so rudimentary, that it is diffcult understand how much more it is going to collapse!
A couple of years ago, the global real estate market collapsed; and what happened in Syria? Just a few buildings did, literally!

For an ordinary people, economy is equivalent to source of income:

Sources of income of Syrian people can be grouped as follows

Public sector employment: 80% of employed
Private sector employment: 20% of employed
Unemployed: No income/or supported by Money transfer from relative exapts.

Should the government fail to pay public sector, and private sector lay off takes its toll, the silent majority will speak up their mind and ask the regime to go.

Syrians survived the austerity years of H. Asad.
They are able make it through the remaining months of his Jr.

Economic collapse could only arise if:
1. The regime burdon’s the economy with foreign debt. This is not possible with the sanctions in place
2. There is a mjor destruction of the infra-structure. This is not a forseable liklihood

Revlon
What you are writing above is clear evidence that your actual wishes are destructing the Syrian citizen not the Syrian regime,you don’t care how that will be done:by starving,by bankruptcy ,by crashing the lira,by removing the stomach….etc.you stated that you are not a MB member,guess what,you are worse.no one who have any national feelings will get happy with Syrian citizens being povertized except an ENEMY,you made yourself one to every Syrian with consciousness .

Read that:
this guy is to AOL what Dale Andersen is to the Huffpo (except that Huffpo does not need to pay Dale)
http://thefastertimes.com/news/2011/06/16/aol-hell-an-aol-content-slave-speaks-out/20/

As long as the media outlets will consider there is no Arab around to write about Arab matters, I guess the Arab feeling of prosecution in the West will remain as it is.

Jad
The details on the meeting of the opposition on Monday are good news. The BBC negative tone about the Damascus declaration people not being invited proved false, of course.
I suspect that the media will simply avoid speaking too much about the meeting, and use either the STL indictment (which l’Orient le Jour says again is imminent) or the negociations for Qaddafi’s departure as main ME news.

51. Dear Syria no kandahar
You said: “What you are writing above is clear evidence that your actual wishes are destructing the Syrian citizen not the Syrian regime,you don’t care how that will be done:by starving,by bankruptcy ,by crashing the lira,by removing the stomach….etc”

I say: what I wrote was a judgement.
My wish is for Jr to step down now and save the people from dying, torture, and endless corruption.
Free-willed, empowered, and content people = Prosperous economy.

You said: “you stated that you are not a MB member,guess what,you are worse.no one who have any national feelings will get happy with Syrian citizens being povertized except an ENEMY,you made yourself one to every Syrian with consciousness”

I say Your are wrong again,
I am not your enemy!

I am worse that that!

I am your worst nightmare!
I am the defening voice of freedom!
I am the light: I expose the vast void of your darkest conscience!

Allah Sooriyah 7urriyeh W Bas

(Thanks Yazan, ref previous post).

Article today by Michel Kilo in al-Safir
http://t.co/lG6Iy92

استقرار أم إصلاح ؟

And Bassam Qadi’s view on the use of the sectarian issue
http://www.bassam-alkadi.com/content/view/598/58/

regarding # 48
was it a hard question to ponder

Revlon
I am the voice of freedom? Who made you that voice?Aleppo or Damascus?
When you talk about trying to topple a regime by destructing the economy and destructing the country,you can put politics on the side,it becomes a moral issue.All you are saying is a statement made by somebody who suffers zero from whatever happens in Syria,because you are not there.if your stomach is empty,freedom has no taste,and by you trying to get to power in hysterical way,even by attempting to starve somebody who you should consider your brother,kicking recklisly any offers to meat in the middle,makes your image darker than Hitlers.when you talk to people you really sound like a bad copy of Baathist(voice of freedom…hurria…)syrians are sick and tired of that crap.there is no logics with you and your mind.
On a different nazist comment you made the other day you made every one Moslem :chrstians and Jews included.who gave you the permission to do that?why do you and all your Islamic fundamentalist crew feel so superior?why would you believe that islam is the only right religion and every one else is wrong?is that because every where in the world there is terrorism there is 99.99%chance it is done by a extremist Moslem with a brain like yours?or because every civilized country in the world is Moslem?or because 99%of Moslem countries in the world are 200years behind civilization,including the stupid Turks?
When did you get permission from Jews and Christians to call them Moslems?would you accept somebody to call you a Jew or Christian? Why do call them Moslems when the quran calls them :Alashad adawaten lilthen amano?is this the kind of freedom you are talking about?the freedom to make everyone what your sick wahabi brain wants to make them or call them?
You will be liberating syrians from there food and whatever freedom they have,you will give them what your friends in Egypt are giving Egyptians now:NOTHING.

Always be wary of those who want to pose as a “voice of the people”. You’re correct, unfortunately, Revlon wants to see us starve.

Luckily, this isn’t going to happen.

By the way, the analysis at the front page is good BUT incomplete … check what change happened at Iran’s bourse…

Will the wind start blowing in another direction?
Hurriyet has an article where the Reuters picture of a demo in a refugee camp in Hatay shows the protesters carrying posters of Bashar al Asad!
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-monitoring–syria-closely-davutoglu-2011-06-24

To YAZAN from the treetop

Couldn’t but notice that in one of your excellent comments on the previous post, you mentioned the need to re-discover our history. I was accused of lacking knowledge of Syrian History. Therefore, I invented a history to highlight your point and that of others about how is history written and who writes it, you may call it, Hamster’s silly fable.

Narrative A. Official Record
It was a divine victory for faithful and patriotic armies of the righteous king A. The August and enlightenedking, supported by his nationalist loving subjects, who, when called by their devout teachers, stood for their unified nation, and rose, every man with what little he has, to annihilate the infidels, practitioners of all deviant behaviors, and the followers of animalistic pagan desires, who worshipped the dark forces.. The infidels of town B received what they deserved and only those few, who were able to run away, survived the first battle, but they were followed, and the righteous armies were able to rout all of the traitors. The righteous king established god’s word in their towns overseen by his bother known as the JUST and prosperity reigned in their fields after the eradication of the poisonous unblessed crops. It must be said that the dark filthy magic practiced by the infidels, who brought horrific disasters on the valley village C during storms stopped soon after the king’s victory against the heretics.

Narrative D
the two groups met in the valley, King A, lacking large armory, conscripted a contingent of commoners, and relied on the oratory skills of his palace priest to motivate the forces. After the battle, King A forces followed the inhabitants of town B and killed an additional few of them. King A appointed his brother, who for years, jailed and beat those disobeying his commands, which forbade the traditional practice of drinking peach juice before prayers and the habit of touching the left column of the temple’s gate on entrance and each other’s chests with the right palm for greeting. He instilled a new practice of calling the king’s name, trice, before and after the prayers. The inhabitants left alive also agreed to uproot all peach orchards and to plant vines on their terraces, to be sold, after crop taxation, to the king’s wineries at the price named by the king’s brother. Archeologists believe that the vine terraces were more stable than peach terraces, and thus hill landslides threats to valley village C, in which the king’s wineries were located, became much less frequent as shown by the sedimentary records.

I thought that It would be very hard to rediscover history, but one may start by removes adjectives from the narrative, it does wonders.

Still on the treetop

Who speaks for Syria? Not a coincidence that Landis is regularly quoted in corp MSM, while a genuine Leb-Syria region voice is not. Anyone read angry-arab’s intv with intelligence agent Tom MacMaster of fake Amina fame? Still think he’s taking the fall for his wife, tho both are probably in direct employ of CIA/Mossad/MI6 or some combo thereof. If he’d been a gay-girl blogger supportive of Bashar (or w/ a crush on his wife) we’d never have heard a whisper about he/she in ANY western press. For sure.

Question #2 and his non-answer is the most salient part of the whole reply.
My interview with Tom MacMaster
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/ jun 24, 2011

I mentioned that I was not going to post the interview with MacMaster but then a reader convinced me otherwise. He said that I am rather obligated because I asked him to respond to questions. So my questions are on top followed by his answers.
My questions:
1) Why should I now believe what you say? How do we know that you are not now posing as somebody else, in Tartus perhaps?
2) On the Zionism question. You say (in the email) that you have never been a Zionist or an apologist for Israel. Why did you then decide to post from last may that you fictional inventions dream is to be posted in Israel in a state of peace between Israel and Syria? And what is the story of the Hebrew site of Amina Arraf?
3) I was incensed that you took shots against Orientalism when your own act smacks of classical themes of Orientalism (especially sexual Orientalism): did you not decide to represent the natives, when you enjoy several layers of privilege? And the gender element: the White Man posing as the Native girl, that does not remind you of classical Orientalist premises?
4) You repeat how you want to empower or rescue or whatever the gay and lesbian community in the Middle East: is that not like mission civilizatrice?
5) You criticize Western media; and there is ton to criticize there. so your solution is in fabrications and stealing of identities?

His answers:
Of course, theres absolutely no reason to trust a thing I say or write now. Thats why I gave you the list of people of mutual acquaintance, any or all of whom should be able to vouch for, at the very least, my existence if not more.”
I never set out to create a hoax or to punk the media; all of the interviews in either persona were requested by members of the media. I didnt initiate any of them and turned down at least ten for every one that I did do. Instead, the origin of the character and the hoax comes from the gullibility of large parts of the media and public.Around twenty years ago, my best friend (Mahdi Fakhreddin, now deceased, a graphic artist and, according to himself, founder of the Ghassan Kanafani school in Bourj an Barajneh) and I were discussing art and ideas. Even then, my lifes ambition was to write powerful and meaningful novels that would make people think. Mahdi strongly encouraged me to try and come up with a novel that would as powrfully present the point of view of the Arabs of the Levant and that might replace things like Exodus as the literary touchstone of the Palestine conflict. Thats hardly a simple mission. A good novel needs to have a compelling plot, vivid characters, and be well written in a clear voice. I struggled with aspects of my literary mission and, one day, the Amina character emerged. I began researching and writing her and her material while the novel slowly grew. To make her more real and more compelling, I created as full an online persona for her as I could. For most of her online existence, she was incredibly obscure. I presumed she would remain so until I had completed the novel in which she would have full existence and all the research materials could be eliminated (or I might let them continue just so that there would be some ambiguity over whether there really was an Amina and whether I, that is Tom, had stolen her identity).

Unfortunately for my plan though certainly not for the causes we believe in events inside Syria overtook my writing. Suddenly, this character writing about living in Damascus became interesting to an enormous number of people. I didnt seek that out.
Amina, the character, was always meant to be complicated, contradictory and conflicted. One aspect of her was that she was imagined as being on her fathers Syrian side from a wealthy and politically connected family. In fact, though I never explicitly stated so on the blog, I imagined her as being a very close relative of Najah and Isam al Attar. I wondered what things would be like for someone who wanted to be loyal to both of them.One of the more arresting aspects, from my point of view, of the whole controversy over the alleged hoax, though, is that while many are (or claim to be) upset at my claiming to take on an Arab womans POV, they ignore that the character is herself of a mixed background; her Arab side is wealthy, urban, politically and socially connected. Her Anglo side, though, is quite the opposite. Her maternal grandfather was a truckdriver in rural Appalachia; that family is, in Aminas words, rednecks. Aminas American personality is forged far from the centers of power, influence and money, in Virgnias Shenandoah Valley and in lower middle class suburbs. It has been ironic to me to note the implicit class-bias of many of my critics as, regardless of ethnicity or gender, they ignore and belittle people who didnt go to posh schools or have elite opportunities. But enough of that!
As to the issue of Amina wanting to be in a Syrian embassy in Tel Aviv, she herself makes clear that that was in the past, during that brief window when the Turkish government was trying (with Syrian cooperation) to achieve a full return of Jaulan. Aminas plans, along with that initiative, was scuttled by Operation Castlead, if youll recall. Some might even believe that preventing peace was the purpose of that campaign.
The Hebrew website netlog is some sort of phishing thing; I filled it in as her as I thought I was being contacted through it by a real friend in East Jerusalem (Palestinian friend). Theres little more to say on that.

On the blog, Amina repeatedly put forth arguments as to the necessity of the right of return and of the absolute rights of Syria to the Jaulan. To read a certain wistfulness that opportunities for peaceful two state solutions are now in the past and that the now inevitable rivers of blood will flow before the usurping entity is overthrown as endorsements of Zionism is to misread what was written. Amina has a bit of a Cassandra-personality; she says what she sees and bemoans that people wont take the steps necessary to achieve peaceful solutions. Hence, civil war in Syria and war to the bitter end against Israel are inevitable.

On the Orientalist charges, I think theres a certain amount of people talking past each other or using terms that mean different things. To me, the essence of Orientalism is to see the Oriental as innately childlike and inferior and not the equal of an Occidental. The Orientalist idea is that they are different from us on some basic level and so are incapable of being fully human. They dont deserve the same rights and same considerations nor can they ever hope to be treated as equals. Amina as a character is meant to be a refutation of that idea and quite a lot of her success as a media phenomenon comes from that: Amina is an intelligent, pretty, thoughtful, and complicated human and people connected with her because she was a human who didnt fit any preconceived type based on race, ethnicity, language, gender, or sexuality. That, to me, is how real people, whether from Damascus, Syria or Damascus, Virginia really are. No one is a pure type of anything.

On the other hand, I scoff at some of the notions I have seen that no one is entitled to study or write in a character voice that is unlike them. If that argument is taken seriously, the only literature and the only history or other social science permissible is autobiography. Everyone must only write about people exactly like themselves. I can only write about SF geeks studying medieval history who are of Scots ethnicity and from the Shenandoah Valley by way of Atlanta; you can only write about Lebanese people exactly like yourself. That, of course, is absurd. Certainly Dr Said would have scoffed at that (unless Im mistaken, he was neither a woman, English nor alive during the Regency, yet wrote extensively on Jane Austen). We do not condemn authors who have characters completely unlke themselves.

However, the argument that only those with ancestral right can comment is strong in American culture. Of course, the strongest voices for that come from the pro-Israel camp; no non-Jew can legitimately discuss Israel in American discourse without being an anti-Semite, with a partial exemption for people of Palestinian origin. Certainly no goy or shikse may.And of course, the people most publicly pushing that idea in this case are by and large Zionists: Dan Littauer and his farm of sockpuppet gay Arabs, Jonah Goldberg, Mark Steyn, etc have all been deeply upset that I usurped Arab womens voices. I would presume if any actual Arabs had come to harm due to my actions, those same people would be cheering wildly.”

Abbas,

We want reform where president Assad if he wants to run and i am personally do not think he should, but that is his choice, can be elected or not and the Syrian people elect another Syrian , but it has to be peaceful and through election.

The army will secure the peaceful transfere of power back and forth.and safeguard the country from a civil war,

I hope that is helpful.

The Syrian economy is going down ,
Syrians cannot afford anymore to pay in US dollars for the Al Jazeera Sport satellite subscription card to watch football.

So there is great business opportunities for
computer hackers with high speed internet connection
and electronic engineers with card manufacturing skills

also think about investing in short range local aerial TV channels instead of global satellite’s one.

Can you disagree?

هل تعلم بأنه إن تكون مندساً خيراً من أن تكون منداساً ؟

هل تعلم بانني مع المقاومة سواء اكان النظام موجودا ام سقط النظام ؟؟

هل تعلم بأن المتظاهرين تبرأوا من خدام و رفعت والحريري وبندر وياسين بقوش ؟

هل تعلم بأن الشعب السوري أذكى من ان ينقاد وراء مؤامرة

هل تعلم بان شرعية الأنظمة تسقط عندما تسقط اول قطرة دماء

هل تعلم بأن الشخص إذا ما اعتقله المخابرات السورية، ستجعله يعترف بانه فجر برجي التجارة العالمية إن شاءت ذلك ؟

هل تعلم بأنه تعاقب على حكم سوريا الكثير والكثير ، كلهم ذهبوا وبقيت سوريا

هل تعلم بأن المسيحيين في درعا قاموا بفتح الكنيسة لمعالجة المصابين الذين لم يكن بالإمكان نقلهم للمشفى الوطني

هل تعلم بأن السوري خارج الوطن يبقى سوريا وأن وجوده خارج الوطن لا يعني بانه فقد جنسيته وبالتالي له حق ابداء الرأي والمشاركة في هذا الوطن تماما كالمواطن الموجود خارج البلد .

هل تعلم بانه لا يوجد دولة في العالم إلا ويحاك ضدها المؤامرات ولكن لا يوجد دولة في العالم تتآمر ضدها جميع دول العالم وجميع المحطات التلفزيونية

هل تعلم بأن اسرائيل نفسها تحاك ضدها المؤامرات مع ذلك لم تمنعها المؤامرات على تطوير نفسها وبناء اقتصادها ومحاربة الفساد

هل تعلم بأن الجيش لدعوسة الأعداء وليس لدعوسة كرامة السوريين

هل تعلم بأن الرئيس البرازيلي “دي سلفا” جعل من البرازيل جنة خلال بضع سنوات ، وفي خطابه الاخير ذرف الدموع ، وجميع الموجودين ذرفوا الدموع ولم يرفع احد شعار “”الله البرازيل دي سلفا وبس” ولم يطالب احد منهم بتعديل الدستور ليحق له ولاية اخرى.

هل تعلم بأنه مارغريت تاتشر قادت بريطانيا للفوز بالحرب ضد القوات الأرجنتينية في حرب الفوكلاند عام 1982 وادارت الإقتصاد بطريقة إحترافية جدا وحازت على رضا الشعب واحترامه ومع ذلك لم يشفع لها بالحصول على ولاية جديدة، ولم يخرج احد ليقول (الله بريطانيا تاتشر وبس).

سؤال لك كسوري : ألا نستحق كشعب اخترع الابجدية الاولى ان نكون في صدارة القوائم العالمية، اقتصاديا وسياسيا وثقافيا وعلميا

وتقنيا، ثم إعلم أن سوريا ستنتقل في ارقام التنمية عشرات المراتب إذا اردت انت ذلك

منقول

هل تعلم انه في سوريا فقط تعلق الجثث علا العواميد سلميا؟
هل تعلم انه في سوريا فقط تطير الأكفان
هل تعلم انه في سوريا فقط يمكن ان تحرق الابنيه العامه وتقتل الشرطه وتبقا سلميا
هل تعلم ان الحبر الأحمر مفقود في درعا وبانياس والكسوه
هل تعلم ان حلب اثبتت ان السنه أذكياء
هل تعلم ان نصف مليون مسيحي عراقي انقذتهم سوريا من براثن الوهابيين
هل تعلم انه لو كانت البرازيل يحكمها الاخوان لكانت مثل افغانستان
هل تعلم ان البيانوني ورفعت كانو بويفرندس ثم طلقه وصار بويفرينند مع خدام وأخيرا مع خواجه اوردغان
هل تعلم ان العالم بصق في وجه سوريا عندما استقبلت مليوني عراقي والآن يبوس طيز تركيا لاستضافة سوريين مصطافين بينهم مجرمين
هل تعلم ان المظاهرات الكرديه خلال ١٠٠يوم لم يخدش فيها عصفور لخلوها من المنايك
هل تعلم ان الأكراد يفضلون صدام علا الاخوان والوهابيين
السؤال لك أيها السوري هل يمكنك شرا وطن جديد بعد ان يحرق اخوات الشرموطه وطنك؟

Dear Abbas said in #48

“””””
A question for all the government supporters: please answer me back truthfully, are you supporting Bashar because you think there is no one in the opposition that is credible ( like me ) or you support him because you think he is doing a good job ? ..

“””””
Although I am not a staunch government and baath supporter , I will explain why I think Bashar Assad is the right man in the right job at the right time before I rest my case here.

To be president ,
you need political experience both internally and internationally ,
you need support of the people inside Syria and the official institutions .

To wave this unrest ,
you need to have a vision of reforms needed in the country and to show a will to implement them calmly, carefully and gradually.

He fits the job description .

Above all , Doctor Bashar is an honest and caring man with an intelligent Sunni wife .

The moment a civilian is killed, because he had the courage to demand change and better future for his children and countrymen, the authority loses any legitimacy.

It is beyond appalling the language used by the supporters of the illegitimate entity in Syria. The only language they know is blasphemy and brutality. Civility will prevail and Syrian will return to their good nature. After the thugs are put in place and stripped from their sadistic tamers who turned a bunch of them into pariahs that many can no longer ignore.

Improving your discourse is the first step forward.

OK, most govs have lost legitimacy a long time ago.
When the Syrians will stop gazing in their omphalos, maybe they could
try to reach out to the Tunisans and Egyptians, and discuss “Arab and Muslim matters” together, once and for all? Or will that be the prerogative of the prehistoric diabetic GCC only?
Isn’t it a unique historical opportunity?

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/471207

The most important news is the Central Bank opening an account in the Lebanese Central Bank, it means the preparation for sanctions busting on the long run and it means that the economy is in very bad shape.
The regime has the following strategy in my opinion now

1. Initially it said US OR CHAOS now it is saying US AND CHAOS meaning that we will be the cause of chaos if you do not let us stay in power without question.

2. Play the sectarian card to the hilt internally and export that externally to Turkey and Lebanon and even Iraq.

3. Rely on the inner circle with a simple strategy that means use of maximum force and even killing of millions if need be to stay in power drawing the sect fully into their fate if they were to lose.

4. Prop up the Puppet President to throw sand in the eyes of internal and external detractors and to soothe the business class for a while offering a bone of conversion from Mafiosi numero uno to Philantropist numero uno while leaving the younger brother to kill torture maim and destroy.

Therefore I conclude
1. Syria is moving to a lose lose situation with a spiral down that will leave the two protagonists destroyed the regime on the one hand the Syrian people on the other.

2. Regime survival without meaningful reforms will lead to a low to medium level civil war and over many years with a big difference with the eighties one being the demographic difference, the other being the uncertain loyalty of the troops, and thirdly being the exposure to the outside world.

3. Knowing how little the regime cares about anything except staying in power, North Korea like model is not out of the question albeit with the fact that in that case smuggling and criminal activities along the borders will increase dramatically and will lead to fragmentation of the society from the bottom up.

4. The next explosion will not be peaceful and I fear for severe hardship for the communities that did not do enough to change the regime and that includes the elites and the business and merchant classes as well as the sectarian groups.

Humbug today no Cheers

Revlon,

When you say “I am your worst nightmare!
I am the defening voice of freedom!
I am the light: I expose the vast void of your darkest conscience!”

I agree with you that you are a nightmare, one filled with sectarianism, murders, mutilations, destruction and downright evil.

You stand for the opposite of freedom and you are definitely not the light, you and your likes are the voice of darkness.

Syria will not be yours and no one wants your kind of freedom.

Syria will not fall, Syria will stand and President Bashar Assad will hold it together.

Allah Syria Bashar wbuss.

SYAU,

Revlon and the others are defending the voice of rapists:

Thank god the peaceful protestors raped her peacefully!

#69

The LBC account is meant to be for total control over Lebanon. You’ll see. 😉 France is trying to take over Lebanon the back room way, but they will be blocked by the new government. USD and the west’s finance system is finished. No need to do long term “sanction busting”, lol.

The rest of your analysis is equally silly. Syria is not heading for lose-lose, that’s where the west and their fake protestors are heading.

Syrian Commando,

That is just one example of the perverse freedom they’re calling for. I remember Syria once had one of the lowest crime rates in the world. How sad.

Again, the Lira exchange rate hits a high against the U.S dollar. It’s now at 52.2 Aleppo Black market price

NZ, # 64

Well said!

Future Syria should not have any public display of the president’ pictures. I prefer pictures of Angelina, Ezel, and Muhannad instead.

I think there is a direct link between public display of affection towards a president, and brutal oppression. The more a dictator oppresses his people, the more pictures of him we see around with menhebak signs. A weird phenomena!

As for the true fans in the future, we must preserve their freedom of emotion. For that matter, I propose a face book page to express the Menhebak thingy.

To the supporters who parrot back information,

“The key to change… is to let go of fear.” Many Syrian had arrived to that conclusion.

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.”

What an honourable and eloquent speech of defection. His words assured me further, that a brighter future is awaiting us all.
May God bless him and his likes from the assassins of Maher’s killing spree.

Syrian Vice Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad today denied reports jailed blogger Tal Mallouhi died in detention.

Did she die? I hope not. What danger did she, or is posing to this bloody regime. Killers they are, sadists, these senseless killings must end.

>Again, the Lira exchange rate hits a high against the U.S dollar. It’s now at 52.2 Aleppo Black market price

LOL, if you’re a real Syrian (and that “proof” isn’t much of a proof btw) you’re getting seriously ripped off.

I wish I could be your black market dealer.

http://www.journal-neo.com/?q=ru/node/6572

Thanks Mr. Ehsani…

I believe the ruling regime in Syria has decided to turn itself into a nationalist democracy similar to the model that was set up in Turkey by Ataturk. However, it is clear that the Turkish-backed Islamists and the Western-backed liberals will not accept that and they will continue pressuring the regime until it collapses.

Turkey and the West expect the regime to fall under financial pressure. They also believe that the regime’s last resort may be a war with Israel, and they are preparing themselves for this possibility.

However, I think there is one more option for the regime that no body has thought of. The Syrian regime is a Baathist regime, their core-belief is that Arab countries must be merged. If the regime feels that it is going bankrupt they may turn to Iraq for some sort of unification formula. A sort of union between Syria and Iraq will serve just as good as a war with Israel for raising public morale, but unlike the war, this option will help the Syrian economy and prevent it from collapsing. Iraq has a huge oil wealth that can save Syria from collapsing.

The Syrian regime has already made the decision to sacrifice the Baath in multiparty parliamentary elections. They can also sacrifice Bashar Assad if they feel it necessary. However, instead of sacrificing Assad for a Wahhabi-Western regime and a civil war, they may choose to attach Syria to Iraq in a secular nationalist formula.

When Syrian military officers feared Turkish invasion in the 1950’s, they turned to Nasser and asked him to annex Syria to his rule. I believe the leadership of the Syrian army is still as nationalist as it was then. They may choose this time to benefit from the Iraqi oil wealth to prevent Syria from falling into the hands of the Turks and American Wahhabis. Contrary to common belief, most Syrians and most Iraqis still carry the nationalist ideology. The religious fanatics are a minority in both countries. If this scenario comes true, it will be a nightmare for the US, Turkey, and Iran, so I believe the Syrian regime must try it. It is the last chance to save Arab nationalism and prevent an all-out sectarian war in the region.

#78 wow dude, you’re seriously brain damaged … ya3ni you’re denying something that any Syrian can confirm with a simple phone call to his local currency dealer. As I’m writing this, I just sold 9000 U.S.D for 52.25, to be transferred to Saudi tomorrow. You pro-regime guys are unbelievably stupid, no wonder your regime doesn’t stand a chance, it’s supported and run by people like you!

Observer

That is the first realistic observation you made

“1. Syria is moving to a lose lose situation with a spiral down that will leave the two protagonists destroyed the regime on the one hand the Syrian people on the other. ”

The government knows what it wants to achieve on long term, and it has announced it. We see that the hardline opposition wants to overthrow as a short term, but they have not announced their view for the long term. Do you think they have any clue? If they don’t then they are cheating the common syrian and they’ll bear the consequences of the incapacity to formulate an alternative.

If anybody cares to see a slice of the Syrian blogosphere.

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/06/24/syria-blogging-day-for-syria/

Tara

“Future Syria should not have any public display of the president’ pictures.”

Just like Turkey.. except of the omnipresence of Ataturk picture.

Funeral of two Martyr boys Mu7ammad AlSheikh and Rida 3alawiyeh and Young man 3ammar Taha,
Alkisweh, Damascus, June 25th: Friday of the fall of legitimacy.

AlFati7a upon their souls,
May God bless their family with solace and empower them with patience.
شام – الكسوة – تشييع الشهداء الطفلين محمد الشيخ -ورضا علوية -والشاب عمارطه 25 – 6

Like I said, you’re full of crap. I don’t know or care if you claim that is the selling/buying rate but it is very easy to get 49-50 in Damascus. Of course it’s hard to get exchange at an official bank, that’s ALWAYS been the case.

Your attempts at fear mongering to create panic selling is hilarious. What a child.

#83

Why would anyone bother? All of them are probably written by MacMaster and his wife lol.

#80

There’s no way the government is going bankrupt and merging with debt strapped states is just silly.

The USA/EU will default before Syria ever does.

The situation is not as severe as you paint it. Iran just gave a HUGE warning to Turkey, to back off, so my warnings about a war may be delayed. I know for sure they’ll try something but I think Turkey will be cut up as a result. Russia will not let this opportunity go, while it bets on NATO not helping its biggest European member through nuclear blackmail.

Sanctions never worked,even some neocons admitted that but some Syrians abroad still think sanctions will work.sanctions will produce a huge black market that will only benefit people with money and thugs.anybody who supports sanctions need to test his DNA and see if he has Syrian genes.the lira wil go down in value and may reach the level of 60 per dollar but that alone will not topple the regime,the west tried that before and failed.the US again has an opportunity to lead and infuse some pragmatism here but I am not sure that is gonna happen.I personally decided to do what every Syrian should do: help ordinary Syrians,deposit in Syrian private banks and continue to visit the old country.
There was Syria before the Assads and before the islamists and there will be Syria after them. I refuse to give up and so should you,ladies and gentlemen.
This is for SSNP supporters: الحياة وقفة عز

I agree that pictures and statues of Alassads need to be removed but not burnt,pics of a sitting president can be displayed in government buildings if he or she was elected by the people.naming hundreds of institutions after the late Basel alassad is a thing of the past,the government must quietly change that.private businesses can name their companies or buildings after him or any other person they want except هيفا وهبه:)

I believe that the discourse of the regime is obsolete: “we need stability to have reforms”
The puppet President had 11 years of stability on top of more than 30 years of stability/stagnation and yet they want more of the same.

Reform means that mistakes and deviations and negligence and incompetence have been present and is a tacit recognition that the regime cannot sustain the same status ante. The problem is that the regime is so sectarian bloody brutal corrupt and incompetent that it needs to be uprooted from its very roots. NOTHING works and I would venture that not even the crackdown or the repression works it is pure brutality without effective control and with the message US AND CHAOS; US AND OUR DEFINITION OF STABILITY.

WD my response to you is that behind the veneer of measured discourse of a reasonable President there is a bleak outcome for the regime, the clan, the sect and the country. The repression of so many years and the exclusion of large swaths of the population leaves no room for debate, the opposition is a popular uprising that is more than fed up with the regime. IT IS A MEDIEVAL DARK AGES REGIME that has no salvation. Even if it survives the damage is going to be so deep and the fissures so wide that it will destroy the country. Unfortunately this is the lot of many a minority imbued with an inflated and unrealistic sense of its greatness combined with a deep hatred of the other based on a mythical sense of superiority and injustice of its past. They get locked into dehumanizing the other to the point that they lose their own humanity in the process. This is the reality.

Humbug again today.

The other reality is that in the end living with the Alawis in Syria may no longer be possible. The clan is willing to kill 2 million Syrians and put the entire sect in jeopardy to stay in power.

I challenged the accepted wisdom many times, it is not because there is a new country called Syria that we have to stick by its artificial borders and artificial false identity; these colonial creations are just that: artificial creations that need to be federated at least or broken up. Let me give an example, tribal relations across the Iraqi Syrian border flourished after 2003 for they were artificially absent due to the animosity between Hafez and Saddam. Now with the demise of the Syrian and Iraqi institutions even in their meager anemic state that they were in, we have the resurgence of tribal allegiances across borders, just as in Daraa and Ramtha and across the Lebanese Syrian border. This is a manifestation of a failed and failing state when local familial and tribal bonds supersede and replace state and social cohesion structures. This is what the opposition is fed up with: extreme nepotism, incompetence, corruption, and parasitism. They have to rely on family and tribe to beat back the brutal regime and fight poverty and indifference.

Now there will be a day when the Puppet President’s speech will feature along with the Mad Dog of Libya speech in contrast to the reality on the ground. Here is what I mean:

Yesterday I saw a banner in Syria proclaiming:

” Microbes and Rats of the World Unite” in reference to what these two leaders said about the opposition to their rules.

So I proclaim that the Microbe and the Rat have joined and will continue to post as Observer.

AboAli, the honest businessman in Aleppo

Didn’t you say a month ago that the black market price was 55 SYP per USD? Didn’t you say 3 days ago the price was 52.25? Didn’t you say 2 days ago the price went back down to 51.50? Now you’re saying it’s at a high of 52.20?

Most importantly, didn’t you say a couple of weeks ago that you are just an honest hard-working businessman? On June 16 (http://bit.ly/mjeR83), and I quote you, “You either have to pay bribes left right and center and partner up with an official or an officer to get preferential treatment and circumvent the law to get ahead of the competition, or you struggle, lose money for years, get bogged down by bureaucracy and outdated legislation, pay exorbitant taxes and work your butt off just to eke out a living. […] I should know, I’m one of those trying to eke out an existence in Aleppo’s business scene.”

Then on June 23, you said (http://bit.ly/l9mXJK), and I quote, “In Aleppo, I just sold 11,800 dollars at a price of 51.50, so it has gone down a little from the highs of last night and this morning.”

In other words, you are no honest “businessman”, as you claim. You are one of those corrupt law-circumventing individuals that everyone hates, but you seem to have this image of yourself as an honest businessman “trying to eke out an existence” although you’re doing a deal involving more than 600,000 SYP in one day!

You are directly, and willingly, contributing to a potential SYP crash that would ruin the lives of more than 15 million Syrians that are truly trying to eke out an existence, unlike you. You are the kind of person all Syrians, pro- and anti-revolution, want gone. More importantly, you are the kind of corrupt people that the, honest and truly peaceful, poor protesters are speaking out against.

EDIT: As I was writing this, AboAli proudly proclaimed that he sold another 9000 USD at 52.25. This is called “trying to eke out an existence”.

86. Syrian Commando,

Syria cannot hold long under this economic pressure. The current crisis may last for years, and the West has obviously the intention to escalate the crisis. They WANT to bankrupt Syria.

Syria has already turned to Iraq for economic aid. They are asking for low-priced fuel and joint investments. Iraq is not “debt strapped state.” The Syrian government has always viewed Iraq as a potential source for great economic benefit.

What I was talking about was not only about the economy. It had also to do with politics. Syria and Iraq have already become so close after the crisis started. This is natural, and as the crisis continues Syria will become even closer and closer to Iraq. This is their only outlet. They are surrounded by Wahhabi/American countries from all sides. Iraq is American-occupied but it is neither Wahhabi nor American. Iraq is virtually a mixed Shia-Arab nationalist country, very similar to the Syrian regime itself. The Wahhabis in Iraq are a minority.

Syria will be forced to be dependent on Iraq, or at least the Shia part of it (which is the most important part). America has little influence on the Shia and Arab nationalists in Iraq, and it is leaving Iraq soon.

Observer

Despite the cell phones and facebook and videos,
“IT IS A MEDIEVAL DARK AGES” OPPOSITION

Turkey renews strategic ties with Israel ahead of showdown with Syria
Turkey has decided to restore military and intelligence collaboration in the eastern Mediterranean with Israel as Ankara heads for a military showdown with Syria, The deal worked out between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also gives Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan a role in Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy and a chance to bring Hamas into the process.
The deal was discussed in a telephone conversation that took place between the US president and Turkish prime minister last Tuesday June 21, hours after Assad’s hardnosed speech at Damascus University. The last ends were tied up when Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon, visited Ankara secretly last week and met Erdogan and Fidan Hakan, the head of Turkish intelligence MIT.

Obama and Erdogan agreed that Bashar Assad’s reign was over although both their intelligence agencies gave him another four to six months to hang on. To hasten his end, they decided on a two-part campaign: the US and Europe would step up sanctions on Syria and Turkey would raise the military heat.
This decision prompted US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to comment for the first time on a possible Turkish-Syrian military clash: “…we’re going to see an escalation of conflict in the area,” she said.

Saturday, June 25, Turkey began setting up a big new camp to accommodate a further influx of 12,000 to 15,000 Syrian refugees at Apaydin 10 kilometers from the border, on the opposite side of which Syria’s crack 4th Division is massing tanks under the command of Syrian Republican Guard commander Gen. Maher Assad, the president’s brother.
The numbers of refugees continued to swell after soldiers again opened fire on tens of thousands of demonstrators who poured into the streets after Friday prayers, killing at least nineteen.
As Syrian-Turkish military tensions continue to escalate, Ankara saw the necessity of coordinating its air and naval operations with the United States and Israel in case the Syrian ruler responded to a border flare-up by launching surface missiles against Turkish military targets and US bases in Turkey. Obama urged Erdogan and Hakan to get together with the Israeli minister Yaalon to work things out, a move that would call up the old close strategic bonds between Turkey and Israel before they the rupture over Israel’s 2009 Cast Lead operation against Hamas in Gaza, the Turkish flotilla episode of May 2010 and other incidents.

Calling off Turkey’s critical participation in the next big flotilla scheduled for this month to breaking Israel’s Gaza blockade indicated the ice was melting.

For the sake of opening a new chapter between Jerusalem and Turkey,sources disclose that Netanyahu gave in to Obama’s request to give Erdogan another chance to promote Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy – this time by bringing Hamas aboard. The Turkish prime minister believes he has a fair chance of altering Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal’s inflexible resistance to recognizing Israel.
After meeting Meshaal’s rival, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in Ankara Friday, June 24, Erdogan said “Turkey would mobilize support to help the Palestinians achieve recognition and form their own state.” Abbas replied: “There will be no turning back from the road to reconciliation [with Hamas].”

Abbas and Meshaal were both in the Turkish capital at the same time, although they denied meeting.
Confirmation that the Turkish prime minister had returned to the role of Israel-Palestinian broker, which he resigned in anger after Israel’s Gaza operation in 2009, came from Jerusalem: Thursday, June 23, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told a visiting group of Turkish journalists: “We also accept and respect the fact that Turkey is a regional power with a great historic role.”

As to Ankara’s bid to broker reconciliation between Abbas and Meshaal and get them to sign a power-sharing accord, the Israeli official commented: “It is also in our interests that the Palestinians have unity. We know once they sign, they sign for everybody and we don’t have to worry about this.”

Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman have obviously recognized that if the price for Israel-Turkish reconciliation and a return strategic collaboration is accepting Hamas’ presence on the Palestinian side of the negotiating table, it is worth paying. They have apparently conceded the long-held principle not to deal with a Palestinian terrorist group dedicated to Israel’s destruction without seeking cabinet endorsement.

Day 103: The Syrian revolution has declared the regime illegitimate

Demonstrations
– Have become an established 24/7 life style activity
– Crowds are becoming larger
– Activists have succeeded in overcoming the regime control of internet and mobile shutdown, and continue to feed facebook and Youtube with fast updates of news and ground activities.
– The Revolution co-ordination committees activities are still underground.

The Antalia consultative council have not yet made a its impact

The refugees:
– Talkalah to Lebanon: 5,000
– Jisr AlShughoor to turkey: 11,000
– Dar3a to Jordan: Count is unknown

The Army
– Defections continue
– Disillusionment has so far affected non-loyal personnel forced to engage in the crack-down.
– However, word of mouth, in spite of the close monitoring by embedded security agents is bound to spread.
– The army will risk massive defections should they decide to allow break in coming Eed Al Fitr.
– On the contrary, further incarceration in their units at such times should have devastating moral impact.

Jr in his 3rd speech has promised
– More bloody reforms
– More bloody committees
– More bloody days to come
– 3rd generation antibiotics to control resistant germs

Regime dialogue
– It is a staged, public relations stunt.
– The script is written and will be recited as “Dialogue”
– Attendants from the opposition” are tamed, scared, and lack any authorisation from the movers on the ground, the Revolution’s coordination committees.
– Attendants from the regime are brain-washed, Government officials; They are as informed and empowered or otherwise, as any ordinary citizen in the street.

The economy
– Sanctions are depleting Regime’s reserves
– It is uncertain how many months the regime will be able to provide the pay checks to keep public sector employees on board.
– Public sector employees, including parliament and ministers might be asked to accept salary cuts/donate their salaries to national military efforts.
– At one point, the regime may find itself able only to pay the military and security forces.

Where is the confrontation heading?
– Ground political organisation will remain in hiding in the near future.
– Demonstrations will continue across the country and gradually escalate in Aleppo
– The plight of Syrian refugees will bring more international and regional pressures and sanctions on the Regime.
– The regime will continue their crackdown; they have been frank as well as loyal to their strategy of not letting go of the power; the strategy was communicated by Jrs cousin to the NYT, last month.
– Western sanctions will take their toll on the ability of the regime to provide pay checks for the public sector.
– The army unity is precarious, and is weakening with time.
– The month of Ramadan may mark a turning point in the events.

Observer

“So I proclaim that the Microbe and the Rat have joined and will continue to post as Observer.”

Usually these come out of their hole when a boat capsizes as they run for their life in panic.
In any case, now we have rats, microbes and a hamster on board. The zoo is filling up.

20 Martyrs fell victims to Jr’s crackdown this weekend.

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

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/01DCAA1A-3FB6-4B63-B607-F1936ABF19A3.htm?GoogleStatID=1

A new song dedicated to Jr
بدنا نعبي

strongheroesofmoscow

Only traitors shoot at the army. Get this in your traitor skulls, no Syrian will see you differently.

#92

Syria has a fuel and power generation problem, but if you’ve been paying attention you’d realise that the Iranian bourse is now taking Syrian Lira for gas.

This changes things significantly. The Iraq/Iran/Syria deal they’re trying to push for is a new pipeline.

Don’t get confused. The economy is hurting due to lack of security, poor tourism and morale.

When the monkeys on the street throwing rocks, raping, hanging people and shooting are put in prison and the borders secured (and for god’s sake I am fed up every time there is a security failure), then the economy will begin to recover.

This is independent of what the bankruptcy-in-progress western nations do. Or the imaginary business man AliBaba and his 50 black market dealers.

If you want to worry about someone, worry about the US. It doesn’t HAVE years of isolations for Syria planned, it’s impossible, its economic empire is going to collapse during the next 2 years.

#96

One lie at a time, can you actually name them?

Because according to Syria, only 7 died, including 2 or more security forces.

So called activists are very orgnized. Even what they say is ready to use (remember the tone of W. Tarif’s tweets?):

Syria Trend Message 6/25/2011

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Please share the DM for Syria trend publically on your timeline several times a day.
Please make a quick phone call to the White House once a day http://freesyriacommentline.blogspot.com/
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If you have any suggestion of tweets you want us to promote, please DM them to me. All tweets must have a target twitter handle.
When you do your own personal tweet, please try to include #SY11 This is our team’s hash tag. When you see it please RT it.

@adctweets #ineedtostop hoping ur civil rights conscience will compel u 2 say #AssadMustGo What a disappointment 2 our community via @RafifJ
@BarackObama The change in #Syria is irreversible. Be on the right side of the history #SY11

@UN The change in #Syria is irreversible. Be on the right side of the history #SY11 @Number10gov The change in #Syria is irreversible. Be on the right side of the history #SY11

@ENERGY #US oil companies should not be doing business with the brutal Syrian regime #Syria #SY11 @JTskynews Thank you for going into #Syria Please speak to anti regime protestors to expose #AssadCrimes #SY11

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@SkyNewsBreak Thank you for going into #Syria Please speak to anti regime protestors to expose #AssadCrimes #SY11

@arwaCNN Thank you for going into #Syria Please speak to anti regime protestors to expose #AssadCrimes #SY11
@HalaGorani Thank you for going into #Syria Please speak to anti regime protestors to expose #AssadCrimes #SY11

@JomanaCNN Thank you for going into #Syria Please speak to anti regime protestors to expose #AssadCrimes #SY11 @BarakObama 3 Million protesters in #Syria on 6-24 If people know they wont B shot, this number would’ve been 20Million #SY11 via @Hawanyaty

@USEmbassySyria Did you guys find out about #AssadCrimes or R U still honeymooning? U must say #AssadMustGo #Syria #SY11 @adctweets: how r those civil rights workin’ for ya? Silence equals acceptance shame on u 4 accepting genocide in #Syria. Speak up v @RafifJ

@latimes @nprnews #syrianrefugees on the borders need @UN attention & help 2 stop killing so they go back home youtu.be/Wd21-HJ9Dqg #SY11
@AC360 Whats happening in #Syria isnt “political dispute” Its mass murder being carried out by anti-democratic despot. #SY11 via @Nora0315

@Kenroth Children R being killed. Tell Bashar to leave. 10000+ refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, & Jordan RT #assadcrimes RT #sy11 via @hawanyaty
@barackobama Genocide is not “Civil war”. Its genocide… #Syria #SY11 #Assadcrimes via @SyrTimes

@BarackObama 2 children killed by the Syrian reformer http://youtu.be/tsQulHaB_yY & http://youtu.be/8tRUkN-NpYw #AssadMustGo #Syria #SY11
@Number10Gov 2 children killed by the Syrian reformer http://youtu.be/tsQulHaB_yY & http://youtu.be/8tRUkN-NpYw #AssadMustGo #Syria #SY11

@MSF_USA Syrian butcher should be stripped of his medical degree and certifications. #Syria #SY11
@Neilcbc Thank you for article about #Syria http://t.co/lwDSNRn #SY11

@BarackObama Sanctions agnst Saddam didnt protect Iraqis Do u think doing the same will prevent Assad from killing his people? #Syria #SY11 @Number1oGov As long as #syria ‘n FM decided to deny the existence of Europe, why don’t you kick Syrian ambassadors out of Europe? #SY11

@EU_Commission As long as #syria ‘n FM decided to deny the existence of Europe, why don’t you kick Syrian ambassadors out of Europe? #SY11 @StateDept Sanctions against Saddam didnt protect Iraqis Do u think doing the same will prevent Assad from killing his people? #Syria #sy11

@GlobalFundWomen Protect women in #Syria from being raped and children from being killed. Speak about #AssadCrimes #SY11
@MSF_USA diseases are spreading amongst the Syrian refugee camps. They need urgent help. #Syria #SY11

MINA,

It’s funny because the people are getting raped by the peaceful terrorists.

Check this out, people in the Turkish refugee camps:

WOW THE STUPID STORY FALLS APART LOL!

I don’t like posting videos, but I’ll bit my finger and post this, because it gives goose-bumps.

A new doomed strategy for a confused opposition seeing things getting out of hand and bloodier?

Chaos feared as Syria crisis nears bloody impasse
http://beta.news.yahoo.com/chaos-feared-syria-crisis-nears-bloody-impasse-164815903.html

“That is why many opposition figures are putting their hope on an unlikely player: the Syrian army. Dissidents say they are in touch with many lower-ranking soldiers, and have publicly urged top-ranking officers to oust Assad in a coup d’etat.

“We don’t have other options right now,” said Radwan Ziadeh, a prominent Syrian exile and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University. “We need the army officers to take the initiative.””

#101

Tiny compared the one in Hama against their “Hurriyeh to hang people and free rapes and headchoppings” demostration.

What do you think of the refugees in Turkey who are cheering for Basha’ars and telling the truth about the terrorists?

Kuwait news are not bad either, they report of ten thousand corpses thrown in the (sea!) (probably at jisr al shughur, which has certainly less than ten thousand inhabitants).

Kwt_News Kwt_News
النائب الوعلان من مخيمات اللاجئين السوريين بتركيا: النظام السوري والشبيحه قاموا بإلقاء 10 الاف جثه لشهداء في عرض البحر #Alrab3a #Syria
Il y a 11 minutes

Usama

Although I have no clue what AboAli does for a living, but I strongly suggest you visit Maddina (المدينة) or Bab Al Nasr (باب النصر) in Aleppo and spend a day watching the merchants there. I assure you most people there won’t even touch a $10000 deal, that’s just pocket change (فراطة).

NK,

Good to hear. So now the Syrian people are not poor. They are very rich. Right? Or you want to tell me only the “1%” that are rich sustain the black market currency business of all those “merchants” (which hate $10,000 pocket change)?

http://presstvmobile.com/blog/2011/06/24/huge-us-led-spy-operation-on-arab-world-uncovered/

“Apple, Google, and Disney [have been] implicated in a U.S.-led mass surveillance apparatus designed to spy and mine data from social media sources in the Arab world.

A crowd sourced investigation dubbed Project PM has probed reams leaked emails involving U.S. intelligence companies and uncovered a massive spy operation targeting social media and telecommunications in the Arab world.

The allegations, derived from 70,000 emails stolen from HBGary earlier this year, detailed a project dubbed Romas/COIN, to be proceeded by Odyssey, which could automatically analyze millions of conversations.”

#102

>We don’t have other options right now

It’s good they admit it, but in truth the only options they have are terrorism and hope for Turkey to invade. Too bad for them the army is unified and Iran+Syria will destroy Turkey forever.

98. Syrian Commando,

Even Assad himself admitted that this is a long-term crisis. The crisis in Syria is a regional problem. It will probably not end until the regional conflict between the US and Iran is resolved. We need to think outside the box if we were to survive. A union between Syria and Iraq is a brilliant idea to revive Arab nationalism and foil the American scheme for Sunni-Shia war and sectarianist states. It will also have great economic benefits for both countries. The addition of millions of Shia to Syria will greatly benefit the Alawis who will no longer remain a minority. There are many theoritical benefits to this idea.

Tara

I think Turkey is taking ( stealing) the leadership of the Palestinian resistance. Hezbollah is moving out of Syria, Hamas left already.

Turkey to launch international mobilization for Palestinian state’s recognition

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-to-launch-international-mobilization-for-palestinian-state8217s-recognition-2011-06-24

Nasrallah supports Syrian Leadership`s Reform

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=88032

also read this, Israel worried about Bashar’s fall…. What an irony!

Hezbollah getting ready for the day after Assad falls , report

http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/06/25/hezbollah-getting-ready-for-the-day-after-assad-falls-report/

“French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Saturday that Israel has asked Western countries to stop their diplomatic campaign against the Syrian regime for fear that the weapons of mass destruction of the Syrian regime will fall in the hands of Hezbollah and Hamas.
..The expert confirmed that Western intelligence had monitored the movement of trucks from the Syrian border to eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa valley.
The trucks are allegedly transporting Iranian-made Zelzal, Fajr 3 and Fajr 4 rockets that the Shiite party had amassed in depots in Syria”

#108

I’m afraid the idea is dead on arrival. It is true Iran controls … let’s say Iraqi politics, but Iraq is ultimately controlled by the US military and death squads. There’s no way they will do anything in Syria’s interests. They want to destroy us.

Also Pan-arabism is dead. Everyone in Syria is spitting on the name “Arab” including me. There is no way it’s going to happen, we still remember the horrors of Nasser, we’re not going to do it again.

Trust me, we’ll outlast the crisis, in fact because we will, they have no other option but to fight us militarily. Turkey SEEMS to be chickening out right now but it is probably a ploy. They are still planning something big in the East.

#109

Ignore this disinformation.

Yazan,

Thanks for the video. It must be fake? Anti Bashar Syrians can come out and demonstrate without being infiltrated by mundaseen, salafis and germs? Is that possible? No way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TWZkJWjsNA

Syrians bury their heroes, which the zionist channels tried to drag through the mud with lies about Jisr al-Shaghour.

“Allah yer7amak ya baba”

The Zionists are not worried about Asad’s fall. The Zionists WANT Asad’s fall. The Zionist media comprehensively pushed the idea that “Israel wants Asad” just to get more people inside Syria to protest against him. They still can’t get 100,000 people together.

I saw in the twitter stream Mina shared with us that those idiots think they had 3 million people protesting against Asad this past Friday. That is such a joke. Even if they count the huge pro-Asad demonstrations on Friday in Bab Touma, and another city in reef Dimashq (I can’t remember the name), they probably still won’t have 3 million.

The whole western world, including the Zionists, want Asad gone (or at least under extreme pressure (for links with Iran and HA)) so bad that they dismissed the huge Tuesday (June 21) pro-Asad demonstrations as being “thousands” large when they were easily in the millions. Then some went as far as trying to suggest that the millions on June 21 were actually *AGAINST* Bashar al-Asad (http://bit.ly/lU0O4s).

Douchebag Ziadeh says the army is the only hope because, although he refuses to admit it (for obvious reasons), he knows there is no real populist pro-revolution movement inside Syria. Notice how when the army defection hopes failed, they moved onto the economy with all the big Zionist “think tanks” exploring ways in which to make the Syrian economy collapse? Honestly, how can anyone blame Asad for an economic collapse when it is imposed by Europe and the US? Do they think this will turn anti-revolution people into pro-revolution? Do they think Syrians will become less anti-revolution because people are working in the inside to collapse the SYP, like our friend AboAli? I will bet my money that Syrian nationalism will win in the end and Asad will be more and more popular as sanctions (both overt and covert) become more and more painful.

110. Syrian Commando,

Because you feel Arab nationalism is dead, we need to revive it by reviving the idea of unification. If Arab nationalism is dead, then Syria is dead too. Syria and Iraq both have no future without Arab nationalism. They will be divided along sectarian lines and absorbed by Iran, Turkey, and the US.

To say that we cannot unite with Iraq because it is under American control is an old separatist excuse that was used as early as 1943. The separatists in the 1940’s foiled several attempts for Syria-Iraq unification under the excuse that Iraq was controlled by Britain. We paid a very heavy price because of that separatism, both we and Iraq.

What is happening now is much larger than the capacity of Assad’s regime. The region is being reshaped into a new geopolitical map. Syria, the last Arab nationalist state, is being discarded because it is out of date. To survive this massive geopolitical reshaping, we must do something really extraordinary, like starting a huge regional war or merging two countries together. Other than that, there is no chance that Syria will survive on the long run.

The Baathists in the Syrian regime must decide between sectarian division or a bold attempt to revive Arab nationalism. This is a historical moment that we are living. The Baath will bear historical responsibility for what will happen.

Jad

I am waiting for the opposition to meet the Russians by end June as it was announced. Have you read anything?

That meeting was cancelled.

Usama
It is not a twitter stream. It is much worse than that.
It is a Googledoc document available to anyone to download and use with a spamming programme called clickatweet. And these are ready tweets sent and re-sent by the so-called activists. They are all written by the same person, who sends them the roadmap everyday. Then no matter if you are Kuwaiti, Saudi, American, Canadian, Australian. Just retweet and learn to say Heil Master…

Another failure for the confused opposition: No meeting with Russia.

While the declaration from the Russians about a possible meeting with the Syrian opposition overflowed the media on 10th june, this one dated 24 june did not make the news.

Russian officials don’t intend to meet Syrian opposition figures in Moscow – Foreign Ministry

http://www.interfax.co.uk/russia-cis-military-news-bulletins-in-english/russian-officials-dont-intend-to-meet-syrian-opposition-figures-in-moscow-foreign-ministry-2/

#116

If Ali-baba is real, the only thing he’s going to collapse is his life savings. The USD is dying, let him convert all his income into it for all I care, lol.

Like you said, the Israelis are playing the game of “whoever we like is unpopular”, but everyone with an IQ above 100 knows the trick. If Syria falls, Israel wins by default. Why would they want the government to stay???

#117

>If Arab nationalism is dead, then Syria is dead too. Syria and Iraq both have no future without Arab nationalism.

I disagree with this notion strongly. Syria is not Arabic for one. Iraq has a future on its own and when the US is destroyed we will be allies of course. Iran, Syria and Iraq will be a ring of fire which will consume the middle east and Turkey when NATO decays soon.

>To say that we cannot unite with Iraq because it is under American control is an old separatist excuse that was used as early as 1943.

You have to be kidding me. Iraq is literally under American control. The Americans are IN IRAQ CONTROLLING IT. Please, let’s not be childish.

>What is happening now is much larger than the capacity of Assad’s regime.

You’re underestimating the resolve of the Syrian people. Syria is bigger than just its government. If it wasn’t for the Syrian people, the government would have collapsed 3 month ago.

>To survive this massive geopolitical reshaping, we must do something really extraordinary

No, to survive we must remain completely unchanged. When the dust settles we inherit everything. All the Arabic countries are undergoing change from the outside, under the intention of cutting off their oil output for good. It’s a complicated plan but it will save the future of the west in the next 20 years (but they will be massively hurt from it).

>The Baathists in the Syrian regime must decide between sectarian division or a bold attempt to revive Arab nationalism.

No you’re confused, there’s no sectarian option. You’re presenting a false alternative. Syrians are not this primitive.

The whole world could disappear and Syria will survive — in fact, we’ll be stronger.

#121

That’s a shame, it would have been entertaining. Sorry Prof. Landis, it looks like Russia isn’t taking these cavemen seriously either.

Norman

Russian foreign minister: will meet Syrian opposition, urge dialogue with the government
Monday, Jun 20, 2011 06:00 am | The Associated Press

This is maybe why the meeting was canceled on 24th june, the opposition were hoping to change Russia’s mind about the veto, instead they were asked to talk to the government. I think the opposition is in a dead end, let see what the Turks will tell them soon … Libya actually saved Syria from the NATO!

MOSCOW – Russia’s foreign minister says Moscow will tell the Syrian opposition that it must talk with the government.

Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Russia will tell Syrian opposition leaders, who are set to visit Moscow later this month, that they need to engage in a dialogue with authorities.

He criticized those in the Syrian opposition who reject talks with President Bashar Assad’s government, saying some people are trying to provoke violence in the hope of Western intervention.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Russia hasn’t been happy with the way the West has used the United Nations resolution on Libya and will oppose any Western-backed U.N. resolution on Syria.
http://www.stalbertgazette.com/article/GB/20110620/CP01/306209965/-1/sag0806/russian-foreign-minister-will-meet-syrian-opposition-urge-dialogue&template=cpArt

Mina,

Thank you for the information. Nice catch. Do you have a link for this googledoc?

All these details do not matter. The Wahhabi genie is out of the bottle. The Syrian regime cannot get it back into the bottle when the West, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia are supporting it. The regime has to look for a strategic solution or it will fall.

Without enough money, there is nothing the regime can do. It is going to lose. This is why I am suggesting to revisit old but very powerful and strategic ideas, like a federal union between Syria and Iraq.

122. Syrian Commando,

This is mostly wishful thinking. It is not realistic. As for Iraq, Iraq now has a security agreement with the US just like it had one with Britain in the 1940’s. There is little difference.

Joining Iraq would be equivalent to losing so you can throw that option right out.

You forget that the enemy doesn’t have forever to implement their plans. The fact that 3 month have passed and their effectiveness is decreasing means they are losing control of their plot. The Whabbi “bottle” will be shut just like 1982, if it comes to that. It won’t though, this unsightly side of humanity is decaying.

Also, don’t forget the Samson option.

Don’t worry, Syrians are calm, cold thinkers. We know their plot and we will not lose any opportunity to tighten the noose around their necks. Our allie Iran controls half of Iraq … we can make life uncomfortable for Turkey and Israel. We have many many many cards, in fact Syria has not played a single one of them. This demonstrates how in-control we are at the moment.

The USA is going to be forced to take down its main ally Saudi Arabia soon and may even sacrifice Israel. They’re implementing their planned World War III as we speak. This may sound dramatic to you, but look at what is happening in the pacific, south east asia, china sea, east coast of south America and the Turkish-Syrian border.

SC,

I find Arab nationalism very important! We are Arab. You can’t say we’re not Arab just because at some point thousands of years ago we were not Arab. It’s like saying Jews aren’t Jews because before Judaism there were no Jews. Our reality today is that we speak Arabic and we are an Arab country. Colonial powers split the Arab world into so many countries because they feared a united Arab world that was bound to be strong. I don’t advocate one Arab world in the literal sense because I think it may be too late for that now. But I do want to see a day when Arab countries are united by thought and ideals. The biggest enemy of Zionism is pan-Arabism. Especially that Mubarak, who helped blockade and starve the Palestinians of Gaza, has been ousted by a truly popular movement, why would we give up on pan-Arabism now? I believe if Syrians give up on Arab nationalism, we will lose so much of what makes us Syrian.

Syrian Commando

Who can take seriously this opposition who calls for Khaddam to join, call for Bashar to give power to Farouk Sharaa, and now you table the future of Syria on the Syrian Army?

Despite the western media’s hysteria this external opposition does not seem to move forward. Calling it microbes is making it an honor as microbes are complex organisms.
I would rather call them amoebas

I understand the idea that we can somehow become more powerful with additional resources from Arabs … but this is a dead end.

Racially we are very different from Arabs. In fact, we have more in common with Turks, Greeks and Palestinians (“Lebanese are really Syrian”).

The Arabs are out to destroy us, all of them, including Egypt. Pan-Arabism has served its purpose, but now its time to be realistic. Just like the Europeans were goaded by financial powers to form the EU, we must form an alliance with Lebanon, Iran and Iraq and conquer the inferior Arabs.

Their oil is valuable and it is being wasted. In our control, we will be able to dominate their Earth. Saddam’s idea was good but he was a slave of the west initially, so he wasted most of his power fighting Iran. If only we formed an alliance together, putting our diffferences aside, the world would be much more different today.

We were fooled into thinking that Turkey would serve its own interest by joining this alliance, but as it turns out, Erdogan is either a retard or a zionist plant, of the HIGHEST order, a level-3 deception.

#129

Yeah the funny thing is, they’re so proud to call themselves germs when Bashaar didn’t even honour them with this name. The germ is the conspiracy. They’re non-persons without the conspiracy.

Just check the hashtag #Sy11
Their “team” is proudly using it so it’s easy to find all the names. Not many Syrians obviously (no Arabic). I guess the googledoc will be removed quickly now that it’s here
tinyurl.com/6ykx4bn

The first revolution using a spamming machine. Indeed, Syria is the first everywhere…

WD,

Turkey built credibility with the opposition in the last few months, If turkey asks the opposition to meet the Syrian government and reach an agreement then Turkey would have saved itself and Syria, The opposition should recognise that the goal is reform and free election not killing the Baath party or the army as if they feel that the opposition is going for their necks then we will see a crackdown that we have not seen yet.

Souri333 , I like your federation with Iraq, but the last time that was tried the Saudi started the Gulf counsel to defend against Arab-ism.

#131

Excellent find. It’s being coordinated by this guy: mtaher@prodigy.net

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KELKdbP0rtuESNdq6R5a8jH-MoJe7KnjlWMV9O2CsdM/edit?hl=en_GB&authkey=CLLii7gH

I copied it so they won’t be able to delete it don’t worry. But we need to find the pattern and who is coordinating this.

All in English as well. These criminals have to be hunted down online. I’ll inform the SES.

130. Syrian Commando

You are really delusional and you do not know what you are talking about. Arab nationalism is not related to a specific ethnicity; it is an idea to unite all the Arabic-speaking ethnicities. Also, most Syrians (90%) are ethnic Arabs. The eastern half of the country is ethnic Iraqi. At least third the population are bedouins or of bedouinic ancestry. I don’t know if you ever visited Syria but you sound as if you have no clue.

>Also, most Syrians (90%) are ethnic Arabs

No, it is you who is delusional. This is from the CIA world book right? You have no idea about your own people. We are quite distinct from the gulf Arabs. Have you even visited these countries? They look nothing like us.

And you want us to form a federation with Iraq. Are you forgetting that the north part of Iraq would never agree to it.

Seriously, you are like a child.

SC: [although I still don’t agree with most of what you write… what was it? you’re going to ‘dominate the earth’… to do what exactly?]
Funny, the guy is a mayor in New Jersey. So to start with he probably has his picture everywhere in his office (just as he has his picture everywhere on the different Google results). Not a good start!

(just google the name and the email’s host)

132. Norman,

The only way the federation can work is if it is announced suddenly and without prior notice, and then it should be put to public referendum as soon as possible. Otherwise it will be foiled by Saudi Arabia, the US, Iran, and Turkey.

In 7 years or so, Iraq will be producing as much oil as Saudi Arabia. Even if we do not get a share of the revenues, we will be winning so much by just having a free flow of money and goods with them.

>u’re going to ‘dominate the earth’… to do what exactly?

Just a figure of speech, I meant the alliance will be very powerful. As much as Russia/China/Europe.

#136

Yeah, I saw it. I’m gathering everything I can about him. He’s finished.

Souri,

If we start to thrive for Arab unions for religious reasons and/or distributions, then I’d rather not have that. It would be just falling into a trap. Having a Sunni majority is not a disadvantage. You should not equate Sunnis, or even a significant portion of Sunnis, to the MB.

Also I really think it is too late to form physical unions now. It wouldn’t even work out with Lebanon (in the current state). Iraq already has religious-based parties and a large oil-rich autonomous Kurdish region that hosts many US and Israeli companies. Even if the US withdraws from Iraq by end of 2011 (which I doubt), they will not withdraw from the Kurdish region.

Syrian Hamster,
Thanks for that fine piece of history. I seem to have missed it. 😉

I’m sure you’ll have some fantastic material from the recent discussion going on between the incarnations of Bachir al-Jemayyel and Akram al-Horani. I’ll be looking forward to that post.

The American presence in Iraq and the party law is their internal business. We need to have gradual merging. We can start by a common nationalist constitution, a single army, a single currency, etc.

I don’t understand how the Kurdish minority (who are 10% or 15%?) can prevent such a vital project. Iraq will be benefiting as much as we do.

>I don’t understand how the Kurdish minority (who are 10% or 15%?) can prevent such a vital project. Iraq will be benefiting as much as we do.

This is the problem, you don’t understand anything. The Kurds in Iraq are powerful, they have a large amount of the oil income. They are growing stronger every year. They want to separate and you think you can draw them into another federation.

You need to stop thinking in percentages and get out a map and learn something, sorry.

I think the Iraqi parliament can decide to write a new constitution without the Kurds’ agreement, right?

They can keep their federal region, but they have no right to undermine Iraq’s future.

142. Syrian Commando

We don’t need their oil income. They can keep it.

Why,

Nothing thrilling about Turkey “stealing” the leadership of the Palestinian resistance. It does not do much to my “Arabic pride” but any effort towards a just peace is welcome no matter where it comes from. I would prefer home-grown efforts towards achieving that goal but that seems too optimistic.

#144

Do you really think Turkey and Iran will allow this to happen?

Come on this is too far fetched to even discuss.

Syrian Hamster,

Hello. Agree with Yazan. It does look a fine piece of history.

I would love for you to write a summary for the Mamenhebaks similar to the Menhebak summary just for a comparison.

I hope you did not mind that I “stole” one of your statement in my reply to Habib.

Why,

In your eyes…..and rhetoric, What is the definition of Germs?

Outside opposition, inside opposition, demonstrators?

Just to re-iterate, anyone who uses the terms “menhebak” and/or “mamenhebak” in any serious fashion is either:

a – Completely retarded
b – Trying to get people into a black and white mode of thinking

146. Syrian Commando

It is very worth trying, because right now it seems that both Syria and Iraq will divide along sectarian lines and a universal Sunni-Shia war will ensue.

The religious fanatics are a minority in both countries but they are going to destroy the region because they are heavily supported by the US, Turkey, and Iran.

We need to do something before the huge war erupts and the American new Middle East forms.

#150

The reason why they were successful in Iraq is because Iran actually helped. They also had control over Iraq and could direct death squads with impunity. It won’t be easy in Syria. We are a lot smarter, don’t worry habibi. We have the army and police. Their weekly terror events are decreasing, not increasing.

Syrian Commando

I agree with you. Really!

We need to coin a new phrase for the “ease of use”.

Can’t say “current regime supporters who were or weren’t critical before but became all united and ardent supporters after March 15” every time. Too long.

Any suggestion?

But please don’t try the usual Syrians vs. non Syrian name calling because it does not work.

Actually I believe that if Assad goes to Baghdad and just hands Syria to Al-Maliki as a trophy, it will be much better than for Syria to fall in the hands of the Americans and the Wahhabis.

The Syrian regime will probably fall within months or years. Somebody is going to take Syria afterwards. Let it be Iraq (which is an Arab country that is closest to Syria and to Arab nationalism) and not the US and Turkey.

I’d suggest “smart” people vs “dumb” people but you won’t like that suggestion. 🙂 (it also assumes that the person is Syrian. If a person is smart and anti-Syrian they’d take the opposite position, let’s not get too technical though)

I think it is important not to reduce your position down to support/not support.

I don’t like the government, I’ll be frank, they are corrupt and had a lot of time to reform but kept blocking Basha’ar. I’m not one for cult of personality, I have enough pride in myself, but I admit, I don’t know anyone at the moment who can get Syria out of this mess than Basha’ar.

So I guess it reduces down to pro-chaos vs pro-transition. This is because even the most hardened bathist knows the status quo is not an option.

Chaos will destroy Syria, I’ll be frank, but some of you think chaos will somehow cure it. This is silly, it would work in a vacuum but Syria has many many many enemies. Only an orderly transition can possibly solve our problems and everything indicates it is happening.

… Which is why they are trying (and failing except in tourism/travel) to destroy Syria’s economy and getting Turkey to attack it soon.

Tara

The ameboas is the external opposition, impotent but vocal in calling for blood. Maybe I should also call them leeches (Khaddam, MB and company)

The reasonable internal opposition is in the making and I think they care about Syria as much as the loyalists. This is why I hope they will be able to rein the brainless hardliners who follow the leeches appetite for destruction and accept what the Russian the Turks have been repeating relentlessly: Major reforms under the leadership of the only one who can lead them.
There is no way out other that this one, the alternative is a long period of insecurity, economical and political instability similar to Lebanon’s in the aftermath of the civil war. I guess the internal opposition are becoming aware that the country in on its to the destruction of the social fabric of Syria and their own. Time to wake up.

About your ‘arab pride’ untouched by the fact a non-arab takes over the leadership of an arab cause, maybe proud Egypt, Arab League, and KSA don’t share your indifference.
The potential trespassing of Turkey in arab matters is not looked positively by everyone in the region.

#153

The moment Bashaar does that, he’s finished, his photo will be burnt in the streets, Syria will fall apart. Are you serious? We will never accept another union again. My mother’s family lost so much of their asssets when Nasser regime took over. Some in the family had a heartattack and died, allah yerhamoun.

That’s the quickest way to destroy the country, the moment Iraq is in control, the death squads will enter. Maliki is a US-puppet with some strings controlled by Iran (but Iran must bomb something every now and then to keep the strings attached).

You’ve fallen for the illusion, much like I fell for the illusion set by Turkey that it is not the same Turkey before 2002. You have to realise:

Iraq = USA now

I don’t know why you keep comparing Iraq to Egypt. Iraq has an old Arab nationalist culture and it was ruled by the Baath for long years, unlike Egypt which never in its history had a real Arab nationalist culture. Even during Nasser times.

Iraqis and Syrians are the same people. The people in eastern Syria are ethnic Iraqis– those are also Syrians you know, the Syrians are not only your town. We have lived with the people of Deir az-Zor and Hassaka for 90 years, why can’t we live with the Iraqis?

It is going to be a federal union. I think Bashar must do it.

Yes, the east of Syria has people who are close to Iraqi people from Mosul. But Iraq, like Syria, is very much heterogeneous.

The only thing that binds us together is language — Arabic.

In truth, Arabism in Syria is weak, you should know this. You hear fewer and fewer people say “souriah al arabiyeh”. Every time I hear this name I cringe, it is stupid.

The strongest force in Syria is NATIONALISM. This is why the sectarian/salafist plot will fail, like it failed in 1982.

I like Iraqis, but they are conquered. They are not the same people as Syrians though, at least, most of them are not.

As for the death squads and the Americans, we are going to see those anyway when the Wahhabis and Turks are in charge. So let us have them for a good reason.

Syrian Commando,

Your smart vs. dumb approach is not valid because smart/dumb are descriptive words related to who is judging. Remember the Arabic saying القرد بعين امه غزال . Retarded do not usually have insight into their retardation and therefore can call themselves smart. So yes, I don’t like the suggestion.

Bashar is just hiding behind transition and reform. Killing need to be stopped first. Security thugs need to be withdrawn first. Killing and intimidating people are not transition to reform.

Tara

you know vey well that if the security forces withdraw and killing continues, the opposition will accuse the government ‘thugs’ as if there are no other thugs and criminals at large.
Would you like to be responsible for the destructions and more civilian deaths if the security forces leave the field to the ‘opposition’.
The role of the security officers is to protect civilians and public property, who will if they withdraw?
Do you seriously think the ‘opposition’ will be able to protect public property from looting and civilians from been agressed. I have yet to see one example in 3 months.

Why # 155

I don’t see the external opposition to be a true representative of our revolution. I did not even agree with Antalya conclusion in regard to transitioning leadership to Farouq Al-Sharaa. I do see them as another venue through which more pressure can be applied on Bashar. And I do welcome their activities as long as they don’t call for foreign intervention and as long as Khaddam and Rifaat are completely out of the picture. I very much like an internal opposition to crystallize from its current amorphous shape and take over the transition.

The revolution to me is a popular uprising made in Syria and is authentically Syrian. I acknowledge the presence of other elements but I just do not know their size and I do not believe the regime account. I don’t believe Bashar is capable of reform. Bashar is the reason for all this mess. He is the president. Killing and torturing occurred under his watch. He carries full responsibility. There are no excuses. Lack of adequate riot training by security thugs can account for few casualties but can not account for killing 1400. He started the blood path. He is responsible for what has happened and he is still unable to get it. The killing is still going on. The Shabbiha are still roaming Damascus and other cities. His third speech was a disgrace. Who is he fooling? No one expecting the infra structure to be built in a week. We were hoping he comes out, offer an apology and stop the blood path. He is only fooling himself and his “supporters” and that is just not enough.

Tara

I have heard enough demonization of Bashar al Assad, then why do you think Farouk Sharaa cannot take over as recommanded by the x-opposition?
Obviously neither you nor them have any clue about who else can do the reforms. The Russian and the Turks want Bashar, who do you want, the army? who?
Come on, find someone before the whole country is destroyed. Let that someone show he/she has guts and trust etc..
I am waiting.

162 Comment by Tara,

Tara is living in her dreamland, little Alice in dreamland. Would you please explain to me as well what Why had asked you earlier, were is your leader? Bring it on. Till now you are thinking, may be this, may be that, may be transition, may be not transition. The people who are cutting and mutilating innocents Syrians are well known now to the world as salafis, radical MB. I am sorry to say, no one will accept them.

The Syrian government appears to be strong, and I see no signs of collapse, or need for transition. Do you see that in your dreamland?
The army is 100 % supportive for this regime and again what is your dream plan to control the army and make that transition happen?

I would suggest that you stay in your dreamland and perhaps invite some of your radical friends to this dreamland……All delusions….wake up dear…..I say it again; Death to Radical Islam which is the cause of all trouble. Radical Islam is the cause and destruction of peace, love, and everything called humanity…Keep your dream land and lovely heavenly virgins to your brothers, we secular syrian people do not want your land

@149 You should know what retarded is, Mr “all the arabs are out to get us and we should disconnect from the financial system and strike turkey first and Syria+Iran=Syran which is more powerful than China and Russia and Europe combined”.

Anyway, the Menhebak crowd seem to think that out of 23 plus million people, only junior is capable of ruling Syria. He isn’t, he is so obviously out of his depths. The revolution started with just 15 kids in Dar’a.

It now brings out tens upon tens of thousands of “Mamenhebak inta wa Hezbak” each week, and has put junior, his buddies, and the Iranians whose boots he licks on a nasty sanctions list. Incompetence, thy name is Bashar.

Why,# 163

I have also heard enough of idolizing Bashar and it does not cut it for me. Syria is bigger than Bashar and all of us… Ok. I am not going to give you rhetoric. The fact of the matter is we currently have no one because any potential candidate was killed, arrested, or intimidated by the Assads’ legacy of brutal oppression. Remember “you give fear, you get it back”… You confiscate freedom of expression, ironically you have no one to talk to. And this is also his fault. Not mine. His and only his! He had 11 years of free reign. And please don’t tell me, it was never easy for him citing the resistance, Syrian withdrawal from Beirut, Harriri killings, Iraqi refugee, international pressure… because I can not buy it. A leader is someone who has a vision and he has none. He thought he was immuned… He thought he is in tune with the popular demand and oh boy, was he just dead wrong!

The killing must be stopped first. Shabbiha must be withdrawn. Maher must be exiled. Key criminal figure should be tried. Allow people to demonstrate. Replace thugs with army and order no live bullets. Arrest whoever commits unlawful acts. Try anyone who practice torture. Engage the internal opposition in real dialogue not with Atef and Ali Abbas waiting at the corner. And then you do not have to wait.

why Discuss
How do you think we in Syria will most likely,come out of current crisis?, Be practical,dont give me wishfull thinking.
Any one can say his practical vision.

Hey WD ,

Isn’t your wife jealous that you are talking to Tara as she is the princess of Palmyra and SC ,

Hey Tara , We do want what you want which is to my understanding is reform , free election and safety for all Syrians and peaceful transfer of power back and forth, we just do not want more people to be killed from both sides in the process .

by the way , Tara stop demanding you can not achieve anything with force and violence , take you winning they want reform but do not push the president into the corner , you saw what happened to the people who were critical of the Regime after your unrealistic demand they rallied to him,

Simply, Don’t be a nag, nobody likes nags.

Some anecdotal comments from Damascus and surrounding towns, largely because I cannot access my Twitter a/c from Syria:

– People are not spending big. At least six people I know in Damascus are holding off buying new cars (costing $13-22,000) because of ‘The Situation’.

– People are spending, but in restaurants and clothes shops. Those who have money feel the need to spend but won’t risk on major items. So there is still a market for less expensive items in Damascus which, to some extent, is keeping the economy afloat in the short term.

– Several construction efforts around the city (including the widening of the highway between Mezzah and Soumarieh and housing projects in Kafr Souseh) are continuing as normal.

Non-economic related:

– Clashed between pro- and anti-regime elements took place Wednesday night in the town of Katana next to a security building. They were thought to have been between Sunni and Alawi youths. Today a (Christian) man who had a poster of the president on his car was attacked in the same town. A state employee said the army will enter Katana on Thursday to “weed out the troublemakers”.

– There has been a tremendous opening up of conversation topics in recent weeks. People are openly talking about things in public that they would never have done before February. All people who I have spoken to about this topic – including several central bank employees – admit the country has needed serious change for a very long time. For me, at least, this is startling.

– Rural Christians are still in complete denial

Norman,

I said “The killing must be stopped first. Shabbiha must be withdrawn. Maher must be exiled. Key criminal figure should be tried. Allow people to demonstrate. Replace thugs with army and order no live bullets. Arrest whoever commits unlawful acts. Try anyone who practice torture. Engage the internal opposition in real dialogue not with Atef and Ali Abbas waiting at the corner. And then you do not have to wait.”

Where did you read that I want to achieve anything with force and violence? And where do you see that I am trying to push Bashar into the corner?

Can you points to me what institute calling for violence or cornering Bashar?

Tara

“must”, “should”, “allow”, “replace”, “exile”, “arrest” etc…

Great program but WHO will do that? Your “demon” Bashar? Who?
You are blinded by your hatred of Bashar, please look around, tell me who?
The army that is 99.9% supporting your favorite “demon”?
The X-opposition who wants Farouk Sharaa?
The local opposition terrified to dialog for fear of being killed by hardliners?
The MB full of hatred and not very popular
Erdogan?
WHO? Please say it!

Unless you want to wait for the whole country to be destroyed and maybe.. maybe someone strong will stand out and execute all your ‘Must, should, etc…”
Then wait for your baby’s generation, forget about yours, it is a lost one.

Don’t be a nag Tara, in 40 years, all of this will be over, and we’ll be laughing about it.

MajedAlkhaldoon

My view is that ultimately the dialog with the government will happen. It will be discreetly moderated by Russia and Turkey. It will be comprehensive but will take long time but with specific milestones.
The external opposition and Syria’s enemies will try all they can to prevent it as they are doing now. Their agenda is not the same as the one of the Syrians in Syria. Therefore there will be occasional violence but there would be committees made of trustworthy army security together with opposition personalities to supervise the cease fire.
Ultimately there would an amnisty and national reconciliation the South Africa style with the help of South Africa.
Bashar al Assad may or may may not present himself for re election this time, there would be elections and a new president and a new governemnt. The rest is the future…

Why Discuss,
You present a very hopeful, and if materialized, a rather interesting plan. What is your idea of “long time” though? is this transition going to take 3 years? 10 years? 30?

Why,

When you offer سوف سنعمل وسنشكل و سنحمي و سنؤسس و , you get ” must” , “should”, ” allow”, “replace”, “exile”, “arrest”. When you extend a hand, I offer an arm. When you give me love Why, I give you passion. This is how things usually work.

It is freedom and dignity that I am longing for… And yes NOT at the expense of civil war or destroying the country. Bashar can stay and lead the reform but he needs to touch our souls with his sincerity and so far, he has failed to do so.

Princess Tara, P T

Your support of this uprising is a support for violence and destruction,

have you heard no precondition , Talk then decide if the president not honest about change but do not blame him before you try him. and please do not tell he had 11 years or forty years , now is the time.

WD ,

I am not hopeful about the opposition accepting a dialogue as they are paid for by the Saudis and as the plan for Lebanon was sabotaged by the pressure on Hariri, so is any chance of a peaceful outcome to the problem in Syria, except if the opposition members that are in Syria rise up and put their feet down saying that they will not participate in the destruction of Syria.

Yazan,
By the way you do not have to wait forty years, We did that for you, but we need peaceful transfer of power back and forth and protection of the minorities in Syria,

Which part Do you have a problem with .?

revolutionary comedy in Syria – the armed gangs in Homs, rocket propelled vegetable launchers!

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

wallah Bashar and his supporters are maskhara!!

Yazan

The moment the dialog starts, I expect 3 to 5 years depending on the seriousness of the two parties and the ability to control the external trouble makers. There will be many, Syria has many powerful enemies internal and external, Arabs and Western.
Yet the most difficult problem is that the hardliners and the x-opposition do not want the dialog to start. They have canceled the meeting with the Russians when the Russian foreign minister said he was intending to force them into a dialog with the government. It will take time for this to settle as, in despair, the x-opposition will try the nastier things to prevent it.
I expect more violence before it settles.
Yet, I count on the local opposition to make it clear they are the only representatives of the Syrian opposition and show their seriousness and willingness to give a chance to the government to implement the reforms.
I also expect Turkey and Russia to offer secret guarantees to the local opposition that the government is serious.
I know it does sound optimistic but it is also based on breaking the wall of distrust between the government and the local opposition. One of the rule will be to stop calling each other names and pointing fingers. Another, essential, would be not to go back in past tragic events to settle scores. What is past is past. I think South Africa went through similar process but at a much larger scale.
I keep my finger crossed.

Tara

Do you want to know how many Presidents in the US have said they are going to reduce our dependence on oil? Our dependence on oil is a serious problem. I’ve been hearing this since the ’70s we will stop. Nothing has been done. We still suck up to Saudi Arabia.

Obama said he would get us out of wars. We are now involved in more wars than Bush. (Saudi princes pushed England and France to attack Libya and put political pressure on Syria.)

We are now paying a fortune for oil because our Congress (freely elected) has spent decades under the money of oil and the car industry to make sure Americans still drive big cars and still use lots of oil.

This money then goes to Saudi, and then to bribe all sorts of two-faced Western politicians the world over. While at the same time, they support some really nasty version of Islam that the majority of Muslims hate.

So what should American citizens do? Start hanging people and beating their dead bodies?

‘Democracy’ has it’s problems too. Or did you miss the million or so Iraqis in Syria that our ‘democracy’ thrust upon Iraq because our transparent government and our honest media lied to the people to support a war against a country that was not a threat.

WD,

few months ago , I would have agreed with your 3 to 5 years, now , there is no such time , it has to move immediately , Districts, depending on equal population in each, house of representative from elected officials in these districts , Senate with a bout 4 senators from each county , anti discrimination laws in housing and employment registration of people where they live not where they come from so the Kurds can not be only in the north east but all over Syria as they are in reality,, divide each county to towns with elected city councils and Myers , County executive and county freeholders to help him manage the county , the business of these town is supported by the real estate tax and supported further by the government in Damascus to insure equal distribution of revenue to all areas of Syria.

They have to move much faster, people are dieing, part of the problem that we have in Syria is that everything takes forever to be done , That is not acceptable anymore.

Well said, Mick,

Tara

“Bashar can stay and lead the reform but he needs to touch our souls with his sincerity and so far, he has failed to do so.”

In politic there is nothing called “touching souls”, do you think Sarkozy touches the soul of the French or Angela Merkel the Germans, or Berlusconi the italians? They are first judged by what they say they’ll do and then by what they do.

It is a question of trust and guarantee. As you don’t trust Bashar, you need guarantees from a third party that you trust and that has some leverage on Bashar to make sure he fulfills his promises. It is certainly not the EU, that was throwing oil on fire or any Arab countries lost in confusion. The only countries I see are Turkey and Russia. Both have played a very subtile role, the Turks appearing alternately as antagonist and as friend to Syria. They cannot be accused of partiality therefore they can play that role.
I said it before, Turkey is one of the important key to the solution of the problems in Syria. I think that the local opposition is already secretly interacting with the Turks. A lot depends on the local opposition. They have the highest responsibility in he course of the events.

#93 @Usama. Yes I said all that and I still stand by it. In Aleppo, almost everyone, business man or not dabbles in buying and selling gold, Euros and Dollars to a greater or lesser degree, it’s second nature. Been that way for decades, Aleppo is a trading hub, it’s citizens are merchants by instinct. And we have to deal in the black market because the banks stopped selling hard currency 2 months ago. (Take a wild guess who smuggles Hard currency by the truck loads from Lebanon)

people need hard currency when they travel, or pay for their imports, it’s a matter of necessity over here. And me trading 10,000 dollars … made me a whooping commission of …. wait for it, 500 lira! A huge fortune which will bankrupt Syria’s poor for sure, unlike the Assads, Makhlouf and Shaleesh and all the other corrupt officials who siphoned off billions of dollars from the Syrian economy.

Norman

I said 2 to 5 years to implement the full changes, creating new institutions, modernizing the old ones, creating a new constitution etc.. There will be specific milestones in the meantime.
Of course some changes must come fast, other will be delayed.
The urgency is to start the dialog and this seems the hardest point to reach.

Mick,

Please do not mix things up. Where do you see I condone hanging people or beating dead bodies?

It seems that I should type up a “disclaimer”, cut and paste every time I comment here that states ” I condemn any loss of life. I do not believe in violent demonstration. I do not believe in foreign intervention. I am not MB. I am not a salafist. I am not a Zionist. I do not like the Saudis.

Enough already! We should argue evidence. We shouldn’t argue accusations.

TARA #162

this is utter nonsense

I quote you

“He started the blood path.
He is responsible for what has happened and he is still unable to get it.
The killing is still going on.
The Shabbiha are still roaming Damascus and other cities.
His third speech was a disgrace.
Who is he fooling?
No one expecting the infra structure to be built in a week.
We were hoping he comes out, offer an apology and stop the blood path.
He is only fooling himself and his supporters and that is just not enough”

1) blood path you mean bloodbath ?

no there is still no bloodbath after three months of turmoil caused by your “peaceful protesters”
pray you take note that nearly 400 miltaries and security agents were killed and hundreds injured

2) The killing is still going on

no the killing is not going on
it has lessened consequently thanks to the direction and people wiseness

3) The Shabbiha are still roaming Damascus and other cities.

No madam. The security forces are patrolling in salafists areas and strongholds in order to secure them and protect the citizens who might not be d’accord with the “peaceful protesters” and i believe that there are not few of them

4) His third speech was a disgrace

No . may be Bashar is not a good speaker but he made it.
All the issues were exposed. Nothing unuseful or pointless was uttered.
I personnaly think that not a simgle word could be omitted from his speech. This alone is a proof of the speech quality.

5) Who is he fooling?

Nobody. you can’t expect millions of supporters whith a well developed critical sense to bee fooled like this.
By saying so you prove only that you underestimate the syrian people and for myself i venture that you are a racist.
Besides the regime didnt keep calling for public awareness. No “dictatorship” ever advocated so much for public
awareness and “bon sens”, as you seem to think that this regime is a dictatorship.

6) No one expecting the infra structure to be built in a week.

this is a total lie

The present infrastructure has not been destroyend at all and public institutions are in full function.
The direction and the prseident himself organized numerous meetings with the civilian institutions.
These meetings were positive and widely accouted by in the press.
The regime has ensured that its control over public institutions is real and efficient. All the public insitutions and services are responding correctly.
Till now not a single defection has been acknowledged. What has showed by the western and arab medias is fake “faux et usage de faux”

With your permission i’ll add that the infrastruture is still working despite the continual sabotage performerd by very powerful parties (like USA KSA FRANCE UK HARIRI JORDAN TURKEY etc… etc…) since even before the start of this fake revolution. This sabotage has been by now wideley exposed and proven. You cant fool a whole planet.

The coming infrastructure cannot be a drastically new one. But a gradual evolution of the present infrastructure. No sane person can expect that a new infrastructure would blossom and grow from scratch.
And nobody in Syria has expelled this undestanding you make from the president’s speech. All people are saying it must be gradual. Syrians are not naive.

7)

enfin “that is just not enough” you say

i say to you : i pray you lady whomever you are wether syrian or non-syrian

THIS IS REALLY ENOUGH

ENOUCH WITH YOUR LIES AND MISINFORMATION

ENOUCH WITH YOUR HYPOCRISY

ENOUGH WITH YOUR RACIST ARROGANCE

ENOUCH WITH YOUR NAYSAYER GRINS

Why-Discuss,
That sounds like a reasonable timetable/plan for me. Your comparison with SA, means that we share a similar opinion of the enormity of the task ahead, and the wounds that we have to overcome.

I differ with you on one point. I do not see how the exiled opposition can exert any real influence on this process, once it starts. They have no credibility inside, and once such a process really kicks off with partners from the opposition inside, foreign players will be hard pressed to play along. Exiled opposition will have no place to go.

But, how do you know that this regime is genuine about this process? That the end result, a peaceful transition of powers to an elected assembly, and later, a leader, is something they envision as well. What observations do you have, and that I can not see, that makes you this certain. A number of friends, close to the regime, have told me time and again these fables of reform, and they insist Bashar is genuine. While I don’t have any reason to distrust them, his handling of the crisis from the beginning gives me no reason to trust their insights as true. Is there something else you can tell me? other than your subjective opinion of Bashar as a reformer?

Also, when you say, the past is past, we’re talking about the past as a whole, right? I mean, a process of national reconciliation doesn’t just mean to tell the regime that bygones are bygones, but it should go to the other party with blood on their hands. Do you think the regime will swallow the pill of the MB returning to Syrian social life (if not as a political party).

Why
Two question
1) will the demonstrations stop?
2) will the oppression,killing and arrest stop before the dialogue?

I think 3-5 years is too long

ABOALI #183

fake syrian not in Aleppo.

Dare prove it 🙂

#189 yeah gonna be making another special little video just for you Vlad the idiot, prepare to have my foot shoved way down your throat 🙂

Why,

” They are first judged by what they say the’ll do and then by what they do.”. Agree. The difference her is we judged Bashar over the last 3 years and we are being asked tp re-judge him again.

Nevertheless, I like your plan. I think it is the best solution possible!

#190 ABOALI

dont bother yourself with such a tedious task

this kind of proof cannot give me satisfaction

#192 nope, but my foot will give you all the satisfaction you need vladi boy 😉

ABOALI

“nope, but my foot will give you all the satisfaction you need vladi boy”

is this your proof ?

#179, 180, 182 Dears, If you do belive the Syrians on the street, and not the expats, then you need to listen to what they say:

Ir7al Ir7al Ya Basahr

The uprising is as much about freedom and democracy as it is about restoring the rule of law in order to combat corruption and humn rights violations.

Does anyone belive that Jr does not know about, and is not a party to his cousin’s commercial deals with the Government?

Does anyone believe that Jr has been sitting pretty in his innocence tower while his brother and security forces execute a plan of terror, in the name of “Saving Syria”

In the eye of Justice, Jr, Bro.,Coz, and the top command are suspects of committing mass murder and corruption, in same order of responsibility.

Suspects of mass murder, corruption, and misrepresentation of facts can not and shall not be trusted to be even free on bail, let alone negotiating the future of a nation.

Sober up!

Tara,

You conveniently choose to ignore the millions of Syrians that came out in support of Bashar al-Asad in all governorates and major cities, while at the same time, glorifying the thousands that come out here and there, mostly on Fridays, as “the Syrian people”. Maybe those millions are all approving the blood bath? Or wait, maybe all those millions are mukhabarat, shabbiha, and shabibe? Even with such a ridiculous claim, mukhabarat, shabbiha, and shabibe are Syrian too.

Although you have not explicitly said this, you have been somewhat implying that you live in Damascus, or at least somewhere in Syria, in order to have some credibility when you say “the people want x and y” when in fact you do not live in Syria. You did not even understand the significance of decreasing the price of diesel by 25%! It costs around 95 SYP in Turkey, and 45 SYP in Lebanon, while now it is only 15 SYP in Syria. The price of diesel affects everything, literally EVERYTHING, and is especially a good boost for the poor farmers. You know what isn’t good for the poor farmers? Things like your “peaceful protesters” burning off their crops just for the sake of blaming the army.

You are clearly out of touch with Syrian society yet you go on pretending like you know everything that’s going on, with all your accusations of the killings and torturing and cutting of little boys’ penises.

Tara

I would love to argue evidence. That is hard to do in this situation.

However, I’m not exactly coming into this blind.

Others have been generic, I’ll be specific on my condemnation of the opposition.

An example: The tourists industry wants to have lax alcohol sales. The locals are against it.

Yes, it sounds stupid. But it means millions in tourists dollars.

What would you do? What do the supposed leaders of Syria intend to do regarding this? Allow sales to bring in tourists? Continue the ban to appease the conservatives.

Seems silly? Try to get a consensus.

ABOALI

i am waiting for your answer
don’t waste my time 🙂

AboAli, the honest businessman in Aleppo

Thank you for your reply.

I see you still want to give us this illusion of an honest hard-working business man who dabbles in innocent selling of US dollars to help the SYP crash. Who smuggles all this hard currency from Lebanon to you today? The pro-regime shabbiha (who want to kill the SYP to topple the regime) that you hate so much? Maybe Hariri’s shabbiha? Are they also the ones who transport the money to Saudi Arabia afterwards?

I understand people need hard currency for travel and import, but who’s doing either of the two now? And you want us to believe that from a 600,000+ SYP deal, you made only 500 SYP commission? 10 bucks? If that’s true, then you must be dirt cheap. Who would go through the risks, at a time like today, for just 500 SYP? Is that even 0.1%? You clearly don’t even have respect for yourself. The Aleppines I know are much better than this.

#197 Mick, where the hell do you get your information from? Alcohol is sold freely just about everywhere in Syria. In Lattakia, a major tourist destination, you can even buy it at shacks and small shops near the Shalets and drink it on the streets with no problem. Even in Hama, the heartland of conservative Sunni Islam, there are shops which sell alcohol. Bars in Damascus and Aleppo are plentiful, so are liquor stores. There are even state run breweries with local beers like Al Sharq and Barada, as well as distilleries for vodka and whiskey and several brands of wine, not to mention the many brands and enormous quantities of Arak. So where do you get your information from? Have you ever actually been to Syria dude?

USSAMA

ABOALI is not living in Aleppo and he is not even syrian.

Usama,

Do you think that lifting the subsidies on Mazot and other items have something to do with what happened, It seems that most the trouble is at the border areas with Turkey, Lebanon, Jordon .the areas where the people work with smuggling item to these countries.

ABOALI ??????

I WANT THE PROOF

Mother of Martyr child Ridha 3alawiyyeh, 13 year old, mourning her dead son, killed by military itelligence.
She prays to God to avenge the death of her son’s death

شام – الكسوة -الشهيد 13 سنة الطفل رضا رضوان علوية 25 –
6

#198 اشبك جدبة؟ خلص علقت عطيزي؟ عضلك علي شي فردة صرماية وسكوت بقى راح ابعتلك قظ القرد في خلقتك فيديو صبور شوي

#199 you’re pretty clueless as to how the real world works in general aren’t you? pro-tip, don’t ever start your own business, you’ll go broke very soon. The people who smuggle dollars across the Lebanese border do so with the explicit instruction of Syrian officials, it’s just another way (albeit desperate) to try to inject more dollars and take the pressure off the Lira for a while. By regulating the flow of hard cash in and out of the borders, they can manipulate the exchange rate to a certain extent by providing the needed liquidity when there’s increased demand. not sure how long they’ll be able to keep doing that though.

And yes, commission for 10k U.S.D is around 500 lira, that’s how the “real world” works, there’s something called “competition”. You make money by trading in volume, not by ripping people off in a single trade and ruining your reputation.
But you’re right about wanting to crash the economy, that’s the whole plan. When the regime can no longer afford to pay civil servants their salaries, or Maher’s mercenaries their wages, then it’ll collapse pretty quick. There’s a concerted campaign going on by the silent majority, protesters and anti-regime campaigners to stop paying their bills, and withdraw all their money out of the banks. How about you let your uncle Rami step in and pay out of all the billions he stole eh? Or is he just gonna bail and run away with all the money leaving Bashar to foot the bill all by himself?

COMMANDO

“anti-Syrian”

i dont agree with all you say but this is the right word.

What strikes me the most about the anti-syrians is their stupidity.
It is indeed their salient character.

ABOALI

Dare you explain this, what you say

“The people who smuggle dollars across the Lebanese border do so with the explicit instruction of Syrian officials, it’s just another way (albeit desperate) to try to inject more dollars and take the pressure off the Lira for a while.”

complete nonsical insane absurdity

you coward , who you’re trying to fool ?

#200

I live in a county that doesn’t sell booze on Sundays. Yes I can buy what I want. Until 4 year ago, no food establishment could sell booze. Needless to say, no major food chains were here. A major economic problem. People in the county went to the next county to have decent meal with a glass of wine.

Yes, like in America, there are areas that have no problem with booze. But what is the national position?:

From the SC archives:

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=7147

A formidable balancing act for the government. I was personally very struck by how much more religious Syria has become. Aleppo has developed the area around the imposing and spectacular castle in order to attract tourists. Cars were banned from the area. Restaurants and cafes now dominate the scene. Having said that, you cannot have a single beer in the entire area. Not a single cafe or restaurant is allowed to do so. Why i asked? Because the area’s residents are too religious and hence would not allow any establishment to offer alcohol. Which tourist would choose to sit here and drink Pepsi I asked particularly when the Saudis and other Gulf Arabs are not exactly in Syria for the history and museums that it offers. Blank stares is what i got back. I offer this as an example. This is by far Aleppo’s most important tourist attraction. How the government allows residents to intimidate restaurant owners is very telling. It is almost like don’t ask don’t tell kind of arrangement. These restaurants and cafes will close down soon. You cannot survive the rent on selling Pepsi and tea. What a shame to see what this area can be and what it is today. It can put Lebanon to shame. It can take all the business that is going to that country. Instead, we want to bring our religion to the streets, cafes and restaurants. I hope that I am not offending my Muslim brothers on this list. I feel very strongly about this and I expressed my feelings to everyone in Aleppo that would listen including raees al baladiye

I do sense a desperation on the part of the regime supporters on the one hand and a little panic/frantic in those who are espousing stability to allow reforms to occur.

Russia will not make the same mistake it did with Libya where it refused to consider an alternative to the Ghadafi regime and was left out of a role to play with the transitional authority in Benghazi and now they are playing catch up there. The Russians are quite concerned that with Syria it will be Turkey that fills the void left by the retreat of the US from the region; the preoccupation of the EU in Libya; the flux of Egypt; the paralyzing fear of the KSA; and the internal problems of Iran.

As for the comments they are becoming personal and as usual and logical irrelevant to what is happening on the ground.

May I remind WD; oh the very reasonable one that the Zoo designations have come from the rulers: Rats in Libya and Microbes in Syria. May I remind him of the late Romanian dictator’s wife that called her people Worms and Insects; and lest we forget Menahem Begin who called Palestinians coakroches on two legs.

As always, Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.

Here are a list of tacit recognitions of the regime of the terrible situation in Syria:

1. Reforms are needed therefore things need reforming

2. Stability is needed for reforms therefore there is no stability now

3. Refugees fled armed gangs therefore their lack of return means there is no security

4. We will forget that Europe exists on the map therefore we used to know about Europe and its presence in the region

5. We are opening Bank Accounts in Lebanon therefore our economy and financial situation needs work

6. We are raising salaries therefore we recognize that people are desperately poor

7. We are subsiding fuel therefore people are really suffering

8. There is an opposition therefore the rule of the Baath in leading the country as enshrined in the constitution has failed as people are rejecting this model and its utter failure.

Rats and Microbes and Insects and Worms of the World Unite
Humbug again

MCK #208

are we going to blame Bashar for this also ?

no regime whatever in Syria can cope with this ? unless a real secular dictatorship alla turca (ATATURK) which the regime is not, i mean not a dictatorship

Norman,

No. Lifting mazot subsidies does not make people stock up on weapons, satellite communications, red ink, and Salafi friends. Bashar clearly said he lowered the price of mazot because that was consistently requested by the hundreds of local envoys whom he spoke to, and its positive effects are wide-ranging. But let’s get real though, I don’t think anything under 40 SYP is sustainable for the long term. Even that number might be too low. Besides, the cheaper he makes it, the more incentive for the smugglers to smuggle it.

OBSERVER #209

you are playing the objective observer but your last sentence proves you are far from being objective. Your arguments are either nonsical or ironic.

If you are not syrian and you assume that the syrians can be satisfied with this kind of arguments, i can only conclude that you are just a racist.

#203 eh Khayo, I don’t live in Halab, I’m a garthomeh moundas from Mars. Which is why I can’t take videos of pro-regime rallies at the citadel, and quote you the daily exchange rate from the Aleppo black market. And I guess I don’t get my burgers at Papay in the Mogambo, or drive past Che Che on my way there. It must be why I don’t drink cocktails and eat sandweshet jibneh at 3aojet el jib, or get a Shawerma at Somar. It must also be why I don’t drink expresso kabseh at the suzuki’s in the mohalak, or eat baleela mafroota ma3 zibdeh, or buy my haytaleih at Salora, and my booza at Attar. Oh, and I don’t buy my pirated computer DvD’s at the 3abert el computer at Share3 Iskandaroon next to Abu Daham, nor do I get my falafel at al Nozha, or my fatayer at al Mawked. And I guess I don’t get my sijeq at Abu Jack in Siriyan (incidentally, it’s the best in the world, you guys have to try it).

Khayo seriously, I’m not a Halabi, faya azizi, iza 3ajabak 3ajabak, w iza ma 3ajabak fala teezee!

ABOALI

i tell you again don’t waste my time 🙂

ABOALI

hada bourhanak ?

la habibi hada mou burhan

ente leish khayef ?

bass la shoof wusshak 🙂

Vlad,

It really doesn’t matter to me.

AboAli, the honest businessman in Aleppo

OK, I will buy into your claim about the regime allowing this foreign currency in for liquidity. But can you explain why afterwards they send the money to Saudi Arabia? There are many citizen initiatives taking place for depositing SYP into banks to support the SYP. Even poor families are trying to do their part. So when your pro-regime friends give you $10k, and you give them back ~500k SYP, why would they send the money to Saudi Arabia instead of just depositing it in a bank?

Anyway, I understand the volume argument, but I think 0.1% is just desperation.

PS: If you succeed in making the SYP crash (and you won’t) and the regime gets toppled (and it won’t), let me know how your “business” holds up Mr. smart businessman.

USAMA

thanks for your patience

#215 hahahah, seriously, are all you pro-regimers that stupid? Wow, you must be made in the same factory or grown in the same manure heap or something, unblielevable! Tell you what, I’ll send you a picture of my foot instead, standing on Bashar, how’s that? Ro7 il3ab ghera habibi. And on a related note, all you pro-regime idiots will be the ones hiding your faces and identities when Bashar falls, payback time baby ….

#208 Mick, so you came to Syria, and all you could do was bitch about not being able to get pissed and s**t faced near the Aleppo citadel? Yeah that’s the typical white-trash western attitude for you, who cares about the cultural sensitivities of the bloody natives, I wanna get pished and snog my bird next to some old stones.
Tell you what, how about next time you sod off to Ibiza and not bother coming back here again.

Representative of Syrian Coordination Committees M Abdallah:
No dialogue with B Asad; His presidency is now illegitimate.

العربية|بانوراما مع محمد العبد الله و شريف شحادة25\6\2011

THANKS #6

“of nations with failed corrupted management”

Syria is not a failed nation. Take a look at Egypt, Yemen, Lybia, Iraq, Algeria etc… Compare. Besides how much foreign refugees fled to Syria in the last 30 years ?

ABOALI

you grin you coward

lesh khayef habibi ? la huttak 3al khaz..k ?

COME ON 🙂

ABOALI

I’M SERIOUS AND I ASSUME YOU ARE A GENTLEMAN OR MADAM … IN CASE THE REGIME IS TOPPLED 🙂

DON’T WASTE MY TIME

ABOALI #218

fake syrian

you say “I wanna get pished and snog my bird next to some old stones.
Tell you what, how about next time you sod off to Ibiza and not bother coming back here again.”

no syrian unless a az3ar say that, you are less than a az3ar so you are not syrian

coward

#221
لك شو شايفني مخطتي شارة واجدب متلك؟ ديه تفضل حضرتك وحط صورتك هون لاشوف وفرجيني شقدك ابضاي وجومرت، والله اذا ما بتصير الف شقفة انا ما بفهم شي، حاكم معلومك بعد اربعين سنة من العفس والاستغباء، الشعب السوري ما عميعرف يعبر عن رأيه او يتحاور مع الطرف التاني من دون مايطئلو عرق ويحاول يقتلو، هي بعد التخوين والمسبات طبعا، وهي عبتصير بين الرفقة والعيلة الواحدة، فما بالك واحد اجدب عبيتساخف على موقع انترنت

ABOALI

i spoke to you in arabic only to provoke you. Dare translate in English what you wrote before.

I didn’t ask you to show صورتك your photo. Neither i’ll do so.

You guess what i am asking for. So i repeat why are you so afraid ? I pray you to assume that i am a gentleman and have the courage to agree on my proposal. I’m serious.

#225 look I don’t understand what the hell you’re on about. What do you want me to translate? what’s your proposal? Say it in Arabic, your English is crap.

ABOALI #224

i maintain you are not syrian and you do no live in Aleppo.

ABOALI #226

I want to see your face habibi 🙂

ABOALI #226

“your English is crap”

my english is enough for what i’ve said and you do understand.

i assume from your comment #218 that you dont drink alcohol. No importance for me 🙂

So ?

#228 eh sure sonny boy, 2lf talab mitl hal talab, but right after you show me yours first.

La2nno I learned that in high school, show me yours and I’ll show you mine.

#227 la teezee whatever you maintain, la2anno after tons of proof, you’re still in denial. Same as all the other pro-regime idiots which deny the murders and massacres being committed by Bashar’s thugs even after thousands of videos and eye witnesses all corroborating those facts.

on second thoughts I changed my mind, here’s my pic:

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/mypick.jpg/

ABOALI

this is not the translation of your brilliant contribution #224.

you say “la2anno after tons of proof” dont f…ck with me

there can be only one proof to wipe off my maintaining !

are you afraid ? i told you if you don’t drink alcohol it doesn’t matter.

BTW i can translate everything mentioned in arabic herebefore wrote in latin letters (not in greek pufff) , i pray you translate what you write in arabic for people here to be enlighted. Your own words please.

sure buddy, you want #224:

“What do you think I’m dumb with snot hanging out my nose like you? How about you go ahead and show your picture, and prove to me how brave you are, you’ll get ripped to a thousand pieces. You know very well that for 40 years us Syrians have been trodden on and treated as stupid, we no longer know how to express ourselves or argue with the opposite side without getting angry and wanting to kill each other, after all the swearing and accusations of treachery of course. That happens between families and friends, so just imagine what would happen to an idiot trolling an online forum.”

anything else? would you like me to fix you a basterma sandwich, maybe punch you in the face?

Yazan

I think the x-opposition is very capable of harming any dialog. They are well equipped and funded by organizations that have various agendas. They are the ones through facebook that have been manipulating the whole process of friday demonstrations. It is true that they have failed in many calls, but don’t underestimate them. Their failure will not be swallowed easily and they have allies on the ground that are ready to undermine the dialogs, they won’t be neutralized easily.

Now your question about why should you trust the government in their new costume.
I think the whole uprising has been a psychological shock for Bashar al Assad who naievely thought he was ‘close to the people’.
The unravelling of the events, the show of hatred, the insults must have first disturbed him immensely, but I think he is a pragmatic guy and many of his team too, principally Moallem. They have realized that they have been mistaken all along, and that Erdogan was right when he has been telling Bashar al Assad to proceed with reforms the soonest possible.
The second shock was to realize that the economical opening they have started was going out of hand and making the gap between rich and poor deeper and worse more obvious. It was a failure and just before the uprisings there were reports that the government was reconsidering this approach to preserve the social net for poor people. They had no time to do anything.
The third shock was to realize that contrary to the other situation of sanctions Syria went through, this time they needed external foreign support to prevent harsher sanctions. Turkey interceded with Obama to give more time to Bashar and Russia opposed a veto. Luckily the misuse of the UN resolution for Libya and the failure to reach a speedy solution had convinced Russia to refuse another similar resolution in Syria.
Erdogan in a way saved Syria from US harsher sanctions and Russia from UN sanctions. Erdogan couldn’t do the same with the EU with which he does not have a good relation.
Now Bashar owes Erdogan and Russia, and that is key to what may come next.
Bashar is now been watched by Turkey and Russia and he must deliver, otherwise Turkey may turn its back and let harsher and crippling condemnations for the US flow. Russia too.
Bashar has no other choice that make the reforms he promised, I believe he is not unhappy to have to do them, as I believe he is a genuine guy, trapped in a web of family and money intrigues.
I also believe he has many allies who really want the country to change but he also has some who would prefer the good old time. In view of the deteriorating situation on the ground, the nayers are becoming less vocal.
In summary, Bashar is under two major influences, a) The traumatic realization of his failure toward his people that I think he genuinely loves and the desire to make up for it at any cost b) The pressure for the government to deliver the reforms under the threat of being totally isolated and crushed.
Now the question is : Would the current events allow the dialog to start? As I mentioned it earlier, the local opposition must stand and make it clear they intend to go into a serious dialog with the governmenmt and declare that the x-opposition is not representative of Syria and that its call for demonstrations should be ignored. I hope Turkey’s discreet support give them that courage.

#218

Where did I say it was about me? I posted about a businessman who was concerned about business.

In fact, I brought it up because I wanted to know what the ‘opposition’ thought the answer should be. You answered how I thought you would. Ignoring the main point.

I would love to visit Syria one day. But it sure as hell won’t happen if the MB turns it into another Saudi Arabia. I’ve been to Saudi Arabia. Chop-Chop square is not my idea of good time.

#165 Congratulations on totally distorting all of my positions, you must be from Tel Aviv.

Tara,

You didn’t address the rest of my post, the first part was the comedy section.

ABOALI #232

ok that’s fine

go for the basterma sandwich no problemo

the question is when and where ?

waiting for your answer habibi

#169

The clash you’re reporting had nothing to do with sects, you should also note the sheer size of the pro-government demonstrators overwhelmed the idiot terrorists.

Yazan

I am not sure the MB will be able to enter as MB party. Like Egypt and Turkey, religious political party will not be allowed. They will have to create a new party and attract christians or druzes or alawites or others to make it acceptable.

#234 so you’ve never been to Syria, yet you troll a forum all about Syrian politics and butt in with your pre-conceived notions about the Syrian opposition, while at the same time in #197 state

“However, I’m not exactly coming into this blind.

Others have been generic, I’ll be specific on my condemnation of the opposition.

An example: The tourists industry wants to have lax alcohol sales. The locals are against it.”

So how exactly are you not coming into this bind, when you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about? And the only thing bothering you about the Syrian opposition is their supposed animosity to alcohol consumption, while you totally ignore the blatant human rights abuses, murders and torture being systematically carried out by this regime against it’s own people.

Seriously, don’t ever come to Syria, you might spill your beer and blame it on radicals and the Salafis.

NORMAN

is this

اشبك جدبة؟ خلص علقت عطيزي؟ عضلك علي شي فردة صرماية وسكوت بقى راح ابعتلك قظ القرد في خلقتك فيديو صبور شوي

from ABAOLI is in compliance with the general conditions of this blog ?

#206

Anti-Syrian describes them perfectly because every position they take is completely the opposite of what would be beneficial for Syria. The pattern cannot be ignored, you cannot pin it down on stupidity, it is clearly malice.

I don’t expect everyone to agree with what I say. It took me a long time to arrive at my position and if it is too convincing then clearly it was a time wasted. 🙂

Mick,

Don’t worry about Aboali, he’s a fake Syrian with a lot of resources to continue to illusion. Either that or he’s been out of Syria for a long time. [Or a Lebanese hariri-lover lol]

#236 As soon as the regime falls my friend, be patient. I’ll invite you for a basterma sandwich at Abu Jack, my treat of course. (p.s Abu Jack sells beer and Arak illegally, and he’ll even let you drink it behind the counter if he knows you well enough) 😉

ABOALI

You have only proven till now that your are less than a coward.

Your are a lier and a filthy saboteur. You have nothing to give to Syria, you only take and you’re taking too much, according to what you boasted of previously here.

BASS LASHOOF WUSSHAK – JUST TO SEE YOUR FACE 🙂

ABOALI

“and he’ll even let you drink it behind the counter if he knows you well enough”

but i thought this wouldn’t be needed anymore and alcohol is going to be permitted like in other places after the regime fails 🙂

but i won’t wait habibi 🙂

WD

End that love affair with Erdoghan already. He did no favors for Bashar. He has diplomatic channels to suggest certain things, but instead he went public with nothing short of insults. That is not called helping Bashar. That was encouraging the terrorists who killed 120 security and policemen, in one day, to continue their operations. This is politics. No one owes anyone anything. Even Russia’s stance was not about helping Bashar, but it was about its own strategic interests, nothing more nothing less.

#241 ……. either that, or maybe I’m a magical teleporting tooth fairy, capable of deviously mischievous acts of indisas and anti-regime activism.

Tell you what though, people like me are your worst nightmare. The Baathists think all Syrians are illiterate simpletons with an I.Q of 42 who can be easily fooled with the childish lies and infantile propaganda of the regime. They were shocked when they realized Syrians weren’t willing to take their crap anymore and are speaking out and rebelling.
Turns out, it’s the other way round, the Syrian people are the smart brave ones, and the Baathists are the dumb cowards. And now that the tables have turned, we’re coming to get you. We are your worst nightmare, we are legion, you are finished.

#233

WD, you have to understand that additional US sanctions on Syria are useless — they already sanction anything of interest one can buy from them. Erdogan has been working in the background to destroy Syria.

Indeed, if Iran didn’t tell the Turkish bastards that “Syria is a red line” we may see war erupt today.

So don’t tell me what have to thank Erdogan for anything.

#246

>The Baathists think all Syrians are illiterate simpletons with an I.Q of 42 who can be easily fooled with the childish lies and infantile propaganda of the regime.

Actually that’s your side and al jazeera, syria-news and other sewerstreams.

AboAli,

I re-read your comment about the $9000 and I think I misread the first time. You meant that you were sending the USD to Saudi, not the SYP, right? In any case, can you give us any insight into what happens to the SYP that you receive? If it is really a government operation, what do you think they do with it?

ABOALI

“my treat of course” haha !

what an aristocrat you are ABOALI to speak like you do !

ente akaber mafi shak (you are from high society no doubt) 🙂

YOU COWARD LIER SABOTEUR PROFITEUR SHAME ON YOU AND YOUR ALIKES

YOU BETTER WAIT NOT I

Mezze Meshwee Militia:

Memo to VLAD-THE-SYRIAN and ABOALI

RE: Will you two rookies cut it out?

Will the racist Dale Anderson, who compares Syrians to zoo creatures, stay out of our affairs? Or will he continue to post his garbage on Huffington post?

204. Revlon said:
“Mother of Martyr child Ridha 3alawiyyeh, 13 year old, mourning her dead son, killed by military itelligence.
She prays to God to avenge the death of her son’s death”

Your fake concern is vomit-worthy. As an IDF killer, were you behind some mother’s son’s death like this one?

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m50907&hd=&size=1&l=e

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/06/takeaways-uns-global-refugee-report/39027/
Half of worlds refugees are escaping from US -zionist Wars.

85. Yazan said:
“If anybody cares to see a slice of the Syrian blogosphere.”

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/06/24/syria-blogging-day-for-syria/

That site is NOT a slice of genuine Syria. Or anyone else either. It is a phony manufactured set up sponsored by the CIA and the US State Dept as part of their “people power Color Revolution” apparatus. It is affiliated w/ CIA’s AYM, Alliance of Youth Movements (who created Google’s Egyptian Wael Ghonem phenomenon) and paid for by multinational corporations for commercial interests.

AYM brings protesters together from across the world and trains them in tactics (esp social media) to overthrow their own governments. These stooges do the US Army’s job for them. Instigate regime change in America’s targeted enemies. For ‘humanitarian reasons’ of course.
Like Facebook, you will also be tracked. Dont be surprised if one day your info is used for blackmail to keep you in line. Be independent, start your own blog- dont ally w/ a surveillance network.

DALEMORONSON #251

pray you why do you advice ABOALI to cut it down ?

how do you know he is a rookie ?

AlQazzazeen demonstration must have sent gitters down the regime’s spine. It was too close for comfort!

Demonstrators’ chanted intents reverberated in the lobbys of the Central Bank of Syria, located a few blocks away!

Furthermore, it was within a few miles from the lion’s den!

The screws are tightening up, virtually and literally!

Qazzazeen, Baghdad street, Friday of the fall of legitimacy

[…] and frequent guest-blogger at Prof. Joshua Landis' Syria Comment, Ehsani, tried to answer these questions about the future of the Syrian economy: Is bringing down the economy and bankrupting the country a […]

Vlad and Aboali, cursing each other in Aleppi should prove enough you are Aleppines (but poor Shami, it’s been a week that I wait to see him writing in French; probably only his father is a ‘French-educated Aleppine’), but the positive point is that hopefully we will see the coming debates of the opposition going the same way: calling each other names and then insisting to get a picture and inviting each other for a meal. Not too bad.

Here is a nice post by Sophia about how to pave the road for a civil war, a path some people have been actively seeking since February.
(No way to link it, so I copy it:)
What is described in your last comment is the traditional prelude to a civil war situation. The task of the Syrian army will be to rid the country from chaos and it is well prepared for this since their past presence in Lebanon during the civil war there is a useful training to this kind of circumstances. Suppose we could have had an army in Lebanon in 1976 who would have been able to defeat those who were preparing the terrain for a civil war, we would all have cheered the army. I think the regime has no choice. It must be understood everywhere that the country faces a very grave situation, not peaceful protests on the street. But western countries listen only to what they want to hear. Only three months into the Lybian rebellion we learn that the story publicised by teh rebellion that Ghaddafi hired mercenenaries to kill his own people is false but it wa believed anyway.

Preparing the terrain for a civil war is a classical scheme of those who have a non negociated and non negotiable agenda for their country so they threaten with civil war, and it is exactly what happened in lebanon where Christian militia, from the beginnig, wanted to partition Lebanon and their own piece of it where they could rule unhindered upon a homogenous and docile community terrorised by fear of their own and fear of the enemy. But other Lebanese wouldn’t split the country, so they basically contributed to create a civil war situation and the demise of the state.

We have the same thing here. Syrians who want the fall of the regime are threatening other Syrians, who want gradual reforms, with civil war. You could easily see this in the article ‘The fall of the house of Assad’ by Robin Yassin Kassab. I posted an anlysis of his article previously on this blog.

June 25, 2011 8:07:00 AM GMT+12:00

And an article by a non-enthusiast
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-248537-shallow-analyses-of-syria-could-lead-to-embarrassing-mistakes.html

Mina, her (Petra’s) analysis is just as shallow as any other Orientalist’s…

Syrian army is strong, no way these cavemen can break it. Like I said multiple times, Syria has not played a single card during this entire crisis while the enemy played almost all of their cards.

The two last remaining cards are:

– Turkish assault (imminent)
– Problem in Qamishli with Iraqi traitor aide

The daily/weekly terrorist strikes are ineffective. At this rate, Syria will slowly begin to approach the crime rate of the USA lol. They’re bleeding money on this operation and the fire they’re trying to ignite isn’t working.

If I was the government right now I would tell people to stop their pro-government demonstrations for now. Stop wasting time and work your job while the reforms happen. Don’t fight with the terrorists, let the police/army handle them.

Germ: A song dedicated to Jr

i dont understand why the government allowed the international media into the country again ! a prostitute like Sky News should not be allowed to operate in any country let alone Syria now.
Here is the first report of Sky News from ‘troubled streets of Damascus’
they are clearly not interested of showing what they see and hear ,they want to report what they expected to see or what their masters expecting them to show ,
they dismissed everything they saw and heard to focus on a ‘passer-by statement who said ‘Don’t believe everything they tell you.’ not only that they missed translate what other people are saying .
the all report is as cheap as Sky News is

did any country in the world bearded what Syria is bearing now ?

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Video-Robert-Nisbet-Reports-From-Syrias-Streets-As-Sky-News-Gets-Access-To-Damascus/Article/201106416018770?lpos=World_News_First_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_0

MINA

“Vlad and Aboali, cursing each other in Aleppi should prove enough you are Aleppines”

Since you adress me : i didn’t curse anybody. I wouldn’t dare utter one of my curses knowing how efficient they are. Only irony.

Besides is this really a proof that i’m aleppine ? as for ABOALI i guess Mina that yon can read arabic so to understand what he writes in arabic

And i still not assuming he is aleppeine unless he gives a serious proof. The smart aleppine businessman exchanging his dollars !

Louai
They have killed Ben Laden, so now they have to re-activate the anti-communist feeling (trying to replace it with some anti-Islam wars has proven too costly).
For the media it is a ready meal, their articles and phrases are ready to use. North Korea. Secret police. Fear of your family members.
With all these young punks in Europe who want both jobs AND free education AND free health, they are faced with a “neo-communist” and “neo-anarchist” insurrection, for sure. (the terms were used on CNN to cover a G8 summit protest once)

[…] and frequent guest-blogger at Prof. Joshua Landis’ Syria Comment, Ehsani, tried to answer these questions about the future of the Syrian economy: Is bringing down the economy and bankrupting the […]

I love the way the protesters sing their slogans, rather than chanting lines. It’s so melodic and charming. How do they know to answer the call at exactly the same time? it’s like a fine tuned chorus. So nice So musical. Looks like it’s something uniquely Syrian. I didn’t see this kind of singing-chanting elsewhere in the ME. I’m loving it.

PS Yesterday while showering I found my self humming a melody. I tried to remember what was this song. It was something I heard on YouTube from Syria. It goes like this: La la la lalalala- lala- la-la.
.

Amir in Tel Aviv,

I’m sure you ARE loving it, and that annihilation of the various Muslim countries is much to your liking- and planning. Music to your ears… You are one sick pup, like your khazar kin. A nation of repulsive sadists with delusions of grandeur.

Wild how strife and fitna is embraced so avidly by the “arab cockroaches” as Nazi swine Menachem Begin used to say, “to kill each other off for the benefit of the zionists”. Israel will be the prime beneficiary of all of this M.E. region-wide bloodletting as it stands aside untouched; while in the chaos the zionist’s enemies kill each other with Israel losing not a single man or one shekel. Amazing that Arabs still havent woken up to this game and refuse to be its pawns. How many proxy wars will it take to wake up?

Bassam al Qadi speaks his mind against the Sheraton conference.
http://www.bassam-alkadi.com/content/view/602/80/

He says (among other things) that there should be a way to start a dialogue in the population rather than to let fake representatives have discussions in a five star hotel.

Amir in tel aviv,

You’re right, the melodies sound great, I especially like these ones:

8yr tlateh mamaekhtar, Allah, Souria wBashar,
Ya Allah wya Jabbarr, Ta7melna Dr Bashr and
La, la lalfitneh, ne7na ta2fitna Souri.

These among many were sung at a massive demonstration in support of our beloved leader Dr. Bashar Assad, in Sydney, Australia and a simultaneous one in Melbourne Australia today. It was a great day with young and old, Christians and Muslims chanting, singing and dancing together all in support of the great leader, President Bashar Assad.

Allah Souria Bashar wbuss.

Never been interested in politics before , i have a question for you, is it normal in the history of revolutions that the opposition work to destroy the economy of their own country? did it happen before or that is a unique to the so called Syrian opposition?

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد
شباب الثورة .. هذا الاسبوع في عنا بعض الافكار الهامه جدا لتنفيذها على ارض
الواقع .. وكلنا لاحظ اعتراف القاتل الاكبر باننا قد نجحنا بشكل كبير بايقاف السيولة
التي يستعملها بتمويل شبيحته ..ولهذا فسنطرح بعض الخطوات لزيادة فعالية هدم
النظام اقتصاديا .. وحرمانه من الموارد التي يستخدمها لقتل وحصار اخوننا .. انتظرونا..

about an hour ago via HootSuite

Mina,

So the fake opposition is annoyed that the real opposition is making progress?

Sheraton is practically empty honey, they probably gave them the conference room for free.

#263

Hopefully one day, we’ll hear you sing while you shower in a pool of your own blood.

#266

Is there a way to contact you privately?

Louai,

I think the only opposition group that can be accredited with such an amount of stupidity is the so called Syrian opposition.

The bulk of them live abroad, so I dont think they care for the welfare of Syria or that the average Syrian is hurt if the economy is crippled.

The only thing that features in their deranged mind is their end agenda and if attempting to destroy the economy is a tunnel they can crawl through, then they will use it. As we have witnessed, they are without any morals or dignity, their perverse minds will attempt anything, so dont be surprised as to how low they stoop.

Syrian Commando,

I dont see how, without the vultures accessing details.

SC
Usually when we see something cancelled in Russia, it is because the US makes pression on the US participants not to go. They are probably trying to make deals with the Russians on God knows what and didn’t get exactly what they want (the butter, the butter’s money, and the girl selling the butter).
As for the Sheraton, Bassam is probably right that a popular dialogue must start, because everybody in the country is fed up with the culture of “conferences” that the governement and the academics have been enjoying with no attention for the rural areas, especially in the last few years.
I bet the STL indictment is for Monday or Tuesday and that of course weighs on the organization of any conference. It is part of the war of attrition in which the so-called independent judicial body has been playing an important part.

@266 HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH! AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! “Massive demonstration” ya kezab? Then how come neither The Australian newspaper nor the Sydney Morning Herald has any mention of your so called “massive demonstration”?

It’s so sad to see junior’s sycophants make up demonstrations. The only thing sustaining them is their fantasies.

But the SMH did have something to say about the protests in Syria, calling the ones in Damascus the biggest ones the capital has yet seen;

http://www.smh.com.au/world/toll-climbs-as-syrian-unrest-widens-20110625-1gkid.html

Ya Bashar Ya Kezab, Tidrab Inta wa Hal Khitab. LOOOOOOL!!!!!

Ya Hafiz, el3an rohak ya Hafiz! *clap clap clap*

Large demonstrations in Sydney and Melbourne, but nothing on the websites of The Age, Sydney Morning Herald or The Herald Sun? Not even The Australian?

Why am I not surprised? The media signalled what side they were on long ago.

Aboud,

I see stupidity comes naturally with you. Newspapers are printed in the morning, unless the editors have psychic ability, they would not be able to report an event that was held in the afternoon and have it feautured in the morning paper.

Anyhow, Chris W. is right, the media showed their bias long ago.

By the way, the Syrian revolution is so deep into their fabrications and lies, they think everyone is like them. I’m sure videos will be uploaded on youtube soon, you can look for them yourself because I am not interested in proving anything to a liar affiliated with the revolution.

>calling the ones in Damascus the biggest ones the capital has yet seen;

Thanks for demonstrating how much they lie. LOL. Biggest seen yet… just a few days ago the biggest demonstration in Syria’s history was for the government.

Then 50 monkeys from outside Damascus start throwing rocks and shooting people and its the biggest we’ve seen yet. These monkeys are going to be slaughtered if they continue to create problems in Damascus, we won’t stand for them a minute, we will demand a crackdown.

SYAU,

Maybe we can create PGP keys just to know we’re talking to the right person. I’d give you an email address but one of these fake-Syrians might intercept it and pretend to be you.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA! Oh my God, so now Australia is in on the Great-Plot-To-Unseat-The-Eye-Doctor. Are we now going to see Australian supplied weapons and cell phones to “mundaseen” in the north of Syria? Australian “terror bridages” in Dar’a? Baathists, strike Australia before it invades Syria! No wait, pretend that it doesn’t exist just like you did to Europe.

Google “bashar demonstrations sydney” and the only things that come up are video clips from APRIL! What have the Sydney based Bashar-sycophants been doing since then? Oh wait, Google is also in on the plot against junior. AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!

At some point, the clueless Baathists have to ask themselves why the world has such contempt for them.

@274 Trust me, I’d die of shame if anyone ever mistook me for one of you. I’d rather people mistook me for Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, or George Clooney, but not an Iran-boot-licking-sellout who puts pictures of war criminals on his car.

2 days ago a read a tweet that made me very upset, CNN reporter going to Syria said there is only 6 other people on the plane with her, that is at the height of the tourism season, how many family from Europe and the US cancelled their vacation, how many from the Gulf, how many Saudis went somewhere else, it’s depressing, from the beginning I was calling on all sides to step back from the brink but unfortunately someone outside Syria was fanning the flames of hatred, since Libya trouble started I had conflicting feeling about Sharia forbidding mutiny against the leader with the aspiration of the people for a better system, Ghaddaffi is an Ass-… but you can not deny that every thing he ever said was true, so true and frank that every one called him crazy for saying it, but why be conflicted, how many people lost their livelihood if not their life, how many immigrants had to leave the country, 500,000 Egyptian alone, all for what, replacing one ass… with another?

#275

You’re a moron, he said they will be uploaded soon. Search won’t even reveal them once they’re uploaded.

Halab businessman, hahaha, more like fat american with knowledge of arabic and friend-traitors in halab.

Small countries like Australia just follow the EU/US in everything they do, they have no independent policy. They sanctioned Syria the moment the EU announced they were doing so. SMH and others are all owned by a few zionist businessmen.

#276

Almost everyone in Syria knows there’s a conspiracy. I didn’t believe Ghaddafi at first as well, but now I see everything he said was true, it’s very sad.

From the treetop
On my last trip to check how are things going in the rathole, I found the following manifesto nailed to a dead tree right next to the snake’s den. It is important that all men7ebbakjeih see it.

I am doing this as a public service and I know, I know, …. it is terribly long.

O Shabiha of Syria, Stand for your rights

Our Values: Abuse, Assault, and Intimidation

Brothers and Sisters
Ours is a noble and old profession. Our modern history can be traced to the earliest unrests in the late 18th century. The world would have been a different place if it wasn’t for us. Who do you think stopped communists from taking over Sicily, Chicago, and Detroit and maintained control over mines and forests in Chile, El-Salvador, and other countries. In some places we are known as Squads, in others as Mafioso. Our values of Abuse, Assault, and Intimidation are as old as humanity.

While our ranks have swelled in Arab countries over the past six months, we continue to face professional challenges. In Egypt, we almost made it after our spectacular Battle of Camels and Mules if it wasn’t for the betrayal of the Egyptian Army. In Libya, we were betrayed by our royal family when they decided to import foreign substitutes. In Bahrain, we were replaced by cheap labor from other countries as well, and in Yemen, our role is fuzzy. And now, in Syria, where demands for our services are increasing by the day, and we have been so far, a primary force holding back larger unrest especially in big cities, we continue to face major labor challenges.

When our employers wanted to turn things sectarian, we were there on the streets and in the alleys making sure that our employer’s prophecy becomes self fulfilled. When the tax payer sponsored private armies of our employer are in transport between the many hot spots, who do you think is holding the fort but us. We are home grown, local and within the community, we know the ground well and we have been constantly working 24/7 and 7th (the seventh is most important) and yet, we continue to be mistreated, our labor rights violated, and our professional services undervalued. The challenges are great and they include lack of recognition, class discrimination, continuing deterioration of occupational conditions. This manifesto serves to highlight each of these challenges and proposes a solution to the problem, so that our profession remains as honorable as it is.

Challenge 1: Lack of Recognition/Acknowledgement
Notwithstanding the psychological need for recognition, and despite of our obvious presence and our services, felt by every Syrian, our employer continues to refuse to acknowledge our existence. In fact, he/they continue to call us different names in their attempt to giving rise to the myth that we are common folks standing in defense of the beloved eternal leader. This is very dangerous strategy, which may lead to some point in time when our employer may resort to calling us volunteers, and with that deny us our wages and salaries.

Denied recognition poses ill effect on both professional pride and future financial well-being. We demand that our employer, in his next speech, recognize our existence and proudly proclaim our services, especially those amongst us in the field.

Challenge 2: Class/Specialty Discrimination
Vocational specialization is important. It guarantees our ability to perform our jobs on various fronts. This is related to another problem, which is the fact that most of us have two jobs (i.e., journalists, drug smugglers, actors, pimps, students, professors, etc…). A recent brain dropping event allowed us to identify the following specializations listed in order of increasing privilege and decreasing effectiveness.

1. Street Shabbiha: Those responsible for preventing and confronting demonstrations. They are allowed the privilege of looting and the pleasure of beating, maiming, and killing. So far, they have been the most reliable in their job performance. Once they hit someone, that entity is out of commission. No one really knows their real compensation level due to the wide range of potential first occupation. This is the best armed group, usually enjoying the ability to carry cattle prods, knives, and occasionally a short barrel shot gun. These are the most professional of our shabiha due to their proficient use of both Abuse and Intimidation, but most likely, the least rewarded.

2. Office/workplace Shabbiha: Those responsible for making sure loyalists rallies have large attendance. Their privileges include opportunity for job promotion (but there is fierce competition). They have also been reliable, but their reliability is decreasing. Their most recent success was far cry from fun parties they have managed in the beginning of the events. However, they are becoming more proficient in arranging rallies to give false sense of larger than reality numbers. There is no guarantee that their promotion will occure, but they can still exercise a sizable amount of abuse and intimidation.

3. Electronic Shabbiha: Syrian Electronic Army and Expat-Shabbiha, mostly hail from rich families, or are now enjoying higher living standards than most Syrians. Due to their physical incompetence, and the threat they pose to trench shabbiha, they are asked to operate in their offices at the expense of their actual employer, at their homes, of at the tax-payers sponsored computer labs in universities. Rich on abuse, they have been far less successful in intimidation, in reality, every single entity they managed to hit, was back up in less than an hour. Unfortunately, they have become the laughing stock on countless forums they have identified as targets for their spam. They are the only group acknowledged by our employer, despite of their lack of demonstrable performance. (See challenge 1)

4. Intellectualism/Art/Literature Shabbiha: Those who write in press , show up on TV, and are fund of two dimensional geometry. They are the most privileged and recognized both financially and emotionally. Effectiveness wise, we believe that they may have been counterproductive. Backlash against their actions and words have been catastrophic and they have also become a laughing stock on a much wider scale despite of the countless opportunities of excited high-fiving they have afforded the other shabbiha.
As you can see, brothers and sisters, class discrimination among our divisions are rampant, and they threat to split our ranks. Decisive actions must be taken to even the ground. We demand that:

1. All shabiha must go through trench service before they are promoted into the rank. It is obvious that little or no linguistic and intellectual skills are required from shabbiha other than street vulgarity, a short training course should allow any shabbih to move between assignments with a prorated privilege based on the time spent in each style of tashbih.

2. Pay-scale must be established with compensations increasing based on demonstrable physical, electronic, or emotional impact. Cracked skull, broken legs, or death should have different prices. Long lasting impacts should also be considered in the pay scale.

Challenge 3: Deterioration of Occupational Conditions
During the early phase of our recent contract, street shabbiha used to be transported on-site using air-conditioned busses and nice four wheel drive, and other fancy cars including the original shabah. We have been hearing stories and seeing videos that on recent days, many of our brothers are being transported in lorries under demeaning conditions. This practice must stop.

Also and most critically, our employer has finally confessed that we are dealing with biohazards. His confession that germs constitute the majority of our subjects has not been shocking, we knew it all along, and it was our reports that finally made him confess. It has been quite a while and we are still to be issued appropriate biohazard suites. We demand that these suits be issued immediately before we can continue working with germs, bacteria, and alike. This is rather similar to our brothers in Libya, who were never issued snares and traps for rats. If you think shooting, stabbing, or electrocuting a rat with cattle prod is easy, try doing so with a germ.

We demand the establishment of our own labor union and the declaration of professionally recognized code of ethics that embodies our values of Abuse, Assault, and Intimidation. Most importantly WE DEMAND RECOGNITION and ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Our demands must and will be met

Your demands:

– Hand Lebanon to Israel
– Hand Syria to USA
– Destroy the economy
– Turn Syria into Afghanistan

No your demands won’t be met, but if you keep pushing things, this is what you’ll get instead:

– Global Nuclear Holocaust

Stay in your tree, “hamster” aka “Foxes of Syria” aka “Ramsis” aka “Another fat american who gets paid $20/hr to astroturf for Israel”.

No, Australia is not in on it, but media networks report fake footage like the ABC claiming footage that was taken years ago in Lebanon, was taken in Syria, the SBS by the way aired the same fake footage, until they were embarresed by being caught out and didn’t report anything until recently.

These days, the media report anti regime demonstrations and ignor the demonstrations in support of the president. It’s called one sided reporting, you know, like the US, Aljazeera, Alarabia and so on.

@278 “We demand that these suits be issued immediately before we can continue working with germs, bacteria, and alike”

LOOOOOL!!!! Thanks, that’s the funniest single line I’ve read on this blog 🙂

Put a hamster in junior’s place, he couldn’t do any worse.

271,

“Its failure to pass reflected lawmakers’ qualms about the outcome of the Libyan conflict and frustration with Mr Obama’s assertion that congressional approval was unnecessary because US forces are not involved.”

From the article you linked. Wrong again. US troops ARE involved on the ground in Libya. “Some have already begun coming back in body bags.”– from soldier at Ft Hood, TX who claims to have seen them personally due to the nature of his job.

267. Dear Louai, you have misunderstood the Arabic text below, that you quoted earlier.

You said “Never been interested in politics before , i have a question for you, is it normal in the history of revolutions that the opposition work to destroy the economy of their own country? did it happen before or that is a unique to the so called Syrian opposition”

Here is how it reads:
break down the “System” economically!
The system = Regime!

This is different from destroying the ecoonomic system!
Cheers!

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد
شباب الثورة .. هذا الاسبوع في عنا بعض الافكار الهامه جدا لتنفيذها على ارض
الواقع .. وكلنا لاحظ اعتراف القاتل الاكبر باننا قد نجحنا بشكل كبير بايقاف السيولة
التي يستعملها بتمويل شبيحته ..ولهذا فسنطرح بعض الخطوات لزيادة فعالية هدم
النظام اقتصاديا .. وحرمانه من الموارد التي يستخدمها لقتل وحصار اخوننا .. انتظرونا

ABOUD –

Pro syria and bashar rallies in sydney Australia today on 26/6/11. Maybe your google search is run by Aljazeera or Alarabiya, and thats why the search didnt bring up todays rally in sydney 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/user/syriansweetheart#p/u/0/jWmK4y3fNmg

Here is a wahhabi, scary looking demonstration in sydney australia on the 24/6/11 against the syrian government. Look how ugly, vicious and scary these 5-8 people look. I can gaurantee you all but one of these 8 protestors is actually syrian. The rest are lebanese from Hizb a Tahrir ( a banned terrorist organisation ).

Aboud,

You and your friends made the UK Sunday times.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/

Islamists battle Syrian regime
Hala Jaber in Damascus

“A series of attacks by extremists on security forces in Syria has triggered fears that an Islamist insurgency is taking place against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad”

Dear Revlon.

i didnt get my idea that the so called opposition are trying to destroy the economy(for them break down the system economically ) from this post i got it from their action they are calling people for strikes(i am not against this peaceful way to express) but they are also calling people not to pay their bills and taxes and not to go to work if they work in public sector ,they are asking people to buy dollars etc…

they are trying to show that every lira paid to the government is used to pay shabiha to kill people , how stupid !!its another form of terror that it want work , the Syrian economy is in a hardship anyway and now they are trying to remove food from the Syrian family’s table ,i respect YAZAN and DEMOCRACYNOW who in their posts pointed out this particular issue .

i blame ‘the regime’ of not allowing the national opposition to express and grow, now we end up with an opposition hates Syria more than any enemy !

Mohamad Kanj,

More videos are being uploaded, your probably right on the Aljazeera google seach, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEQITzKzeQI&feature=channel_video_title

@283

AAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Omg, THAT is your “massive” demonstration? Several problems with your video, ya ghabi;

1) Nothing to indicate WHEN it happened. It could have been a demo from a year back.

2) Nothing to indicate WHERE it happened. Nothing to indicate it was in Australia or Qurdaha, Bashar’s home village.

3) 30 people tops, including children. Not a very enthusiastic crowd either, one man’s voice drowns out all the rest.

4) Look at the uncultured idiots stepping all over the flag. Since when was a country’s flag laid on the ground, moron? Everyone who has the manners above that of an ape or shabiha scum knows that you don’t put your country’s flag on the ground and then step on it.

@286 Another amateur heard from. Here is a lesson ya khayen ibn khayen, when the opposition posts a video of a demo, someone is always holding up a sign indicating the date and place of the demo. I can’t believe these imbeciles still don’t know how to do even that. And your videos have all the same problems as Kanj boy up there.

Try harder next time, you amateurs. Hehehehe.

Sorry but I think Bashar has clearly condemned the shabihas in his speech #3.
He said everyone who commited violent acts should be put to jail. I do believe he is trying to take the chance of reforms against all the local criminals and mafias who have always sabotaged the efforts in this direction.
Just like what Abdallah II said here about his country
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/king-abdullah-interview-transcript/2011/06/15/AGHQpjWH_story.html

The mufti Hassoun in Daraa and the demo by some pro-Baathists on Saadallah Jabri square in Aleppo at the beginning of May are also proofs that Bashar has tried to encourage peaceful demos at the start.

“Each country its cost analysis is going to be different. So what we are you seeing in Syria, for example, is different than what’s going on in Jordan. The maps are being rewritten.”

This man is a pure zionist, it just oozes out of everything he says.

#287

Wow, if it was a “Syrian Retard’s revolution 2011” video from march you’ll be posting it every day saying it was happening as we spoke.

Such filth!

Also, god damn those Islamists are ugly. SOOO ugly. They’re going to die alone, but sadly they’ll rape a girl or two before being taken down.

Doesn’t everyone find it strange that a supposed sycophant demonstration took place in Sydney, and yet the Internet, newspapers, Twitter, Google and satellite channels make absolutely no mention of it? Even the feeble videos uploaded on Youtube could have been from anywhere, anytime.

You’d think just *one* of those morons would stop screaming junior’s name for a moment to just yell out the date and place.

You put a flag down when people sign it Einstein.

Your eyesight is severely off, anti regime are known for enhancing numbers, not decreasing them. But then again, that would only apply to anti regime demonstrations.
By the way, learn how to read properly, you might then see the dates and location, and also see the Australian flag.

What did you think of the anti regime demonstration Mohamed Kanj linked?

@291 “You put a flag down when people sign it Einstein.”

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! Is this Baathist comedy morning? “You put a flag down when people sign it Einstein.”

Seriously, that’s just delicious. No one in that video was signing crap, they were standing on top of the flag while yelling junior’s name through loud speakers. Baathists have the manners and IQ of a monkey.

Aboud
Australians have a day off on sunday, as most Western media, so it is no surprise that except for the very big outlets you don’t see any update on a sunday. Plus people are now starting Summer recess. That is, if you have a job and money. And journalists belong to this class which is getting smaller by the day.

The comments on Australia being strangely implied in a conspiracy that it would have nothing to share with simply ignore that it is part of a decaying Anglo-Saxon axis, which we have seen very much alive during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, no matter how many millions Brits were in the streets of London against it. Australia just as Canada is part of the Commonwealth and they don’t see it as a pure anachronism.

Aboud – the demonstration held today I’n Sydney, was just mentioned on channel 10 news and channel 2 and sbs news :-)))) i will upload the news reels for u .I’m very sure Those wahhabi’s from the other video are ur cousins from tripoli Lebanon . By the way, how is harriri? Is he still hiding from his beloved Lebanon??

Please use you brain, that’s considering you have one. If I wanted to waste my time on you, I would link a photo of the signed flag, but wasting time on worthless people like you to make a point is not something I’m interested in.

@294 & @295 Wait wait, I thought the Australian media was in a plot against junior? What, now all of a sudden they are impartial?

Pathetic. The Baathists are utterly clueless about how modern day media works. Videos uploaded, and yet not one of those imbeciles thinks to put up a sign on when, where or why.

“If I wanted to waste my time on you, I would link a photo of the signed flag”

In the video, the flag was on the ground. No one was signing it. Hasn’t the table yet been invented in Baath-land? Or maybe putting the flag on a table didn’t occur to this bunch?

MINA
Sorry but I think Bashar has clearly condemned the shabihas in his speech #3.

And….I am a Soaring Eagle…..

Aboud,

If you are a pervert who likes taking videos of peoples backsides and uploading them on youtube, others aren’t.

As I said, I’m not interested in proving anything to you, and I wont waste my time any further on someone who cant handle that president Bashar Assad has supporters all over the world.

By the way, I believe there was also a demonstration in support of president Assad in Berlin today, the US and Canada have also hosted multiple pro Assad demonstrations.

The Australian media is not in a plot against Syria, but two channels have been embarrassed by airing old footage from Lebanon which was passed off as being in Syria, and have been relatively quiet until recently.

MINA #270

“the butter, the butter’s money, and the girl selling the butter”

le beurre, l’argent du beurre et le sourire de la crémière

right

“…Street Shabbiha … trench Shabbiha … Intellectualism/Art/Literature Shabbiha”. LOL that is so eye-opening.! Never thought that the discipline of Tashbih could be so multifarious. Thanks Hamster!
.

Amir,

Were you referring to Hama protest?

If so, I like the melody too. Very nice music. Could not help rewining several times. Wad difficult to understand so I called a Hamwi friend to translate.

Do you unrest and Arabic?

Syria tv reports that the Syrian government has given a period of fifteen days for anyone who possesses illegal firearms to turn their weapons in to authorities; those who comply within the timeframe will not face any legal ramifications.

The argument that the opposition and the regime have to sit for a dialogue( besides its own intrinsic value ) indicates again the following:

1. The recognition of the presence of an opposition.

2. The recognition that it is legitimate for no regime would sit and talk and discuss reforms with illegitimate opposition. Could be divide and rule and could be window dressing to please Russia and Turkey but still a recognition that there is genuine and real opposition.

3. The gap between the rich and poor as a result of the economic opening is also a recognition that it happened without laws to prevent graft and theft and nepotism and corruption. It was used to enrich the clan and inner circle to the maximum.

Here is my previous post that no one has responded to its substance, just personal irrelevant and distracting attacks.

I do sense a desperation on the part of the regime supporters on the one hand and a little panic/frantic in those who are espousing stability to allow reforms to occur.

Russia will not make the same mistake it did with Libya where it refused to consider an alternative to the Ghadafi regime and was left out of a role to play with the transitional authority in Benghazi and now they are playing catch up there. The Russians are quite concerned that with Syria it will be Turkey that fills the void left by the retreat of the US from the region; the preoccupation of the EU in Libya; the flux of Egypt; the paralyzing fear of the KSA; and the internal problems of Iran.

As for the comments they are becoming personal and as usual and logical irrelevant to what is happening on the ground.

May I remind WD; oh the very reasonable one that the Zoo designations have come from the rulers: Rats in Libya and Microbes in Syria. May I remind him of the late Romanian dictator’s wife that called her people Worms and Insects; and lest we forget Menahem Begin who called Palestinians coakroches on two legs.

As always, Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely.

Here are a list of tacit recognitions of the regime of the terrible situation in Syria:

1. Reforms are needed therefore things need reforming

2. Stability is needed for reforms therefore there is no stability now

3. Refugees fled armed gangs therefore their lack of return means there is no security

4. We will forget that Europe exists on the map therefore we used to know about Europe and its presence in the region

5. We are opening Bank Accounts in Lebanon therefore our economy and financial situation needs work

6. We are raising salaries therefore we recognize that people are desperately poor

7. We are subsiding fuel therefore people are really suffering

8. There is an opposition therefore the rule of the Baath in leading the country as enshrined in the constitution has failed as people are rejecting this model and its utter failure.

Rats and Microbes and Insects and Worms of the World Unite
Humbug again

Tara,

I liked the singing-chanting in the 7ama YouTube clip that Yazan posted, but also many many more that I watch on YT. I didn’t hear it in demos in Egypt, Tunisia Yemen and so on. It’s something Syrian. That, I’m sure, will be part of the revolution folklore and legacy, in the post-Assad era.

“…Do you unrest and Arabic?”. I didn’t quite understand what you mean. Can I understand the Arabic language? Shwa’ye shwa’ye, I can understand the tenor or the spirit of what’s been said. But I’m not at all fluent.

And every day, I’m learning new useful words, like Tashbi7 .. 🙂
.

I read comments here where contributors asked for a way to privately and securely exchange emails.

A solution is :

For each contributor , to open a free email account on https://hushmail.com and use it with the encryption features enabled

When the account is open , (using the hushmail account ) each contributor sends me an email at the address mentioned under HS in the title of this message ( please remove the extra http:// in the link ) asking to know the email of another contributor.

When I am satisfied that both contributors agrees to share their hushmail email address , I will post a discrete message here to have a confirmation and proceed with the exchange of email address.

Hope it will contribute to the peaceful dialogue between benevolent Syrians

PS:
1) Don’t expect this to be a light speed process.

2) This could also a way to defuse some verbal conflicts between some Syrians.

This reminds me the story of a man and woman engaged in a virtual and anonymous relation over Internet for some time .
Their relation was mutually deemed very enjoyable.
When they finally met, they found out that they were married with each other for some time , daily they were verbal abuses and they were now starting their divorce procedures.

>Russia will not make the same mistake it did with Libya where it refused to consider an alternative to the Ghadafi regime

This is “analysis”, lol.

Russia won’t make the same mistake of giving the ziowest the green light, not what you think. It REFUSED a meeting with the fake opposition. It told them to participate in the reform process if they’re interested. Case closed.

>Rats and Microbes and Insects and Worms of the World Unite

No matter how many times you repeat this lie, it won’t be absorbed by people, its going to backfire on you. People are disgusted with your tactics.

Amir,

Yes that is the one. There was a clearer version on you tube.

Oppression does not inhibit creativity after all…

I too woke up this morning with the melody playing in my brain.

It was a typo. I did mean to ask if you understand Arabic. So when we write in Arabic, you can get the meaning?

SC & Usama

Of course Russia and Turkey follow their own interests, but it happens that these interests fit Syria’s interests. They don’t do that because they love Bashar but because they see no one else able to take a leadership and they want to defend their investments and keep a strategic partner to counter US influence in the area.

Erdogan has used a diplomatic stance , on one side scolding Bashar on the other side interceding for him with the US. He was careful not to attack Bashar personaly, he attacked Maher whom anyway Syrians don’t like. He has allowed the opposition meeting in Antalya that was a failure as it showed that the x-opposition is unreliable. But for the international community he showed he was open to listen to both sides. Russia did the same but the opposition turned the invitation away.
If both had taken a too pro-Bashar stance, their chance of influencing the future of Syria would have been null, they would have lost his credibility in the international community ( like Iran, an ally to Syria but who cant do much).
Erdogan had to appear impartial and the fact that you believe he is against Bashar means he has succeeded.

Accusing Erdogan to have sent weapons and isamlists extremists to cause trouble is fallacious. Arms smuggling and terrorists passing the border seem an easy game, on 850km of borders. We saw on BBC a reporter going through the bushes from Turkey to Syria, it was a picnic. Armed moslem extremists did cross the borders to Syria but they are uncontrolled groups, turks, tchechens or Al Qaeda operatives. Turkey is aware of that but I think they can’t control them. Now with the focus on these border cities, I am sure that the borders are a bit more controlled, especially that the Syrian army is present now.

In my view without Turkey, the sole internationally accepted third party, Syria has no chance to get out of this crisis.

Amir,

Yes that is the one. There is a clearer version on you tube. I too woke up this morning with the melody playing in my ears.

Oppression does not inhibit creativity after all…

It was a typo. I did mean to ask if you understand Arabic.

I can only imagine what an exchange of emails between Baathists is going to be like;

Baathist No 1: Bashar is great!

Baathist No 2: No you traitor! Bashar is THE GREATEST!

Baathist No 3: You’re both Zionists! How dare you forget to call him Sayed Al Ra’es Al Doctor Bashar Hafez Al-Assad Abu Hafez!!! I spit on you and your Turkish/Harriri/Bandar/Salafis paymasters!!!!!

Aboud,

Funny. I like it.

HS, thanks for the offer, I’ll think about it. It’s not so much for encryption/security but just to make sure its the right person I’m talking to. I have a mathematical solution.

TARA, how about this one.

A conversation between Syrian terror-supporters online …

Oh wait, the same guy can’t converse with himself. Sorry.

Why Discuss
could you please follow on your previous expectations
1) will dialogue start without the regime stop the arrest,oppression raid houses,etc.
2) will the demonstrations stop?

Commando,

Your name scared me so I tried to avoid talking to you in the past. I might have been wrong. I need to read some of your past comments to decide if I am still scared. Those fake “names” (commando, knight, …) create some sort of psychological barrier (no offense). I wish you guys chose some real names. The discussion would have been a bit easier.

Commando, Until a commenter gets in his/her brain that supporting the demonstration is not equal to supporting terror and only equal to opposing the regime’ terror, I can not have a meaningful conversation where I could exert some influence and be influenced too.

I am cranky today. I need coffee.

Let me get one thing straight. I supported peaceful protestors at the beginning, I think most Syrians did, even if they didn’t say it. People know there is terrible corruption, people know there is too much money gathered at the top (like every country, but that doesn’t mean it should be acceptable). But there are three important points:

– Supporting all protestors, includes supporting people pretending to be protestors but are terrorists.
– Pretending there are no violent protestors, is supporting terrorism through deception.
– Pretending that all violence is committed by the state is supporting terrorism through deception.

As for my name, I like it. I was going to go with “Syrian” but its no longer unique, I fashion myself as an electronic-Commando due to the truth I have exposed in the past and counter-psychological operations I have pulled off with others.

Aboud #309,

🙂
.

Dear SC
You said :
“”
HS, thanks for the offer, I’ll think about it. It’s not so much for encryption/security but just to make sure its the right person I’m talking to. I have a mathematical solution.
“”

With my solution #305

You will only be sure that your are talking to the same person which is using a certain pseudo here.

When the communication is set up , you can exchange questions/answers to ascertain what you are talking to the “right” person.

Believe me .
There is no mathematical solution to replace cross-trust certification hierarchy.

Majedalkhaldoon

I’ll try to answer according to what I see, but it may be too idealistic.

I said it before, it all depends on the local opposition. If they take charge of the movement and set up rules of protests then we may see a change in the street. They must form a joint committee with security forces to control the demonstrations peacefully. One way would be to post neutral volunteers at the Mosque exits and distribute pamphlets to call for calm and affirm that the demands of the people will be met by a formal Syrian opposition group.
The rules will be setup by the opposition in conjonction with the security. It will initiated by the opposition and implementd wity the help of the security elements.
Of course demonstrations that are looking for vengeance and want to set a score with the security elements by provoking them usually turn violent and destructive. These must be stopped by force. House arrest may happen too if the committee decides that these people are a public danger.
Once people know the rules setup by the opposition, then the have to abide.

As this is is setup, dialog can go on.

[…] and frequent guest-blogger at Prof. Joshua Landis’ Syria Comment, Ehsani, tried to answer these questions about the future of the Syrian economy: Is bringing down the economy and bankrupting the country a […]

Tara,

You’re confusing me, melody playing in your ears and cranky dont usually coincide.

Why,

#237, #307

Nice job with some disagreements. Keep going! Not there yet.

The Russian credibility with the opposition is very questionable. The condemnation of the Syrian revolution face book calling for peaceful demonstration is not valid until you prove it. Otherwise brilliant assessment!

Syau,

Oh boy. I knew the second I wrote that, the question was coming… And from you.

What can I say. I do not undersatnd it either…

Tara

Thanks, but you are the one who can tell me if I am attributing too much intelligence and initiative to the local opposition, who until now appears in disarray.

As far as the Facebook opposition, in my eyes the Antalya meeting infantile statement and the later failure to meet the Russian foreign ministry has confirmed to me that nothing positive can come out of them, even worse when Khaddam wants to join.
I keep trying I promise…

Why,

You think the Antalya crowd and Syrian revolution 2011 face book youth are linked? I doubt it. I see the face book admin youth as the one coordinating the peaceful demonstrators on the ground and nothing more. I do not see them as a sophisticated political entity at all. Skipping the usual rhetoric (MB, conspiracy, blah blah) I do not see that they have a political opinion at all so I can not link them to Antalya group. In other words, I think the elements here are:

Syria revolution face book admin- youth.
Peaceful demonstrators- mostly youth (if you will)
Internal opposition-Intellectual
External opposition-Intellectual
? Armed gangs-unknown size and impact. I hope not foreigners
Arooris – unknown size, little impact- may be the same as armed gangs

Jr, in attempt to restore his legitimacy and save his and entourage skins, has cooked a deal of power sharing with tamed “opposition” figures, unrelated to the ongoing Syrian Revolution.

The sheraton Hotel ceremonial dialogue event will be the stage. Mr. waleed AlMu3allem will be announcing the deal that will take 6 months to relaise.

The deal is to grant such opposition party licenses and ministerial posts, in return for accepting power sharing and dropping any legal questioning of Jr and entourage.

Jr is aiming and hoping to satisfy the international community with hsi “Democratic Reforms”while keeping a firm grip on power, and in the process evading justice.

الشبكة العربية العالمية – معلومات مسربة عن مبادرة في محاولةلاستعادة شرعية بشارالاسد

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom on Sunday, June 26, 2011 at 1:38am

الشبكة العربية العالمية – في محاولة لاستعادة شرعية بشار الأسد، التي سقطت نتيجة احتجاجات شعبية سلمية خرجت تطالب بتغيير النظام وواجهتها اجهزة الامن بالقتل والتعذيب، وردتنا معلومات تكشف خفايا مبادرة من رئاسة الجمهورية تعرض فيها استعدادها للتنازل عن جزء من السلطة لصالح معارضة تشارك النظام مقابل اعادة شرعية بشار الأسد.

فقد وردت الى الشبكة العربية العالمية معلومات مسربة عن مبادرة صادرة عن مكتب الرئيس (تم تحضيرها من قبل عدة اجهزة امنية كلفت لجنة بدراسة نماذج من عدة تجارب لاشراك المعارض في السلطة) على ان تكون هذه المعارض تحت السيطرة او حسب كلام المصدرالذي زودنا بهذه المعلومات: “النظام بحاجة الى معارضة مدجنة تكون عونا له لا منافسا في وجهه. وتشاركه السلطة بمقدار دورها في اعادة شرعية هذا النظام”

وتقوم المبادرة على منح المعارضة السورية حقائب وزارية في حكومة وحدة وطنية تتمثل فيها عدة احزاب منها المعارضة (مسبقة الصنع). حيث تسمح بافتتاح سريع للأحزاب المعارضة وتدخل الانتخابات البرلمانية بما يؤهلها الحصول على مقاعد برلمانية؟

ويقدر المصدر الذي زودنا بهذه المعلومات ان المدة المطلوبة لتنفذ هذه المبادرة هي ثلاثة أشهر الى ستة اشهر على الاكثر.

وهنا يربط هذه المبادرة بما صرح به وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم في شرح خطاب بشار الأسد بأن سوريا ستقدم نموذجا جديدا من الديمقراطية ولن تتلقى دروسا من احد بل ستقدم دورسا للخارج.

واضاف: “يوجد هدفان من هذه المبادرة، الاول تقديم رسالة مباشرة الى المجتمع الدولي ان النظام السوري بدأ يلبي طلبات الشعب سياسيا بسماح لاحزاب معارضة تكون شريكة في حقائب وزارية ومقاعد برلمانية وظل قانون انتخابات جديد ودستور معدل ينحي حزب البعث شكليا عن رأس الحكم ويقوي نظام الأسد في المقابل. والهدف الثاني: يستخدم هذه المعارضة لتعمل على امتصاص احتجاجات الشارع السوري من خلال تسويقها لفكرة بناء دولة مدنية جديدة تحترم حقوق الانسان والمواطن من خلال احزاب معارضة تدافع عن المواطن والوطن”

ويؤكد المصدر ان ممثلين عن القصر الجمهوري ورجال الأمن على مستوى عالي التقوا ببعض شخصيات المعارضة السورية وقدموا لهم تطمينات لعقد مؤتمرات لهم تستضيف اطياف المعارضة في الداخل والخارج على الأراضي السورية. ووعد ممثلوا القصر بالنيابة عن بشار الأسد انهم سيقدموا كل الداعم اللازم لنجاح مؤتمرات المعارضة “المدجنة” على ان تلتزم بسقف مطالب جزئية تقبل في شراكة النظام للسلطة وفق ما حدده القصر الجمهوري وتتمثل بعدم المطالبة باسقاط الأسد وعدم التطرق اليه وبعض رجاله امثال (رامي مخلوف وماهر الأسد) في اي مطالب للمعارضة كفتح ملفات تحقيق في الفساد ومعاقبة بعض رجال النظام المسؤولين عن الجرائم وقتل المواطنين من خلال لجان متابعة تشترك فيها هذه المعارضة المدجنة مع النظام في تحديد من المسؤولين عن الجرائم وفق السقف المحدد.

وأكد المصدر ان بعض هذه الشخصيات المعارضة التي التقت ممثلي الرئيس معروفة بمواقفها الوطنية بل بعضها سبق وان سجن اكثر من مرة على يد النظام. ويضيف المصدر: “مغريات كثيرة قدمت لهؤلاء كمنحكهم مناصب وزارية ومقاعد برلمانية انستهم سنين السجن. بل ابدوا حماسهم لهذه المبادرة وتبنوها. فما ان خرجوا من هذه اللقاءات حتى بدأوا يطبلون لها ويدعون الى لقاء تشاوري مباشرة بعد خطاب بشار الأسد وتصريحات المعلم التمهيدية”

ويوم الجمعة، اعلنوا عن اول لقاء في شيراتون دمشق يعقد يوم الاثنين، وذلك تحت شعار “سوريا للجميع في ظل دولة ديمقراطية مدنية”.

وفي هذ اللقاء يتوقع ان يخرج المجتمعون ممن قبلوا مبادرة القصر الجمهوري ببيان ختامي وتوصيات على شكل مقترح يُقدم إلى الرأي العام على انه مبادرتهم وليس مبادرة النظام. بل يذهبون اكثر من ذلك بان يدعوا ان مبادرتهم ستقدم الى النظام وسيطلبوا منه ان يختار بينها وبين بقاء الاحتجاجات الشعبية.

والجدير بالذكر ان التوصيات ستركز على تغيير ديمقراطي يطالب النظام بالتنازل عن جزء من السلطة وسيطرتها على الدولة والمجتمع وليس التنحي عن السلطة كما يردد الشعب السوري الثائر ضد بشار الأسد ونظامه الامني.

وفي بيان صادر عن هذه المعارضة ورد ما يلي: “الخطوة الأولى في هذا المسار يجب أن تبدأ ببناء الثقة بين السلطة والشعب عبر تراجع العملية الأمنية إلى الخلف وتقدم العملية السياسية إلى الأمام”.

كما تناول البيان إيجاد الوسائل للتصالح مع النخب السورية وإطلاق يدها للعمل في الحياة العامة، “باعتبارها الشريك الوحيد للسلطة في خياراتها الإصلاحية والتغييرية.”

كما تطرقالبيان إلى قضية الإعلام، داعيةً إلى إيجاد “مناخٍ إعلامي مؤاتٍ عبر السماح لكل سوري بالوصول إلى المعلومة الصحيحة كي يتمكن من تشكيل رأيه السياسي والعمل على وقف الحرب الإعلامية من قبل المؤسسات الإعلامية الرسمية ضد المحتجين والمتظاهرين”.

كما دع البيان إلى إنشاء مجلس وطني تشريعي بمشاركة حزب البعث الحاكم وشخصيات مستقلة، بحيث يتألف من 100 عضو، واعتبار الحكومة الحالية حكومة تصريف أعمال وأن تتم الدعوة إلى انتخابات تشريعية عامة في فترة لا تتجاوز الستة أشهر ,,

I believe the opposition meeting tomorrow
1) will not be successful,very few will attend it
2) they will declare that no negotiations with continued violent oppression and arrests and killings.
3) they will denounce the Syrian media,and call for free media coverage.
4) they will call for free election,supervised by neutral party.
5) they will call for immidiate release of all,ALL, political prisoners.
They have to gain the trust of the protestors.

As far as possible solution,I think Dialogue will require a third party, yes this could be Turkey,However Turkey has week support among syrian,It is unlikely that any arabic country is qualified to engage as third party to facilitate dialogue, Russia,US and Europe are not trusted by the opposition,Mutiny by some in the army is remote possibility,The syrian pound will colapse,to a severe level, may be it will be 1500 for a dollar,but the economy is something else,it is definite that the people will suffer and endure severe hardship,next month the STL will issue their indictment, it will complicate the situation.
I dont think dialogue is possible, there is a chance that a prolong crisis, will force Bashar to give some major concessions,such as dissolve the Baath party.limit his family power,change the goverment to appoint some in the opposition,any of these measures will anger some in the loyal camp.
remeber it is the one who make mistake ,will loose.

3alawi demonstration, Misyaf
Friday of the fall of regime legitmacy

The only thing that fell was the legitimacy of the fake “protestors” when they started shooting people randomly outside Damascus.

Majelalkhaldoon

I am more optimistic than you on the monday Sheraton meeting. Just the fact that it happens in Syria and not in a foreign country is excellent for Syria first but also for giving answers to Turkey and the US who want to see reforms under way. Local opposition has a huge responsibilty in the process. I hope they get enough representativity among the Syrians so they can continue the process.
Even if many don’t attend, it is a good start. If they come out with a reasonable without aplan of action, it could be breakthrough. I am sure Turkey is advising them discreetly. Turkey is without any doubt the third party.

Tara

The x-opposition are taking advantage of all it can to create a void.
The Facebook created in a foreign country is been manipulated by people with different agendas.
There are different groups but they use each other. None is really independent.
Let’s see who will attend the first local Syrian opposition meeting on monday. I trust they’ll come up with a better plan than the x-opposition in Antalya.

You guys are closing your eyes and ears.

Turkey and the US want to destroy Syria.

This isn’t about reform.

SC

What about the others? France, UK, EU, what do they want?
To save Syria?

The same thing, they just want to further their own interests and Syria stands in their way.

It’s no coincidence that France hosts the conspirator’s meetings (Hariri/Bandar/Khaddam) and the UK hosts the muslim brotherhood HQ and Riffat/Khaddam. As for the EU … Germany wants nothing to do with it, but of course the garbage is passed regardless.

Why,

“None is really independent.” I kind of agree. They probably would not stay independent despite how they started.

Btw, I just saw Quaddafi on TV playing chess wearing sunglasses. Why does he do that? Delicate eyes?

#248 Usama, well if you’re really interested I’ll explain a bit more. The black market doesn’t function like the normal banking system, it functions more like a money transfer company (7awalat). You either exchange cash directly, or give the dealer Syrian lira here, and a contact gives U.S.D to the person you specify in just about any country (or vise versa). Of course, the closer the country the cheaper the rate, and the Khlaeej countries are the easiest and most common for transferring back and forth. You can also buy a money transfer to a bank account, and the dealer will transfer the money from an off shore account he owns. The government security apparatus knows the name of every big dealer in the market, and they give them direct instructions sometimes in order to help stabilize the exchange rate when there’s increased demand, been that way for years. It’s a defacto arrangement that has been working well for both sides. Many of those dealers went legit, after new legislation that allowed the setting up of licensed exchange companies (in the 80’s illegal forex exchange was punishable by up to 20 years in jail). And the role of the black market was greatly diminished as the official rate reflected that of the real market, and there was no need to buy currency illegally as it was freely available to whoever wanted to buy and at any quantity.

This crisis however has reversed all that. If you will remember at the beginning, the government pretended everything was normal, and people could go into any bank and buy dollars cheaper than the market rate. People made a profit of 400 dollars instantly simply by walking into a bank, buying dollars and then selling them off again. What was intended as a confidence boosting measure, backfired quite spectacularly. The government began restricting the amount that could be sold, and who could buy it, effectively shutting down the legitimate foreign exchange markets.

There was a renewed revival of the black market, as exchange companies ceased almost all operations entirely. At the moment, it remains the only way to exchange the Syrian lira into hard currency, or to fund an import not done through the central bank (the central bank still funds certain kinds of imports, at the stated official rate, but with certain conditions). I have no doubt that pretty soon, as the economic situation worsens further, strict new penalties will be imposed on illegal money traders. However, it hasn’t stopped them in that past, and it won’t stop them now.
Before you go off blaming the currency traders for destroying the economy, remember that it was Bashar’s security officers in Daraa who started the whole downward spiral into chaos by arresting and torturing children, then killing their families when they protested. Bashar failed to handle the escalating protests with any meaningful reforms or genuine gestures, instead choosing brute force. And this is why we’re here today, because of the incompetence, mismanagement, and brutality of a failed regime, not because of some black market currency dealers, remember that when you recount the tale of the glorious revolution to your grandchildren.

>Before you go off blaming the currency traders for destroying the economy, remember that it was Bashar’s security officers in Daraa who started the whole downward spiral into chaos by arresting and torturing children, then killing their families when they protested.

That was a trap they fell for, but the crisis would have been over if it wasn’t for external fanning of flames. Can’t blame Bashaar unless he lets off the governer lightly, the man has blood on his hands and must be imprisoned along with the terrorists.

#334 funny, I thought the one who had blood on his hands was Bashar’s cousin Atef Najeeb, head of political security who personally insulted the tribal elders who came to plead for the children’s release, and told them to “go make other children instead”, yet he still walks free. And whatever happened to the so called commissions set up to investigate the events at Daraa, the mass graves, and the killing of Hamza? can you see why this regime has no credibility with it’s own people.

Let’s not mix things up, I agree with you Atef Najeeb al nahes, but the mass graves claim is suspicious. Nevertheless, everything that followed showed how intense the conspiracy was.

Even before the incident in Dara’a, there were small-scale protests unreported as well as reported arm smuggling attempts. The cards were set up and the enemies of Syria were waiting for any mistake to begin their operation.

Clearly the government is trying to reign in people like Najeeb al kharah, but of course Ba’ath is a big structure that in my opinion needs dismantling in a controlled kind of demolition. You don’t want to throw the baby (Syria) out with the water (corrupt government).

The criminals, including this governor and people who don’t follow orders not to fire on the dwindling number of peaceful protestors (they’re practically all violent now, outside Hama), must be brought to justice otherwise the reform process is a sham. But we must be patient.

@338 “And this is why we’re here today, because of the incompetence, mismanagement, and brutality of a failed regime, not because of some black market currency dealers, remember that when you recount the tale of the glorious revolution to your grandchildren.”

I could not have said it better myself.

Minus the “glorious revolution” bit. No intelligent person can be that gullible:

Yesterday in Berlin, Germany:

Real and effective opposition must come from within Syria.Syrian expats are not equipped to lead but they can help.participating in efforts to divide Syrians or impose more sanctions on Syria is not helpful,it is rather disgusting and counterproductive. You can not with a serious face compare those who are meeting in Damascus tomorrow to the pony tailers and puppets who met in Antalya. I maintain that the regime must be changed peacefully and gradually from within. Those who got arrested or lost their lives and did not use violence are the true heroes in Syria,the rest are not. Dehumanizing the Syrian army is disgraceful and does not serve national interest,please take a deep breath and focus on how to help ordinary Syrians instead of throwing sound bombs and trading verbal insults.

>Those who got arrested or lost their lives and did not use violence are the true heroes in Syria,the rest are not. Dehumanizing the Syrian army is disgraceful and does not serve national interest,please take a deep breath and focus on how to help ordinary Syrians instead of throwing sound bombs and trading verbal insults.

Well said.

But no one will listen, because they’re either:

– Stupid
– Part of the conspiracy
– Not Syrian
– 2 or more of the above

AboAli,

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I already understand almost all of what you said. I know during the time of Hafez the word “dollar” was taboo. But, looking at today, can you give any insight about what happens to the SYP after the transaction? If it is a government-run operation, what do you think they do with the SYP under the current circumstances?

Revlon, #330

In case you didn’t know, last week Misyaf hoisted the second largest Syrian flag (1000m x 5m) in support of Bashar al-Asad. It was another nice big demonstration for national unity.

Syau,

I never told you… I feel your pain too.

WD

Again, cut the love affair with Erdoghan, lol. There are diplomatic channels, like ambassadors, for him to say some of those things. Who the hell is he to directly accuse Maher of atrocities? What makes you think Syrians already hate Maher? Did you know that Maher, to this day, has not actually deployed anywhere? What did he do? The media keeps attacking him because it wants to create targets for concentrated hatred, and what better than the Asad-Makhlouf family? Look, even you fell for it. The smarter thing to do is not to look at who the media is demonizing, but rather who the media is not demonizing. I’ll leave that for another discussion.

About the terrorists coming from the border, did you hear Erdoghan admitting there were terrorists coming in from Turkey? Did you hear him even admitting there were any terrorists period? Come on WD, if we have to depend on Turkey, then we’re in trouble. Even Gul at one point said that the military interference options are open. That’s not diplomatic language and is an insult to Syria’s people and sovereignty. Also, Iran is doing a lot more than you think in regards to warnings to Turkey and sending intelligence equipment to Syria (how do you think Syrian authorities were able to intercept the satellite communications of the terrorists in the north).

Remember what Mu`allem said. From now on, we will just look south and east. Within all his diplomatic talk, he purposely left out north. In Syria, we don’t care about what the “internationally accepted” options are. We’re not Lebanon. Crazy concept, isn’t it?!

#350

I think Turkey made a fatal mistake and the kids who like to watch Turkish dramas are feeling nostalgic for the days before the illusion was terminated.

Turkey still wants to attack Syria, but somehow it chickened out from the tandem threat from Syria’s border patrols and Iran’s ultimatum (“Syrian border is a red line”) and troop movement.

If Turkey does make the mistake of attacking Syria, it will sustain an attack on two sides of its border. If NATO does help, you can bet Russia will be involved to finish off this long-term rival and capture more territory for its black sea fleet.

If it does nothing, with the EU and the US collapsing, I see nothing but containment in Turkey’s future. It is done for, Iran has seen through the illusion, they took their time but ultimately they have chosen their spot.

Faisal almiqdad was on CNN with Hala gorani,he was ok but did not admit that security forces were part of the problem.Hala was not forceful enough also. There is no alternative to controlling the security forces and punishing those who violated the law or acted on their own primitive emotions,however,I understand why the regime is unwilling to do anything now that may increase pressure on the group that lost hundreds of its members on the hands of armed thugs.this does not mean that Syrians are supposed to hide this troubling problem under the rug,the time must come,within weeks I suppose,when rogue elements inside security forces are sent to trial along with anybody who used violence against Syrians including those who targeted the army and destroyed public and private properties. Giving opposition figures positions in a new government may help the regime internationally but it does not solve the problem: article-8 must be abolished and free elections must be held.

This is in Alquds Al Arabi, no friend of Syria, For you Tara, PT,

It is clear now that what the Syrian government has been saying for months is true,

http://www.alquds.co.uk

صندي تايمز: متطرفون اسلاميون يشنون هجمات على القوات الحكومية في سوريا

لندن- (يو بي اي): أفادت صحيفة صندي تايمز الصادرة الأحد أن اسلاميين مسلحين شنوا هجمات ضد القوات الحكومية في سوريا ،مما أثار مخاوف من وقوع تمرد اسلامي ضد نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد.
وقالت الصحيفة “إن اسلاميين مدججين بالسلاح فتحوا نيران أسلحتهم على قوات الأمن السورية في ما لا يقل عن أربع مدن انتقاماً لمقتل متظاهرين سلميين، وقتلوا أربعة من رجال الشرطة في بلدة معرة النعمان الواقعة شمال غرب سوريا في هجوم شنوه على مركز عسكري بالرشاشات وراجمات القنابل”.

واضافت الصحيفة إن المعارضة السورية تصر على أن معظم المتظاهرين غير مسلحين وليس لديهم أي ولاء للجماعات الاسلامية، لكنها مراسلتها في سوريا “شاهدت متشددين ملتحين بين صفوف المتظاهرين وهم يسخرون من الجنود السوريين في معرة النعمان”.

وتابعت الصحيفة “إن رجال دين متطرفين في السعودية دعوا إلى الجهاد ضد النظام السوري، وهناك مؤشرات متزايدة على أن أسلحة يتم تهريبها إلى داخل سوريا عن طريق العراق ولبنان وتركيا”.

وقالت صندي تايمز “إن جهاديين مسلحين اخترقوا الاحتجاجات المؤيدة للديمقراطية في معرة النعمان لاستفزاز الجيش على الدخول في معارك دامية، واعتقد شيوخ القبائل الذين قادوا احدى التظاهرات في بداية الأمر أن هؤلاء الرجال تسلحوا للدفاع عن أنفسهم في حال اندلاع اطلاق النار، ولكن عندما رأوا المزيد من الأسلحة مثل البنادق وقاذفات القنابل الصاروخية بحوزة رجال ملتحين في سيارات وشاحنات صغيرة لا تحمل لوحات تسجيل، ادركوا أن المتاعب تنتظرهم”.

واضاف الصحيفة “إن أعمال العنف اندلعت مع اقتراب المتظاهرين من ثكنة عسكرية تحصن داخلها رجال الأمن والشرطة، وتفرق المتظاهرون بعد سماع دوي الطلقات الأولى، وهرب بعض رجال الشرطة من الثكنة عبر مخرج خلفي في حين طوّق المسلحون من بقي داخلها، وتم ارسال مروحية عسكرية لانقاذهم، لكنها اشتبكت مع المسلحين لأكثر من ساعة”.

ونسبت إلى زعيم قبلي قوله “إن المروحية استخدمت معظم ذخيرتها للتخفيف عن رجال الشرطة المحاصرين في المبنى، وقام المسلحون باقتحام الجزء الأمامي من المبنى واعقب ذلك تبادل كثيف لاطلاق النار أدلى إلى مقتل أربعة من رجال الشرطة ومقتل أو إصابة 12 مسلحاً واصابة 12 شرطياً آخرين بجروح، وقام المسلحون بنهب المبنى واضرام النار فيه وفي محكمة مجاورة ومركز للشرطة”.

واضاف الزعيم القبلي “إن رجال الشرطة الذي نجوا من الهجوم في العاشر من حزيران/ يونيو الجاري اختبأوا في منازل عائلات كانت تتظاهر في وقت سابق، وقام هو وأبناؤه وأولاد أخيه باقتياد 25 شرطياً إلى بر الأمان”.

وذكرت الصحيفة أن ناشطين “ابدوا قلقهم من أن المسلحين، بما فيهم بعض الجهاديين، يمكن أن يقسموا المعارضة ويقدموا الذريعة لقوات الأمن السورية لمواصلة اطلاق النار على المتظاهرين”، مشيرة إلى أن وجود مسلحين متطرفين “لم يأت من خلال مصادر في الحكومة السورية بل من شخصيات من المعارضة وأدلة ملموسة حصلت عليها مراسلتها في سوريا”.

وقالت إن خطر انتشار التطرف الاسلامي في سوريا “يقلق الذين شاهدوا المسلحين وأشرطة فيديو عن قيام المسلحين بذبح أفرد من قوات الأمن السورية وتشويه أجسادهم، ويعتقد بعض المحللين في سوريا أن كراهية المتطرفين السنة للعلويين والمسيحيين يمكن أن يقسّم في نهاية المطاف البلاد على أسس دينية، مما يثير شبح نشوب حرب أهلية شبيهة بالحرب التي دمّرت لبنان”.

وكان معارض سوري طلب عدم الكشف عن هويته ابلغ يونايتد برس انترناشونال قبل نحو اسبوعين “أن متطرفين مسلحين مجهزين بأعتدة عسكرية حديثة، من بينها صواريخ مضادة للدبابات وأسلحة فردية قادرة على اختراق السترات الواقية من الرصاص، انتشروا بشكل مركز في جبل الزاوية ومعرة النعمان وأريحا بمحافظة إدلب وفي قرى على الحدود السورية ـ التركية”.

وتقول منظمات حقوقية إن عدد القتلى في سوريا منذ منتصف آذار الماضي تجاوز 1330 شخص خلال الاحتجاجاجات، فيما تتهم السلطات السورية مجموعات مسلحة مدعومة من الخارج بإطلاق النار على المتظاهرين وقوات الأمن، كما اتهمت “عصابات مسلحة” بقتل 123 فرداً من القوى الحكومية في مدينة جسر الشغور.
t1

So now the Baathists have taken to quoting Western Media. Funny how before this moment, all Western newspapers and TV channels were supposed to be controlled by Jews and in on the Great Plot to Remove The Eye Doctor.

@351 “Turkey still wants to attack Syria, but somehow it chickened out from the tandem threat from Syria’s border patrols and Iran’s ultimatum”

You are living proof of the existence of God. Only a divine power could create someone of such monumental stupidity.

Do you think for a moment that the Syrian army, with it’s 1970s training and equipment, is any match for a NATO power like Turkey?

If the Turks are still on their side of the border, it’s because they choose to be. You are on the same level of pathetic as the loser who claimed Bashar would launch a “war of liberation” on the Golan on the 5th of June (and who has since disappeared from this forum, along with the fake Christian Homsi).

Turkey and Saudi Arabia may have to decide whether they will continue to press the regime or mediate.it is more likely now that will mediate. Turkey is still preventing some refugees from going back to Syria and has not yet responded positively to demands that those refugees are given the option to return with help and supervision from non governmental organization like the red cross and the red crescent. One fact that is being kept hidden is that some of those refugees are the families of armed thugs and those may not be willing to return anytime soon but the majority,I believe,are innocent Syrians who left to protect the lives of their children and were fearful of the army or armed militia alike.
Watch this refugee issue closely to see how turkey will proceed. Saudi Arabia on the other hand is more linked to the situation in Lebanon and Iran and to internal forces that are still calling for jihad against the regime.this makes a change in Saudi arabia’s position harder to materialize. Turkey will not attack Syria and the NATO has enough problems in Libya ,so do not worry about NATO now. The US as always will side with the “victor” and needs help in Iraq,if the situation in Syria continues to improve and the regime gives the US a face-saving exit like releasing more prisoners and engaging the opposition,they will undoubtedly modify their stance.

AboAli, and anyone else who wants to contribute

Please give priority to my question about what happens to the black market SYP, but meanwhile I would like to ask you the following:

You said before that Syrians want complete freedom. Then while insulting Mick, you talked about repecting the cultural sensitivities of the natives. Don’t you think that is against freedom? No one is talking about getting drunk. What’s so bad about having a beer or two while admiring the beautiful citadel? What if a married couple want to kiss in public beside the citadel? What if an *unmarried* (and without engagement) couple kiss in public beside the citadel? Should that be a crime? I know the following will sound vulgar, but it is an honest question: What if 3ar3our’s Syrian admirers want to make a gay pornography video for 3ar3our (they know he likes that kind of stuff)? Should they be arrested? In the west, all of this is called “freedom of expression” which is protected for everyone. Do you think Syrian society is ready for this kind of freedom? If not, how do you know which freedoms Syrians are or aren’t ready for?

Aboud,

You can’t deny that international media has been biased from the start. They used lack of media freedom as an excuse. When anti-government protests took place in world capitals, they were there to cover the events. Yet, when pro-government protests took place in the SAME capitals, they always ignored. Why? Is that also because of lack of media freedom?

Also let’s not forget that what the Sunday Times is admitting today, the Syrian government has been saying since late March! Yet the Sunday Times, and its network of “activists”, still claim this is some kind of new occurrence.

Finally, I would like to inform you that your image of our army is wrong. Even if you look on Wikipedia, you will find our army is much better than what you say. That doesn’t include the secret stuff. For example, before the 1973 October war, the Zionists conducted some air raids in both Syria and Egypt, but neither Syria or Egypt used any of their good weapons. When the war came, the Zionists were shocked to see the SAM batteries and suffered great losses in aircraft. You can bet we have similar secrets today. In addition to this, you need to stop thinking of Syria as just a single entity. Iran produces its own weapons and supplies us as needed and Hizbullah is ready to turn up the heat on our enemies if the time comes. I think it’s incredible that a Syrian would insult his/her own army.

Usama,

It seems that some people want others not to do things in public that they themselves desire but are not permitted to do for religous reasons or not, As they can not control themselves .

#354

You’re an imbecile and not a Syrian for certain. They would have attacked long ago if they weren’t fearful of the Syrian military whose hardware is more modern than what you’re attempting to state. None of our good equipment needed deployment so far, but if Turkey engages us, they’ll see a much worse outcome than the Israelis did in 2006.

This isn’t even discussing what will happen on their East border, which will basically spell world war 3.

LOL, seriously you Zionist, you’re shameless. Calling everyone a Ba’athist, this is the same tactic we saw in Iraq. Only a retard will fall for it now.

Syria doesn’t want a fight, it is doing EVERYTHING in its power to prevent it. Now is not the best time to have a war with Israel.

In half a decade though, the tables will certainly turn. This is why you zionists are so desperate.

Go hang yourselves.

@357

First, the original Sunday Times article is behind a pay wall, not one person here has seen the original article. All we know about it is a headline.

“When anti-government protests took place in world capitals, they were there to cover the events. Yet, when pro-government protests took place in the SAME capitals, they always ignored”

I have yet to see any evidence of any demonstrations in Sydney for Bashar. Even the demonstrators didn’t bother to stop screaming his name long enough to shout out the time and place of the demonstration.

As to why pro-government demonstrations are ignored, then I will say again what I’ve said numerous times; “Yes only has any real meaning when No is a realistic alternative.”

In Syria, anyone who says No to Bashar risks being killed, beaten and imprisoned. Anyone outside of Syria who says no gets their picture taken by the apes who pass as Syria’s ambassadors, their names go on a list, and they and their closest relatives risk getting the same treatment when they visit Syria.

So when Syrians can protest freely, without repercussions, only then will the world give any credibility to pro-regime demonstrations. Because I know for a fact that the scum who demonstrated in Homs last week for the regime, all got bussed in from the villages surrounding Telkelakh. I mean, what person born and raised in Homs NEEDS TO ASK FOR DIRECTIONS TO DEBLAN STREET FOR F*CK’S SAKE!

@359 “They would have attacked long ago if they weren’t fearful of the Syrian military whose hardware is more modern than what you’re attempting to state”

In the 1970s, Syria had one of the best trained and well equipped armies outside of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Forty years later, we still have the best 1970s era army outside of NATO and the Warsaw pact. Only this isn’t the 1970s, it’s 2011, and 40 years of Baathists mismanagement has utterly destroyed the fighting capability of the armed forces.

Go ahead ya ghabi, make a list of the most modern weapons in the Syrian army’s arsenal. Things like T-80 tanks and MiG-29s, and you’ll see they are woefully behind M1A2 Abrams and F-15s with which the Turks have plenty of.

I have a question for menhebak addicts and other pro khomainist theocracy lebanese ,SSNPers who agree to acknowledge that al jahesh is not a god and thus baath is not eternal ruler of them.

What would you do after the completion of the destruction of the last statue of al jahesh ?

Would you stay baath supporters ?

Alex ,where are you ?

Here’s a question for you Sham-Shami.

Why is a3r3our giving everyone a sign of satan on television. Shouldn’t you go cut off his head with a dirty hack saw?

What will you do when we kill a3r3our? Will you cry? Or will you find someone else to worship?

# 347 As far as I know, the Syrian lira is in short supply too at state banks, so any liras the government is getting for selling it’s foreign reserves, it’s keeping to replenish it’s dwindling stocks.
Many people took out their savings from banks and stashed them at home (a relic of past paranoia where the state could size your assets and property if you were charged with a crime), and many others are only spending on essentials so liquidity is just not moving around(one car dealer I spoke to told me he hadn’t sold a car in 2 months). The government needs Liras to pay off civil servants wages, as well as the army, and they dare not risk printing any in case they cause hyper inflation (Zimbabwe scenario) and make things worse.

#356 Usama that’s a very interesting question. Personal freedoms are not the same as political freedoms though. The west had parliamentary democracies way before they had civil rights, women, black or gay rights. Society always lags behind the politics, mainly because societies are burdened with historical cultural and religious prejudices and customs that are very hard to get rid off, and take time to “enlighten” away.

Now I myself am not an advocate of telling people how they should live or think, that’s up to them to decide for themselves. People should be free to live however they please, it’s none of my business or anyone else’s business, certainly not the state’s. However, we must take into account cultural sensitivities, and the nature of the society in a given area. Whereas it maybe fine for women to walk topless on the streets of certain french coastal cities, it wouldn’t be acceptable in London for example. Same in Syria, it’s fine to drink beer on the streets of Lattakia, but it isn’t on the streets of Hama.

We have to respect people’s individual rights, but let’s not forget their collective rights either.

On a side note, 3ar3our is a joke really, a piece of sectarian S**t too.

@Dumboud
>Things like T-80 tanks and MiG-29s, and you’ll see they are woefully behind M1A2 Abrams and F-15s with which the Turks have plenty of.

LOL. Clearly, by listing off these weapons, you have no clue how modern warfare works. No idea of Syria’s asymmetric arsenal. Of course you wouldn’t though, you’re relying on wikipedia and the CIA fact book from your apartment in New York.

@ABOALI

>On a side note, 3ar3our is a joke really, a piece of sectarian S**t too.

Ok I find you more reasonable now, combined with the “stash away” knowledge which you wouldn’t know unless you were Syria but of course I’m not absolutely sure.

Why do you want to see Syria destroyed so much? If I told you my family story, you’d be surprised I don’t want this government to fall, and yet, here I am, trying to avoid complete collapse and supporting transition instead. I don’t even want democracy (flawed BS system) just an end to corruption and technological/economic stagnation, which admittedly is the fault of prolonged foreign sanctions and the collapse of the SU.

You’re smart enough to know the consequences of what you’re pushing for, you’re smart enough to know that the conspiracy is deep, prolonged and hardened. What is really going on with you?

The Sheraton meeting is on schedule for tomorrow? I heard and read nothing about it.
.

Norman,

I had not denied it. I just do not know its size or source.

What does P T stand for?

Amir,

Yes. But they moved the location to Samiramis Hotel for financial reason.

syrian commando,why shall you kill ? the rule of your game is you kill non menhebak untill they kill you?or are you going to kill them all of them before they are able to kill you?

AboAli,

#363

So, if it is a government operation, one can argue that you are actually helping the regime, right?

On an interesting note, there might be a business in exporting 10 lira coins to Norway. 😉
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_pound#Use_of_10_Syrian_pound_coins_in_Norway

#364

I agree that how others live is none of our business and that cultural sensitivities need to be respected. I am just pointing out that we have a *lot* of cultural sensitivities compared with western Europe, for example. Maybe the scenarios I presented were easy to judge, but what if scenarios are “borderline” aggravating cultural sensitivities? I think a good way to develop society is to have a more representative parliament, but not by toppling a president that still has wide support and popularity, and definitely not by collapsing the economy and/or the Syrian pound.

PS: Thanks for the clear position on 3ar3our. It’s really disturbing that he has some followers within Syria.

When it is too late that will benefit Penitence in intervention Syrian affair !

Aboud, #360

Norman shared the article with us, from al-Quds al-`Arabi, in Arabic, comment #353.

The internal situation in Syria should not affect how the international “free and independent” media covers anti- and pro-government demonstrations outside Syria. So I don’t see what argument you’re trying to make.

About the Syrian military, please go back to my comment #357. I edited it while you were replying to it. What I said was:

“I would like to inform you that your image of our army is wrong. Even if you look on Wikipedia, you will find our army is much better than what you say. That doesn’t include the secret stuff. For example, before the 1973 October war, the Zionists conducted some air raids in both Syria and Egypt, but neither Syria or Egypt used any of their good weapons. When the war came, the Zionists were shocked to see the SAM batteries and suffered great losses in aircraft. You can bet we have similar secrets today. In addition to this, you need to stop thinking of Syria as just a single entity. Iran produces its own weapons and supplies us as needed and Hizbullah is ready to turn up the heat on our enemies if the time comes. I think it’s incredible that a Syrian would insult his/her own army.”

You really shouldn’t belittle your own army. It’s what protects your country’s unity, independence and existence.

مؤتمر الشيراتون: لعبة الرعب من الشارع!
الكاتب بسام القاضي
26/ 06/ 2011

ارتفع نبض الأمل عند فئة واسعة من الشعب السوري حين تلقيه خبر عقد بعض وجهاء المعارضة والمثقفين لقاء أو “مؤتمرا” في الشيراتون يوم الإثنين القادم، 27 حزيران 2011. دون أن تحدد طبيعة هذه الآمال ومرتكزاتها. وربما بدافع أساسي من الرغبة أكثر من التحليل.

ومع تأكيد أن أي شكل من الحوار بين أي أفراد هو أمر إيجابي بالتأكيد، إلا أن الصبغة العامة لهذا “المؤتمر” ليست حوار أفراد، خاصة إذا تذكرنا أن الأفراد لا يتحاورون في فنادق ولا قاعات ضخمة، أقله في عرف سورية، بل في غرف صغيرة أو صالونات بيوت على أحسن حال!

فإذا، اعتبار هذا “المؤتمر” مجرد حوار بين أشخاص، فيه تسطيح شديد للأمور، وتغليب للرغبة على الواقع.

فما هو هذا “المؤتمر” إذا؟ وما هدفه؟ وما طبيعة المشاركين فيه؟ ولماذا ينعقد الآن؟
تبدو كلها أسئلة بغير إجابات. فالمؤتمر انبثق فجأة بدون سابق إنذار، ودون إعلانات واضحة ودقيقة من أي جهة كانت. بل حتى يغلف الغموض أسماء المشاركين/ات فيه باستثناء قلة قليلة من “النخب” السورية.

إلا أن هذا الغموض نفسه، يفسر الكثير.
فالواقع أن النظام السوري يسعى، بشكل أو بآخر، إلى أي شكل من “الحوار” يغطي بعضا من فشله “الغريب” في تلمس حقائق الواقع السوري. فأي اجتماع من هذا النوع سيعطيه أملا بوجود من يتحاور معه من خارج الشارع. ولربما تفضل قوى داخل النظام، تخسر مع كل خطوة إصلاحية فيه خسارة فادحة، أن تخرج مثل هذا المخرج الذي يتيح لها تهميش الشارع الحقيقي وقادته، وبالتالي إعادة تضييع الوقت ضمن جمل وعبارات وصيغ لا أول لها ولا آخر. والأهم، أنها ربما تتوقع رد فعل من الشارع يرفض مثل هذا المؤتمر، فتكون قد “جنت على نفسها براقش”، لتستعيد هذه القوى زمام المبادرة بالقول: انظروا، ليس في سورية من يقبل الحوار، فلماذا نحاور ولماذا “نصلح”؟ وهذه النتيجة تكاد تكون أقرب نتائج هذا “المؤتمر” إلى الحقيقة على ما يبدو!

ولكن النظام السوري ليس وحده من يسعى إلى مثل هذا. بل تلك “النخب المثقفة” نفسها تسعى أيضا، وبشدة، إليه. فالواقع السوري قد تطور خلال الأشهر الثلاثة الماضية تطورا سريعا وعميقا فشلت هذه النخب في متابعته، وسقطت في فخ أبراجها العاجية مع إضافة سمة أخرى: صار وهم الإعلام والانترنت جزءا لا يتجزأ من هذه الأبراج! ربما تكون قدرة الشارع على تنظيم نفسه ورسم خطواته، بل حتى وعي محيطه والتخطيط لما يريدون.. أهم سمات هذا الواقع الجديد.

ولا يحتاج أي ممن يحتك فعلا مع الشارع إلى معرفة أنه قد تجاوز منذ زمن تلك النخب التي أظهرت عريها وإفلاسها إلى الحد الذي فشلت فيه حتى على التوقيع على بيان واحد مشترك، رغم أن كل بياناتها (التي صارت بالعشرات) التي تكاد تكون متطابقة! مثلما أظهرت هذا العري والإفلاس في اتجاهها إلى الكذب بادعاء قيادتها المظاهرات أو حتى المشاركة فيها…

وهذا الواقع بات يخيف تلك “النخب” التي تجاوزها الزمن، مثلما يخيف شبيحة المعارضة التي تجد نفسها اليوم وحيدة في عوائها على الفضائيات. وهي تعرف جيدا أن الناس قد كشفوا حقيقة عوائهم وأهدافهم، ورفضها قولا واحدا، وإن كان لم يعلن رفضه بعد صراحة، استغلالا لصوتهم من جهة، و”جكرا” بنظام عجز عن تلمس هذه الحقائق البسيطة من جهة أخرى.

ومع التطورات الأخيرة، خاصة قرب إقرار قانون الأحزاب (مهما بلغ سوؤه)، والإعلام، بات هذا الشارع قاب قوسين أو أدنى من تمكنه من تنظيم نفسه بشكل جيد وحضاري، وصياغة مطالبه وتصوراته، وتمثيل نفسه بنفسه. وعندها لا تنفع كل مهازل “الدنيا” ولا “الأورينت” ولا غيرهما في تجاهل ما هو الشارع الحقيقي وما يريده.

وهذا بالضبط ما استشعرته النخب، فسارعت اليوم إلى عقد هذا “المؤتمر” لتظهر، أمام النظام على الأقل، أنها موجودة وتستطيع أن تفعل شيئا.

وفي هذا التقى الإفلاسان على طاولة الخيبة نفسها: نظام يتجاهل بكل قوته حقائق واقع يخشاه دون معرفة به، ونخب تتجاهل بكل قوتها حقائق واقع تخشاه وهي على معرفة جيدة به.

وبالطبع، فإن شبيحة المعارضة من أمراء الفضائيات لم يتوانوا عن شن حرب تخوين ضد المؤتمر. لا لمبدئية ولا لديمقراطية، بل فقط لأنهم شعروا أيضا بالخطر الكامن في هذا المؤتمر، إذ يخرجهم نهائيا من اللعبة التي لم يكونوا فيها أصلا إلا كممثلين مثيرين على الشاشات.

ولكن، هل هناك “مخارج” أخرى؟
من الواضح أن هذا “المؤتمر” ليس بمخرج، ولا بمدخل. فالحوار الحقيقي الذي يمكن له أن يثمر لن يكون إلا مع، وبين قوى المجتمع نفسها. وقوى المجتمع ليس فيها فلان ولا علتان مهما علا صراخهم وبحت أصواتهم. إلا أن هذه القوى نفسها ليست مؤطرة ولا مبلورة التصورات. ولم تظهر قادتها بعد خوفا من الأمن، كما لم تنتخب ممثليها لانعدام أي طريقة آمنة وصحيحة لفعل ذلك. مثلما أن فئات أخرى من المجتمع، الموالاة المغالية تحديدا، تحتاج أيضا إلى مثل هذه الفرصة من التأطير والبلورة قبل أن تنحدر كليا إلى انفجارات العنف الأعمى الذي تعمل على زيادة احتماله قوى عديدة.

وإذا أراد النظام فعلا أن يفتح باب الحوار الحقيقي، الحوار الذي يمكن له أن يترجم نتائج على مستوى سورية، كما على المستوى الواقعي المحلي، فإن خياره الوحيد، أعجب ذلك أمراء الحرب فيه أم لم يعجبهم، هو اتباع إجراءات واضحة ودقيقة:
1- تعديل فوري لمرسوم التظاهر ليتمكن الناس من تنظيم حركة احتجاجاتهم التي لن تتوقف، وفق أسس وقواعد صحيحة، ستكون ملائمة لهم أولا، وليس لشبيحة النظام أو شبيحة المعارضة.
2- ضمان مطلق وعملي بعدم اعتقال أو ملاحقة أي من المتظاهرين أو قادتهم ممن لم يستخدم السلاح ضد الجيش أو الأمن أو المدنيين، ضمان غير قابل للخرق بأي وسيلة من أي جهاز أو جهة، وتحت طائلة الاعتقال الفوري والمحاكمة الفورية لكل من يخرق هذا الضمان.
3- رمي مشروع قانون الأحزاب المنشور على موقع “سورية التشاركية” في أقرب سلة قمامة، وإقصاء الخبراء القانونيين الذين يبدو أنهم ليسوا خريجي الأفرع الأمنية فحسب، بل هم من الذين يعملون ويعيشون في الأقبية فلا يشمون سوى رائحة العفن. فهو لا يستحق حتى النقاش. والعمل فوريا على وضع قانون أحزاب ديمقراطي حقيقي، ويعتمد مبدأ العلم والخبر، ويحكم القضاء بشكل مطلق ونهائي، ويحظر مواضيع محددة بدقة..
وهذا القانون سيمنح الشارع فرصا حقيقية لتأطير نفسه ومجموعاته، وبلورة تصوراته وأهدافه، وانتخاب ممثليه.
والأمر نفسه فيما يخص قانون الإعلام الذي بات يحتاج إلى فرقة عمليات كاملة لإخراجه من الحلقة المفرغة المثيرة للشفقة التي يدور فيها منذ سنتين تحت مسمى “التشاركية”!
4- الإثبات الفوري لما قيل عن “محاسبة من ارتكب عنفا” من النظام. وتجاوز كل المبررات التي تتعلق بأصول الإدعاء أو بطبيعة التحقيق، وإظهارهم مخفورين في المحاكم المعنية أمام الكاميرات، وليس لخمس دقائق كمسرحية، ومهما كانت مواقعهم أو صلاتهم العائلية أو الطبقية. فلم يبق عاقل واحد يصدق أساطير المحاسبة والتحقيق بعد ثلاثة أشهر على إثبات جرائم عاطف نجيب وغيره ممن باتت أسماؤهم معروفة. ولن يقبل أحد التحرك خطوة واحدة قبل هذه المحاكمات العلنية التي تشكل أهم خطوة في استعادة الثقة المبنية على أن النظام، فعلا لا قولا، لن يتساهل مع من سفح دم الناس بإجرامه أو بحماقته، لا فرق..
5- إنجاز انقلاب فوري في الإعلام السوري، خاصة قنوات باتت إرهابية بكل معنى الكلمة “مثل الدنيا”، توقف نهائيا هذا الحمق المجنون، وتعطي المساحة كلها للوطن بمعناه الصحيح والديمقراطي. حتى إذا اضطر الأمر لإعطاء رواتب لموظفين/ات أكل الدهر عليهم وشرب، وهم في بيوتهم، وتقديم الشباب الذي يعرف المعنيون قدرتهم/ن على إنجاز هذا الانقلاب في 24 ساعة، وليس في أسبوع. فلم يعد الفشل الإعلامي فشلا فحسب، بل صار جزءا رئيسيا من الأزمة نفسها.

إنها خطوات بسيطة وسهلة، فيما إذا كان هناك من يرى ويسمع الواقع نفسه، وليس ما قلنا أنهم “كبار البسطار، صغار العقول”. فهؤلاء لم قد استبدلوا عقولهم فعلا بكتل مغلقة من العنف والمصالح والسلطة حتى باتوا قادرين على تدمير بلد، وضمنا تدمير مصالحهم ذاتها، قبل أن يتمكنوا حتى من القبول أن الناس ليس عبيدا وجواري لهم.

إن الحوار الوطني لا يكون أبدا بين هياكل كرتونية لا تعي نفسها وحقيقة الهامش الذي تعيش فيه منغلقة وميتة. بل يكون فقط مع الواقع الحي الذي أثبت، على أرض الواقع، أنه قادر على تحريك الشارع وتنظيمه وترتيب شؤونه بوعي تجاوز، في بعض الحالات، وعي “أعتى” المختصين، وإن غلب عليه الطابع العفوي..

فهل من يعي اليوم أن الوقت بدأ ينفد فعلا؟ ليس بسبب من تدخلات خارجية، ولا بسبب من عنف داخلي، بل أولا وقبل كل شيء من إغلاق الطريق المتقصد من شبيحة النظام والمعارضة والنخب معا بوجه هذا الشارع (بكل فئاته وتوجهاته)؟! فالمسار الوحيد الذي سيتجه إليه، ما لم يتمكن من تنظيم أموره والتعبير عن نفسه بشكل جيد، هو الفوضى التي لن ينفع فيها جيش حينئد، ولا مخابرات، ولا جيوش ناتو، ولا مجرمين من أي لون…

http://www.bassam-alkadi.com/content/view/602/80/

@372 “You really shouldn’t belittle your own army”

Bullshit. Complete and utter crap. Does pointing out the sorry state the army is in after 40 years of Baathist mismanagement count as treason in your book? This is about war, and in war one has to be realistic, and not rely on fantasies such as “asymmetric arsenals”, which is just another way of admitting the armed forces are hopelessly outmatched.

“When the war came, the Zionists were shocked to see the SAM batteries and suffered great losses in aircraft. You can bet we have similar secrets today”

Here we go again, still living in the 70s. Yes, the Israeli Air Force got pummeled in 1973. And do you remember what happened in 1982? The Israelis learned their lessons, they adapted, and the Syrian Air Force lost hundreds of planes in engagements against the Israelis.

Reality people, FACTS. The bulk of the Syrian Air Force is made up of MiG-23s and MiG-21s, which are no match for F-16s and F-15s.

“I think it’s incredible that a Syrian would insult his/her own army.”

Pointing out weaknesses in training, equipment and doctrine actually makes me a patriot, because I want to see the Syrian Army be the professional, potent force we all want it to be. It is treason to pretend it stands a chance in hell in a modern war, just to avoid criticizing junior and his daddy.

You seem to be a great admirer of Iran. I’m sure the ayatollahs are determined to fight Israel down to the last Lebanese and Syrian. Despite overwhelmingly outnumbering the Iraqis, they never managed to bring that war to a decisive conclusion even after eight years.

It is not patriotism to stick ones head in the sand and pretend the Syrian army has more capabilities than it actually does. Modern armies are never satisfied, they are always re-evaluating the last battle fought, and learning lessons from them. Your reliance on 1973 just shows that military doctrine amongst the regime has not moved beyond the 1970s.

“Asymmetric arsenals”. “Secret weapons.” Those are just phrases for “we’ll lob a few rockets and hope for the best”

And regarding the article from Al-Quds, how many times have you read a report about a report that turned out to be taken out of context? I’m waiting for someone to post the actual article, otherwise how can anyone actually judge its contents.

>“Asymmetric arsenals”. “Secret weapons.” Those are just phrases for “we’ll lob a few rockets and hope for the best”

Try the following game changing systems:

Kornet — border’s closed for armor
HQ9, HQ10 — sky is closed inside Syria
Several different Passive radar units — not targetable by radar seeking missiles.
MiG-29, Su-27 — Air supremacy in heavily defended regions
Hundred thousand scud missiles and largest arsneal of launchers in the region with BW/CW warhead — samson option available
New SS missile — Turkish navy is useless

Add to this Iran’s forces and you have to be delusional to think Turkey stands a chance on its own. Turkey is a very strong country militarily, but this is nation states against nation states. Turkey is being pushed to war by the outside to serve as a casus belli for full NATO involvement, in which case Syria and Iran won’t stand a chance (but you can say goodbye to Israel and Turkey). At that point though, Russia and China will get involved, which is what the bankrupt west actually desire. A low-level, non-nuclear war, to make use of their superior tactical position to save themselves from the weak strategic position.

You’re a retard and a liar and know nothing about Syria. Nice try faker, if you really knew what happened in 1982, you’d understand it had nothing to do with better/more equipment.

You would know exactly what mistake Syria did which gave the Israelis the overwhelming victory they had.

Aboud,

You’re assuming that you know everything about what the military has, or what their training is. You’re very wrong about all your convictions. And by the way, the MiG aircraft is still competitive and well-known for its agility and maneuverability, along with the technological upgrades to keep it current, of course. I am not claiming that the Syrian army has superiority in aerial strikes, but it can hold its own. Because of the relatively limited budget, its priority is on defensive equipment. Just like how the SAM was kept a good secret in 1973, there are other advanced anti-aircraft weapons that we have today in secret. In fact, the Israeli spies that Russia caught recently were trying to find exactly such information.

Until now, the Syrian military is effectively on its own, while Zionists have had infinite US support in weapons development. When the US designs a new aircraft with its billions in tax-payer dollars, it designs a special variant for the Zionists, like the current F-35I for example. We simply can’t compete with that but Iran is establishing itself as a real power and you can see how the west is trying to destroy its progress. I’m not an admirer of the Iranian theology, but I am an admirer of their independence and self-sufficiency.

#376

Just FYI, the F-35 is a piece of rubbish and the F-35I will be no exception. The PAK-50 stealth fighter along with Russia’s new long range missiles make the F-22 and F-35 obsolete weapons systems. In fact, China’s in-development air-to-air missile system is so superior the the US/EU’s that once it is online, the US/EU will not even be able to get near the jets.

As the US economy decays, the chance of Syria obtaining any of these systems increase.

I will not say anything I know about our military other than what I stated above, but to think they’re been sitting around eating basterma all day for the last 29 years would be an extremely foolish assumption. Aboud is an Israeli citizen.

Tara,

The P stands for princess, if that is OK with you.

With all it’s militery superiority, The US lost to Al Qaeda in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan, so determination what wins wars not weapons, It is the perseverance of the combatants,

anyway it would be interesting for a NATO state to destroy a building worth 100,000.00 dollar with a missile that costs a million dollar, how long that business can survive , not long before it gets bankrupt.

@375
“Hundred thousand scud missiles”

A hundred thousand? A hundred thousand ballistic missiles? You do realize that both the USA and USSR combined didn’t have a hundred thousand ballistic missiles?

And you’re happy with Scuds? Saddam tried to use them in the Gulf War. They can hit a city, but that’s as accurate as it gets. If a Scud gets fired at Ankara HQ, the safest place to be is right inside Ankara HQ.

And where did you imagine that Syria has Su-27s? From the same la-la land that you got a hundred thousand Scuds from?

The MiG-29 is ten years behind the F-16 and F-15, and even then Syria has at best a few squadrons of those. Not to mention the appalling level of training the Syrian Air Force gets. Most air force pilots in the world get hundreds of hours of flight time a year. A Syrian pilot gets a few dozen at best.

“Add to this Iran’s forces…” The same Iranian forces that couldn’t defeat Saddam in eight years of war, even though they overwhelmingly outnumbered the Iraqis? Seriously, Syria has enough problems, we don’t need them compounded with any Iranian help.

“You would know exactly what mistake Syria did which gave the Israelis the overwhelming victory they had.”

I know more about than you seem to. Heck, any freshman at West Point knows more about it than the Syrian Military Command, the way it’s been stuffed with acolytes who were promoted based on ideology and not military professionalism.

“Russia and China will get involved” What a delightfully optimistic fantasy. Remember the last time the Russians played chicken against the Americans? That was during the 1973 war. The Americans went on full alert, and the Russians backed down. You are hopeless if you are counting on such unreliable allies who have let you down before.

“with BW/CW warhead — samson option available” Samson option, he says, sitting all the way in Canada. And where do you suppose those chemical weapons will be used, imbecile? On Syrian land against an invading army, or on Israeli cities, also filled with numerous Arabs. Do I really have to put together a crayon drawing for you on what the consequences of either actions would be? Idiot.

@376 “Just like how the SAM was kept a good secret in 1973, there are other advanced anti-aircraft weapons that we have today in secret.”

See, that’s what’s called flying on a wing and prayer. You are *hoping* that Syria has some ultra-secret edge that will turn the tables, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Where was our super secret edge in 1982? Or when the Israelis struck at Syria numerous times since then? All you have is a vague hope that the Syrian Army has some ace up its sleeve. It’s not how one plans to go to war.

You’re an idiot, a sarcastic idiot. Just because you couldn’t find it on Wikipedia doesn’t mean the sukhoi deal didn’t go through. 100% sure you are not Syrian now

LOL at the Russia/America comparision. Hezbollah alone has 20,000 missiles.

Syria mass-manufactures the missiles. We have over 1000 launchers and counting. There’s mountains of this stuff.

These are not ICBM they are medium range missiles, just enough to hit our enemies.

>I know more about than you seem to.

Haha, running away from it, because let’s face it, you don’t know SHIT!

Geez, why am I even arguing with this retard? Go back to haaretz kid. Scram.

All,

This may sound silly but can you all stop discussing military things esp if any of you have sensitive classified info. Please!

@380

You ever hear of Jane’s Weekly? Doubt it, it’s only the most respected military journal in the world

“http://articles.janes.com/extracts/extract/emedsu/syris120.html”

“It was believed at one time that Syria had begun taking delivery of Su-27 ‘Flanker’ fighters in 2000, but it later became apparent that it was not deploying the Su-27, evidently having failed to finalise a deal with Russia to purchase this formidable warplane”

Wonderful Baathist military doctrine. Depend on weapons that haven’t even been delivered *facepalm*

“Hezbollah alone has 20,000 missiles.”

20,000 what? Katyushas? What are you trying to hit, cows in a field? Who the hell spends limited military funds on maintaining WW2 era rockets which you can’t even aim?

@381 Don’t worry Tara, none of this is classified. Just common sense. Although I can’t vouch for the one hundred thousand Scuds Syria seems to have mysteriously acquired. Maybe we do have more missiles than the USSR and USA combined *shrug*

Tara,
Leish?

Yazan,

Cause we can hate each other but we can’t hate Syria.

Cause there’s one thing you can never hate: Your country.

Tara,
I may not be following the conversation well, so your answer didn’t make much sense to me. But I’ll take issue with the answer itself. Hate and love are two intense feelings that contain the other. So yes, it is as easy to hate your country (or anything, or anyone) as it is to love it. (I think)

Syria chides Turkey amid ongoing unrest
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sevil Küçükkoşum
The Syrian ambassador to Turkey has called on the Turkish government to take action against what the Syrians call terrorists crossing the border and smuggling weapons across the Turkish-Syrian border.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=syria-chides-turkey-amid-ongoing-unrest-2011-06-26

This is what we expect tommorrow
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/14990

Yazan,

SC needs to come with a disclaimer: “Comment at your own risk! Pain, love, hate, fear, and paranoia may be all unraveled. Not recommended for the weak of heart’.

The answer to the first question is rather simple. No classified information in regard to Syria/ Lebanese military capability should be discussed. This is a matter of national security and is irrelevant to who is in power.

You can never hate your country. Only traitors do. Some Syrian expats may never want to even visit but they are more pained by anything bad that happens to Syria often times more than the Syrian inside. It is just normal to love your country as it is just normal to love your family.

It seems the ‘peaceful protesters’ disgraceful actions have sprad to Australia. Four girls were attacked by a grizzly low life Islamist, while they were returning home from Sunday’s demonstration in support of president Bashar Assad in Sydney, just because they were holding a picture of Bashar Assad.

What a great display of freedom and democracy from the MB and their followers.

1200 سوري يعودون إلى جسر الشغور من تركيا.. واعتداء على ميكروباصات بالخالدية في حمص

أفاد مراسل سيريانيوز في محافظة إدلب يوم الأحد عن وصول نحو 1200 شخص إلى مدينة جسر الشغور وريفها قادمين من المخيمات التركية ( كواتشي، هاتاي) عبر معبري هتية والحسينية من جهة وخربة الجوز من جهة أخرى، فيما عاد آخرون من المناطق الواقعة على الشريط الحدودي، وكان باستقبال الأهالي مجموعة من رجال الدين الإسلامي والمسيحي”.

ونقل المراسل عن مصدر عسكري قوله إن ” عدد الواصلين إلى جسر الشغور وريفها اليوم من طريق خربة الجوز وصل إلى 750 شخصاً, ومن طريق هتية مفرق الملند 350 شخصاً”.
ونزح في الأسابيع الأخيرة أكثر من 11 آلاف مواطن سوري من جسر الشغور إلى تركيا بسبب قيام الجيش بالتدخل لوضع حد لجماعات مسلحة ظهرت في تلك المنطقة, وذلك استجابة لاستغاثة الأهالي بحسب المصادر الرسمية.

من جانبه, قال أبو محمود, احد العائدين, لسيريانيوز “لم استطع في بداية الأحداث وخوفاً على عائلتي ونظراً لضيق الحال وعدم وجود من نأوي إليه توجهنا إلى تركيا وهناك كانت المعاملة جيدة”، مؤكدا ان سبب تاخرهم بالعودة إلى “تواجد أشخاص مجهولين عند مدخل المخيم يمنعوننا من العودة بحجة أن وحدات الجيش السوري تقوم بالقتل والاعتقال”.

بدورها, قالت ريم ” تأخرنا بالعودة لما سمعناه من روايات مفادها أن عناصر الجيش ستقوم بذبحنا إن عدنا إلى جسر الشغور”.

من جهتها, قالت السيدة رجاء إننا “خشينا من حدوث اشتباكات بين وحدات الجيش والتنظيمات الإرهابية وخوفاً على أولادنا قررنا اللجوء إلى تركية”.

فيما بين لؤي وزوجته أنهما توجها إلى تركية “خوفاً مما سمعاه من أن أبناء إحدى الطوائف سيقومون بذبح أهالي جسر الشغور انتقاماً لمذبحة الجانودية”.

وكانت المجموعات المسلحة في منطقة جسر الشغور قامت بقتل حوالي 120 من عناصر قوى الأمن ومثلت بجثثهم, كما قامت بترويع السكان وحرق الممتلكات العامة والخاصة, ماحدا بعدد كبير من المواطنين إلى النزوح إلى قرى الجالودية والملند ودركوش باتجاه مدينة حارم، إضافة لنزوح عدد من الأهالي إلى تركيا عبر قرية أورم الجوز.

حمص
وفي حمص, أفاد مراسلنا هناك عن قيام مجموعة من المخربين في منطقة الخالدية بالتعرض لبعض الميكروباصات (سرافيس) العاملة على خط الكورنيش الشرقي وتكسيرها مما استدعى تدخل دوريات حفظ النظام”.
وشهدت عدة مدن سورية منذ أكثر من 3 أشهر مظاهرات تنادي بالحرية ومطالب عامة تركزت, في أيام الجمعة, تزامنت مع وقوع أعمال عنف واعتداءات من قبل عناصر مسلحة راح ضحيتها مئات الشهداء من المدنيين وعناصر الأمن والجيش.

سيريانيوز

http://syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=134261

Majedalkhaldoon

They seem to have agreed on and put in writing their list of demands. It is a good start for a dialog.

@390

The part about service buses near Khaldia in Homs being vandalized, is complete and utter bullshit. Khaldia is one of the neighborhoods that’s been giving the regime the most headaches in Homs, with the biggest demonstrations in Homs occurring there.

Last week, the Baathist scum who were bussed in from outside Homs tried to enter Khaldia, and started insulting its inhabitants, alot of whom have had relatives imprisoned and killed during these events. Can you imagine such disgraceful behavior, going up to a house that has just lost a loved one and insulting the deceased relatives? Disgraceful.

It only served to strengthen the resolve of people in Khaldia, and anti-regime banners are now hung freely outside homes. So it is no surprise that the regime is up to its clumsy tricks again, making up crap as an excuse to send in the army.

It didn’t work in Baba Amr, it didn’t work in Telkelakh, and it certainly didn’t work in Dera’a; all these places continue to go out and demonstrate despite the savage attempts of the regime to quell them. The Baathists keep trying the same, failed tactics that bought them to such a sorry state 103 days after the demonstrations began.

Tara,
Did it really come out that strong? Apologies.

I understand the answer now, but I don’t see how any of the information posted are confidential. In fact, you can easily check them out at Global defense, and other websites, which probably means they’re outdated and false.

I’ll disagree with the rest.

Why-Discuss,
According to Khalil Maatouq, Riyad al-Turk has given his blessing to the conference and said it’s a necessary step. Let’s hope for the best.

What do you make of this, though?
http://www.debka.com/article/21061/

Finally some western media bothered to go out in research form some truth, I wonder if the opposition smart trio are still in denial of the existence of armed group between protesters.
—————————————————————-

Syria caught in crossfire of extremists Pro-democracy protests are being infiltrated by armed jihadists, provoking the army into lethal gun battles

“At first the tribal elders leading the march thought these men had simply come prepared to defend themselves if shooting broke out. But when they saw more weapons — rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers held by men with heavy beards in cars and pick-ups with no registration plates — they knew trouble lay ahead.
Violence erupted as the demonstrators approached the barracks, where the police had barricaded themselves inside. As the first shots rang out, protesters scattered. Some of the policemen escaped through a rear exit; the rest were besieged.
A military helicopter was sent to the rescue. “It engaged the armed protesters for more than an hour,” said one witness, a tribal leader. “It forced them to use most of their ammunition against it to relieve the men trapped in the building.”
Some of the gunmen were hit by bullets fired from the helicopter. When it flew away, the mob stormed the front of the barracks.
A fierce gunfight ensued. Soon, four policemen and 12 of their attackers were dead or dying. Another 20 policemen were wounded. Their barracks was ransacked and set on fire, along with the courthouse and police station.
The officers who escaped the onslaught on June 10 were hidden in the homes of families who had been demonstrating earlier, the tribal leader said. He and his sons and nephews retrieved 25 men and drove them to the safety of their headquarters in Aleppo.”

“I arrived in Damascus last Tuesday, the first western journalist to enter Syria with the authorities’ knowledge since the trouble began. Senior officials promised that I could move and report freely.
Putting this to the test, I talked to opposition figures and activists as well as members of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. I found a country whose vibrant people are increasingly determined to secure change and whose leaders seem unsure how to respond.
It was not through the government sources that I established the presence of extremists, but through opposition figures and the evidence of my own eyes.”

“The Kiswa demonstrators carried a large Syrian flag to show that they were combining protest with patriotism. Five young men led the chanting and witnesses said that, for a few brief minutes, the atmosphere was almost carnival-like.
But within half an hour security forces in leather jackets had arrived, carrying AK-47s. The protesters responded by cursing Maher al-Assad, the president’s brother, blamed for the worst atrocities of the crackdown.
Cries of “We’re not afraid of you” were followed by shooting from Kalashnikovs and pistols, according to one witness.
“In just a few minutes I saw 10 protesters on the ground, bleeding heavily,” he said. “I saw a child covered in blood.” Hassan Sheeb, 13, reportedly died of his injuries shortly afterwards.
Men screamed, “Oh, God,” while women watching from windows shrieked. “For a moment I felt I would die and would never see my family again,” the witness said. “I heard the bullets and smelt the tear gas. It was hard to live this moment as I watched three young people bleeding on the ground.””

“As the funerals of Kiswa’s 14 dead got under way yesterday, the mood in the town remained defiant. Demonstrators rejected any suggestion that armed jihadists had provoked the security forces in protests there or anywhere in Syria.
“The regime keeps saying we are armed groups, Salafi groups or armed criminals,” said a 25-year-old university student. “I ask the world to come and see if we raise a knife or a stick in our demonstrations.”
Some opposition figures have reason to disagree. Mohammed Saiid Hamadah, 44, is a journalist who has been imprisoned for criticising the Assad government. Hamadah and his wife, Um Joud, were among the first protesters in Damascus. Her father has spent 31 years in jail for opposing the regime of the president’s father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled from 1971 to 2000.
Last month Hamadah visited Ma’arrat al-Nu’man, his home town, to check on its protest movement and found it had no leaders. He formed a group of intellectuals in Damascus to direct the protests and ensure they did not come under the influence of insurgents.
On June 10, the day of the attack on Ma’arrat’s barracks, Hamadah saw several large cars on the main road nearby. Each contained at least six men with guns, some speaking into walkie-talkies, he said.
After the trouble had died down, Hamadah was driving near the town at midnight when a blinding flashlight forced him to stop.
Armed men surrounded the vehicle and demanded identification, and then blindfolded him, tied his arms behind his back and his feet together and dumped him in a car boot. After a 20-minute journey, he was pushed into a building with steep stairs and was informed that he was in the hands of “Syria’s revolutionary interrogation section”.
Hamadah said he was hit on the back with electric cables and cursed as a “dog” for spreading his message about peaceful protest. “You tell people not to fight the army when they come,” his interrogator said. “This is not Syria’s army, this is Bashar’s army, and we intend to burn and kill it with fire and iron.”
Hamadah endured further torture. Burning plastic was dripped over his back, thighs and ankles. He was electrocuted through his toes.
Among the contacts in his mobile phone, his assailants found the name George. This led to another beating for mixing with “a Christian infidel, a crusader and a pig”.
Hamadah was warned that if he turned out to be from the Alawite minority that forms Syria’s elite, his baby daughter would be cut to pieces in front of him. Finally, he was hung upside down while electrodes were applied to his back and buttocks.
“The pain was excruciating and I would scream and lose consciousness, then be woken with cold water splashed on me. They forced my eyes open and threw salt in them.”
After seven hours Hamadah was driven back to his vehicle. This weekend he vowed to continue working for peaceful protest despite the threats of his captors, who he insists were jihadists. “I reject such an alternative for my future and the future of my children,” he said.
The threat of an upsurge in Islamic militancy is worrying those who have seen insurgents or watched videos purporting to show them beheading security force members and mutilating their bodies.”

Unlike Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, Syria has not seen the defections of senior members of its military, political or diplomatic establishments. Syrian analysts see no immediate threat to the regime, but failure to enact reform could encourage armed elements, including jihadists, to exploit frustration. The government’s more moderate opponents insist they would not allow security to break down in this way.
“If these reforms are not translated as promised within the next few months, we will bring the regime down,” said one man at a meeting of tribal leaders last week. The others nodded in agreement.
Islamists battle Syrian regime
Hala Jaber in Damascus Published: 26 June 2011″

The article in full:

http://thearabdigest.blogspot.com/2011/06/syria-caught-in-crossfire-of-extremists.html

Dear Yazan

Not at all. It looks like I am the one who replied too strong. You came out very normal. I don’t know anything about military . I just do not know the background of any of the commenters and was afraid that military secrets may be revealed in the process of us being mad at each other. That is all.

Interesting that you disagree with the rest. Can you kindly discuss your views?

Yazan

I don’t believe any of the Debka reports. Israel is keen to re-establish a “normal’ relationship with Turkey. On the Turkish side, it seems still ambiguous. The imminent UN report on the Mavi Marmara may create a new situation.

H.S

you apprently fell upon my instructive exchange with ABOALI the smart business man from Aleppo.

This has nothing to do :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enzMTjtC9P8&feature=related

this video is from the tv comedy (or rather satiric) series SPOT LIGHT بقعة ضوء

It was presented on public tv channel back to 2007 – 2008 if i’m not wrong

The paradox here is that many if not all of the comedians and the prod team are well known to be regime supporters.

SPOT LIGHT was very popular in the last two years as were practically all syrian tv comedies since Duraid Laham back to the years 1970 (i’m speaking just aout comedy not drama).

Since Assad warm backing to Duraid Laham and his team (at that time there were the series named SA7 ANNOOM, WEIN EL GHALAT) the regime kept encouraging true criticism on the television media as far as i know without refrain or censorship. Much of these TV series were really ahead of the problems we have been witnessing recently.

These kind of attacks does happen, here an example from Hama:
http://youtu.be/WkSqW_8w1kM

Tara,
What I mean to say is that intense personal feelings of love and hate, which are usually associated with close people (family, friends, partner, etc.) and/or ideas (like the idea of one’s own country, which is by all means, a recent fabrication of human civilization), are products of the same apparatus. And thus, one is easily manipulated, or substituted by the other. So, it is much easier, and natural to move from a state of deep affection and love, to one of hatred, and vice versa, than it is to switch to the neutral zone (where, what I consider real treachery, lies). Because they’re both so intense, and because they both convey how important the object of your affection/hatred is to you. Mercenaries are the most brutal of gunmen, especially because they have no intense emotions one way or the other about the object, and so they perform what they’re asked of in a mechanical way, that’s closer to absurdity than it is to reality. Love and hate are made of the same material, is all I’m saying. (ofcourse, take my words with a grain of salt, they’re just mine). 😉

307. Amir in Tel Aviv

You mentioned about a month or two ago that you liked the tone of the chanting. You are right, it is different from those you heard from other countries. It is local. The tone is derived from local folkloric, traditional chants that take place in weddings and happy occasions. My wife still does not forgive me after 20 years for not agreeing to having one during our wedding.
Below are random examples عراضة شامية .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoLkWnviF5o&feature=related

@394 “I wonder if the opposition smart trio are still in denial of the existence of armed group between protesters.”

Completely and utterly deny it. Do you think one article is enough to prove the existence of roaming bands of Salafis, especially since this is the first we’ve ever heard of events such as what happened to Mohammed Syed Hamadah. He’s supposed to be a journalist, I’d be interested to see something written by him.

This is Syria, word gets around when things like that happen, especially after 100 plus days.

WD,
Check out this interview with Monsieur ‘Fache’ Ghadban:
معارض سوري:نريد من روسيا موقفا منسجما مع المجتمع الدولي في ادانة القمع واختيار حكومتنا بطريقة سلمية
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/560951/

I liked his smart answers:
-Some reports are saying of the existence of armed militia?
We don’t believe that, it’s the work of the army/security/4th brigade

-How do you want the international community to get involve?
By UN resolution/condemnation

-Do you have any assurance that they wont go beyond that?
No

-If they do attack/occupy Syria, what you think?
I blame the regime!

Seriously, isn’t there ONE opposition figure with charisma and brain to be put forward to convince Syrians of the alternatives.
How are they going to convince any Syrian with what they call for when they are lying and pretending that they are ‘not sure’ of the result, all of us know for sure how disastrous it will be for Syria if things went too fast with foreign intervention..

Word has been going around since the beginning. Dumbfucks like you always deny it. It is not the first time we have heard of such events. My own aunt even witnessed with her own eyes, in the first few weeks, firefighters being killed by terrorists who set a fire and then called the fire dept. to put it out. They only called so they can attack them. You are stupid if you don’t believe that the terrorists exist.

Regarding today opposition meeting in Damascus:

دمشق تختبر اليوم تحدي المعارضة الداخلية: 200 معارض يناقشون الانتقال إلى دولة ديموقراطية
زياد حيدر

“يتوقع أن يجتمع اليوم في فندق «سميراميس» في دمشق أكثر من 200 معارض سوري مستقل، لمناقشة ثلاث نقاط رئيسية هي قراءة الوضع الراهن، والانتقال السلمي الآمن إلى دولة ديموقراطية مدنية، وبحث دور المستقلين والمثقفين في هذا الانتقال، ما يشكل تحولا في المشهد السوري، بعد موافقة شفهية من السلطات على عقد هذا اللقاء المعارض. وكان نائب وزير الخارجية السوري فيصل المقداد قال أمس، لشبكة «سي إن إن» الأميركية إن السلطات لا تشن حملة على المعارضين، مشيراً إلى أن «مجموعات دينية متطرفة ممولة من الخارج» تشن حملة ضد الحكومة والمدنيين، مؤكداً أن الضغوط الاوروبية لن تغير الموقف السوري من الصراع العربي الإسرائيلي وقضايا أخرى.
أما الرئيس بشار الأسد، فتناول، خلال لقائه وفداً من الجالية السورية في الولايات المتحدة، الأحداث التي تشهدها سوريا و«الحملة الإعلامية المضللة التي تتعرض لها البلاد في الخارج والتي تحاول تشويه الحقائق وتحريف الوقائع». كما دار الحديث حول دور الجالية السـورية فـي المغترب «في توضيح حقيقة ما يجري والمساهمة في نقل الصورة الحقيقية للخارج». وأعرب أعضاء الجالية عن «دعمهم الكامل لمسيرة الإصلاح مؤكدين انتماءهم قلباً وقالباً للوطن سوريا»، بحسب وكالة «سانا» الرسمية.
وسيكون اجتماع اليوم، الذي يجمع ما يزيد عن 200 معارض مستقل في سوريا، هو الأبرز على الصعيد الداخلي السوري منذ ثمانية أعوام باعتباره أول خطوة عملية على صعيد تطبيق إلغاء قانون الطوارئ والأحكام العرفية من جهة، تمكن المعارضة برموزها من تكوين أول تجمع تشاوري ينتهي ببيان جامع يحدد تصورها للأزمة السورية الراهنة وسبل الخروج منها من جهة أخرى.
ويأتي اجتماع المستقلين بعد يوم على انتهاء اجتماع 24 شخصية من المعارضة المنظمة في سوريا، شكلت هيئة تنسيق مشتركة ستعلن عن تحركها نهاية هذا الاسبوع عبر مؤتمر صحافي يأمل أصحابه أن يعقد في دمشق. ورغم أنه ما من تعليق رسمي بعد على الخطوتين، إلا أن السلطة لم تتدخل في اجتماع المعارضة الذي عقد في منزل المتحدث باسم التجمع الوطني الديموقراطي المعارض حسن عبد العظيم، كما سمحت شفهياً باجتماع اليوم في فندق «سميراميس»، وهو ما فسره البعض «تنازلاً أمام ضغط الشارع»، ولبلورة سياسات خاصة بمعارضة الداخل كما «لإعلاء صوتها» على «معارضة الخارج التي لا تملك تمثيلا على الأرض».
وأيا تكن الأسباب فإن اجتماع اليوم سيكون من ملامح تغير المشهد السوري. ويؤكد في هذا الصدد الكاتب لؤي حسين لـ»السفير»، باعتباره من أبرز الداعين للاجتماع، أن اللقاء ليس فيه جدول أعمال وإنما يقوم على مناقشة ثلاث نقاط رئيسية تتمثل في «قراءة الوضع الراهن، وانتقال سلمي آمن لدولة ديموقراطية مدنية، وبحث دور الشخصيات المستقلة والمثقفين في هذا الانتقال».
ويبدي حسين انزعاجه الشديد مما قيل إنه «تصور لورقة جامعة ستصدر عن الاجتماع»، والتي نقلت إحدى وكالات الأنباء أنها ستنتهي إلى «إنشاء مجلس وطني تشريعي بمشاركة حزب البعث وشخصيات مستقلة، بحيث يتألف من 100 عضو واعتبار الحكومة الحالية حكومة تصريف أعمال وأن تتم الدعوة إلى انتخابات تشريعية عامة في فترة لا تتجاوز ستة أشهر».
ويرى حسين أن هنالك من «يريد الإساءة للاجتماع لأنه يخشى منه على وجوده»، وأكد من مكتبه، حيث كان لا يزال ينتظر موافقة فندق «سميراميس» في وسط العاصمة، رسمياً على احتضان الاجتماع، أنه «لا ورقة مسبقة والكل يأتي بورقته الشخصية وسيصدر بيان نهاية الاجتماع يشكل إرادة المجتمعين»، وحين سؤاله عن تفسيره لسماح السلطات بعقد اجتماع كهذا للمرة الأولى منذ ثمانية أعوام على الأقل قال «بدأت السلطات تعيد لنا حقوقنا في الاجتماع والتعبير بسبب ضغط الشارع التظاهري».
ولا يضم اللقاء أية شخصيات معروفة بقربها أو دعمها للسلطة في سوريا، كما لا يضم شخصيات شاركت في مؤتمرات المعارضة في بروكسل أو أنتاليا، إلا أنه حين سؤال حسين عما إذا كان يضم شخصيات ممن يقودون الاحتجاجات في الشارع قال حسين «أنا أقود احتجاجات وأنا من الشارع». وإضافة إلى حسين فإن من ابرز المشاركين في اللقاء ميشال كيلو وعارف دليلة وفايز ساره ومازن درويش وأنور البني وغيرهم.
وأعلن الكاتب ميشال كيلو لـ»فرانس برس» ان «المعارضين لن يحاوروا النظام اذا لم يتوافر مناخ ملائم لذلك». وأضاف كيلو، الذي سجن ثلاثة اعوام لتوقيعه اعلان دمشق، أن «من حق الناس ان يتظاهروا سلمياً وينبغي الإفراج عن المعتقلين، وعلى السلطات ان تعترف بوجود المعارضة في موازاة وقف استخدام القوة، وإلا لن ينجح الحوار».
وفي سياق مشابه أنهى تجمع آخر لقاءاته السياسية التي عقدت في منزل المتحدث باسم التجمع الوطني الديموقراطي المعارض حسن عبد العظيم، الذي أكد لـ»السفير» أنه جرى الاتفاق أمس الأول على وثيقة سياسية في اجتماع ضم أحزاب التجمع الديموقراطي والحركة الوطنية الكردية وشخصيات وطنية معارضة كما ضمَّ ممثلين عن الفعاليات الشعبية.
وقال عبد العظيم إن ما لا يقل عن 30 شخصية اجتمعت في منزله واتفقت على «إقرار تشكيل الهيئة العامة للتنسيق لقوى التغيير الوطني الديموقراطي»، كما اتفق على انتخاب مكاتب تنفيذية ولجان صياغة مختلفة، على أن يعلن عن كل ذلك الأربعاء المقبل في مؤتمر صحافي.
وقال عبد العظيم إن «الهدف واحد» بين اجتماعهم واجتماع اليوم لشخصيات مستقلة كما أن «طرقهم للوصول إلى ذلك ذاتها وهي عبر التغيير الوطني الديموقراطي السلمي»، وعبر «معارضة أي تدخل خارجي».
وقال عبد العظيم إن أهداف التجمع هي الوصول «الى نظام برلماني يحقق توازن السلطات التنفيذية التشريعية ويمنع احتكار اي حزب للسلطة ويقر بنظام تمثيلي سياسي يقوم على من يفوز في الاقتراع».
وينتظر أن يعلن هذا الأسبوع عن موعد اللقاء التشاوري لمؤتمر الحوار الوطني الذي سيعمل على إعداد تصور مبدئي لجدول أعمال وطرح دعوات لمشاركة الأطراف المعنية في الحوار. ”

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=1881&articleId=3217&ChannelId=44325&Author=%D8%B2%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%20%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%B1

Good article by Talal Salman

التغيـير فـي سوريـا كـاستثمـار طـائفـي فـي لبنـان
http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=1881&ChannelId=44325&ArticleId=3220&Author=%D8%B7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84%20%D8%B3%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86

179. MICK

Not to mention that this democratically US elected president and congress who support a tiny nation called Israel that has their hands in every American tax payers pocket when they can have 350 million people (Arabic nations) on their side buying American goods and services. Americans are a generous folk!

MINA

this will interest you i’m sure

http://www.guysen.com/news_egypte-l-armee-justifie-les-tests-de-virginite-sur-les-manifestantes-Amnesty-con_318031.html

Égypte: l’armée justifie les tests de virginité sur les manifestantes, Amnesty condamne
Un haut responsable de l’armée égyptienne a justifié les “tests de virginité” pratiqués sur des manifestantes arrêtées par des militaires par la nécessité selon lui d’éviter des accusations de viol, a déclaré aujourd’hui Amnesty International dans un communiqué. Ce sujet a été évoqué par le secrétaire général d’Amnesty, Salil Shetty, lors d’une rencontre au Caire avec le chef du renseignement militaire, le général Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. “Des tests de virginité ont été pratiqués pour protéger l’armée contre des accusations possibles de viol”, a déclaré selon le communiqué le général. Amnesty pour sa part réaffirme son opposition aux “tests forcés de virginité quelles que soient les circonstances”.

All

See jad’ # 405

Any of you met with Bashar?

The Tax Payers know more than Darryl

Not to mention that this democratically US elected president and congress who support a tiny nation called Israel that has their hands in every American tax payers pocket…

Darryl,

Do us a favor. Make a quick “return-on-investment” (ROI) calculation for:

– The BLOOD and money the US has spent on Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Egypt, Lebanon, and Libya.

– The blood and money the US has spent on Israel,

Why Discuss

le meilleur d’entre nous … toujours droit dans ses crottes

http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2011/06/26/97001-20110626FILWWW00215-la-syrie-met-en-danger-la-region.php

Junior’s Enemy

Pointing out weaknesses in training, equipment and doctrine actually makes me a patriot, because I want to see the Syrian Army be the professional, potent force we all want it to be. It is treason to pretend it stands a chance in hell in a modern war, just to avoid criticizing junior and his daddy.

You seem to be a great admirer of Iran. I’m sure the ayatollahs are determined to fight Israel down to the last Lebanese and Syrian. Despite overwhelmingly outnumbering the Iraqis, they never managed to bring that war to a decisive conclusion even after eight years.

Aboud,

You stand out as a voice of reason in a pool of empty bravado.

Syria would do well with more people like you.

PS – You have a great sense of humour.

I did not respond to an email that originated from the embassy because I could not attend now. 2 people I know met with him,they are convinced he is sincere but they are not sure how much power he has or how able he is to start a revolution on his own,he needs help if you believe those guys. I support him as a transitional president until we have a new constitution and parliamentary elections,after that I would like him to let another person,may be a Sunni,take over. For the records,I do not care what sect the next president is from but I know many Syrians do.

The Syrian government would be smart to agree to the conclusion of the local opposition meeting as that will prove that they want reform and that they have faith in the local opposition who according to the new party law are the one that can be in any position of power as they live in Syria and do not have more than one citizenship like most in not all of us .

WD,

After the conflict between Turkey and Israel President Assad was the first to call for mending these relation to advance the peace process.

Last week, The caravan ‘Syria to freedom” dumped the regime.

This week, the regime try to keep up, by latching on to the tamed opposition, at the tail of the caravan.

Next Fridy, Both shall be dumped and The caravan will be lighter and move faster.

They will be left behind to face their destiny; Oblivion.

Vlad

Je crois que je prefere la betise de MAM a la pretention beate de celui-la.

Norman

One more reason for the US and Israel to hang on Bashar.
Hamas left, Hezbollah packed its weapons and the Arab league as well as the Palestinians did not lift a finger to support Bashar. He may have freer hand for future negotiations once Turkey mend its ties with Israel.

WD,

I agree, a move to Syria first is going to be the policy, I believe .

Aboud,

If you really live in Homs, you need to leave your neighborhood some time. You’re living in a bubble if you’ve never heard about terrorists roaming around the country. It has been a well-known fact since at least late March. Instead of trying to figure out what’s really going on outside of your little freedom bubble, you’re here insulting Iran’s abilities for not being able to defeat Iraq? Do you really need someone to explain to you, like a little child, why that war lasted for 8 years without a “decisive conclusion”? Don’t be stupid.

After the first speech, the government didn’t even allow many pro-regime demonstrations for the safety of the people. They’re not desperate to please morons like you and your abadayat. While you and your abadayat answer 3ar3our’s calls to yell out “allahu akbar” at night, now there are large pro-government demonstrations every day and everywhere, and you’re still oblivious to what’s happening around you. Wake up and smell the coffee already. If you really want to please 3ar3our, why don’t you and one of your boyfriends make a nice little video for him? I’m sure he’ll like it!

Why Discuss
Thank you, if the goverment respond positively, it will be great.

We should all remember that the current crisis, it is loose loose situation.
And we are all syrian,we have something in common, is that we love Syria,there is no need to address each other with profanity, we will be friends again.

Norman,

Where did you get your information from about Bashar wanting Turkey to mend relations with the Zionists?

About the demands of the “opposition” it really ticks me off that they claim the state media is misrepresenting the protests. What do you they want from the state media? They want the state media to report tens of thousands of anti-regime protesters when there are only hundreds? They want the state media to hail the terrorists as peaceful protesters and cover for their crimes of rapes and mutilations? They want the state media to call for international intervention against the government? They want the state media to call “eyewitnesses” from Saudi Arabia? What a joke. If this “opposition” doesn’t get realistic, they are going nowhere. They are a bunch of nobodies anyway without a real following.

And honestly, anyone who thinks the Zionists want to “hold on” to Bashar is living on Mars. As long as Bashar is in power, HA will thrive and Iran will maintain influence in the region. Stop fooling yourselves.

USAMA,

I read that after the deterioration of the relation after the Flotilla incidence, i do not think it was a speech, i believe it was an interview, sorry i do not remember the paper, some people might remember more. but i remember being call the mature leader in the Mideast.

MEMO to: MAJEDKHALDOON

RE: “…no need to address each other with profanity…”

Actually, you’re wrong. There is a need. The profanity goes with the paranoia. You see, the posters in the comment section of Professor Landis’ blog are not sure of one another. You know the how the Internet is, everyone (except me) uses a fake name (example, SYRIAN COMMANDO, VLAD THE SYRIAN, BIG DICK AHMAD, etc) and it follows there might be other aspects that are fake. The poster who identifies himself as an opposition sympathizer might be in fact a member of the al-Mukhabarat. Or the hard-nosed regime fanatic might be a secret Salafist. Or the ‘dude” who’s always asking innocent questions might in fact be a lesbian living a life of quiet desperation in downtown Damascus. You just don’t know.

So you end up using a lot a profanity and accusing anyone you don’t like of being a Jew. It’s logical. Professor Landis should give us all guns and turn us loose on a desert island. It would be hilarious.

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

This is an indication that most Syrians are with the government from their treatment to the Turkish drivers, Erdogan should be careful as many Turks will lose their jobs if Syria decide to treat Turkey as other countries.

——————————————————————————–

سائقو الشاحنات في تركيا يدفعون ثمن الثورة السورية

أ. ف. ب. GMT 12:37:00 2011 الأحد 26 يونيو

جيلفيغوزو: يشتكي سائقو الشاحنات الاتراك العاملين في سوريا من سوء معاملة السلطات السورية وبعض السوريين لهم منذ ان استضافت بلادهم اللاجئين السوريين الفارين من القمع في سوريا.

واوضح محمد مرجيمك لفرانس برس في جيلفيغوزو (جنوب)، احد المعابر بين تركيا وسوريا التي تعبرها يوميا مئات الشاحنات في الاتجاهين، “انتهى شهر العسل وتغيرت الامور في سوريا منذ وصول اللاجئين السوريين” الى تركيا.

وينقل سائق الشاحنة مواد بناء الى الاردن ويتعين عليه حتما عبور سوريا حيث قال انه يشعر بانه غير مرحب به.

وقال “عندما اتوقف لشراء الوقود يقولون لي قد نفذ بينما اعلم انه ما زال هناك، في حين قبل شهر كان الناس يرحبون بنا لكن الان يعتبروننا اعداء”.

واعتبر الرجل الذي يكسب قوته على طرقات تركيا وعدد من بلدان الشرق الاوسط، ان موقف السلطات السورية وجزء من السكان قد تغير تماما.

واضاف “كانوا يقولون لنا دائما +اننا شعب واحد، اتراك او سوريون+ لكنهم الان يمتنعون عن الكلام معنا، انه لامر غريب”.

وقد فر نحو 12 الف سوري الى تركيا من قمع حركة الاحتجاج على نظام الرئيس بشار الاسد.

ويقع احد المخيمات التي تستقبل اللاجئين في محافظة هاتاي على مسافة عشرة كلم من معبر جيلفيغوزو.

ودعا الهلال الاحمر السوري والرئيس بشار الاسد اللاجئين الى العودة الى ديارهم لكن دون نتيجة حتى الان.

ومنذ عدة اسابيع يروي العديد من اللاجئين والنازحين ما ترتكبه قوات امن بلادهم من تجاوزات عند الحدود التركية السورية التي تحولت الى مركز احتجاج للنظام.

واعرب منشقون عن رايهم في هذه المنطقة الحدودية حتى ان بعضهم دعا الى تشكيل “مجلس وطني” في وجه نظام دمشق.

وفي هذا السياق تنظر السلطات السورية باستياء الى الاستقبال الذي تخص به تركيا اللاجئين لا سيما انها حليف تجاري وسياسي لدمشق قبل الانتفاضة، وكذلك المواطنين الذين ظلوا اولياء للنظام.

وقال سائق شاحنة اخر يدعى حسن جتين وهو ينتظر دوره شانه شان العشرات لعبور الحدود بحمولة اغذية مبردة لتسليمها الى العراق عبر سوريا، ان “الناس يسالوننا لماذا استضافت تركيا اولئك +الخونة+”.

وعلى غرار العديد من زملائه الذين تحدثوا لفرانس برس يؤكد السائق ان منح اللجوء الى السوريين يطال التجارة عبر الحدود بعد ان نمت كثيرا خلال السنوات الاخيرة بين العاصمتين.

وبلغ حجم المبادلات التجارية الحرة 2,3 مليار دولار خلال 2010 اي بزيادة نسبتها 30% مقارنة ب2009، حسب الارقام الرسمية.

وقال سائق اخر يدعى حسن كارا انه قد يخسر وظيفته اذا لم يتحسن الوضع في سوريا.

واوضح اخر يدعى نيمت مرام ان شرطة الحدود والموظفين السوريين اصبحوا عدائيين.

وقال هذا السائق الشاب “انهم يبطئون الامور حين يتعلق الامر بتسوية اوراقنا ويرسلوننا الى عدة جهات بعد ان كانوا يعاملوننا بالاولوية لاننا اتراك” وطالب من الحكومة التركية عدم احداث قطيعة مع النظام السوري.

http://www.elaph.com/Web/news/2011/6/664937.html

إغلاق النافذة

To read the comments about how mighty the Syrian armed forces are and the fact that with Iran as an ally as if Iran will come to fight on the side of stupid Syrian regime; Turkey does not stand a chance, I wonder how come the Golan is still in Israeli hands and Iskanderun in Turkish ones. They should be begging and supplicating to the Puppet Junior to return them to him.

Some on this blog are desperate for the regime to survive, some by faking a sense of common sense that Junior is the best option we have and by minimizing the opposition’s chances. Some even have parroted the regime’s mantra that we are not ready for democracy when we had democracy before the Baath ever came to power in the fifties albeit a flawed one at that.

Others are just hurtling insults and accusations and continue on the fantastic tall tales of the regime about armed groups and financed saboteurs and fanatical zealots and oh my oh my the poor security forces falling victims to these groups in the thousands.

I think it is a microcosm of the chasm that exists between the elite and the rest, the regime and the people, the profiteers and the exploited, the let them eat cake and the downtrodden and it is clear that the verbal exchange is also a reflection of the coming civil war.

Once again Rats and Germs of the world unite as the Syrian opposition bravely put on a banner.

“This is an indication that most Syrians are with the government from their treatment to the Turkish drivers,”

I guess all that Bashar needs to do now is call for new presidential elections that are free ans fair and he’ll win hands down.

SYR-Expat

‘free and fair’ who will guarantee that? who will supervise? can it be arranged in 2 weeks?

SYR.EXPAT

And if he does, then I guess the protesters would stop protesting, right?

427. USAMA

“And if he does, then I guess the protesters would stop protesting, right?”
Not necessarily, but at least he can prove to the world that he’s a legitimate leader.
Before that, he should abolish the current parliament [of clowns] and let the Syrian people elect their representatives freely and fairly, with the elections being monitored by the UN so that no one can accuse the regime of manipulating votes.

I am sure you wan’t have a problem with that.

426. WHY-DISCUSS

The elections need not be arranged in two weeks. Here’s what the government can do knowing that it has the support of “most” Syrians:

– Announce new parliamentarian elections to be held within a month or two followed by presidential elections after another two to four months.

– Ask the UN to monitor the elections

This way, people can turn the demonstrations into election rallies, the mundaseen and “jaratheem” would suddenly disappear, and peace and harmony will once again return to the troubled Syrian lands. Problem solved!

This is a win-win scenario. The Baath and Assad (the majority) will retain power and the minority will have a voice in parliament.

I do not have a list of those who are meeting tomorrow but from what I gather none of them is part of the regime or a member of albaath,and a number of them are known to be harsh critics of the regime and some even went to prison for their beliefs. Discounting this meeting as a PR stunt by the regime will further alienate the opposition because it will suggest that they only want a particular type of opposition,the type that is confrontational,divisive and violent,and that will be rejected by most Syrians.I am willing to support this meeting if the attendees insist on their original demands and stick to a non sectarian political process.it seems to me that the most active opposition to this meeting is the MB and its affiliates because they are not invited.dialogue,according to those meeting Monday,will not be accepted until political prisoners are released and other essential demands are met. After Monday,all eyes will be on the regime except those who are not willing to look !!

مندس,

Thanks for the clips. Charming indeed. I love the way they raise the tone of the last syllable of the chanted line.

=====
Shabbi7at al Assad rehearsing talk with the opposition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCm-HrJuhUs
.

#428

Nice try, if there are elections in such a short time period, without political parties having the ability to promote themselves, it would be an unfair election and of course Bashaar will win.

Then the monkeys will be out in the street again saying the a3r3our party didn’t stand a chance, complete with CNN saying the election was faked.

Democracy = choosing the leader the zionists want for you

#390

Has the media covered this yet?

Gay Girl of Damascus – connection to Israeli PM office & Hasbara intel machine. Britta & Tom MacMasters werent just random bloggers.

Seems the Tribe is again exploiting the gay issue to further their agenda. This time in smearing the The Boat to Gaza. Rule of thumb: ‘gay issue’=western intelligence operation. Gay issue is NOT the driving concern in any Arab country I know of.

http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2011/06/26/despicable-pinkwashing-israeli-linked-to-pms-office/

Rumors getting louder that Hugo Chavez has died. That would certainly change the M.E. equation and enable an attack on Iran without blowback from inside the western hemisphere against US, bringing war closer. Hope its just rumor.

Tara,

You are correct, I shouldn’t give away military information, but no one here will take it seriously so it should be OK. I haven’t even stated the biggest surprises Syria has.

I’m really amused that aboud is still pretending to be in Homs when he’s probably in Tel Aviv with the other posters (like observer).

#432

I think they always like to spread these kinds of rumours to destablise a country, just ignore them. Hugo Chavez will be fine, I hope he recovers quickly, the world needs him.

SYR.EXPAT

Why does he need to prove his legitimacy to the world? Chavez is a popular and elected leader, yet some of this “world” of yours says he’s not legitimate, just because he does everything for his people and stands against imperialism (how dare he!).

Forget about the “world”. The “world” doesn’t care about what Syrians want. Knowing that, why should the UN be allowed to “monitor” our own elections? We can monitor our own elections, thank you very much. Didn’t you see the farce that was the UN-monitored Haiti elections? People came to the polls and waited for hours to vote just to find out they had already voted… somehow. It turns out that, for some reason, USAID collects election ID numbers of aid recipients, so it’s very clear what really happened. Yet your “world” and the UN did absolutely NOTHING!

So yes, I do have a problem with that.

Besides, why should Bashar call for presidential elections if that won’t stop protests? Why should he do it, knowing that when he wins, even if your “world” is monitoring, the protests still wouldn’t stop? Why should a minority living in a media bubble, like our friend Aboud here who hasn’t “heard” about terrorists, be able to freely ruin Syria’s economy and livelihood?

MEMO TO: 873

RE: DEATH of HUGO CHAVEZ

It’s true. Here are the details.

Hugo Chavez, President-For-Life of Venezuela, was found dead in a portable toilet in the VIP area of the Glastonbury Festivalone, the UK’s top popular annual musical fest. President Chavez was attending the event to cheer on his new girlfriend, singer Jessica Simpson, who has stopped dating football players and is now dating dictators.

He died in unexplained circumstances. All the authorities would say is that he was sitting on the toilet and he appeared to be circumcised. An inquiry is underway.

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

#434

Could you provide me with links to the Haitian story. I know the US likes to fake elections everywhere it can (with media control, money) but this is way too blatant!

SC,

I don’t have an article for it. I remember the day after the first round of elections, I was watching CBC’s “coverage” and the presenter spoke on the phone with one of the organisers (I think) and he talked about how a large number of Haitians found out they already voted, after having waited for hours, and he linked it to USAID’s collection of the ID data of aid recipients (after the tragic earthquake) for “administrative reasons”. The presenter basically ended the call for being “short on time” and then CBC’s article from that day included absolutely nothing about what this person said, but they managed to include a lot of bla bla that other people said (http://bit.ly/keowQw). No one even questioned anything about it or tried to follow up on it.

I will try to see if any articles picked up on that. Chances are such articles would be in French (Haiti’s official language) and I’m not very good with that. However, if you have the time, a simple google search will turn up endless sources of fraud. For example, election officials claimed that only 4% of ballots were thrown out for “irregularities”, when in fact it was over 13%. One of the candidates missed out on the run-off by just 0.6%, so it was very significant (http://bit.ly/gW76k9). This entry by a Haitian blogger has some interesting information (http://bit.ly/gmBdvr). Here is also another very informative article (http://bit.ly/mqHHyu). The whole process was a disaster and the run-off took place in March 2011 while all eyes were on the Middle East and North Africa.

Point is, international monitoring is bullshit.

434. USAMA
“We can monitor our own elections”
How can one of the most corrupt governments in the world monitor its own elections? It’s like asking Rami to lecture on business ethics.

How about asking Denmark to monitor the elections and provide guidance. It’s the least corrupt country. If not, how about asking Brazil or India for help in this regard.

“why should Bashar call for presidential elections…”
Because it’s the right thing to do. He can prove to his people and the world without any doubt that he’s a legitimate leader. Protests in Syria can only succeed if they are supported by the majority of Syrians. Additionally, there is nothing to lose. He and his party will retain power anyway (according to some on this blog, “most” Syrians support him). If things don’t improve, at least he can say he tried.

Just imagine what a new parliament will look like if elections are free and fair. When people vote for they representatives and they win, the people will be less likely to protest. How about we give that a try.

SYR.EXPAT

Don’t be dumb. It’s not rocket science. It not hard to arrange for monitors, from both NPF and opposition, at polls. Made in Syria.

As for the second part, you quoted only the first part of what I said and left everything else out!

Here is the full thing again:

“Besides, why should Bashar call for presidential elections if that won’t stop protests? Why should he do it, knowing that when he wins, even if your “world” is monitoring, the protests still wouldn’t stop? Why should a minority living in a media bubble, like our friend Aboud here who hasn’t “heard” about terrorists, be able to freely ruin Syria’s economy and livelihood?”

There has to be good will on BOTH sides. Are the opposition going to campaign on economy when they’re the ones currently ruining it with protests? Are they going to campaign on freedoms when towns and neighborhoods, not participating in protests, are getting threatened and terrorised? I know there is a peaceful opposition, but it is making it easier for the violent and terrorist opposition to do their deeds. The violent and terrorist opposition can kiss my ass.

Looks like a KURDISH SPRING is in the offing! Yes! Yes! Yes! Deport all from Hasaka and Qamishli to Turkey to support freedom and democracy among the Kurdish Brotherhood.

There is even a Gay Kurds Society lined up to participate. Now we know what Britta & Tom were doing in Turkey on their vacation. Bring it on! LOLOL
http://www.rferl.org/content/shadow_kurdish_spring_threatens_spoil_erdogan_victory_parade/24245714.html

One thing about the Sunday Times article that’s been bugging me. Every reporter that’s been allowed into Damascus recently has always mentioned that they have government handlers tagging along with them, and they are only allowed to go to places permitted by the regime (ie, areas that were protesting on Friday were out of bounds to CNN and BBC).

Except for Hala Jaber. Supposedly, she was allowed to freely roam about the country (totally out of character for the paranoid Baathists), and then she comes back with a very bizarre story of hoodlums detaining revolution activists for working with Christians.

Hala Jaber has won international awards for her reporting, so her perception of what she reported should be taken seriously. But, despite the frenzied yelling of Baathists about the country having been invaded by Bandar/Harriri/Turks/Salafis, there is no question whatsoever that the revolution does not posses an armed wing, and whatever minor acts of armed revolts occurred were limited to personal vendettas (someone shooting back after their brother or father were shot at, for example).

The poor morale and training of the security forces is such that, if there really were die-hard hardened brigades of armed revolutionaries running about, there would have been a blood bath on the side of the security forces.

@433 “I haven’t even stated the biggest surprises Syria has.”

Uh…this is a regime that was totally clueless while 64,000 Salafis supposedly armed and organized inside the country, you really think it can keep secrets from the CIA?

ABOUD – Nice pro syrian government and DR BASHAR AL ASSAD PROTEST IN SYDNEY 🙂 You should have come and joined and let us step on your head whilst we dance

Kanj ,are there regime nusayris ,islamophobic christians,corrupt merchants,SSNPers ,lebanese among them ?
The world knows what kind of regime we have in Syria,go demonstrate as you like ,the end of makhlouf-asad is under our shoes,this is for sure.
Be sure that no one honest and non corrupt syrian support them.If you disagree give me names .

Shami – their were Sunni’s, Shiites,allawi’s,Druze and christians present. As u can see their was none of ur friendly Wahhabi or salafis present, or else it would have been Haroum to play music and for women to be showing their full faces or skin. Do u want me to post u the pro Assad march I’n ur hometown of Melbourne ? Also present were all sects and no Islamic extremists or devil worshippers

#440

Just wait and see what the Iraqis and Turks have planned for Qamishli, another illusion-based crime is in the works to kick off a war.

On the conference

Some people said that they has been invited to the conference of the opposition in Damascus today but that they decided on their free will that they will not attend .
( The Muslim Brothers are evidently not invited and they are calling for the boycott of the conference )
It reminds me of this story which is dated from the earlier unrest in Homs:
(Some) Aleppo’s merchants have been refused to buy goods from their usual Homs sellers because Aleppo did not join the demonstrations.

On the money blackmarket

The MAIN money flow is very simple :
Syrians from abroad send some money ( US dollars ) to Syria to their relatives.
Some merchants import goods illegally ( to evade customs taxes ) through smugglers from Jordan , Lebanon , Turkey and pay their sellers in US dollars.
In fact , through this compensation , not a single US dollar bills needs to enter in Syria.

Do I need to name the main border cities involved in these very profitable smuggling operations or just to list the towns where armed protesters are active and state officers are killed ?

Mohamed Kanj: If the Assads have done such a good job in Syria that Australians will go into the street to defend Bashar, why, in your view, did their families and millions like them leave Syria in the first place? And what’s stopping them moving back?

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think they should go back, and most of the people in the video are more Australian than Syrian. However, why do you think they defend the person/people who created the conditions that forced their families to look elsewhere for a better life?

It just seems very weird to me.

447,

Obviously they grasp what you cant seem to. These phony agitprop Color Revolution uprisings are not about helping anyone, except The West and the NWO agenda. Syria is being attacked and destabilized for outside interests just like Libya, and will soon suffer Libya’s fate if its “protesters” dont wake up en masse and ID their true enemy and expel them.

Syria/Libya is the West’s ticket to WW3. Interesting piece, I wish to God those in the M.E. would refuse to play zion’s game. The West is reprising the Nahr Al Barad ‘terrorist’ model to infiltrate Syria. Start Al CIAduh provocation and then proceed to humanitarian carpet bombing aka regime change.

At the heart of all this? We’re dealing with the world’s most sadistic fundamentalists- the zionist scourge and their attempt to rebuild the 3rd Temple/Jerusalem as World HQ seat. Along the way, they and their Illuminati rabbi pimps actually believe they are tasked by God to fulfill Isaiah 17’s demolition of Damascus. They write and preach it in their synagogue lodges.

http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/libya-and-syria-stepping-stones-to-world-war-iii/5041

#447

OK, two can play this game.

If the western “democracy” in Iraq is so good, why was there 1.3 million Iraqi refugees in Syria.

What you are saying is silly, the pro-government expats have about as much right to have a word in Syria as the anti-government conspirators. In fact, as is evident by the size of these movements, they out number them.

So tell me, why would someone who supposedly ran away from Syria still support the status quo long enough for a transition? Because they want GOOD for their motherland, not complete chaos.

The demonstrations are not in support of the state itself, but against the chaos. Let’s be clear about this.

The Syrian emigration started well before WWI ( 1914 )

http://www.fdcw.unimaas.nl/staff/files/users/375/JBier_Titanic.pdf
“”
Syrian emigrants constituted 10–20 percent of the Titanic’s third-class passengers,…

The term Syrians in this historical context includes people from the Syrian province of the Ottoman Empire, which encompassed nearly all of contemporary Syria, Lebanon,Israel/Palestine, and Jordan.
“”
Also

About 150,000 Syrians working in Kuwait returned during 1990–91

There’s 4-5 million Syrians in South America as well, has nothing to do with this government.

I wish people would at least try to be a little bit more honest about this. The totality of lies is so overwhelming that anyone not paying attention 24/7 will be fooled with a lie.

The Arab Street is being used by The West as its always been used- to further The West’s goals. In this case, the Nonintegrating Gap of the Arc of Crisis needs to be subjugated into the One World Gov (controlled out of Jerusalem of course).

Arab & American people get screwed. “Whats best for Israel?” is the top priority of the AIPAC FIfth Column Congress, NEVER “whats best for America?”

The bread basket of the world is being flooded by HAARP-induced weapons in N.D. USA. Being submerged are couple hundred nuclear ICBM siloes buried there. (Minot is the same base from which the 6 nukes were “lost” on their aborted deployment for Iran/Syria via Barksdale in 2007- the LAST time the zionist NWO attacked Syria in Deir Ez Zur (at alleged nuke site).

Not one of these treasonous AIPAC Congressmen have uttered a peep of concern over the Americans who they soak for taxes, but if Bibi snaps his fingers, these zionist dogs get barking- in the service of a foreign country.

@442 That’s the same video you posted before, or did you forget? And I’d rather people stepped on my head than stepping on our glorious flag. What a bunch of ill-mannered oafs. They take better care of junior’s picture than they do the country’s flag.

Today in Homs, The-Big-Flag made its appearance in the city in the very early morning. The turnout was dismal, and the security men surrounded Khaldia before the flag was bought out.

Today, the lira is at 53 liras to the dollar, while yesterday it was around 52.5 I guess the flag didn’t have the desired effect on the business community.

Al-Jazeera is showing a video of the security crackdown in Barza, Damascus. Two men in their 40s are dragged by a dozen shabiha scum, and beaten with riot sticks on their heads. One is left on the ground, bleeding from the head. Gunfire is heard, but the shabiha scum don’t take cover, as they know it’s one of their own.

THAT video is the world is talking about, not the Aussie-Syrians who may or may not have gone to a park on a summer’s day.

Gadhafi Writes to Congress for Cease-Fire
Friday June 10, 2011 Matsov.com
http://matzav.com/gadhafi-writes-to-congress-for-cease-fire

Congress has received a letter ostensibly from Moammar Gadhafi that calls for a cease-fire and urges the U.S. to take the lead in negotiating a deal for peace in Libya.

The June 9 letter, which The Hill obtained, is addressed to the White House and lawmakers. House and Senate leadership aides say they have received the document, but have not confirmed its authenticity. The White House declined to comment.

Gadhafi’s liaison office in Washington, D.C., has been closed.

The letter, in which Libya’s dictator promises democratic reforms, appears designed to separate the U.S. from its European allies. In the letter, Gadhafi says he would welcome a fact-finding mission if Congress were to send one, and claims that he has long sought a “special relationship” with the U.S.

The letter comes as growing signs of disunity are emerging in Washington over the conduct and purpose of the military action against the North African regime. Last week the House rebuked the White House on Libya, and the Senate has struggled to craft a bipartisan resolution authorizing U.S. action there.

Some believe that Gadhafi is desperate to strike a deal. On Thursday, a senior NATO militiary official with operational knowledge of the Libya mission told CNN that the U.N.-passed resolution justifies the targeting of Gadhafi.

Pressed by CNN on whether Gadhafi is being targeted, the NATO source did not give a direct answer.

Gadhafi is caling for “a cease fire, the funding of humanitarian relief and assistance in fostering and furthering accommodation between the parties within Libya that are at odds.” In exchange, he pledges reforms.

Gadhafi chastises France, which he claims led the charge on recent Security Council resolutions against Libya. He argues that France is motivated to “seize Libyan oil” while simultaneously trying to smooth relations with the U.S.

The letter that was provided to The Hill is addressed to the White House, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

Leadership aides downplayed the significance of the document, stressing they are most interested in Gadhafi’s ouster or resignation.

The 3-page communication asserts that “hostilities in Libya are an internal affair” and that NATO’s involvement is “inappropriate and illegal interference in what is essentially a Libyan civil war.”

Gadhafi also claims that it “should be clear that Libya is unified in its opposition to extremist elements… .”
The Libyan leader adds that “in recent years we have fully cooperated with US and International authorities to this end.”

Can’t stop thinking about Asma & Bashar.

I hope she genuinely likes the personality so she does not divorce him after the free election.

That would hurt.

HS – My parents left Syria I’n the early 1980’s during the Hama uprising. They left I’n fear of getting persecuted by Islamic extremists like shami,Aboud and revlon. By the time law and order was restored my parents were granted citizenship 🙂

HS – will u and ur family live I’n Syria if Islamic extremist come to power ( maybe I’n the year 2890)????

Tara
dont worry he will win the free election and we will get him another 3 wives 😉

in more serious not ,i can see Bashar popularity has increased significantly after this uprising , i am one of the people who used to like him but now i admire him even more, same apply to the many Syrian who used to take things for granted ,he is not going to get our votes only but support as well
one positive thing we can get from this uprising is the Syrians now are politically active and more effective .

Dear Tara

For your information , Bashar and Asma met in London during his tenure as an ophthalmologist doctor well before his brother’s death changed the course of his life.

Furthermore, I don’t see any Attias looming around for a sequel of “La Conquete”.

Did you notice that the countless assassinations of Lebanese politicians, media-persons, journalists and many others, miraculously stopped after the Harari murder, and the international outcry and the pressure on Syria that followed the murder ? Did you notice it, or is it only me?
.

@455 Vogue had a massive section devoted to Asma on their website. Needless to say, they’ve now removed it.

Never again will Mrs junior grace the covers of women’s magazines. Never again will the couple be invited to European capitals. This time next year, Asma will probably have to discard her fashionable french dresses for an Iranian burqa, as she helps her husband open an eye clinic in Tehran. Tsk tsk, how far they fall….

By the way, looking over the comments, some Baathists seem to be revealing some very perverted sexual tastes. They are asking, if after the regime falls, they can make porno movies featuring that sheikh from Al-Wesal satellite channel.

All I could think was….ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! Man, sheikhly pornos aren’t the fruits of democracy, they are crimes against humanity you sickos! Owmygawd I need to scrub my eyes! The humanity!

@459 No the assassinations didn’t stop. Even after the Syrian army left Lebanon, many Lebanese journalists and politicians were killed in bomb blasts, almost all of them belonging to the Harriri-camp.

#453

Yes fake Syrian, that’s the fake video the zio-west world is talking about. Much like they were all talking about Tom MacMaster’s fake “Gay girl”.

There’s no removing the stigma, your liars have ruined their reputation. Even if you had a video showing Bashaar himself gunning down a baby girl, no one will believe it.

Did anybody notice that after some Defence Forces left Lebanon , there was no repeat of the Sabra and Chatila mass murders of unarmed women and children ?

Can somebody remind me the death toll there in one night ?

L’été sera chaud:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/27/world/middleeast/27yemen.html?_r=1&hp

ABOUD – u said “No the assassinations didn’t stop. Even after the Syrian army left Lebanon, many Lebanese journalists and politicians were killed in bomb blasts, almost all of them belonging to the Harriri-camp”.

just like ive said all along, and that is ur a lebanese salafi having sympathy for that wahabbi saudi Harirri, who is in hiding somewhere in europe

AMIR IN TEL ARI – did u notice how the zionist and jews always use the so called “holocaust” as an excuse to commit the brutal murder of palestinian children and adults on a daily basis. Did u notice how the jews always use the so called ” holocaust”, as an excuse to displace millions of palestinians from their own land palestine. Did u notice how the israeli army commited atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon a few years ago and used the ” holocaust” as an excuse?????? Did u notice how the israelis carried out so many assasinations in lebanon during the civil war???? Did u notice how the israeli army gave the green light for the shatilla massacre, which lead to the brutal massacre of thousands of palestinians?????

Amir in Tel Ari – its best you join another blog and chat to ur fundamentalist orthodox jews who permit rape of their women and segregation of their women

Dear Dr. Landis:

It is obvious that your website takes away some of my comments.

Where is the democracy and freedom of speech you brag about?

What is left in this comment section now is redundancy (ideas being said over and over, roosters on different heaps screaming…boring…we have seen this film before), while events are on a fast pace in Syria, the subject of your posts.

WE readers, and occasional commentators, want to know what is up with Syria second by second, along with smart commentary and real dialogue.

Your site is going to lose, as it did obviously for many reasons, some free and fresh voices because their voices are being lost in this chaos.

regards, and sorry to critique a site that I like, read and respect. Just wanted to express a point..thanks

أين هي الديموقراطية التي تتشدقون بها؟

أين هي حرية الكلام؟

The same had happened with me in other websites, some banned me for no reason, while others cut the meat of your argument most of the time.

But, I used to say that those websites are run by people who grew up in the Middle East under authorities that does not allow anyone to speak, and all is expected.

@464 “and that is ur a lebanese salafi having sympathy for that wahabbi saudi Harirri, who is in hiding somewhere in europe”

Said the not-so-patriotic Syrian whose family ran away from Syria and asked for political asylum in a Western country to get citizenship, and when they got it, turned around and started waving pictures of junior.

See how the Baathists get into a frenzy when someone just states a fact. Did I say junior was responsible for the assassinations? Nope, but deep inside, the Baathists are so defensive and insecure about their leader that they see criticisms in anything said.

Me: Darn, it looks like it’s going to rain.

Baathsist: THAT’S GOD PUNISHING YOU FOR GOING OUT AND DEMONSTRATING YOU SALAFI!

Me: Darn, it’s really hot today.

Baathists: THAT’S GOD PUNISHING YOUR CROPS FOR GOING AND DEMONSTRATING YOU ZIONIST!

Me: Ah, the weather is just perfect today.

Baathists: NO IT’S NOT! SEE THAT CLOUD UP THERE! THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE BASHAR’S LEFT PROFILE! YOU SALAFI ZIONIST! YOU HAVE TO BE BLIND NOT TO SEE IT! EVEN THE SKY IS PRO-BASHAR BUT THE WESTERN MEDIA DOESN’T REPORT IT BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL IN THE PAY OF ERDOGAN!

The Syrian lira vs U.S $ reaches 53.5 today in Aleppo Black market trade, very near it’s 6 year high 2 months ago.

Sometimes,when you read carefully the free press , the truth emerges about the armed insurrection of Muslim Brothers ( aka young unarmed peaceful protesters ) in Syria .

Omar arrived from Yemen … his son had been shot (by bulletS) and transported to Antakya. … He himself left Syria in 1980 under the dictatorship of Hafez al-Assad, and he could never go back, “I was sentenced to death, it was the price at the time for members of the Muslim Brotherhood. ” This time, he hopes that this uprising will be good to get rid of the Assad clan. “Inshallah, the younger generation took over and eventually we will get our rights.”

Omar arrive du Yémen… son fils avait été blessé par balles et transporté à Antakya. … Lui-même a quitté la Syrie en 1980, sous la dictature d’Hafez el-Assad, et n’a jamais pu y retourner: «J’ai été condamné à mort, c’était le tarif à l’époque pour les membres des Frères musulmans». Cette fois-ci, il espère que ce soulèvement sera le bon pour se débarrasser du clan el-Assad. «Inch Allah, la jeune génération a pris la relève et nous finirons par obtenir nos droits.»

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2011/06/14/01003-20110614ARTFIG00689-syrie-les-rescapes-racontent-la-repression.php

@468 Aboali

It’s exactly 53 down here in Homs. Currency exchange offices won’t transfer money out unless it’s bought to them in dollars. They don’t want to be forced to accept liras at 47.69 when it’s so obviously not worth that much.

#470 yes that’s true, but the black market operates on different exchange rate to the official licensed exchange offices. it’s 53.3 when they buy from you, and 53.5 when they sell you.

On a related note, a video of revolutionary creativity:

claiming that Bashar is more popular today is a stretch.with the whole respect to the author. He has the support of many Syrians, including those who did not want him to be president in the first place, because there is a sense that removing him now is gonna make things worse for Syria,however,i doubt that his popularity is rising,but he has an opportunity to redeem his name if he leads a successful reform campaign,restores security and keep national unity. I am willing to be patient but what i want to see is a series of trust-building measures starting with the release of all political prisoners.the meeting in Damascus will be more effective than the Islamists and expats show in Antalya. Michael Kilo started by criticizing the “security solution” of the regime,and I agree. using violence and humiliation in dealing with Syrian citizens is the mother of all evil.visitors to Syria are now praising what they see as a change at how citizens are treated by the police and security officers (airport,check points,etc),I hope that this becomes the new norm.
Others who want the army out must remember that Al-Jisr,and to a lesser degree Banyas,was about to become a closed safe haven to militants and criminals before the army had to intervene. I accept the claim that the state media inflated the size of the threat but I can not discount numerous reports from friends,residents and others who witnessed what happened in these two cities.By the way,Turkey now has a large number of armed thugs who may pose a danger to Turkey too,not just Syria.Lebanon is also hosting a group of militants who fled through the borders To Tripoli and other border towns.

#471

Looks like its funded by George Soros. Very “creative”. There’s nothing “creative” about the terrorists/terror enablers, simply destructive.

I guess you could say some of the lying was pretty “creative” though.

#472

>Turkey now has a large number of armed thugs who may pose a danger to Turkey too,not just Syria

It arrested 10 who stayed behind, guess they got scared of entering Syria. They probably consider the Islamists who tore Jisr al-Shaghour apart heroes. As for the terrorists who fled to Lebanon, no doubt they are the ones who are killing people in Tripoli.

Anyway, I don’t see how you can build trust when the entire world media is saying your untrustworthy. Either people choose to trust Bashaar or they don’t, the majority does seem to. It’s just the few cynics who don’t want us to get out of this crisis in order for them to further THEIR own goals.

@471 Thank you for the video Abolai. “Mu’amara meen el marekh” indeed. “Ra7 nentekhbak lil abadiya”. Highly creative. I would have been laughing my sides off, but the horrendous clip at the end, of the 60 year old man crying and getting kicked in the head by the Assad ekhwat sharmouta is very sobering.

I’m not quite sure, what kind of a sick bastard can still support the regime after seeing that clip. Half a dozen men in Syrian Army uniforms take turns to kick an old man in the head, who is on the ground wailing. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemies. But apparently, there are still sick traitors to their country who go out and wave pictures of Bashar ASSad, despite this and numerous videos like it.

Dialogue? Kiss my ample Syrian ass, Baathists. I do not seek to understand your viewpoint, I do not want to engage in “meaningful dialogue” with scum like you. I do not look to debate your perspective. I only want you and your ilk out of Syria and in Iran. A theocracy is too good for the likes of you.

Am I angry? Damn right I am. It wouldn’t be human not to be. There is no grey area here. There is an evil called Baathism that must be dismantled just like the Nazi party was. There are no more excuses, people who support this disgraceful regime are supporting mass murder and brutality.

And now, an excellent piece in the Washington Post “Saving Syria from Assad”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-syria-an-opening-for-the-west-to-bring-about-assads-downfall/2011/06/24/AGz4hcmH_story.html?hpid=z5

Two mass pro-government rallies in Homs today:

http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/06/27/355071.htm

Hey… I received a new emailed update of a post to Syria Comment (“Syria’s Opposition Faces an Uncertain Future”) – but I don’t see it posted to the blog itself. Anyone else?

@473

“Funded by Soros” AHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. And did you see the 60 year old man at the end, get beaten up by half a dozen soldier or do you Baathists go blind at that point in a video?

Great video, very talented, and they mimicked the voice of a shabiha scum perfectly.

@475 Notice how the supposed “mass demonstration” comes from SANA, the Baathist mouthpiece. Notice how the pictures, yet again, could be from anywhere at any time. Why didn’t they show a well known Homs landmark? Or the date?

Because it was a flop. I was out and about this morning, and all that could be seen were small aimless groups walking about wearing shirts with junior’s picture on them. They didn’t even have the presence of mind to get together and shout his name. Pathetic.

#477

Just shout really loud and we’ll forget about the terrorists and salafists.

Yeah just say it’s from mars, we will ignore the murders and blood you are spilling around the world.

Just say people are starving when you are burning our food supplies and running back to Turkey.

Just say there’s no conspiracy when the US/EU are trying to pass sanctions on us and trying to destroy our economy.

Just say the media should be in Syria, when once they are in Syria and see your terrorists with their own eyes, refuse to broadcast the truth.

Yes, we’ll believe you, we’ll hand our country to you salafists, so you can take the blood and tears we shed to build our country, to free it from the french, all our fallen heroes, so you can hand it over the international bankers and zionists.

NAH, YOU CAN KISS MY ASS, I WOULD RATHER SEE THE WHOLE WORLD BURN THAN THIS.

By the way, that old video of the old man getting kicked was called a fake EVEN by the media/commenters who read syria-news. You guys are absolutely pathetic. Even my dad who wants to see the government fall thought it was fake and he fell for everything else which turned out to be fake. You guys are pathetic.

SC is going round the globe. Sometime my browser goes through qifanabki to reach SC, today it is either personal.kent.edu or by jpnews-sy (the latter being more efficient). Why do all these guys have to keep my email!!!

Some history,
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/06/nur-ad-din-al-atasi-democrat.html
in case it brings some discussion.

473,

The International System wants Assad out. The Globalization Gang is a herd out for blood- like after they tried to frame the Hariri killing on Syria. They expect to win just by sheer force of numbers, $$$, dominant media screeching and quasi-legitmate UN mob rule. Should be interesting to see where China goes on this. (Russia already committed to the zionists and controlled by them, their PR is for show). The Olympians will NOT take a back seat to China. Rather China will ‘catch a cold’ as they sarcastically say in their meetings.

Ehsani,

Today’s news. Care to comment?

Fed Seen Purchasing $300 Billion in Treasuries After QE2
Bloomberg June 27, 2011
June 27 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve will remain the biggest buyer of Treasuries, even after the second round of quantitative easing ends this week, as the central bank uses its $2.86 trillion balance sheet to keep interest rates low.

While the $600 billion purchase program, known as QE2, winds down, the Fed said June 22 that it will continue to buy Treasuries with proceeds from the maturing debt it currently owns. That could mean purchases of as much as $300 billion of government debt over the next 12 months without adding money to the financial system.

The central bank, which injected $2.3 trillion into the financial system after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in September 2008, will continue buying Treasuries to keep market rates down as the economy slows. The purchases are supporting demand at bond auctions while President Barack Obama and Republicans in Congress struggle to close the gap between federal spending and income by between $2 trillion and $4 trillion.

#479

Angry arab seems to be a store of outdated and obsolete little arguments, sarcasm and negativity. I mean really, anyone exclusively reading this blog from the arabic world would have killed themselves 5 years ago.

#480

If people knew what was on that balance sheet the USD will be dead tomorrow. USA/Zio-West is living on borrowed time. This is why they are desperate to destroy the Syrian people, because once they’re out of the picture they can’t just buy their way back.

They have to put all their money to “good use” before that event.

All Syria has to do is outlast them and we win by default. Two weeks ago, they concluded that they’ve reached a point where no matter how much money they dump on us, we’re still going to remain there when they collapse, which is why they’re opting for the “war option”. It’s not just Syria either, in South America they’re all after Venezuela. In the pacific they want to draw China into a war with its neighbours which they hope to supply with arms to harm China.

They’re playing a dirty game precisely because they are strategically weak but tactically strong. They lose by default, so they want to make sure everyone else loses as well.

China for its part has already declared it will veto any motion on Syria, you would need a tandem betrayal, China and Russia then. Israel had just handed over several F-15 engines to China, probably as a bribe to try and sell out Syria. Looks like they didn’t hold their end of the bargain.

@478 “Yes, we’ll believe you, we’ll hand our country to you salafists”

But Syrian Cuntando, you have handed the country to me. You and the rest of the Bathist who fled Syria have absolutely no impact or influence on what happens here.

But me, on the other hand, everything I do has a slight impact on events in Syria. With every dollar I send out of the country, I weaken junior’s economic standing just that little bit. With every large tip I give to taxi drivers from Bab Esba3 and Khaldia, I sustain my people. With every drop of blood I donate to hospitals, I give life to someone who needs it. With every Imam whose hand I shake after a fiery Friday prayer anti-government speech, I make sure we have a fine person to lead us in prayers every day. With every Allahu Akbar I yell at night, I raise the morale of my neighbors, and neighbors’ neighbors. And with every demonstration I join, I bring the day of reckoning that much closer.

Who am I? I am the Baathists worst nightmare, I am the Syrian who cannot be cowed, who feels no caution, just anger. And like the song says, “kelon millyon mundas”. There are millions like me. Stay awake and ponder that, bitch.

Not talking to you fake-Syrian, fuckface. Telhass tyeezii ya manyook.

>I am the Baathists worst nightmare

Note: fake Syrian rule #1, call all your opponents “Baathists”, just like in the lead up to the Iraqi sectarian civil war.

The above poster is pure human trash and is CERTAINLY not Syrian, just look at his use of language.

I never thought the security forces and the culture of oppression and violence can be changed overnight,this is why we will continue to see brutality and violation of the law by rogue elements in security forces,however, a Egypt-like solution will be a disaster for Syria,as soon as thugs and sub-thugs start seeing that they can get away with destructive and criminal behavior they will do more of it. I saw the video taken,allegedly, in Barzeh,and I condemn the actions of brutality against innocent Syrians, but I can not assume the video is authentic,however, I have no doubt that these unfortunate events are still frequently seen in Syria and are not receiving the required response from the government which loses more support every time a citizen is beaten or tortured.
I can not wait for the time when calls to send Syrians to Iran or Saudi Arabia,or to hell,end. This is not a way to exchange ideas,you can not learn or teach when you let your hormones and emotions control your brain. In one way or the other,this is one reason why we are still a third world country !!

Aref Dalila at the last minute withdrew from the 27 June meeting, arguing it could be used as a cover for the authorities to continue the repression, according to Le Monde.
Iyad KarKour, an elected leader militant together with 150 militants syrians in Istanbul said about the same.

Syria: Authorities to meet Oppositions on 10 July
(Dp-news)

DAMASCUS- Syrian Authorities declared on Monday that it will hold talks with the opposition on July 10 to set a framework for the national dialogue that was promised by President Bashar al-Assad.

The agenda of the July 10 meeting would have constitutional amendments, including changes to an article which puts the Baath Party at the centre of Syrian politics which is going to be on the Agenda according to Syrian Arab News Agency.

Damascus have witnessed on Monday the first Opposition`s Meeting inside Syria. Coordinators and participants are looking at establishing best basis to help Syria get out of current crisis.

873,

You asked me to comment on your Bloomberg article in comment #480.

There is no news here. The Federal Reserve has already indicated during their meeting on June 22 that they intend to reinvest the proceeds from the maturing bonds that they already own. They will do this because they still see a need to keep monetary policy very expansionary as the economy struggles to grow much over 3% and hence to create enough jobs to make a real dent in the unemployment rate. The Federal Reserve (Central Bank) is in charge of promoting maximum sustainable growth with little inflation. Since their official rate has already been pushed to zero, their only other instrument to ease monetary conditions is to buy government debt outright. Of course many have claimed that the Federal Reserve is funding the deficit. Once the economy recovers and the economic slack is reduced, the Central Bank will stop the buying that the article talks about. The Fed is adamant about avoiding the mistakes of the 1930’s when they pulled back from expansionary monetary policy too soon.

Egypt is showing the path

“Egypt’s pro-democracy activists feel their grip slipping.”

Los Angeles Times.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-egypt-political-battle-20110627,0,4462222.story

“The pressing concern among independents and secularists is that the Brotherhood, the nation’s largest and best-organized party, may win about 25% of the seats in parliament and control even more through a coalition. This could give the organization the power to infuse the new constitution with conservative Islamic ideals to limit rights for women and non-Muslims.”

3ala rasna el sheikh Aref Dalileh.

The Death of mothers of nations:
Erdogan will burn Syria,Hamad will rape here dead body,US and EU will cut the cadaver into pieces,Some Arabs will cry others will enjoy watching naked burned body,Bibi will dig in a deep hole in the cemetery and will pay funeral expenses,Security council will provide the coffin ,Saudis will push the body into the grave,Alhariri will throw a flower in the grave,Sarkozi will cover the grave.