Syrian Agriculture Collapses; Al-Qaida Thrives; Refugee Numbers Spike

Economy: Syria’s farming sector now in “tatters,” the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Wednesday. Analysts said the growing privations could hurt the rebels as much as, or more than, the government of President Bashar al-Assad. …

Jihad Yazigi, editor of the Syria Report business newsletter, said the FAO report echoed other disturbing provisional agricultural data for last year, such as a decline of almost a third in the cotton crop and a 50 percent drop in sales at the state fertilizer company. A surge in fighting in the northeast of the country threatened to cause more suffering by affecting the wheat and barley crops concentrated there, he added.
Syria’s GDP declines: Syria’s GDP shrank by 29.1% during the 22-month uprising, the economic sanctions and continued fighting caused significant economic losses, Abdallah Al Dardari, Director of the ESCWA Economic Development and Globalization Division (EDGD) said during a press conference in Beirut on Thursday….

Although sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union do not officially target food or agricultural commodities, restrictions imposed on Syrian banks and trading companies mean that international institutions are reluctant to finance grain imports.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Wednesday that wheat and barley production in Syria has been halved since the conflict broke out 22 months ago.

Government Increases Mazout Price: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Protection announced a 40% increase in the price of heating oil, thus bringing the price per litre to 35 SYP (US$ 0.49). The fourth such rise in less than a year comes as the country suffers a severe shortage of fuel which is sold at US$ 1.65 per litre in the black market.

Syria lends more money from Iran: Syria and Iran have agreed a $1 billion credit facility between Commercial Bank of Syria and Export Development Bank of Iran. The agreement was signed during a visit to Tehran by the Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi. The two countries had reached agreements on energy transmission and electricity equipment as well.

Syria Solution Requires Orderly Transition, Out for Assad: Kerry
2013-01-24, By Peter S. Green

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) — Goal of Obama administration in Syria must be orderly transition from Assad to democratic opposition, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., says at Senate confirmation hearing.

* U.S. needs to change calculation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that “he doesn’t think he’s losing”
* U.S. must consider fallout of every decision made on Syria
* Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., says U.S. must supply arms to Syrian rebels to balance Iran’s aid for Assad
* “We need to tell Syrian people we are going to help them or not,” McCain says
* McCain asks Kerry to explore “different policy” than one pursued in last 22 months
* Kerry says he understands McCain’s frustration
* Kerry: “I don’t have optimism” about Russia helping U.S. find a way to change Assad’s mind

New Al-Qaeda Generation May Be The Deadliest One
By: Bruce Riedel for Al-Monitor. posted on January 24.

The fastest growing new al-Qaeda is in Syria. Using the cover name Jabhat al-Nusrah, al-Qaeda has become perhaps the most lethal element of the opposition to Bashar al-Assad’s brutal dictatorship. For al-Qaeda, Assad and the Alawis are a perfect target since many Sunnis believe Alawis to be a deviationist sect of Islam that should be suppressed. While al-Qaeda is only a part of the opposition in Syria, it brings unique skills in bomb making and suicide operations. Every week it gets stronger and better armed.

Now jihadist websites are reporting every day that new al-Qaeda “martyrs” from Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Egypt have died in the fighting in Damascus and Aleppo. Reliable reports from journalists speak of bands of jihadists operating in Syria with a loose affiliation to al-Qaeda and composed of Muslim fanatics from as far away as Pakistan, Bangladesh and elsewhere.

The Syrian al-Qaeda franchise has sought to learn from the mistakes of the earlier al-Qaeda generations. It avoids open association with the brand name and seeks to work with other Sunni groups. It is well armed, uses bases in Iraq for support and supply, and benefits from weapons supplied by Qatar and Saudi Arabia to the opposition. Its leader uses the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al Golani, a reference to the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights

The longer the civil war in Syria goes on, the more al-Qaeda will benefit from the chaos and the sectarian polarization. It will also benefit from the spillover of violence from Syria into Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Jordan that is now inevitable.

Like the rest of the world, al-Qaeda was surprised by the revolutions that toppled dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. Its ideology of violence and jihad was initially challenged by the largely nonviolent revolutionary movements that swept across North Africa and the Middle East. But al Qaeda is an adaptive organization and it has exploited the chaos and turmoil of revolutionary change to create operational bases and new strongholds.

CNN: Regime insiders among Syrian refugees, says U.S. ambassador
2013-01-24

(CNN) — When you think of refugees, you may think of huddled masses, tired and poor. But those aren’t the only types of people fleeing Syria. “Members of the regime, little by little, are flaking off,” U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told CNN …

Apparently US envoy Ford misspoke in Turkey today. @Joyce_Karam reports State Dep’t tells @alhayatdaily #Assad spox #Makdissi NOT in US

Recruiting civilians – al-Ahram Weekly

In a step that could lead to open civil war, the Syrian regime is setting up pro-regime militias in parallel with the country’s regular army, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus

Syrian government officials said this week that the regime led by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad intended to form a new military entity called the National Defence Army (NDA) that would operate in parallel to the country’s regular forces.

The new military entity will reportedly include 20,000 members carrying light and medium weapons. These will be paid and will wear non-military uniforms. They will be deployed throughout Syria in towns and cities under the control of the armed opposition, and each group will receive local assistance from regime supporters.

The new entity will be divided into small units, each of which will be able to make its own decisions. Like other security and military forces in Syria, the units will not be accountable for any abuses they commit because there are legally protected from prosecution.

The opposition has said that in taking this step the regime is attempting to disguise the poor reputation of pro-regime militias that have committed massacres across the country, including at Al-Zaytoun, Al-Hasweya, Al-Howla, Al-Tremsa and Darya.

At the same time, it warns that the move will open the door to undisguised civil war in the country.

[Landis comment on Kurds: In the following article CJ Chivers explains that some Kurds are siding with the Syrian rebels against Assad. This is particularly true of the Kurds north of Aleppo, who, unlike the Kurds in the northeast of Syria, cannot dream of establishing their own Kurdish state. They know that they must live with Arab Syrians and they have had enough of Assad. The Kurds in the East are largely making a different calculation. They prefer not to be governed by either Assad or the rebels. Islamist Arab militias are attacking the Kurds in the East because they don’t want to allow the PKK to establish an autonomous region. ]

Defying Common View, Some Syrian Kurds Fight Assad,
The New York Times
Kurds who are part of a group fighting the Assad government met Sunday in Alghooz, a village in northern Syria.
By C. J. CHIVERS, January 22, 2013

….the scenes in Alghooz and in a string of Kurdish villages north of Aleppo present a more complex picture of Syria’s Kurds and their ambitions and relations with the government. Kurds here fiercely note that they have suffered under Mr. Assad’s rule, too, and taken up arms against him. They sharply contradict the notion that they rely on Mr. Assad’s government for protection.

And so while there have been signs that many Kurds remained pro-government, with some pro-P.K.K. fighters clashing with rebels, hundreds of others have joined the Free Syrian Army, as the loosely assembled antigovernment fighters call themselves, Kurdish and rebel leaders say.

The flatlands north of Aleppo are spotted with towns. Local men said that about 40,000 Kurds live here, and that their families have produced more than 600 fighters against Mr. Assad.

The fighters are organized into at least eight separate groups, Kurdish leaders and fighters said. Their names include the Islamic Kurdish Front, the Pesh Merga Falcons and the Martyrs of Mecca.

Defying official and popular accounts of Kurdish loyalties, these men fight beside Arabs against Mr. Assad. They and their leaders bluntly denounce the P.K.K., which the United States and Europe consider a terrorist organization, and also criticize many Kurdish nationalists, saying that calls for an independent Kurdistan are not a vision they share.

“We are not interested in a separate homeland,” said Yousef Haidar, 72, Alghooz’s mukhtar, or village elder. “We want to be part of Syria.”…“There has been much propaganda that the Kurds are with the regime,” Mr. Abdulkader said. “We are not with Assad. We are fighting him.”

VIDEO: Free Syrian Army accuses Kurdish group of being Assad’s mercenaries. Ras Al Ain – Al Jazeera English

Syrian Kurd: The FSA is helping create conflict between Arabs and Kurds – NPR

23 January 2013

The regime continues to seek opportunities to delegitimize the revolution and create a rift among Syrians…..

We are saddened by the events that have transpired in the city of Ras Al-Ain ,and we have been working tirelessly to suppress and avoid conflicts there. We remind everyone that, whoever collaborates with the regime and helps to murder our people, will be held accountable for all his/her actions. Our moral, social and religious principles reject these actions….

Stratfor has received indications that the real aim behind the formation of the Druze militia is not to align the Druze with the Free Syrian Army, but to organize a military force to defend Sweida after al Assad’s fall. Many Druze fighters from Lebanon (including fighters from the militias of Druze leaders Jumblatt, Wahhab and Talal Arslan) allegedly have traveled to Druze areas of Syria to further this effort. In what could be an indication of dealmaking under way, unconfirmed rumors have Jumblatt encouraging officials in his Progressive Socialist Party to find apartments in the Chouf Mountains for select members of the Alawite regime who intend to flee Syria once the regime collapses. Jumblatt’s communications with Syrian Alawites have allegedly been facilitated by Northern Lebanese Maronite leader Suleiman Frangieh, who has retained close ties with the Alawite regime in Syria.

Fund Syria’s Moderates – By Robin Yassin-Kassab Foreign Policy

….It’s too late for a happy ending in Syria. There are no easy answers to the country’s enormous problems, but there is an obvious first step toward a solution: funding the moderate Islamists and secularists of the Syrian National Coalition, which will then feed the hungry and fund the fighters, empowering them to buy the weapons they need….

Syrian Palestinians Fear Three-Way Fight for Control of Refugee Camps By David Enders | McClatchy Newspapers

How Will al-Assad Leave? By Tariq Alhomayed | Asharq Alawsat

Independent: Assad’s Lionesses: the female last line in the battle for Syria
2013-01-22

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has recruited a brigade of women to man checkpoints and carry out security operations as he attempts to free up soldiers in his beleaguered army to fight the rebels. Dressed in fatigues and armed with Kalashnikov

Burhan Ghalyoun said it outright: “The US has stopped its support for the revolution because of Israeli concerns.”

Syria builds paramilitary force aided by Iran: activists | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-Ea…

Thanks to Bartolo’s blog

Russia’s Putin says Libya and Syria revolts led to Algeria hostage crisis – Yahoo! News –

French Military Source: US Special Force in Lebanon to Monitor Syria – moqawama.org

Saudi Arabia v. Qatar on Syria – Counterpunch

Russia says it is not planning full Syria evacuation, Bogdanov: ” We think it (the conflict) may be prolonged” – Yahoo! News

Saudi says negotiated Syria settlement inconceivable – Reuters

Qatar hands Syrian opposition $20m – ArabianBusiness.com

UN concerned about sending arms to Syrian rebels, since “this contributes to spread of terror, destruction, and killings” – islamicinvitationturkey 

Some Algeria Attackers Are Placed at Benghazi
By ADAM NOSSITER: January 22, 2013

…“This is the result of the Arab Spring,” said the official said, who spoke on condition of anonymity because investigations into the hostage crisis were still under way. “I hope the Americans are conscious of this.”

American counterterrorism and intelligence officials have said that some members of Ansar al-Shariah, the group that carried out the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, had connections to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, one of the militant groups now holding northern Mali. But American officials have also said that the Qaeda affiliate played no role in directing or instigating that Benghazi attack.

Similarly, Egyptian security officials said they believed that a longtime Islamist militant from Egypt was involved in the gas field attack, but the officials did not know of any connection to the Benghazi attack as well….. Having already experienced a large-scale Islamist insurgency in the 1990s, in which perhaps as many as 100,000 were killed, Algeria had no intention of experiencing another,

Syrian refugees overwhelm Lebanon, region (Liz Sly)

IPA (AU): False dawn: the Arab Spring
2013-01-23

IPA REVIEW ARTICLE | Daniel Mandel In a sense, the so-called Arab Spring can be said to have begun on 26 December 2010 in the Tunisian hinterland township of Sidi Bouzid, where a 26-year-old impoverished vegetable seller and father of eight, Mohamed …

Comments (348)


Ghufran said:

If the US strategy was pushing Assad out and ensuring a transition to a democratic government ,then that strategy was only on paper or even worse,actions on the ground suggest otherwise, by allowing Qatar and Turkey to arm rebels to the teeth and waiting 18 months to ” discover” the danger of Islamists , the US policy makers prolonged the life of Syrian war and actually increased support for the regime. The only achievement of a violent rebellion was to destroy much of Syria, going on the offense against the army and state installations and using suicide car bombs is not how a peaceful opposition behave to topple a bad regime and install a good givernment, thugs with guns will always behave
as ” thugs with guns”. what the rebels succeeded in is to make a lot of people wonder if they can trust the ” liberators”. The only thing US government did was to make empty promises, announce that the regime days are numbered ( every week) for the last two years,and look the other way when the ottomans and the GCC pimps transformed Syria into a Syriastan, and now Kerry and Obama will either have to wait and do nothing or negotiate with the dictator they pronounced dead two dozen times, with or without Assad, the threat of Islamist terrorism has increased and nobody will be immune from it.

January 24th, 2013, 11:33 pm

 

zoo said:

Libya, Mali and the Algeria attacks are turning points for the West with regard to the development in Syria.
Suddenly they are becoming aware that extremist Islam is a silent cancer. It hides well behind ‘national uprisings’ but when it show up for what it is, it is already too late. The Western interests in Africa are now threatened by that disease.

Al Nusra is a cancer and it must be stopped at any cost even at the cost of negotiating with Bashar al Assad since the expat coalition has zero influence on the armed rebels who despise them.

If some authentic revolutionaries and ideals will need to be sacrificed to prevent the Islamist cancer to spread even more, I think the West has no choice than to do it.

January 24th, 2013, 11:58 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Syria news said

واضاف فورد, في حديث لشبكة
(CNN) الاخبارية الامريكية ان المقدسي يعيش الولايات المتحدة بصفة لاجئ، نافيا “الشائعات التي ترددت حول عمل المقدسي مع الحكومة الأمريكية”.

Is Maqdissi in the US? Why did we not hear this from CNN before?,

It is true, US withheld all support to the rebels, Clinton plan, I still believe the Syrian revolution will win when the revolution spreads to Iraq, or Jordan.meanwhile FSA will achieve more victories as the Syrian airforce is losing more planes, and Assad thugs are dying,and FSA is getting larger

January 24th, 2013, 11:59 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo said
Islamic cancer, He meant Shiite cancer

January 25th, 2013, 12:01 am

 

MarigoldRan said:

In case you missed it in the last section, let me re-post it here:

Ok, this is too fun. One last comment.

No, Revenire, I was trolling you. I have nothing against Badr.

It was a test of knowledge. I wanted to see who was stupid enough to think the Vietnamese Civil War was ONLY TEN YEARS LONG (the length that America was involved).

That person was YOU, Revenire. You thought the Vietnamese Civil War was only about 10 years long.

Point proven. You’re an idiot.

January 25th, 2013, 12:15 am

 

revenire said:

🙂

“425. REVENIRE said:

Comparing Vietnam to Syria is way off the mark.

And, I never said anything about Vietnam or the length of its war. Go back and look – find me the quote. It won’t be very hard, even for you.

I never said one word about the length. I just asked what planet you were on to tell people you were from a country with a 30 year long civil war with millions dead.

Please find me where I said Vietnam was a decade long. I will wait here for your to find me the quote.

I will have a long wait so let me get some coffee.”

January 25th, 2013, 12:32 am

 

revenire said:

Need some help finding that quote?

January 25th, 2013, 12:37 am

 

Johannes de Silentio said:

5. MARIGOLDRAN

“I wanted to see who was stupid…That person was YOU, Revenire”

Why do you waste your time on Mossie? It’s okay to do what I do which is rag on him maybe once a day, but to go back and forth for hours? You could be doing something useful, like darning your socks or watching paint dry.

How stupid is Mossie? He thought Tara was hitting on him.

Think about that. And stop wasting your time…

January 25th, 2013, 12:37 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

خولة دنيا

لا أدري كيف يمكن اعتبار حافظ أسد وما انتجه كشكل من أشكال التسيد على المجتمع، علمانياّ!!!

لدينا نتائج واقعية صارخة جداً على عكس علمانيته.
هل منا من لا يعرف أن تقسيمات الوزارات والمناصب ومجلس الشعب وحتى الادارة المحلية كانت على أساس طائفي وأكثر من ذلك على عشائري أيضاً.

هل منا من لا يعرف أن الكوتا كانت حسب المناطق والدين والطائفة وحتى الجنس؟

حافظ اسد عراب مدارس تحفيظ القرآن برعاية البوطي، كنوع من مكافئة على وقوف الاسلام الوسطي معه خلال صراعه مع الاخوان المسلمين.

حافظ أسد عراب اتفاق الطائف في لبنان، والمشرف والمنفذ عليه.

حافظ أسد باسم الدفاع عن المسيحيين أدخل لبنان في حرب أهلية طالت ولم تنتهي نتائجها. فاسس للبنان طائفي مازال موجوداً كما رسمه له حتى الآن.

حافظ أسد الذي قسم حتى العلويين إلى محظوظين وغير محظوظين حسب القرب والبعد من عشيرته.

الذي سوق لنا من لا يعرف حتى القراءة من عشائر العرب في الجزيرة، ليبرزهم كقادة نكاية بالأكراد.

حافظ أسد الذي عزز كل المفاهيم التي تبقي على التخلف في المجتمع: الثأر – جرائم الشرف – التناسبات الدينية والطائفية – القبلية والمدنية – وحتى الريفية. فكان عراب الفئوية والأقلية والعشائرية والطائفية.امسك بكل الخيوط في يده وأمسك المجتمع السوري بقبضة من حديد.

حافظ أسد الديكتاتور الذي كان قائداً لكل ما يتعلق بالدولة المدنية، فتصب عنده السلطات الثلاث: التشريعية – التنفيذية – القضائية.

حافظ اسد الذي أغرق البلاد بقانون الطوارئ الذي لا يمت بصلة للدولة العلمانية أو المدنية.

حافظ الأسد الذي تمتع بصلاتين حين موته: صلاة باطنية برعاية مشايخ العلويين، وصلاة ظاهرية برعاية البوطي.. كيف يمكن أن يكون علمانياً!!!!

حكمتنا الديكتاتورية والعسكر والمخابرات، وليس الدولة العلمانية كما يحلو للبعض أن يقول، والكثيرين يخلطون الحابل بالنابل فيقولون دولة علمانية ثم يقولون دولة علوية، ثم دولة أقلية .. وكأنهم يريدون الربط بين مفهومين للتخلص منهما معاً.

حكمتنا الديكتاتورية والعسكر والمخابرات، وكل ما لحق بذلك كان تفاصيل يمسك خيوطها الديكتاتور الأب. مهما كان من استفاد، ومهما كان من رفض، ومهما كان من ثار بوجهها.

تختلف التفاصيل بين دولة وأخرى ولكن التشابهات موجودة لطريقة الحكم هذه حتى لو لم نرغب بذلك، نحتاج لعملة بعدة وجوه لنرى التشابه الكبير بين حافظ الأسد وصدام حسين، والقذافي والبشير والصالح وحتى تشاوشيسكو وهتلر وستالين وفرانكو وموسوليني ……… الخ

January 25th, 2013, 12:42 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Rafi Nerabi

النظام السوري يهدد الخليج بالشيعة ويهدد تركيا بحزب العمال الكردستاني ويهدد العلوية بأنتقام السنة و يهدد الدروز بالعشائر ويهدد العراق بتهريب المسلحين ويهدد حركة فتح بحماس ويهدد المسيحية بالأخوان ويهدد الحريري بحزب الله ويهدد المتظاهرين بالشبيحة ويهدد الأميركان بأستقرار أسرائيل ويهدد لبنان بتسكير الحدود ويهدد المغتربيين بأهلهم ويهدد الأباء بأولادهم و يهدد عناصر الجيش بالأمن ويهدد الأمن بالحرس الثوري الأيراني ويهدد شعبه بالحصار والقصف ويهدد ويهدد. ولازال يتحدث عن مؤامرة!

January 25th, 2013, 12:47 am

 

Juergen said:

The egyptian revolution through the eyes of Hosni Mubarak

“You mean they are going to kill me?” Mubarak asked.

“Probably, yes.” Badrawi responded.

“I am ready to die for my country,” the president said.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/01/24/the_egyptian_revolution_through_hosni_mubarak_s_eyes#.UQH3tAf4kuw.twitter

January 25th, 2013, 12:55 am

 

revenire said:

Marigoldran you have a fondness for lying, like so many of your terrorist associates. I never said anything about bombing Sunnis or any other sectarian garbage you’re do fond of my little Ho Chi Minh. I said to bomb enemy positions for 2-3 weeks – to carpet bomb them. I said give any civilians 24 hours to get out and start bombing and don’t stop until the rats are all dead or surrender.

I said this would save Syrian lives and asked you for your plan. Today your plan was stated: you want to see several 100,000 dead. I don’t. I only want to see the FSA/al-Nusra rats dead.

January 25th, 2013, 12:55 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

هشام عقل ابو جولان

أوقفت الحواجز مرور مئات السيارات وبالكاد كل دقيقتين تسمح بمرور سيارة . كان التفتيش والتدقيق على الهويات مقصودا فقط لتأخير حركة السير ، لكن حين يتقدم رتل السيارات ببطئ يتبين للناظر السرفي تأخير حركة السير..

الجثث تركت بعناية عل طول الطريق بين جديدة عرطوز والمعضمية على اتوستراد دمشق القنيطرة.

الجثث مكبلة منزوعة الأحذية ممددة بجانب الشارع ، كان على الجميع رؤية هذا المشهد . طبعا لم يكن مسموحا لأحد الاقتراب من الجثث او حتى تغطيتها فقد كانت منتشرة قرب الحواجز..عدا عن القناصين بطبيعة الحال.

كان يوم الأحد الماضي يوما من ايام الحزن والقهر السوري اليومي ، عند الظهيرة تم سحب الجثث من قبل الحواجزوتم ترك جثة واحدة، واضيف لها يوم الاثنين جثة اخرى مكبلة أيضا ، الجثتين تحت مرمى القناصين بجانب الشارع يوم الأربعاء كانت الكلاب قد نهشت الجزء الأكبر من هذه الجثتين .

هو المشهد ذاته الكلاب تنهش لحمنا في الشوارع والعالم يشاهد ، نحن السوريين منذ أكثر من أربعين عاما تنهش الكلاب لحمنا أحياءا وأموات ، لكن في السنتين الأخيرتين بات المشهد مفتوحا لكل العالم العالم الذي فقد انسانيته وكرامته..
المجد للثورة

January 25th, 2013, 12:59 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

للوجعِ الطويلِ أولادٌ سيكبرونْ
للأرضِ، للحاراتِ، للأبوابِ، أولادٌ سيكبرونْ
وهؤلاءِ كلّهمْ..
تجمّعوا منذُ ثلاثينَ سنهْ
في غُرفِ التحقيقِ، في مراكزِ البوليسِ، في السجونْ
تجمّعوا كالدمعِ في العيونْ

– نزار قباني –

It is now more than forty years

January 25th, 2013, 1:19 am

 

revenire said:

Speak for the dead do you?

January 25th, 2013, 1:23 am

 

Citizen said:

الفيصل يقر بفشل معركته ضد سورية.. ومعلمته كلينتون تعترف بتدفق أسلحة من ليبيا
http://aksalser.net/news/view/1221

January 25th, 2013, 2:16 am

 

zoo said:

Rise of Radical Muslim Groups in Libya
By Daniel Wagner & Giorgio Cafiero

http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2013/01/23/rise_of_radical_muslim_groups_in_libya_100499.html

It would be an understatement to say that the National Transition Council (NTC) has failed to govern Libya effectively since the fall of Gaddafi. The majority of territory outside Tripoli has fallen under the control of armed militias that have refused to disarm. Violent campaigns along tribal and ideological lines have been waged by Libyans determined to settle old scores and influence the ongoing political transition.
Libya’s armed Islamists are well positioned to shape the course of events. This year the NTC will be challenged to integrate the Islamists into the national political system, yet failure to do so will likely result in marginalized militants playing the spoiler.

If current events in Algeria and Mali are an indication of what the future holds for Libya, Islamists may be expected to wage armed attacks against their opponents and western targets, which can only further damage Libya’s investment climate.

January 25th, 2013, 7:11 am

 

zoo said:

Contrary to Mali’s US trained army, the Syrian Army under a united commandment is proving to a serious match to militants

Mali Army, Riding U.S. Hopes, Is Proving No Match for Militants

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/25/world/africa/mali-army-riding-us-hopes-is-proving-no-match-for-militants.html?pagewanted=all

….
For years, the United States worked closely with Mali’s military as part of a more than $500 million counterterrorism program to train and equip armies across the Sahara to combat militants. With only about 7,000 people in its military and other security forces, and just a handful of working helicopters and airplanes, Mali had acknowledged how daunting a task it was to defend its vast desert borders and drive out growing numbers of Islamist militants, including those aligned with Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.

So the Malians eagerly agreed five years ago to join a multiyear partnership between the State and Defense Departments that also included Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia. It was the most ambitious American counterterrorism effort ever in the region.

American Special Forces provided Malian infantry troops with training in marksmanship, border patrol, ambush drills and other skills. The program also offered Malian forces their first opportunity to train with more capable armies from neighbors like Senegal, a trend toward regional cooperation that budget-conscious American policy makers and military officials sought to promote.

But no one seemed to anticipate the sudden influx of heavily armed, battle-hardened fighters returning from Libya after the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. They reinvigorated a longstanding rebellion in the north, spurring as many as 1,600 Malian soldiers to defect, according to one senior Malian military official.

The remaining Malian forces were routed so thoroughly that troops overthrew the government in Bamako in frustration. As a result of the coup, the American military suspended aid and training to the Malian military.

January 25th, 2013, 7:35 am

 

Visitor said:

Our Iraqi brothers are well on their way following in the footsteps of the Syrian Revolution,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/25/262447.html

On the other hand, AhmediNejjad, the bus boy of Qomistan, admits that shaytan is behind Shia deviation from Islam, hoping, by using such hyperboles, to gain some friends among Sunnis because he realizes that now he will soon be kicked out not only from Syria but also from Iraq,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/25/262404.html

January 25th, 2013, 8:49 am

 

Erin said:

#1
It is clear that this action is the fingerprint of the USA, it is allowing the radical to take over the Arab world, therefore, the fight will continue on the Arab soil, it is all well planned for decades.
I doesn’t matter what people want, what matter is the region to stay under the influence of the USA in some sort.
fighting in Syria, is a good thing for the USA, for that matter the more killing the less the USA has to deal with as radical terrorists spread all over the world, including inside the USA with the support of the KSA and el.
It is not a coincidence that many of the Sunni are following into this trap for better idea, the USA is supporting the MB which are the stinky root of the Alqaida.
in 9/11 event there was no one syrian but all KSA citizen and yet the USA is still in bed with KSA. it is unimaginable that USA is not aware who are the radicals.
time will tell if the Syrian Sunni were the worse of their own enemies when they find that USA is not better for them than Assad.
remember that the FM of Libya was a CIA agent during the Ghadafi era therefore many of the regime in syria could be CIA agents as well.
Yeehaa.

January 25th, 2013, 9:01 am

 

zoo said:

A new move to counter the Al Nusra thugs..

http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32680

“The sources also said shabbiha militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad had killed more than 100 Sunni men, women and children when they overran a nearby area 10 days ago.

Activist Nader al-Husseini, speaking by phone from the western sector of Homs, said at least 10,000 shabbiha had been brought from the coastal city of Tartous to back up the regular army.

“They go in infantry formations behind the soldiers and their specialty is looting and killing civilians,” he said, adding that among dozens killed by the shabbiha were a family of five in the village of Naqira.”

January 25th, 2013, 9:04 am

 

Tara said:

#

I am a Zionist now?

يا خسارة!

I thought you are different.

January 25th, 2013, 9:16 am

 

zoo said:

Are the desperate calls for help signs of the powerless panic of the FSA in Homs?
Is the SNC still alive?

http://www.france24.com/en/20130124-firefights-shelling-syrias-homs-watchdog

The Syrian Revolution General Authority, a network of opposition activists on the ground, said regime troops used heavy artillery and clashed with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) in an attempt to storm the west side of the city.

“The Syrian regime has escalated its attack on Homs city and its environs in order to disperse the people on sectarian lines and achieve what it believes will be a final victory over Homs,” said the Syrian National Council (SNC), a major part of the opposition in exile.

“The regime uses the most heinous criminal methods against human beings… shelling with heavy weaponry, blocking off areas to prevent the bare necessities — food, medicine — from entering, sending in sectarian militia to wreak havoc and kill, and finishing with massacres of entire neighbourhoods and villages.”

The SNC called for a nationwide rescue campaign, for the “FSA all over Syria to aid their comrades in Homs with equipment and men” and for aid agencies to give priority to the trapped and displaced people of Homs.

January 25th, 2013, 9:20 am

 

zoo said:

Majie

“He meant Shiite cancer”

I said Islamist cancer and since 9/11 it is a public domain information of which sect the Islamist extremists are.

January 25th, 2013, 9:26 am

 

Majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo avoids saying Sunni terrorist he says Islamist terrorist, as if Shiite are not muslems, or may be they are not, the truth is that Zoozoo, is sectarian, anti sunni, he is sunniphobic, this is disgusting sectarian attitude.
While I think Shiites are misguided, I am against Persians, I believe they are our enemies, they occupied Syria from 630 BC, till 64 BC,and they were defeated by the Arab, and finally Omar Ibn Al Khattab defeated Persia decisevly,and that is the reason why they hate Omar.
US policy lately has been pro Persia,anti Sunni, it is because of Israel, The gulf states are in a dilemma,US is putting pressure on them,but truly they have both enemies Israel and Persia Safawi regime, long time from now we will see a revolution in the Gulf states.
The best way to fight pressure from US is to spread Islam in the USA,it is going on and our number is increasing ,we will reach 20 million by 2050,God willing.
May be Ahmadi najad is not as bad as Khamenie, he is the snake head he is the evil man, he is the devil friend.

January 25th, 2013, 9:29 am

 

AIG said:

Assad humiliated again, he cannot feed or provide heating to his people.

Assad supporters have no dignity. For years they were proud of his anti-US policies but now they complain about the US policies towards the Assad regime. You supported Islamists for 11 years, now suck it up and deal with what you created. How can people who cheered Assad sending Islamists to Iraq complain about Islamists coming from Iraq to Syria??? What are you, little children? And the irony is even greater that you complain about Islamists while getting aid from Hezbollah and Iran.

January 25th, 2013, 9:32 am

 

zoo said:

More high level hot air calls to help the desperate opposition

Syrian opposition needs urgent help, Davos forum told

Saudi Arabia and Turkey push for aid
By Francis Matthew Editor at Large
Published: 18:12 January 25, 2013
http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/syrian-opposition-needs-urgent-help-davos-forum-told-1.1137596

The Syrian opposition needs arms and the international community should send them weapons so as to reduce the military advantage the government enjoys, said Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud of the King Faisal Centre for Research.

The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmad Davatoglu would not be drawn on whether Turkey is sending arms to the rebels, but he went so far as to say that Turkey supported the aspiration of the Turkish people, and “there is no limit to Turkey’s assistance to the Syrian people”.

Both speakers were on a panel at the World Economic Forum hosted by Al Arabiya TV channel, where a clear consensus emerged that to sit and do nothing would bring shame on the region and Syria’s friends.

“60,000 people have been killed already,” said Prince Turki. “Do we have to wait for double or triple that number to die before Al Assad leaves?”

Prince Turki, Davatoglu and Nasr Judeh, the Jordanian Foreign Minister, recognised that there is the basis for finding a political solution if the participants want to use it, treating the Geneva Communique and its plans for building a transitional authority as a useful place to start.

But even if that much is agreed, nothing has happened because there is no agreement on the role of Al Assad in any transitional process. His supporters, including the Russians, insist that he should be part of the transition, but the opposition are vehement that no one with so much blood on their hands can be involved in the process of defining a new Syria.

January 25th, 2013, 9:32 am

 

zoo said:

#26 Majie

You are in total confusion trying to make sense of things that are way beyond your microcephalic head.

Your latest scoop: The USA is on the side of Iran and against Saudi Arabia and Qatar!

Whether you like it or nor,the extremists islamists are 100% Salafists. Aren’t Salafists Sunnis?

January 25th, 2013, 9:41 am

 

AIG said:

“If some authentic revolutionaries and ideals will need to be sacrificed to prevent the Islamist cancer to spread even more, I think the West has no choice than to do it.”

The Islamist cancer is Assad as far as Israel is concerned. Who helped Hezbollah and Hamas for years, two clearly Islamist organizations? Who sent Islamists to Iraq from Syria? Have fun fighting the Islamists, the West is not going to help you one little bit. After all, if you want to stop Islamists, why would you help their main sponsor for 11 years?

Between Assad and the Muslim Brotherhood, I much prefer the Muslim Brotherhood for many reasons not least which is that they would be against Iran and Hezbollah.

January 25th, 2013, 9:49 am

 

AIG said:

The extremist Islamists are those that chant “Death to the US”, Hezbollah for example. What happened Assad supporters, you are suddenly ashamed of your “resistance” stance? You suddenly want to portray yourself as “friends” of the US? Why should the US support you if one day after you feel less threatened you will start attacking the US again?

You really think Americans and Israelis are dumb enough to accept Assad back? That makes sense because for 11 years you thought Assad was a foreign policy “genius”. Suck it up and stop complaining about the Islamists. Have fun fighting them.

January 25th, 2013, 9:55 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo
Did you forget that hizballah and Hassan Nasrallah are considered terrorist? aren’t they persian Shiite?

January 25th, 2013, 10:29 am

 

Visitor said:

Many advances were recorded today by the FSA and especially the Nusra Front in almost all Syrian cities,

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/bee38223-9adc-4490-8814-2404beaaf3ef?GoogleStatID=1

200 criminal thugs were sent over to lowest hell by Nusra today in an attack in Qoneitra, while demonstrators continue demonstrating and cheering the FSA heroes in all liberated areas of Syria.

————————————————–

On the other hand Yassin Kassab’s article is self contradictory. He maintains that Nusra Front made spectacular advances in the short time it appeared on the scene both militarily as well as in gaining converts to its ranks by proving its effectiveness. At the same time Kassab obliquely and lamely argues for financial and military support from the west for so-called moderates who had the same chances over the last two years to prove themselves as Nusra and other similarly minded groups did by his own admission. It seems that the problem is not lack of financial or military support from sources (US/West)that many Syrians would have dire misgivings against accepting aid from. The problem, that Mr. Kassab should have pointed out, is these so-called moderates themselves. If the Nusra was able to do it on its own during this time period, why were these so-called moderates not able to make it? And why do they need external help when the Nusra was able to make it with its own meagre resources? The problem Mr. Kassab is efficiency, dedication, organization and disciplne shown by Nusra and perhaps corruption on the other side of the equation. And more importantly, why would Mr. Kassab or those who argue similarly would want us to fall into the same discourse and rhetoric that the criminal regime would love us to adopt for its own survival?

January 25th, 2013, 10:31 am

 

revenire said:

“Many advances were recorded today by the FSA and especially the Nusra Front in almost all Syrian cities.”

You sound like Baghdad Bob.

Your ape army is on the run and the SAA is on the offensive.

January 25th, 2013, 11:02 am

 
 

revenire said:

Mina I find it sickening as well.

January 25th, 2013, 11:28 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Visitor said
why were these so-called moderates not able to make it?
Then he answered
The problem Mr. Kassab is efficiency, dedication, organization and disciplne shown by Nusra and perhaps corruption on the other side of the equation.

The truth is Religion is a strong factor, if you believe in God,this will give a tremendous power, as Quraan says, small group can defeat larger enemy with the help of God,
The real God not the fake one, Zoozoo believes in

January 25th, 2013, 11:53 am

 
 

Juergen said:

W’s best buddy said today:

“Despite all the efforts of the military opposition in Syria, the Assad regime is estimated by the King of Jordan to last for many months to come. “Anyone who says that the regime of Bashar al-Assad has only two weeks left to live , really understands nothing of the realities on the ground,” Abdullah II said on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

“They still have capacities, and I think they are still at least in the first half of 2013 pretty much in a strong position,” said the monarch, whose country has been welcomed almost 300,000 refugees from neighboring Syria. To end the war coordinated international activities are needed. Otherwise the danger of a breakup of Syria into areas that are controlled by different ethnic and religious groups is imminent”
translated

http://www.oe24.at/welt/Koenig-von-Jordanien-Assad-noch-viele-Monate-an-der-Macht/92590588

Kafranbel

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=419665408112642&set=a.117471844998668.23576.114744738604712&type=1&theater

amazing Aleppo demonstration

January 25th, 2013, 12:11 pm

 

revenire said:

37. JUERGEN

A tiny demonstration in Aleppo? What is that supposed to show us? That the terrorists have little support in Aleppo? Well done!

That 30 person demo would have been a great place for a missile attack from our eagles in the sky. Maybe the same MIG that hit the university could hit the rat demo? Odd how the pilots went after their own supporters but not the rats.

If you were Syrian you would know that pro-government demonstrations take place daily in Aleppo with thousands of pro-government supporters.

January 25th, 2013, 12:17 pm

 

Tara said:

AiG,

I agree with you. Regime supporters have no dignity and no pride. If it would work, they’d kiss Israel’s foot to keep the boy stuck to the chair. Amazing the mental gymnastics they demonstrate trying to convince the West and Israel to crush the “Islamist” revolution because it threatens Israel, while they themselves have used “Islamists” to destabilize Iraq. What is pathetic too is their love to the Islamist Iran.

January 25th, 2013, 12:28 pm

 

Hanzala said:

Kurds in Aleppo, Ain al Arab aka Kopani

January 25th, 2013, 12:38 pm

 

AIG said:

Tara,

On the flip side, did you like Assad’s support of Hezbollah and Hamas? Do you think supporting them was a mistake?

January 25th, 2013, 12:42 pm

 

revenire said:

Tara volunteer your services to the FSA terrorists you love so much. Go ahead. Love to see it happen. Send me a postcard when you arrive.

Nothing like these American terrorist supporters who love death, killing and sectarian warfare.

January 25th, 2013, 12:48 pm

 

zoo said:

Why the Killing in Syria Is Just the Beginning

The international community’s failure on Syria limits its power to act against the even bigger bloodletting that’s likely to happen down the road.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JANUARY 25, 2013
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/01/25/why_the_killing_in_syria_is_just_the_beginning?page=0,1


Why do I say that? Because the fateful wheel of atrocity and reprisal, so familiar from past civil wars, is gathering momentum. It could hardly be any different, considering the scale of the killing so far. The Assad regime bears full responsibility for launching the carnage. But it does not bear sole responsibility for all the crimes that have been committed, and it will not bear sole responsibility for the crimes that are yet to come.

As soon as the Assad regime loses the advantages of its air power and its heavy weapons, the Sunnis will be able to make their superior numbers count. Their enemies won’t stand a chance.

“But let’s be clear,” he says. “We’re not on the side of Assad and we’re not on the side of the rebels. We’re against mass atrocities.

The desire for revenge is understandable: the instinct to repay killing with more killing is deeply embedded in the human psyche. But that doesn’t make it right. Retribution and justice are two different things. The first perpetuates the cycle of violence; the second offers at least the hope of wrongs righted in a way that benefits society. And the logic of collective punishment is always fatally flawed. Not everyone in a group behaves according to the instincts of the majority.

January 25th, 2013, 12:58 pm

 

Citizen said:

How US Ambassador Chris Stevens May Have Been Linked To Jihadist Rebels In Syria

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/us-syria-heavy-weapons-jihadists-2012-10#ixzz2J0lfc0g2

January 25th, 2013, 12:59 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

There is an upside for Iran in this situation.

Yes, it would rather it’s strategic ally wasn’t threatened with being toppled but like they say ‘we are where we are’.

The syrian crisis delays an attack on Iran. The longer the better (for Iran). A prolonged crisis can potentialy buy it a couple of years or more. Time it can use to better prepare for any eventual attack.

In that context providing/lending, let’s say, $1billion a year to Assad is worth it. An attack/war on Iran would be much more costly for Iran.

January 25th, 2013, 1:00 pm

 

revenire said:

This is how Aleppo greets the SAA. You won’t see the rats talking about this. Cowards.

January 25th, 2013, 1:03 pm

 

Tara said:

AIG,

I have personally supported HA in the past in its resistance against Israel in the old days. Although now, I have changed and humanistically matured and no longer can turn a blind eye on tactics that utilize suicide bombing or indiscriminate shelling wherever that might occur against Syrians or Israelis alike.

In my opinion, HA turned not to be a legit resistance movement but rather an Iranian extension. It is just using resistance as a cover up and I condemn it with all possible terms.

January 25th, 2013, 1:03 pm

 

zoo said:

German journalist Manuel Ochsenreiter about what happened in Aleppo university bombing

Suspicion falls on jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra. The mainstream media has been falling over itself trying to implicate the Syrian government in the strikes even the Aleppo university is a government controlled area.
16 January 2013

http://www.silviaca.ttori.net/article4139.html

January 25th, 2013, 1:04 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/01/24/285313/ahmadinejad-warns-of-shiasunni-rift/

Press Tv headline yesterday:

Ahmadinejad warns of Shia-Sunni rift

_____________________________________________________________

I say:

Persian man speaks with forked tongue.

January 25th, 2013, 1:06 pm

 

zoo said:

37. majedkhaldoun

If the God you invoke is calling for hatred, racism, blood and revenge, I’ll stick to mine.

January 25th, 2013, 1:09 pm

 

Syria no Kandahar said:

Friends of Dr Abo Jahal kaldon did in Rass Aleen what Ottmans did to Christians
100 years ago.Vatican,US and Europe could care less about Christians:
http://alkhabarpress.com/تفاصيل-جرائم-جبهة-النصرة-بحق-مسيحيي/

January 25th, 2013, 1:14 pm

 

Visitor said:

“But let’s be clear,” he says. “We’re not on the side of Assad and we’re not on the side of the rebels. We’re against mass atrocities.”

Indeed you are Mr. Carlyle. Did you just wake up? Were you taking a nap the last two years? As if atrocities have not been ongoing!!

Or, did you just wake up because now you feel Sunnis are about to turn the tide?

What a pathetic hypocricritical so-called western intelligensia that thinks people are just gullible sheeple to fool by few ‘finely’ composed prose?

As if anyone is calling you to tell us which side you’re on? Well, our side certainly doesn’t give a rat’s ass as to what side you’re on!!

January 25th, 2013, 1:15 pm

 

zoo said:

Why doesn’t Saudi Arabia make use of the billions worth of american weapons rotting in their storage to finish with the man who is humiliating them daily? Any idea what stops them?

Saudi prince calls for Syrian rebels to be armed

The brother of the Saudi FM calls the Syrian rebels to obtain “high-level weapons” in their fierce battles against regime forces
Reuters , Friday 25 Jan 2013
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/63273/World/Region/Saudi-prince-calls-for-Syrian-rebels-to-be-armed.aspx

A senior member of Saudi Arabia’s monarchy called on Friday for Syrian rebels to be given anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to “level the playing field” in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad.

“What is needed are sophisticated, high-level weapons that can bring down planes, can take out tanks at a distance. This is not getting through,” said Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former intelligence chief and brother of the Saudi foreign minister.

January 25th, 2013, 1:17 pm

 

Majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo
Your God died,worthless,could not help himself, My God call for justice, and those like you ,who support criminal regime your God stink, stick to the stink

January 25th, 2013, 1:24 pm

 

zoo said:

Westerners asked to evacuate Benghazi

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/63249/World/Region/Libya-says-no-word-on-Western-evacuations.aspx

“Britain on Thursday urged its citizens to leave the eastern city because of a “specific, imminent threat to Westerners” linked to French military intervention in Mali.

Germany, the Netherlands and Australia have all since followed suit.
..
Deputy Interior Minister Abdullah Massud expressed “astonishment” at the warnings on Thursday, and said his government would demand an explanation.

“If Britain was afraid of threats to its citizens, it could have pulled them out quietly without causing all the commotion and excitement,” Massud was reported to have said on Friday.

“The British Foreign Office statement sparked growing concerns by various diplomatic missions and foreign companies in Benghazi and led them to seriously consider leaving the city,” Lana quoted him as saying.

January 25th, 2013, 1:25 pm

 

revenire said:

Syria should take the war to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Give them a taste.

Mr. President we await your orders.

January 25th, 2013, 1:26 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

357. Citizen said:

“351. UZAIR8
Are you sane? Russia and China said no means no !Do you think that the game of football can be composed of one team? You seem to want to daydream.”

________

Citizen

I see what you did there – lol.

________

If Turkey intervenes then hopefully Russia will make a bit of noise and nothing more.

1. Russia would realise Assad was going to fall sooner or later anyway.

2. It’s not fair on Turkey having to deal with the refugee situation. How long should it be expected to quietly restrain itself? Sooner or later it’ll say enough is enough. Can Russia blame Turkey if it does so?

Perhaps this is why Putin, in a meeting with the Lebanese leader, called for a conference on the refugee issue. Is he preempting this potential pretext?

January 25th, 2013, 1:27 pm

 

zoo said:

#56 Majie

I doubt your God would accept you as martyr. It’s a pity.

January 25th, 2013, 1:32 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

وزير خارجية أمريكا.. مقتنع بالقرآن ويستخدم المسبحة
Now we have Obama ,comes from Muslem family, and John Kerry who is convinced with what Quraan says,America is changing

January 25th, 2013, 1:42 pm

 

AIG said:

Tara,

The problem is that it seems you don’t like Hezbollah more because of their attitude towards the Assad regime and less because they targeted Israeli civilians. And what about Hamas, are they legitimate even though they are for suicide bombings and support targeting Israeli civilians?

It is the inability of the FSA and the Syrian diaspora to talk clearly and frankly about these issues that is making people very hesitant to support them. Because if you are for Hamas, why won’t you give them the weapons the West gives you once you win?

January 25th, 2013, 1:56 pm

 

Observer said:

ZOO wrote in the previous post a news item from the Russian press that is interesting
Here it is

BEIRUT, January 25 (RIA Novosti) – The Syrian Interior Ministry called on all citizens, who fled the country amid the ongoing bloody conflict, to come back and pledged to help with formalizing documents.

“All Syrian citizens, who either fled the country legally or illegally due to the developing events, will receive an all-embracing assistance upon their return,” the ministry said in a statement.

The statement said that all Syrians, including representatives of political opposition parties, can return to their country via border checkpoints at airports as well as via using checkpoints on the borders with Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey.

So Syria is about to introduce an emergency management administration like FEMA?

Or are they now running out of people to keep a minimum of economy going?

Or are they concerned that the flood of refugees is going to force the neighbors to do something about this?

Or is this to buy time with useless propaganda?

ZOO please tell us how is it possible that you believe such garbage? It is mind boggling to believe is such BS. The regime is barely capable of running anything but a destructive machine and an inept one at that.

Every day we see more destruction and there are now close to 3 million buildings destroyed. Where are you going to put the refugees back into? Syrian run refugee camps where the theft of resources is a full time profession?

ZOO why don’t you return to Syria to be embrassed by the welcoming regime?

The regime starting with the head of it from forty years onward has proven to be made up of upstarts, vulgar, criminal, thuggish, and brutish mafia with a veneer so thin and ugly that is sickening to watch.

Is Anissa now the shoe shopper for Asma? Please ZOO tell us what shoes you wear.

Justice for Hamza

January 25th, 2013, 2:00 pm

 

revenire said:

Observer I doubt whether Assad’s mother left Syria. It is just more garbage. During the run-up to World War I there were stories of the Kaiser impaling babies on bayonets. Later we heard Saddam was ripping babies out of incubators.

I heard one of Syria’s new American-designed drones (thanks to Iran for downing them whole so our boys can reverse engineer them) just took out 100 rats trying to enter from Turkey. I’d love to see the Ottomans try to get a drone with a Patriot. C’mon Erdogan grow a pair!

January 25th, 2013, 2:06 pm

 

Citizen said:

58. UZAIR8 said:
If Turkey intervenes then hopefully Russia will make a bit of noise and nothing more.
This is a political blindness!
________
Citizen
I see what you did there – lol.
yes! yes! hence easier to see Western genitals.

January 25th, 2013, 2:07 pm

 

Roland said:

Here’s the only formula for peace in Syria:

1. Roundtable talks.

2. General amnesty.

Anything other approach will only result in an escalating and broadening war.

One might already be able to conclude that escalation is the consensus choice of the Western Bloc leaders.

January 25th, 2013, 2:31 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

64. Citizen

(I see what you did there).

Referring to your responding to my poem/rhyme with a rhyme of your own.

January 25th, 2013, 2:33 pm

 

Citizen said:

Events in Mali
……
Do not forget that the Arab Spring is not yet reached the Arabian Peninsula, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are objectively interested in channeling caused by the jinn of terrorist in any direction, only in the opposite peninsula. And the war in West Africa – a very attractive replacement and not surrendering Syria. It may very well be that the terrorist international will shift against the enemies of the Arabian sheikhs in West Africa. And it’s all the same new Libyan government, and certainly secular Algeria. In Qatar, could not get their hands on Libyan oil and gas – so it is possible that he will try to try again, since I still have to go back again to the region.
……….

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fel-murid.livejournal.com%2F951466.html

January 25th, 2013, 2:34 pm

 

Tara said:

AIG,

The simple truth is that we will not solve our problem at the expense of achieving a just peace for the Palestinians. Unlike the pathetic regime cultists, We truly have pride and dignity and will not save Syrians’ lives at the expense of oppressing the Palestinians. If the western world does not want to supply us weapons so be it. We will prevail no matter what..

Having said that, I am all for just peace where Israelis and Palestinians live side to side in a dignified way and I think that is more likely to happen with a democratic ME and if that democratic ME has to live through a MB phase then be it. It will eventually evolve out if it.

January 25th, 2013, 2:39 pm

 

Citizen said:

66. UZAIR8
better if you are engaged in political affairs of Pakistan, I have repeatedly advised you of that! there is not all right!

January 25th, 2013, 2:39 pm

 

Syrialover said:

AIG #29

No illusions please about the Muslim Brotherhood.

Think the worst of them and you still aren’t there.

1. They have historic links with Iran which should sound loud warning bells: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/iran-brotherhood-ties-rooted-in-history-with-eye-on-future

2. They have nothing of relevance or value to offer and miniscule connections and support in Syria (the case even before being kicked out decades ago). Nor have they participated in the Syrian revolution. But they are hellbent on hijacking post-Assad power structures.

3. They are selfishly and stupidly disrupting attempts to form a coherent and sustainable Syrian opposition body. In this they resemble Assad, in that they do not care about Syrians and if they can’t have power nobody else can.

4. The Syrian MBs model is Egypt, where the MB did not participate in the revolution (and in fact had a dishonourable record of playing along with Mubarak), but manipulated the situation to get into power. Morsi and co are now way out of their depth trying to run the country, tragically squandering time and resources Egyptians cannot afford.

5. Egyptian “leader” Morsi recently showed what a sinister idiot he is by being alone in the international community in officially opposing efforts to get rid of the sinister idiot Islamic militants destroying Mali. He’s trying to suck up to extreme Islamic elements at home whose support he needs to stay in power – but watch them turn around and bite his backside so hard he’ll never sit down again. More pointless mess for Egyptians. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/130122/egyptian-president-morsi-opposes-french-intervention-mali

This list could go on longer than the combined daily posts of the Assadists on this forum.

But I think you get my point.

January 25th, 2013, 2:46 pm

 

AIG said:

Tara,

Nobody is telling you not to support a just peace for the Palestinians. That is a legitimate position. The West has no problem with the Fatah position that Abbas articulates. But I for example would like to know whether you support Hamas and their rockets and their suicide operations. The fact that you are not willing to give a direct answer highlights one of the problems in supporting the FSA and the Syrian diaspora. You are uncomfortable telling people what you really believe.

I sure do prefer the Muslim Brotherhood to Assad, but that doesn’t mean I would provide you weapons that you would later give Hamas to target me.

January 25th, 2013, 2:50 pm

 

Citizen said:

memo 65.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Syria, today appealed to the refugees who left the country because of the worsening bloody conflict to return home. The information was news agency SANA reported.
According to a Thursday statement agencies Syrians returning home will be held during the full-scale program to address the crisis. Guarantees from the authorities also apply to opponents of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and citizens who left the country illegally.
In addition, members are abroad Syrian opposition invited to the negotiating table.
—-
however
foreign dolls oppositioneers together can not agree
Syrian opposition again failed to agree on the formation of a transitional government
it is a political cowardice !

probably more convenient for them to be abroad and get the cost of blood in the Qatari riyals or U.S. dollars!

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Frussian.rt.com%2FMiddle_East%2F3234

January 25th, 2013, 2:56 pm

 

revenire said:

“Unlike the pathetic regime cultists, We truly have pride and dignity and will not save Syrian lives at the expense of oppressing the Palestinians.”

Is that why the FSA terrorists attacked Yarmouk?

January 25th, 2013, 2:56 pm

 

AIG said:

SYRIALOVER,

I was only trying to make the point that the worst outcome without Assad is better than Assad. The MB are not my cup of tea either, but of course I have no say in the matter whatsoever. The Syrian people will decide.

January 25th, 2013, 2:56 pm

 

Tara said:

AIG

I am absolutely willing to answer as direct as direct can be. No I do not support Hamas’ bombing of civilians. I support though the relight of the Palestinians to resist. What about you? Do you support Israel oppression of the Palestinians?

I may elaborate further after working hours.

January 25th, 2013, 2:58 pm

 

Syrialover said:

#74 AIG

If the MB trample their way onto power in Syria on the backs of others it will be by default in the confusion – it will not be because the Syrian people decide.

I agree 500% with the statement that anything is better than Assad, but Assad is dead at the roots with branches falling off and no future.

With an eye on the future, the MB need to be loudly discounted and discredited now, before it’s too late. They are just one more tragic parasitic problem for Syrians.

January 25th, 2013, 3:07 pm

 

zoo said:

The civilians who until now were used as human shield flee to Jordan.
Syrian forces escalate offensive in Homs

By BARBARA SURK | Associated Press –
http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-forces-escalate-offensive-homs-184013373.html

Over 30,000 people arrived in Zaatari in January — 6,000 in the past two days alone, the U.N. said.


In Lebanon, the leader of the Syria-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said Friday in a speech that those who dream about “dramatic changes” taking place in Syria should let go of their fantasies.

“Particularly those who were expecting the fall of Damascus,” he told supporters, adding that military, political and international developments point to the futility of such dreams.

January 25th, 2013, 3:12 pm

 

revenire said:

Are you certain “the worst outcome without Assad is better than Assad”?

Several million dead is better?

January 25th, 2013, 3:14 pm

 

zoo said:

#71 Syrialover

You are making yourself new enemies by touching the sacro-saint cult of the Moslem Brotherhood

Get ready for violent and vulgar assault from the twin jihadists.

January 25th, 2013, 3:18 pm

 

Syrialover said:

CITIZEN

Since you seem to be entwined with them, could you please explain for us the upside for Russians in supporting the Syrian regime?

By all accounts they have no real influence over Bashar Assad but are payng heavily in reputation and resources.

They also look like morons for swallowing Bashar Assad’s claims that he could win.

Putin has simply handed his growing number of opponents back home another nice stick to later beat him with. How is Syria worth it for him?

January 25th, 2013, 3:23 pm

 

zoo said:

#63. Observer

Sorry, you try desperately to draw my attention to you posts by writing my nickname in uppercase. Don’t waste you time, I have been skipping your posts. They are far too hysterical.

January 25th, 2013, 3:25 pm

 

Tara said:

Syrialover,

Let’s make things a bit clearer.

If you to choose Assad or the MB, who would you choose?

January 25th, 2013, 3:26 pm

 

Syrialover said:

# 79. ZOO

As expected, you are doing an MB by trying to climb aboard and get a free ride with what I say.

I have said before that MB and other issues need to be more freely debated on SyriaComment (as they are on other Syrian forums), and I refuse to be inhibited by you and the rest of the pro-Assad team who are disrupting this forum.

January 25th, 2013, 3:29 pm

 

AIG said:

Tara,

What does it mean that you support the right of the Palestinians to resist? What kind of violence by Palestinians do you approve of?

I support a two state solution but would want to make sure that the result is a democratic and stable Palestinian state and not a civil war or some Islamic state.

January 25th, 2013, 3:31 pm

 

revenire said:

Lover please calm yourself, the MB is a tool of the West, just like all the apes dying at “tools”. Obama planned to get all the terrorists to congregate in Syria and then have the SAA kill them all. It is called a “twofer” in some parts of the world.

January 25th, 2013, 3:32 pm

 

revenire said:

Terrorist lovers on Josh’s blog say “no price is too high” to be rid of Assad, even millions of Syrians dead. It would all be worth it to them.

January 25th, 2013, 3:33 pm

 

zoo said:

Majie

Now we have Obama ,comes from Muslem family, and John Kerry who is convinced with what Quraan says, America is changing

Europe is getting worse:

74% of the people polled by Ipsos think that Islam is an “intolerant” religion, incompatible with the values of French society. An even more radical figure, 8 out of 10 French people think that the Muslim religion seeks “to impose its way of life on others”.

Now where could they have gotten that idea?

Fewer than one in four British voters believes Islam is compatible with the British way of life, the UK’s first Muslim woman Cabinet Minister reveals today. The Minister for Faith and Communities reveals stark polling conducted by YouGov which found that just 24 per cent of voters think Islam is compatible with being British, while more than half disagree. Only 23 per cent say Islam is not a threat to Western civilisation.

They’re ahead of America in this, but Americans haven’t had to live with Islamic Imperialism moving into high gear

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/74-of-french-and-76-of-brits-think-islam-is-not-compatible-with-their-way-of-life/

January 25th, 2013, 3:34 pm

 

revenire said:

This site shows why the “Syrian opposition” will never be a threat to Assad and the Syrian government:

1.) They are all foreigners.

2.) They argue among each other.

Cheers!

January 25th, 2013, 3:35 pm

 

revenire said:

Russia gives its full backing to President Assad.

MOSCOW, (SANA)- The Kremlin announced that the political program proposed by President Bashar al-Assad could be a good basis for solving the crisis in Syria.

“We sincerely believe the plan that was suggested by President Assad is a kind of continuation of the Geneva talks and could constitute a very good basis for further attempts of a settlement of the problem,” Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in an interview with the American National Interest newspaper published on Friday.

Peskov stressed that the question to be asked now is “what we are all prepared to do in order to solve the Syrian crisis. Because there are lots of countries giving different kinds of support to rebels, to opposition, that definitely do not support a viable or sustainable solution to the Syrian crisis.”

“To the contrary,” the Russian President’ Press Secretary added, “[this support] leads to further degradation of the situation there in Syria.”

He affirmed that Russia supports the idea that “the future of Syria is subject to decisions taken by all sides of the Syrian conflict-President Assad, his government, the Syrian people, including those who are being named as opposition.”

“Those are the only ones who should make a decision,” he added, rejecting the idea of having the decision about Syria’s future taken anywhere else.

The Russian official reiterated that the decision about the future of Syria “cannot be taken somewhere abroad, cannot be taken in the other capitals,” stressing that “this kind of decision cannot be viable.”

Margelog: Russia’s Stance on Syria Is Firm

In a relevant context, Mikhail Margelov, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Russian State Duma, stressed that the increased support to the Syrian opposition by some countries further complicates the efforts to find a solution in Syria.

Margelov reiterated in a statement his country’s firm stance on seeking to consolidate regional stability based on the international law, including the Syrian issue.

“Russia’s stance towards the crisis in Syria has remained firm since the beginning as it stresses on internal reforms and dialogue among all the parties,” the Russian official said.

He noted that the latest events related to “the increased external support for the Syrian opposition adds to the difficulty of reaching a compromise in Syria.”

Margelov pointed out that the disharmony in the stances towards the crisis in Syria occupies a notable place among the contradictions between Russia, Europe and the US.

He warned that the events in Syria could turn out to cause a tragedy in the region because of the important geopolitical position Syria enjoys in the region.

H. Said

January 25th, 2013, 3:38 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrialover

“I refuse to be inhibited by you”

I am not inhibiting you, in the contrary I encourage you to say what to think about the MB without fearing the attacks coming the twin jihadists.

By the way all Bashar secular regime supporters fully agree with you about the MB. You don’t need to convince them.

January 25th, 2013, 3:38 pm

 

Syrialover said:

# REVENIRE

And in your childish playbook no price is too high to see Assad still hanging on without a future.

Syria means nothing to him and his Iranian “advisers” who have decided it may as well be destroyed if he can’t keep his delusionary and illegitimate grip on power.

January 25th, 2013, 3:40 pm

 

revenire said:

Nasrallah: Those Living in the Delusion that the Syrian State Will Fall Must Remove This Idea from Their Heads

BEIRUT, (SANA) – Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said that those who are still living in the delusion that the Syrian state will fall must remove this idea from their heads.

In a speech on Friday on occasion of the anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Mohammad, Nasrallah said that field data and political, regional and international information indicate that the situation in Syria has reached a point at which the dreams of certain sides were unfulfilled.

Nasrallah called for resolving all issues in the region through dialogue, stressing that it makes no sense for someone to destroy their own country for the sake of rights or reforms, stressing that conflicts and crises in the region are all linked to power, control and money, and not linked to religion as the west and some Arab sides are attempting to claim.

H. Sabbagh

January 25th, 2013, 3:42 pm

 

AIG said:

If Islam is such a problem, why did Assad make the ayatollahs his best buddies? The regime apologists really need to make up their mind if they like Islam or not.

I am sure that Assad is such a nice person that he would never let millions of Syrians die. At some point he will say that so many dead are not worth it and leave Syria. And if not, who is willing to burn Syria to spite the other? The regime of course. As they write on walls of villages they abuse: “Assad or we burn the country”.

But what can be expected, the Assad apologists cannot write a paragraph with contradicting themselves twice.

January 25th, 2013, 3:42 pm

 

revenire said:

Lover we are not fearing the 2014 elections. I am confident Dr. Assad will win over 60% of the vote.

Iran is a great friend of Syria. They’ve resupplied all downed MIGs, attack helicopters and sent our boys new drones. We love Iran and Iranians.

January 25th, 2013, 3:44 pm

 

zoo said:

I am curious to know which “countries supporting them” would want to be part of yet another humiliating fiasco? Turkey, Qatar, KSA, UK…?

Paris, France, 28 January 2013

The leaders of Syria’s main opposition National Coalition will meet in Paris on January 28 along with representatives of countries supporting them, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says.

Speaking on Europe 1 radio on Sunday, Fabius provided no other details of the meeting

January 25th, 2013, 3:46 pm

 

Syrialover said:

#90

ZOO #90

Meaningless comment.

Assad regime supporters oppose everyone and everything who is not Bashar Assad. So it means nothing that they do not care for the MB.

And the claim that the regime is “secular” is hollow semantics, and has been intelligently dismissed by every non-regime source on the planet.

You may as well get off my train, there’s not even standing room or outside-hanging-from-the-roof opportunities for you.

January 25th, 2013, 3:52 pm

 

Syrialover said:

#82 TARA,

That question is too imaginery and unrealistic.

The choice between Assad and the MB would never arise if Assad was not a dead man walking. Also, without the Assad regime’s actions over the years the MB would never have emerged as an issue.

To me, the MB are a symptom and viral side effect of what the regime has created, not an alternative.

January 25th, 2013, 4:02 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo
I have a lot of respect to Syrialover, you will never hear a bad word from me about him, you are not worthy of the dirt under his shoe, Syrialover believes in freedom and dignity for Syrians, and he knows that Bashar ,your God, is criminal and evil

January 25th, 2013, 4:03 pm

 

zoo said:

Lavrov is right, the opposition suffers of a manic obsession about removing Bashar al Assad, even if his removal will provoke hundred of thousands of death.

Yes, if he stays at least until 2014, would they commit mass suicide out of humiliation?

January 25th, 2013, 4:04 pm

 

zoo said:

#98 Majie

..and he knows and says that your friends the Moslem Brotherhood are crap and evil.

January 25th, 2013, 4:05 pm

 

zoo said:

#97 Syrialover

Thanks for qualifying the MB as a virus, they are…
and the Salafists are a cancer.

January 25th, 2013, 4:08 pm

 

Syrialover said:

CITIZEN

What is taking you so long to get a response to my question in #80 cut and pasted here?

Is it that there isn’t anything you can cut and paste that explains what benefit Russia could possibly be getting now from supporting the Assad regime?

That’s what I have to assume from your silence.

I note REVENIRE in #89 tried to rush to your assistance by dumping a load of unreadable irrelevant Russian propaganda.

But REVENIRE’S “support” is just junk distractionism, not debate or an answer.

January 25th, 2013, 4:14 pm

 

Sami said:

To say that supporters of Bashar are secular is not only a hysterical lie, but a sad attempt at spinning the truth….

Nothing about Assadism is secular, it reeks of misguided fanaticism that causes its followers to commit some of the most heinous crimes afflicted upon Syrians and Syria. Nothing has torn Syrians apart as much as the sick demented cultism known as Assadism, nothing has brought as much death and carnage as Souria Al-Assad.

Btw Mr. Secualr Bashar lover care to inform me what is so secular in having a provision that denies Christians the opportunity to become president of the republic? Or the fact supporters like you repeatedly chant “Allah Souria Bashar 2ouw Bas”? Or the support the Assad illegitimate regime receives from Hizbollah, Sadrists, and Iran?

If you say you reject extremism why then continue to support and receive help from extremists?
_____

How misguided is the notion of Souria Al-Assad, don’t they know Syria was there before them and will be there after them? The dirt I wiped of my shoe the last time I was in Damascus is older than all the Assad’s and their supporters combined!

Syria’s real secularist leaders are sadly either dead from torture, or wishing death because of it, all done by the hands of Souria Al-Assad!

January 25th, 2013, 4:17 pm

 

Syrialover said:

# 98. MAJEDKHALDOUN

Thank you.

I am proud to be respected by you who I in turn have so much respect for.

We are on the same train, the same journey.

January 25th, 2013, 4:23 pm

 

AIG said:

“Yes, if he stays at least until 2014, would they commit mass suicide out of humiliation?”

Did Assad commit suicide out of humiliation when the Arab Spring came to Syria one month after Assad said it will never come?

Did Assad commit suicide out of humiliation when he stopped being able to feed his people?

Did Assad commit suicide out of humiliation when so many Syrians defected from his army?

Did Assad commit suicide out of humiliation when he finally admitted that sanctions hurt after saying for years that they didn’t?

Did Assad commit suicide out of humiliation when his “genius” foreign policy wrecked Syria?

I got about 100 more of these questions.
But more importantly, will Zoo commit suicide out of humiliation when Assad finally falls?

January 25th, 2013, 4:24 pm

 

Tara said:

Syrialover,

Sorry to press the issue. Your answer is ambiguous enough to allow the supporters of the boy president taking advantage of.

And honestly…it may boil down to it.

January 25th, 2013, 4:25 pm

 

annie said:

link here : http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8b78e9a34ff7443ec1e8c62c6&id=358291b19d&e=2a2d671819

Dear Deeply Readers,

This week we posted Karen Leigh’s exceptional reporting from the ground on the Battle for Latakia, a two-part series. Specifically, she chronicled how a province long seen as an Assad stronghold is now fraying at the edges, rebel commanders planning for a showdown with the Alawites still holding Latakia city. A much-feared rise in sectarian violence, and other potential reprisals in Syria’s future, make Latakia a key piece to watch.

Our Mohammed Sergie posted his weekly column on Syria’s Social Media Buzz, while we analyzed how Kurds are now caught between Islamist groups and the PKK.

A group of US college students inspired by our Google Hangouts launched an initiative called Syria Deeply on Campus, initially focused on a campaign to support UNHCR in the Zaatri refugee camp.

As always, here’s our roundup of the week in review:

Monday: Syrian Opposition Postpones Formation of Transitional Government; Patriot Missiles Reach Turkey

Tuesday: Fighting Rages as Russians Leave Syria; Spike in Syrians Fleeing to Jordan

Wednesday: Rebels Accused of Attack on Shiite Religious Site; 20,000 Palestinians Flee to Lebanon

Thursday: Syria Calls ‘Million Man Prayers’ on Friday; 650,000 Have Fled Syria, Says UN

Friday: Syria Sends Forces to Sunni Areas of Homs ; New Refugee Camp to Open in Jordan as Numbers Rise

January 25th, 2013, 4:34 pm

 

Syrialover said:

SAMI #103 (who I still think of as Son of Damascus, your former name here)

I have just been reading a recent interview with the courageous Yassin Al Haj Saleh, who is still amazingly surviving in Damascus.

I found myself exclaiming yes, yes as I read it.

He gives some useful insights into the Syrian people’s feelings about the Assad regime and Islamic extremists, what Russia’s situation is and so on.

He’s always great to hear. Here’s a random sample from this interview:

“This country was politically drained for decades. The regime used to cut the heads of all political figures, respected notables, and independent authorities of the social scene, as well as the cultural, economic and religious leaders, even in sports.

“The only political figures this country has produced over half a century of Baathist rule are subjects, flunkeys and dwarfs.”

In case you missed it:

http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2012/12/interview-yassin-al-haj-saleh/

January 25th, 2013, 4:37 pm

 

Syrialover said:

# 106. TARA

You are being inhibited by what by the Assadists here might think and say. It’s empty and insincere noise.

MB and Assad are not an alternative, they are from the same side of the river. I will oppose them as strongly as I oppose Assad as like him they do not care about the Syrian people and are duplicitious, selfish and unqualified and incompetent to run anything. And they happen to be sly buddies with Iran.

It does not boil down to Aassad or the MB. Assad is not a contender, he a dead man walking to his grave. Which is why the MB have scrambled into action without being part of the revolution.

It comes down to the MB or others.

January 25th, 2013, 4:48 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Tara
You are advocate of freedom and democracy, in a democratic free election how much do you think the MB will win?
This will be the answer to you.

January 25th, 2013, 4:48 pm

 

Tara said:

Majed,

Less than 5 percent. I am judging the Damascene vote. They will not win free election but somehow they may get to power with deception.

My position if it boils down to Batta or the MB, I will choose the MB.

January 25th, 2013, 4:56 pm

 

revenire said:

I am going out on a limb here and predict Dr. Assad will be reelected in 2014 with over 70% of the vote (I am going up from my 60% based on an informal poll with Syrians from North to South and East to West).

His opponents are jackals and hyenas. Syrians will not vote for Western puppets funded by the corrupt Gulf dictatorships.

January 25th, 2013, 5:01 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Election results

Hang: 30%
Impale: 70%

For the fool Dr. Athad and all of his ticket

January 25th, 2013, 5:12 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

I am enjoying the discussion between AIG and the anti-Assad participants here.

I think these past 2 years we are learning how important it is to keep lethal wespons away from dictators, fanatics, and jihadists. How important freedom is. How important free elections are.

I think we have much more in common than you think. As Ehud Barak quietly referred to this week, Syria is a stark reminder to all people, that no one will lift a finger to help a distant foreigner in their time of need. Not even our hypocritical, semi-Muslim president.

January 25th, 2013, 5:13 pm

 

AIG said:

Wherever Assad finds himself, be it Damascus, Caracas, Latakia or hell, and whatever post he runs for, be it president, house monitor or torture supervisor, he will be re-elected with 99.8% of the vote. That is the only style he knows.

January 25th, 2013, 5:18 pm

 

Syrialover said:

TARA #111

There is a powerful body of discussion out there by serious anti-regimists who are equally opposed to the MB.

The choice between Assad and the MB is not seen as an authentic issue. The real issue is the MB versus others in post-Assad Syria. And what the parasitic MB are up to now as they prepare for the post-Assad situation.

This debate has been largely (and eerily) absent from SyriaComment. I can post some good references if you want to read more.

January 25th, 2013, 5:27 pm

 

zoo said:

#108 SL

The only political figures this country has produced over half a century of Baathist rule are subjects, flunkeys and dwarfs.

I fully agree with that too, TLass, Hijab, Ghaliun etc…

So what’s the solution?
A country lead by religious people until a new class of serious politicians emerge?

I guess that’s what he and others on this blog wish for and it happens that the only futur religious leaders available are the MB.
Al Khatib is their first candidate.

January 25th, 2013, 5:29 pm

 

Syrialover said:

REVENIRE #112 said:

“I am going out on a limb here predict Dr. Assad will be reelected in 2014”

A dead limb on a dying tree. It’s going to crack and break off bringing you down to earth with a crash. No more games to play.

January 25th, 2013, 5:31 pm

 

zoo said:

Akbar palace

words of wisdom.Syrians have to find a solution among themselves and stop begging for help, it won’t come.

January 25th, 2013, 5:36 pm

 

Syrialover said:

#117 ZOO

You’re out of touch and just saying anythig to fill space.

The MB are playing games to prevent Khatiib forming a transitional representative government body.

January 25th, 2013, 5:41 pm

 

zoo said:

Majie

Don’t you feel a bit isolated in your adoration for the MB and Al Nusra that some posters consider to be viruses and opportunistic and who they say won’t get 5% of the Syrian votes.

Rush to your twin jihadist for comfort..

January 25th, 2013, 5:42 pm

 

zoo said:

#120 SL

Ah! but al Khatib is an MB sympathizer, a friend of HBJ and very close to Erdogan. Is he hypocritical and playing a double game himself? He flew to Qatar in the middle of the ‘transition governement election’ meeting to get some 20M dollars from HBJ, didn’t he?

Are they are many brands of this virus?

January 25th, 2013, 5:45 pm

 

Syrialover said:

An intriguing filter seems to be in place on SyriaComment.

I have been trying for several days to post an interesting item on Islam’s compatability with secular rule of law.

Changing the words doesn’t make any difference. It simply refuses to post.

I am going to keep trying.

Anyone else finding similar things happening?

January 25th, 2013, 5:50 pm

 

Citizen said:

SYRIALOVER
Imagine that the Russian Federation and China wants to play a game (regime change) in various regions of the world as USA where the oil, minerals, gas etc…! Would it be a good international practice? For Russia Syria is a rear garden, a true friend and a geopolitically important country in the Middle East!
Russia does not protect an individual Bashar personally! Russia protects sovereignty of entire government of a sovereign state.
Hyperbole of opposition and the lack of diplomatic experience that caused the Syrian tragedy
I would like to add that any solution can be obtained in the future must be routed through Moscow and therefore I do not understand how the opposition planning to achieve its objectives with lack of understanding of current international relations
finaly I would advise not to personifying State entities by the names of the presidents !

January 25th, 2013, 5:50 pm

 

Syrialover said:

# 122 ZOO

No use trying to appear an authority on Moaz al-Khatib, you write like you know nothing. Better keep quiet on the subject. You have no informed sources and it shows.

January 25th, 2013, 5:53 pm

 

zoo said:

In Egypt, two years after the ‘facebook twitter’ coup against Mobarak, the ugly MB masks are falling and Egypt is starting a new wave of upheaval to get rid of them.

Angry protests, clashes on Egypt anniversary

http://news.yahoo.com/angry-protests-clashes-egypt-anniversary-221221538.html

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptians delivered an angry backlash against President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood on Friday, marking the second anniversary of the start of the country’s revolution with tens of thousands filling major squares and streets around the country to call for a new regime change.

Two years to the day that protesters first rose up against now-toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, Egypt is entrenched in the new phase of its upheaval — the struggle between ruling Islamists and their opponents, played out on the backdrop of a worsening economy.

January 25th, 2013, 5:54 pm

 

zoo said:

#125 SL

Oh!.. you have inside information and you are an expert on Al Khatib … Why don’t you share them with us?

Now you are saying that the MB is making life difficult for Al Khatib so he is not able to announce a ‘transition government’

Will he announce the government on the 28th in Paris or his resignation or make promises for ‘in 10 days’.
I think he might be replaced by Sabra, seen as anti-Nusra but you only can confirm since you have your ‘sources’.

January 25th, 2013, 6:01 pm

 

revenire said:

It only happens to you. It is called a terrorism filter.

“123. SYRIALOVER said:
An intriguing filter seems to be in place on SyriaComment.
I have been trying for several days to post an interesting item on Islam’s compatability with secular rule of law.
Changing the words doesn’t make any difference. It simply refuses to post.
I am going to keep trying.
Anyone else finding similar things happening?”

January 25th, 2013, 6:02 pm

 

Citizen said:

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad won’t fall soon, Jordan’s king says
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/25/world/meast/syria-unrest/

FSA bombs hospital in Salamiyah
The video was posted on YouTube but taken down immediately
http://whatreallyhappened.com/ru/content/fsa-bombs-hospital-salamiyah

FSA killers place car bomb in front of a hospital causing mayhem and death of patients. According to the latest data, the number of people killed in a suicide bombing in the town of Salamiyah, Hama province has increased to 30 people. The rebels blew up a car in which there were 1,000 kilograms of explosives. Local residents have expressed their outrage about the monstrous act and are ready to resist the invasion of the bandits.

January 25th, 2013, 6:05 pm

 

zoo said:

#123 SL

Sometimes the internet link is banned, try to omit it.
Don’t use s.u.l.tan or c.a.liphate, they are banned

January 25th, 2013, 6:05 pm

 

Citizen said:

France says frustrated as efforts fail to topple Assad
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/01/25/285425/france-says-things-not-moving-in-syria/
France says the developments in Syria have been unfolding against what Paris had hoped for, namely the fall of President Bashar al-Assad.

January 25th, 2013, 6:09 pm

 

Syrialover said:

# 124. CITIZEN

Well, thank you for answering. But you are only giving us the Putin line. And the Syrian-Russian alliance does come down to ego-maintenance and paranoia by both Putin and Assad, not their countries’ citizenry.

Any imagined geopolitical benefit for Russia evaporated very fast when it was clear Assad was an international pariah.

Syria has no resources, pipelines or geographical advantages for Russia compared with what Russia needs from nations lined up against Assad (eg Turkey).

But dictator Putin is driven by an international inferiority complex against the west, and paranoid fears that outside countries could also take him on over things like Chechnya and Georgia where he carried out Assad-like mass destruction.

Watch for post-Putin Russia asking what the hell Putin was doing getting caught up in the Syrian issue.

January 25th, 2013, 6:10 pm

 

revenire said:

There is so much more to Russia’s stance than your ridiculous reasons Syrialover but who cares? Yeah Putin is in love with Batta and that is why he ships him weapons and cash. There you go. Now you can sleep easy.

January 25th, 2013, 6:14 pm

 

Citizen said:

SYRIALOVER
I do not find the value for your comment!He full of hatred and radical personalization and not objective! return to a psychiatrist!

January 25th, 2013, 6:21 pm

 

Citizen said:

This film tells the story of the birth of Wahhabism from start of the movement to the present day, and where this is leading. So now we talk about the dwarf with a strange attitude and not less dumb reputation. We are talking about Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and more specifically, about Wahhabi regimes entrenched there about barrels of oil and recently completely clouded reason, apparently, from harmful fumes burdened green scrap paper with a portrait of Benjamin Franklin …
http://youtu.be/VKO1a7fRBT0?t=1m16s

January 25th, 2013, 6:26 pm

 

Visitor said:

What the heck?

Even when it comes to concluding marriage, Nusra commanders are more efficient than any body else,

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jan-25/203682-syria-online-lovebirds-in-jihadist-led-wedding.ashx#axzz2J25nKMZ3

January 25th, 2013, 6:29 pm

 

Tara said:

AIG@84

I support Palestinians bearing arms and defending themselves until a just peace is achieved.

Direct enough?

January 25th, 2013, 6:30 pm

 

Syrian said:

Daraya home of the braves, here is one of the best videos of destroying a Russian tank
http://youtu.be/EhI3p7RnDNk
This vedio will make the Russin and thier tanks the laughing stock in the arms market

January 25th, 2013, 6:38 pm

 

Visitor said:

“Visitor@ 136

Thanks for the link. Very romantic!

Btw, look at what she is wearing.

SO!!!

—————————–

Syrian 138,

O’ my God!!

What happened to those thugs inside the tank???

January 25th, 2013, 6:41 pm

 

Syrian said:

Visitor
Well done Barbequed,by now they are in the company of Hafez in the lowest part of Hell

January 25th, 2013, 6:54 pm

 

ghufran said:

Syrian rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad should be given anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to “level the playing field” in their war and ensure that “extremist” groups do not dominate the opposition, a senior member of the Saudi Arabian royal family has urged.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former chief of Saudi intelligence and the brother of the kingdom’s current foreign minister, said he was no longer in government and did not need to be diplomatic, but “assumed” weapons were being sent to the rebels. He said it would be a “terrible mistake” if they were not.
(compare this Saudi garbage to the $ 210 million given to refugees by the US, who is also opposed to Assad, and match that to the pathetic Russian, Chinese and French humanitarian aid given so far to more than 600,000 external refugees and over 2 million internal refugees, we can disagree on many things but not on the issue of helping refugees, each one of us should help)
The other issue, is how to preserve Syria as a multi cultural oasis, some of you are still in denial,or just lying, the truth is that Syria will lose its character and diversity if islamist thugs are not stopped:
أكدت رئيسة دير مار يعقوب المقطّع بالقلمون بريف دمشق الأم أغنيس مريم الصليب أن “المسيحيين في رأس العين يتعرضون لتهجير مباشر”، لافتة إلى أن “مسلحين دخلوا على أهالي المنطقة خلال الليل وأعطوهم مدة قصيرة لترك البيوت، التي تمت مصادرتها لاحقة”.
ولفتت في حديث إذاعي إلى أن “عددا من مطارنة الحسكة رفعوا نداء عالميا مرتين لتحييد الحسكة عن الصراع الدائر في سوريا والتي فيها مهجرون من كل المناطق”، مشيرة إلى أنه “يكثر في هذه المنطقة الخطف مع أو بدون فدية، كما سجلت حالة إغتصاب جماعي أيضا”.
ورأت أن “ما يحصل في سوريا نزيف لكل الشعوب المشرقية”، قائلا: “اللون الواحد في الشرق يجعله صحراء ونحن نريده أن يكون ملتقى وليس صحراء”.

January 25th, 2013, 6:59 pm

 

Citizen said:

The newspaper “The Daily Telegraph” published an article, which provides evidence to support the facts of sexual child molestation Syrian refugee women and violence against women.
According to the accounts of some Ziad Hamad, is the head company of volunteers, which was tasked with Syrian refugees in Jordan, young women, girls and girls under the age of 14 years be forced to “marry” for men who come from the region and abroad.
According to him, his organization called “Kitab-Sunnah” to assist in concluding the so-called “temporary marriages” that last from a few weeks to a few hours, hundreds of girls. Men from the Gulf countries, mainly from Saudi Arabia, the hopelessness of the situation and use the extreme poverty of those who fled from Syria, concluding the marriage of underage girls. For agreeing to such a marriage, as well as for having sex with a girl, they offer the bride’s parents pay for financial aid and a rented apartment in Jordan, that the situation of refugees is an inaccessible luxury.
Ziad Hamad said that sometimes half-baked ‘husbands’ promise to the girls that this will be a temporary marriage for their move to Saudi Arabia, but then cheat and throw them, often pregnant women to their fate. Once the marriage is dissolved, ‘husbands’ go home and disappear, changing phone numbers.
According to his testimony, the practice is common in refugee camps in Jordan and, as he says, “perfectly legal”, not finding in it nothing wrong. He also confirmed that the men from across the Middle East, as well as from other countries, including France and Britain, are flocking to the camps in order to find there a “temporary wife”.
The newspaper notes that violence against women has become a distinguishing feature of the Syrian war, the scope of which is confirmed in a recent report, “International Rescue Committee” (The International Rescue Committee, IRC).
In addition, the publication provides evidence of camp guards “Al-Zatar” located in Jordan, that to them every day in large numbers are turning men coming not only from all over the country, but also from the Persian Gulf, with the request to pass to the camp to find out there, “a pretty girl for marriage.”
A Wisam, a citizen of Jordan, told reporters that he personally knows who sells Syrian girls, pointing to the presence in the camp of a woman who has built a business on pimping. According to him, the cost of one hour with a young woman – 50 Jordanian dinars, and for the innocent girl sensualists unfasten it for 100.

January 25th, 2013, 7:01 pm

 

revenire said:

Fun one! Headless horseman!

Syria – RPG failure = Dead FSA rat 25/01
RPG mortal failure in FSA terrorists´s face.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=037_1359110266

To Hell!

January 25th, 2013, 7:03 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

Assad requests mass prayers for shabeeha.

January 25th, 2013, 7:04 pm

 

revenire said:

Where are all the media stories about the fall of Damascus and the fall of Aleppo? That stuff has dried up hasn’t it? We hardly see a word on the world’s press about it any longer.

This mean Assad is winning and winning BIG.

Some are even saying Aleppo is almost rat free but I think that is optimistic but we’re headed in the right direction.

Good work boys.

January 25th, 2013, 7:06 pm

 

revenire said:

Or how about the big name defections? We hardly hear a word about one anymore? We used to hear that 100 generals were defecting a week. If they had the Syrian army would have no generals left. What happened? I guess all these stories look stupid as time drags on and the rats control nothing in Syria.

January 25th, 2013, 7:14 pm

 

Citizen said:

Well done Barbequed !!!!!
http://youtu.be/EhI3p7RnDNk
Illustrated once again play! A civilian who is lying near the tank bomb intended for filming, after he completed a fire got stupid and went off near the building! Absurdity!

January 25th, 2013, 7:14 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

is حافر undead, yet?
is باسل , undead, yet?
is أنيسه back from dubai, yet?
did you visit Ceaușescu’s grave today?
did you pray to Kim Jung Un today?

January 25th, 2013, 7:20 pm

 

Tara said:

Someone asked if regime supporters would commit suicide when Batta falls. Does it really matter? They are dead already..

January 25th, 2013, 7:40 pm

 

revenire said:

Tara Assad will never fall. The more apt question is will you terrorist supporters still be here in one year with your fake victories for your fake revolution?

January 25th, 2013, 7:42 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Zoo,

Please don’t agree with me. I’ve seen your posts and you are vile. Syrians WILL rely on themselves. And they will wipe the Baathist filth off their backs. Then, when Bashar makes his new residence in Hell, he can have his first real election. Schmuck!

Tara,

All people, not just Palestinians are permitted to bear arms and defend themselves. It’s a simple rule and a simple stalemate. IMHO, you are no longer defending yourself if you have a better option.

January 25th, 2013, 7:48 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Russian Mafia, once more thriving on misery

موسكو – رائد جبر
الثلاثاء ١٥ يناير ٢٠١٣
لم يكن علاء يعرف أنه سيضيّع «تحويشة» العمر، إضافة إلى ثمن بيته في مخيم اليرموك الذي باعه على عجل عندما لاحت أمامه فرصة للهروب من جحيم الحرب الدائرة في سورية إلى أوروبا.

أن تغدو «لاجئاً» في بلد أوروبي «محترم» مثل السويد، خير من «المرمطة» في مخيمات تركيا أو لبنان أو الأردن الذي لجأ إليه الأسوأ حظاً.

بهذا المنطق يقنع أصحاب «بزنس اللجوء» الذي ازدهر بقوة في سورية، من كان حظه أفضل قليلاً من غيره، فقط لأنه ما زال قادراً على تدبير مبلغ من المال إما ببيع ما تبقى له أو عبر الاستدانة من أقاربه ومعارفه.

لكن الطريق من سورية إلى أوروبا طويل جداً ومليء بالعقبات بعدما أغلقت غالبية سفارات بلدان العالم أبوابها أمام حملة الجوازات السورية، مع مزيد من التشدد حيال الوثائق الممنوحة للفلسطينيين المقيمين في هذا البلد.

وهذا وفّر مجالات واسعة لعصابات ظهرت فجأة، في كل مكان تقريباً، تخصصت في «تسهيل» عمليات الهجرة. وعادة يكون العرض المقدم بسيطاً جداً، إذ يحصل «المهاجر» على وثائق مزورة ويقال له: ما عليك إلا أن تعبر بها الحدود من بلد مجاور لأوروبا ثم تسلم نفسك للأجهزة الأمنية وتطلب اللجوء.

ومثلما كانت روسيا البلد الأفضل للعبور إلى «الجنة»، في مطلع تسعينات القرن الماضي بالنسبة إلى العراقيين، عادت «مافيات» الهجرة لتنشط فيها، مركزة نشاطها هذه المرة على السوريين والفلسطينيين.
عشرات العائلات مع الأطفال، وألوف الشبان باتوا يصلون إلى المطارات الروسية من مناطق مختلفة ليقوموا بسلسلة محاولات فاشلة لاختراق الحدود مع أوروبا، ثم يكتشفون بعدما يضيّعوا كل ما حملوا، أنهم تعرضوا لعملية نصب محكمة.

والأمثلة كثيرة، ومنها أن طرفاً في موسكو نشط خلال الفترة الأخيرة في تقديم عرض مفاده أن على الراغب أن «يدبر فقط أمر وصوله» إلى أي مطار روسي و «في غضون أيام ثلاثة سيتم إدخاله إلى فنلندا في مقابل 500 دولار». ولاقى هذا العرض قبولاً عند كثيرين لرخص ثمنه نسبياً، وقال ناشط تابع الملف لـ «الحياة»، إن عائلات بأكملها استجابت له.

وعودة إلى علاء الذي فرّ بداية إلى لبنان مع عائلته، فهو اضطر لدفع مبلغ يزيد عن 1500 يورو لكل شخص من أجل الحصول على التأشيرات الروسية التي تبيعها عادة مكاتب السياحة بحوالى 400 دولار.
و «اشترى» وثائق تثبت إقامته في بلد أوروبي بكلفة «2500 يورو» لكل شخص أيضاً. وكان عليه فقط أن يركب الطائرة أو القطار وينطلق نحو عالم جديد.

لكن الحدود التي كان يجب أن تفتحها «الوثائق» ظلت مغلقة، على رغم أنه قضى ليلة وصلت درجات الحرارة فيها إلى 17 تحت الصفر على حدود لاتفيا. وعاد بعد المحاولة الثانية مع فنلندا وبعدما قضى شهراً مكلفاً جداً في موسكو، يحسب خسائره وخياره الوحيد أن يعود من حيث أتى.

والقصة ذاتها تكررت مع كثيرين، لكن الخسائر لم تكن دائماً تقتصر على النفقات المهدورة، فواحدة من الحالات استدعت تدخل السفارة الفلسطينية لدى موسكو عندما اعتقل الأمن الروسي أفراد عائلة كاملة حاولوا المرور بوثائق مزورة، وتم اعتقالهم وتحويلهم لمحاكمة قد تسفر عن عقوبة بالسجن.

وقال لـ «الحياة» سفير فلسطين فائد مصطفى إن مؤشرات عدة تشير إلى تزايد عدد اللاجئين الذين يصلون من سورية إلى روسيا وبينهم فلسطينيون، وأكد أن سفارته تحاول تقديم المساعدات القانونية اللازمة إليهم.

المشكلة أن المتاعب لا تواجه من اختار الطريق الصعب عبر شراء وثائق مزورة، أو عبر أخطار مخالفة القوانين، بل تنسحب حتى على من يحاول اتباع سبل قانونية ومثال ذلك حالات سعت إلى الحصول على وضع لاجئ في روسيا ذاتها، لكن محاولاتها قوبلت برفض السلطات المعنية، التي منحتها مهلة شهر واحد لمغادرة أراضي روسيا على رغم علمها أن الخيارات أمامها شبه معدومة، ما يعتبر كما قال ناشط قانوني «مخالفة لأبسط القوانين الدولية إذ لا يرغب أحد باستقبالها والبديل الوحيد أمامها هو المغامرة بالعودة إلى ساحة حرب».

January 25th, 2013, 7:51 pm

 

Tara said:

Akbar Palace,

Where is Amir?

January 25th, 2013, 7:56 pm

 

Juergen said:

Kafranbel

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=479803398722439&set=a.186824541353661.34965.182806365088812&type=1&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=252874388178357&set=a.114660011999796.17708.100003673939244&type=1&theater

Here is an interesting video of a protest in Saraqeb, Idlib against the violations by FSA and Islamist groups in the city.

“To our armed resistance. You are our people and our protectors, but we warn you against hurting our civilians.”

“If he has a gun and breaks into homes, and takes away our freedoms, then he is a shabeeh”

“Jihad is on the front lines, not in raiding our homes.”

January 25th, 2013, 8:05 pm

 

Tara said:

Syria says ICC call hinders search for end to

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – A call by nearly 60 states for the Syria conflict to be referred to the International Criminal Court for an investigation into war crimes is “complicating the situation and hindering the search for an end to the crisis,” Syria’s U.N. envoy said.
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari also called for sanctions imposed on his country by the European Union, the United States and others to be lifted because they were a punishing the Syrian people.

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-says-icc-call-hinders-search-end-conflict-204225853.html

 

January 25th, 2013, 8:06 pm

 
 

Akbar Palace said:

Tara,

Oh, Amir. It took me a while to remember who you were referring to. He stopped posting a while ago. He gave up I suppose. He was very private and I never chatted with him outside of this wonderful website.

In any case, keep up the good work. You’re doing a fantastic job here.

January 25th, 2013, 8:22 pm

 

Visitor said:

Akbar Palace 151,

Elections in hell??

Wow! That is sooooooooooooo original!!!

Smiley!

January 25th, 2013, 8:24 pm

 

Tara said:

#156

OMG. It appears I am the one committing suicide from utter stupidity. Can a post be more stupid than that. Comparison: easy. a damned dictator
with no one around who dares to say anything except “Bilrouh Bildam” and a thriving democracy where people can get angry with the president
whose role is to serve them. Can you people think before you post?

January 25th, 2013, 8:27 pm

 

Juergen said:

This week we heard of Assads plan to form his Volkssturm, here is a video from the 80s, with good old mafia boss Hafez and Rifat enjoying an military parade in which women soldiers first present snakes, whom they will at a later stage bite the head off and barbecue them in front of their master. Saddam is supposed to have given this video to Donald Rumsfeld during his vistit in the eighties, for Saddam the Syrian regime was a real threat.

Btw, I remember watching Lybian state tv in the old days at a friends house, and there was a video of Ghadaffis security guard, all women who showed how they fight with snakes. Is that a sexual reference or why do dictators love to see women fight with snakes?

Qaddafi’s Female Bodyguards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-LS1pNPwMI

See the astonishing video at the end of the article.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/03/09/watch-rumsfeld-releases-bizarre-video-from-saddam/

January 25th, 2013, 8:32 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

Revenire,

You think the Vietnam civil war was only 10 years long.

What an idiot. Stop bothering your moral and intellectual superiors.

January 25th, 2013, 8:33 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

Another billion dollars of Iran has gone down the drain. How many more billions will Iran spend on this disaster?

The fact that the regime is launching an “offensive” is a good sign. The more the regime attacks, the faster they’ll spend Iran’s money and supplies. They can’t touch the camps outside of the country. Heck, they can’t even take and hold rebel-controlled areas inside the country. The regime can bombard, but it cannot win.

This war ends when Iran is bled white.

January 25th, 2013, 8:36 pm

 

Visitor said:

Hamster 148,

The answers to your first three questions:

YES
YES
YES

According to this story,

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/ar/reportsfeaturesar/حين_قالت_لي_مدرستي_حافظ_الأسد_كما_الله_لا_يموت

I don’t know about the last two. But most likely the same as the above, especially for the last one.

January 25th, 2013, 8:36 pm

 

Juergen said:

Here is a window to the past for those who have never watched lybian state tv, or as some Lybians would say Muammars cinema:

January 25th, 2013, 8:40 pm

 

Visitor said:

Tara 159,

Why suicide?

Morsy doesn’t have a driver’s license!!!

My policy with stupid posts is to answer them even more stupidly. Even though, I think Morsy doesn’t have a driver’s license.

January 25th, 2013, 8:40 pm

 

revenire said:

Gaddafi’s Libya was a paradise compared to today’s Libya.

January 25th, 2013, 8:44 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

The more militias Assad and Iran creates, the better it is for the rebels.

These militias can help the regime militarily (somewhat), but they cannot win the war.

However, economically these militias are a disaster for the regime. Every militia costs money to train, equip, feed, and pay. And since the regime cannot pay them, Iran has to do it. So every militia group Iran creates in Syria means more money being sucked out of Iran.

The regime and Iran are stuck in an eternal war that they cannot win. And their opponents will not negotiate. So Iran has to spend more and more of its money year after year after year.

How long is Iran willing to do this? The regime can hold Damascus with Iran’s help for one year. But can they and are they willing to do it for two years, five years, ten years?

EDIT: @ Revenire. Says the person who thought the Vietnam Civil War was only about 10 years long. As I’ve said before, what a retard.

January 25th, 2013, 8:44 pm

 

revenire said:

France has been one of the biggest backers of the FSA terrorists. The French said Assad would fall many times. France was one of the first who recognized its puppet coaltion.

Let’s see what France now says:

“No signs Syria’s al-Assad will be overthrown, France says”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/no-signs-syrias-al-assad-will-be-overthrown-france-says/article7830079/

A completer turnabout from France. Total.

I wonder if their actions in Mali have sobered them? Or did Russia talk them out of their wild stance?

Either way the French elites have egg on their faces.

I love it.

January 25th, 2013, 8:55 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

You do realize that the only one who consistently responds to your posts, Revenire, is the one who enjoys trolling you? And quite successfully too, I might add.

You went here to troll. And the only thing you’ve managed to succeed in is getting trolled. What a failure. You can’t even respond because you’re afraid you’re going to get destroyed again.

January 25th, 2013, 8:58 pm

 

revenire said:

“France charges Qatar of backing up the Islamic armed groups in Mali”

Winds of change blowing…

January 25th, 2013, 9:00 pm

 

Observer said:

ZOO siad that he does not respond to my posts any longer. He claims I sound hysterical.

ZOO you are both morally and intellectually bankrupt. I quoted your post to point out the utter stupidity and illogical news you troll with.

TARA is quite right about the utter stupidity of the supporters of this mafia.

TARA no one challenged my post about the illegitimacy of the regime. The dictatorship of the regime, the corruption, graft, nepotism, incompetence, and the unbelievable flaws of the constitution not to mention the brutality of the regime.

There is not an ounce of either honesty or decency in these people.

They are thugs and mafiosi members of a hate filled regime that wants to enslave the people of Syria.

Justice for Hamza

January 25th, 2013, 10:28 pm

 
 

apple_mini said:

Israel is the archenemy of Arabs. And for those Arabs who claim peace with Israel are almost like a sheep walking into a slaughter house saying how white and pure she is.

The mentality and culture of Israeli are extremely selfish and brutal. The most convincing proof is their nuclear capacity. Not only they possess those weapons, they also fervently forbid any other country in the region to get access to their development.

Basically, what the Israeli have in mind is that when it is time, they have to wipe your Arabs out. The superiority of their military power is their pass to treat Arabs like they are subhumans: In Gaza, Israeli government calculated calorie consumption based on population then allowed aids to get in accordingly. After Gaza’s rebellion, they unleashed their deadly arsenal to kill or eliminate threats according to their favorite terms.

Try to arm Egypt or Turkey with any of WMD weapons! And you will see the true color of the west.

That is exactly Iran is the ”crown” of the axes of evils for the west. BTW, the west can kiss goodbye for their hope of ”civil unrest” they have been poking and hoping in Iran for what is happening in Syria simply tells Iranians what the west is up to.

The question is whether Iran will be able to successfully develop their nuclear weapons with the threats from US and Israel. This might be the most important event in the years ahead.

Muslim countries are suffering dearly from senseless Shiite-Sunni conflict. I blame more on Sunni for its conservatism and radicalism. Religion does not help governing a country. It actually chokes development. While other countries are fighting advancing in technology and social benefits, Middle East is still in sink hole. Maybe it is the consequence and heritage of the rich history and culture of ME. But people need to get out of those medieval maze and move on.

The world is still a jungle place. In order to gain peace, you cannot rely on making friends. You have to deter your enemy first. But again, you have to have an integral government and relatively peaceful nation first.

January 25th, 2013, 11:44 pm

 

Visitor said:

APPLE-MINI is Albo or as Amjad used to call him Albong the skin head neo-nazi or as I used to refer to him as the numerologist from Hamburg turned ‘economic expert’.

January 25th, 2013, 11:56 pm

 

Syrialover said:

JUERGEN #160

Gaddafi’s female body guards – it’s now known that they were there to serve Gaddafi and his entourage sexually. They and their families were kept complicit by cars, apartments and other privileges.

I saw a new Libyan woman politician talking about how those “female bodyguards” (who were themsevles closely guarded) with their theatrical public role and sordid private purpose had been degrading and insulting to Libyan women. They symbolized how Gaddafi, his sons and regime viewed and treated women.

January 25th, 2013, 11:57 pm

 

Syrialover said:

JUERGEN #160 (part 2)

That film of Rifaat and Hafez Assad being smilingly treated to bizarre displays of women soldiers killing snakes with their bare teeth and young men stabbing puppies to death tells us more than we want to know about that regime.

How primitive, nasty and stupid the Assads were in the early 1980s, a legacy Bashar proudly continues.

Those Syrian women, like the soldiers who carried out the Hama massacre, would now be in their 50s. I look forward to hearing their stories in post-Assad Syria when they are finally free to talk.

January 26th, 2013, 12:08 am

 

revenire said:

France and Syria are fighting the same enemy – France in Mali and Syria in Syria. Perhaps this is why France changed her mind.

Good news all around:

“[T]he prospects of the ground battle are changing. There are new factors and military strategies. The army has learned from its mistakes. The army has gained more control over security breaches caused by corruption. Popular committees, which have been intensively training for two months, have been formed. An information and eavesdropping network has been installed (with great help from the Russians, which has surpassed all Western aid to the armed opposition). Self-protection measures in minority areas have been taken. It is said that the popular committees’ accomplishments have exceeded the army’s expectations.”

January 26th, 2013, 12:56 am

 

revenire said:

I will tell all of you a secret even Josh Landis doesn’t know: The United States is happy to see Assad kill the terrorists. Obama will never say so publicly but it is true. They say nothing about the SAA’s operations to crush the enemy (and crush them we will). The more jihadis the SAA kills the better the US likes it.

January 26th, 2013, 1:06 am

 

Ghufran said:

There is little doubt that the rebels who are attacking Kurdish areas that have no army presence are hired guns, to be polite, or violent prostitutes to be truthful, and the pimp is nobody other than erdo the ottoman khazouq, but this time erdo is actually directing his khazouq against the Syrian opposition which is increasingly seen as a tool in the hands of Turkey and Qatar. The most likely result of this idiotic move by the rebels is igniting another side war in Syria that can only help Turkey and give Assad’s regime a break.
Most opposition sources are furious but there is little they can do after relying on Turkey for logistical support and on Qatar for money. I am sorry that some of you still think that this war remains a revolution ,but as a famous US comedian said:
you can not fix stupid !!

January 26th, 2013, 1:07 am

 

Ghufran said:

I wonder if King Abdullah of Jordan is reading my posts 🙂
قال عبد الله ان مقاتلي تنظيم القاعدة أقاموا قواعد في سوريا العام الماضي و يحصلون على أموال وعتاد من الخارج
وتابع قائلا إن طالبان الجديدة التي سيضطر العالم للتعامل معها ستكون في سوريا
وأضاف العاهل الأردني أنه حتى إذا تحقق السيناريو الأكثر تفاؤلا فإن تخليص سوريا منهم سيستغرق ثلاث سنوات على الأقل بعد سقوط حكومة الأسد.
وطالب القوى الكبرى بوضع خطة واقعية وجامعة للانتقال في سوريا قائلا إنه من الضروري الحفاظ على الجيش ليكون العمود الفقري لأي نظام جديد لتجنب الفوضى التي سادت في العراق بعد الغزو الذي قادته الولايات المتحدة في عام 2003.
رويترز

January 26th, 2013, 1:18 am

 

revenire said:

Ha ha. I understand Madrigoldran is really King Abdullah.

😉

January 26th, 2013, 1:29 am

 

MarigoldRan said:

I understand that Revenire is an idiot. But that’s hardly a surprise to anyone.

January 26th, 2013, 1:38 am

 

Johannes de Silentio said:

179. GHUFRAN

“Prostitutes, pimps and the Ottoman Khazouq”

Makes sense to me. I’m voting for Bashar in the next election…..NOT!!!

A New Bashar Cartoon

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mka/lowres/mkan300l.jpg

January 26th, 2013, 2:04 am

 

Juergen said:

A dangerous road trip reveals extent of the devastation in Syria

Amal Hanano

Standing in Turkey, I looked back towards my country. It no longer felt as far away as it did before. For a few moments, the gap between inside and outside, between experiencing and witnessing, was closed. I decided to cross over again. And the day after the next, I did.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/a-dangerous-road-trip-reveals-extent-of-the-devastation-in-syria#page5

January 26th, 2013, 2:16 am

 

Hopeful said:

There is only one person who has been consistent in his views about the evil of the regime, the evil of the radical Islamists, the evil of foreign meddling, and the evil of violence: Dr. Haitham Manaa. He gets my vote.

January 26th, 2013, 2:21 am

 

omen said:

excellent question:

54. zoo said: Why doesn’t Saudi Arabia make use of the billions worth of american weapons rotting in their storage to finish with the man who is humiliating them daily? Any idea what stops them?

Such is the irony in the Middle East. The Sunni Arabs hope for salvation from the West, yet no Arab or Muslim country has decided to intervene directly itself. Despite receiving large amounts of Western military technology, countries like Saudi Arabi, Turkey and Egypt have not opted to use it.

the US gets excoriated for doing nothing but the neglect from arab states is an even worse betrayal.

January 26th, 2013, 2:30 am

 

omen said:

a question about anisa, bashar’s mother and how she was able to relocate to dubai.

there is an asset freeze on her accounts. i can see how one can get around that.

isn’t there a travel ban on this family as well?

all these sanctions feel like for show if one can get around them so easily. there is no accountability, is there. it’s all PR.

January 26th, 2013, 2:38 am

 

Juergen said:

Omen

Half of Dubais wealthy comes from shady families like the Assads, its a big money laundry, and the World knows it.

January 26th, 2013, 2:55 am

 

omen said:

61. AIG said: Because if you are for Hamas, why won’t you give them the weapons the West gives you once you win?

andrew tabler argued it unlikely that hamas nor hezbollah would accept chem stockpile even if offered. doing so makes them a bigger target. didn’t HA just have a stockpile recently targeted and taken out? it’s not in these groups’ interest to take them.

January 26th, 2013, 3:15 am

 

annie said:

http://www.rts.ch/g/JJWC
Temps présent on Swiss TV : excellent film on doctors in Syria. Shows also a group of Moroccan young doctors coming to help.

January 26th, 2013, 3:16 am

 

omen said:

61. AIG said: It is the inability of the FSA and the Syrian diaspora to talk clearly and frankly about these issues that is making people very hesitant to support them.

not so.

fsa promised early on to safeguard these stockpiles and not allow it to fall into the hands of extremists. the general who used to oversee the chem program defected and is now working with the rebels.

the west refuses to support the opposition (to an extent that would make a difference) because they prefer the regime for some reason. a former envoy even admitted “it’s not in our interest” to support the overthrow of the regime.

January 26th, 2013, 3:27 am

 

omen said:

61. aig, i had another response for you but for some unknown reason, it got embargoed.

January 26th, 2013, 4:12 am

 

omen said:

61. aig, i had another response for you but for some reason, it got embargoed.

January 26th, 2013, 4:13 am

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

Never forget. This is how the Assad Dictatorship dealt with peacufull demonstrations by April 2011. The beginning of the popular peacefull revolution:

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

All what came later was the destruction of the peacefull movement by Assad mafia and the replacement of a militarized opposition that finally has become Al Qaeda. This is the typical amercian sionist strategy followed up by arab dicators. They are the same sheeeeeeet.

January 26th, 2013, 6:37 am

 

Juergen said:

America’s Saudi Problem
Obama can’t get it right on the Arab Spring unless he holds Saudi Arabia to account.

“In Riyadh last week, where I was speaking to a small private workshop, Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former head of Saudi intelligence and ambassador to the United States, introduced me by reading several excerpts from my recent FP column: “Bahrain crushed its opposition with impunity,” he read. And then: “Obama chose to rely on the Gulf monarchies against Iran, which made it exceptionally difficult for him to meaningfully pressure them to reform or to block their counterrevolutionary intervention in Bahrain.” His polite but pointed comment: “These words are not accepted in the Gulf.”

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/01/24/america_s_saudi__arabia_problem_barack_obama?page=0,0

January 26th, 2013, 6:55 am

 

Visitor said:

# 194,

FYI,
KSA does not follow instructions from Obama or the USA. It does what is best to its own interests.

January 26th, 2013, 8:27 am

 

Majed97 said:

Egypt is in complete chaos…

At least 22 people have died in the Egyptian city of Port Said, in clashes sparked by the sentencing to death of 21 local people over football riots.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21211984#

January 26th, 2013, 8:49 am

 

Visitor said:

Prince Turki Al-Faysal announced today in front of major world powers, among them the Russians, meeting in Davos, the urgent need to provide Revolutionaries in Syria with advanced weaponry. This is the second such statement coming from influential Saudi figures in less than a week. The Prince is the ex-head of Saudi Security.

Saud Al-Faysal made remarks less than a week ago that imply the same as the statement made today in Davos.

This is another clear indication that the Kingdom is on the verge of stepping up its military aid to the Revolution due to Russian intransigence and also due to its conclusion which rules out so-called negotiated solution, and the realization that Mullah-stan is not going to buzz off without the defeat of its stooge in Damascus.

January 26th, 2013, 8:58 am

 

zoo said:

Reve

I fully agree with you.

The USA new policy is to encourage the Syrian Army to ‘clean up’ Al Nusra terrorists. This is why they are not providing more weapons as they know these will end up in the hands of Al Nusra.
They don’t want to intervene militarily as they did in Afghanistan, they prefer to use the forces on the ground to do the dirty job. They are starting to consider Bashar Al Assad as an asset rather than a liability, until at least the terrorists are eradicated.

Erdgogan has a different and often opposite agenda, at least in the North East of Syria. As he does not want to intervene militarily against the PKK allies in Syria, he is using the terrorists to do the dirty job of killing the kurds. He wants them to be weaken enough so they accept the current negotiations he is conducting with the PKK leaders in Turkey. The success of these negotiations is crucial to ensure his election as Turkey president in 2014. So providing help to the terrorists to crush the Syrian Kurds is presently his top priority.

France is changing its priority on Syria. They are drown to the neck fighting islamist terrorists in Mali where a civil war is looming. France is isolated there and its resources may not be enough if that situation lasts as many analysts predict. To its surprise, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, the Moslem Brotherhood knights, disagree with France. Now France wants to get rid of the Syrian situation as quickly as possible.

Qatar lost its illusions. All the help they gave in Syria ended up in creating Al Nusra, a salafist organization that they don’t approve of. The FSA has been taken over by Al Nusra who have brought in foreign fighters and the NC is unable to unite and form any government. It is yet to see what moves they will do.
I think it may secretly hope that the UNSC comes with a resolution forbidding the supplies of weapons so they will not be blamed by the opposition of doing it unilaterally.

Saudi Arabia government is horrified to see that their policy of helping the FSA has encouraged many Saudis to fund Al Nusra and other Islamist terrorists organization. They are worried it may backlash on them and are slowly coming to terms with leaving Bashar al Assad in power. In addition the USA is pressuring them to crack down on illegal funds sent to al Nusra.

Iran is in wait and see. Its priority now is to get closer to Egypt that they see as a potentially powerful ally, in case they loose Syria. Yet, the situation in Egypt is fluid, so Iran is still holding in Syria firmly.

Overall, the political landscape is changing. Other that Erdogan who prefers to wait until his PKK negotiations succeed, most countries are ready to compromise about keeping Bashar Al Assad until the terrorists are eradicated from Syria’s s soil.

January 26th, 2013, 9:13 am

 
 

zoo said:

Kerry: His View on the Syrian Conflict

26/01/2013
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=32696

I have read the long 35,000 word transcript of the US Senate hearing on US President Obama’s nominee for the post of Secretary of State, Senator John Kerry.

Despite this, I am concerned about what I have read, particularly as Kerry has failed to demonstrate clear positions on vital issues, specifically Syria and Iran. Even Senator John McCain urged Kerry to take a clear position that is in line with America’s moral concepts and national interest by opposing the actions of the Assad regime.
….
However Kerry failed to clearly respond to McCain on this issue. He spoke about his hope regarding cooperation with the Russians, and McCain replied that the Russians are saying that they will cooperate but that they continue to provide Assad with arms. Kerry replied, “Whatever judgments you make, they have to pass a test of whether or not you do them, they are actually going to make things better.” He continued, “You have to make a test of a cost analysis in doing that. And I mean all kinds of costs—human life costs, treasure, effects on other countries.”

The US failure to intervene in Syria has ruined everything that has been achieved—with great difficulty—in the war on extremist ideology and terrorist groups.

If Assad flees Damascus, and as McCain said, this is “inevitable”, then we will witness extremist jihadists on one side and thousands of al-Assad’s pro-militia Shabiha on the other coast, carrying out ethnic cleansing. This would be the outcome of allowing powers like Al-Qaeda and Iran to operate freely in Syria.

January 26th, 2013, 9:23 am

 

Tara said:

I do believe this solve Syria’s crisis.  Syria not Assadistan nor Talibanstan.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/25/arm-syrian-rebels-jihadis-saudi

The Saudi prince said foreign governments should have enough information on the rebel units to ensure that weapons only reached specific groups. “Levelling the plain militarily should go hand in hand with a diplomatic initiative,” he suggested. “You can select the good guys and give them these means and build their credibility,” he said. “Now they don’t have the means, and the extremists have the means and are getting the prestige.”
….
Earlier this week Turki insisted that the Arab world did not have the capability to handle the crisis alone, clearly implying that western governments should get more closely involved. “It doesn’t have the air force, the navy, the army, the intelligence-gathering machinery to go and surgically stop this fighting,” he said.

January 26th, 2013, 9:49 am

 

zoo said:

Iran official: Attack on Syria is attack on us
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI | Associated Press – 4 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-official-attack-syria-attack-us-090549157.html

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran considers any attack against Syria an attack on itself, an advisor to the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader was quoted as saying Saturday, the strongest warning to date by a top Iranian official that Tehran will use any available means to keep the regime of President Bashar Assad in power.

Ali Akbar Velayati, an aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Syria plays a major role in the “resistance front” of anti-Israel states and militant groups.

“Syria plays a very key role in supporting, or God forbid destabilizing, the resistance front. For this same reason, attack on Syria is considered attack on Iran and Iran’s allies,” Velayati was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying.

January 26th, 2013, 10:12 am

 

zoo said:

Since when Saudis dictate USA foreign policy?

Turki and Saud al Faical are just turkeys… Lots of hot air to hide ther powerlessness despite the billions of $ US weapons rotting in their storage and their pathetic army unable to even quell the rebellion in Bahrain.

Oh yes, their national interests come first: Protecting their oil fields and preventing Iran from becoming a regional leader and threaten the monopoly of Sunnis in the middle east.
Oh I forgot… dealing with saudi women’s lib threatening the male monopoly in their society.

January 26th, 2013, 10:24 am

 

zoo said:

AP

Yes, keep making your devious zionist propaganda. You may fool some, but you don’t fool me.

January 26th, 2013, 10:28 am

 

zoo said:

Iran invited to African summit

FM Departs for Ethiopia to Attend African Union Summit
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9107139083

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi left Tehran for Addis Ababa on Saturday to attend the 20th Summit of the African Union (AU).

The AU’s two-day-long 20th summit opened today and Iran has officially been invited to take part in the high-profile meeting.

The Iranian foreign minister, heading a high-ranking delegation, is slated to follow up Iran’s mutual cooperation with the African Union, meet with participating African presidents and foreign ministers, and attend a press conference during his stay in Addis Ababa.

The African Union, as the continent’s most important body, holds two summits every year.

January 26th, 2013, 10:37 am

 

zoo said:

Yet another meeting for the opposition in Turkey: “The Syrian opposition should leave behind internal disagreements and try to save the Syrian people”

International Conference on Syria

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/126421–international-conference-on-syria

An international conference on Syria began in the north-western province of Istanbul on Saturday.

Speaking at the conference, the Chairman of the Syrian National Council (SNC) George Sabra underlined that the “tyrant Syrian regime was planting seeds of ethnic discrimination.”
The Assad regime is planting seeds of ethnic discrimination in order to continue its existence, Sabra noted.
Also speaking at the conference, the Coordinator of Arabic Edition Service of the Anadolu Agency (AA), Turan Kislakci stressed that the Syrian opposition had responsibility for its own people.
“The Syrian opposition should leave behind internal disagreements and try to save the Syrian people,” Kislakci also said.
The conference is being organized by the Union of Islamic Non-governmental Organizations.

January 26th, 2013, 10:39 am

 

Visitor said:

Hey Zoo @202,

Do you have a problem with Sunnis dominating the Middle East?

They dominated it for the last 1500 years as far as I can tell. So, why should non-Sunnis encroach on Sunni domains? I think the encroachers should be kicked out as MajedK said: فعس معس دعس فطس.

January 26th, 2013, 10:40 am

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo said
Iran official: Attack on Syria is attack on us(Iran)
That exactly what the US should know, if US wants to weaken Iran ability to make nuclear weapons,US must start by seperating Syria from Iran.

Further KSA and Qatar and Turkey, would benefit tremondously in weakening the safawi evil state, all the money they will invest in this plan will return in billions in future saving, they should eradicate the cause of the disease.

January 26th, 2013, 10:41 am

 

zoo said:

Egyptian president cancels visit to Ethiopia in light of violence at home

President Morsi will not participate in an African summit, preferring to lead current meeting with defence council dealing with Egypt’s turbulent situation; Teargas once again overwhelms Egypt’s air

Ahram Online, Saturday 26 Jan 2013

Earlier:

Morsi is expected to address key issues on the summit’s agenda. At the top of this is the current situation in Mali, where an African-led international force is acting to deter Islamist fighters from toppling the France-supported regime.

The Morsi administration has not supported the military intervention in Mali, conducted at the request of the Malian government, and had hoped instead to broker a deal between the rebels and the regime.

Developments in Mali and the potential role of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood (from which Morsi hails) in bringing radical Islamists in the Middle East and Africa to a more moderate version of political Islam will both likely crop up in Morsi’s talks with French counterpart Francois Hollande. The two heads of state are scheduled to meet in Paris on 31 January.

January 26th, 2013, 10:54 am

 

Visitor said:

Akbar Palace,

You ‘fooled’ me by your ‘propaganda’ until Zoo made me see the ‘light’!!

I will never be ‘fooled’ by you again!!

January 26th, 2013, 11:08 am

 

zoo said:

#207 Majie

Keep dreaming… KSA and Qatar are totally dependent on the USA for their security.

For now, the USA is happy to keep Iran as the bogeyman now that the communist bogeyman is gone. It helps the sales of billion of dollars of weapons to these terrified puppets and keep them under its control.

For the USA, Syria has been a nuisance to Israel but now that it may become a hotbed of Al Qaeda terrorists in the region, it is a much bigger threat.
The USA’s priority number one is now to prevent Al Qaeda to take hold of Syria.
As the USA does not want to intervene militarily to do that, they see Iran, Hezbollah and the Syrian army to be the best equipped to crush these terrorists on the ground.

We are seeing a change of tone in the Western countries about Bashar al Assad’s outing.
It seems that he will be tolerated as long as he crushes the Al Qaeda terrorists and prevent them from settling in Syria and getting close to Israel.

I think the opposition meeting in Paris will get that message clear.

January 26th, 2013, 11:12 am

 

Johannes de Silentio said:

203. ZOO

“Akbario Palacio, keep making your devious zionist propaganda. You may fool some, but you don’t fool me.”

209. VATTIE

“Akbar Palace, you ‘fooled’ me by your ‘propaganda’ until Zoo made me see the ‘light’!! I will never be ‘fooled’ by you again!!”

My God, two fools seeing the light! It’s like two dogs squatting in the street, not fun to watch and when it’s over, the place really smells bad.

January 26th, 2013, 11:20 am

 

Visitor said:

Silentio: : without notice being taken or without making a particular point of the matter in question.

211,

As usual, unless and until you copy entire passages the likes of Dante, it is as if you do not exist, just like the above definition. Keep barking alone in the wilderness.

January 26th, 2013, 11:32 am

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

207. majedkhaldoun

The problem,dear Majed,is that there are a lot of signs that show that the real intentions of US and Israel may not be to dismantle the Allatollah Regime but to create chaos and division in the arab world (using criminals and mafias like Assad, Iran, Russia and Al Qaeda).

January 26th, 2013, 11:32 am

 

jna said:

Syria is home to around 500,000 Palestinian refugees, some of whom have been fleeing the country because of civil war between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and fighters seeking to topple his government.

Israel has said it has no plans to allow them to enter the West Bank, which it has occupied since 1967.

“I asked the Secretary General of the United Nations, I told him to ask our neighbors to let us be bring them to Palestine. Four days later the surprise answer came to me, (the Israelis) agree,” Abbas told Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen television in an interview broadcast on Friday.

“They agree on one condition…that each one of the refugees renounce their right of return. We said, forget it,” Abbas said. […]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/us-israel-palestinians-refugees-idUSBRE90O13R20130125

January 26th, 2013, 11:42 am

 

omen said:

why am i not allowed to post?

how do i get my response to aig be release? it got caught in the net and marked as spam!

January 26th, 2013, 11:50 am

 

Visitor said:

Sandro,

That is not very accurate.

The US under Obama is driven by one and only one overriding principle: to dismantle the Bush legacy. It resulted in Obama succeeding in enforcing a new era of American isolationism at least as far as the Middle East is concerned by highlighting economic factors as was evidenced in much of Kerry’s grilling in front of the House.

The US now is prioritizing its foreign policy towards Asia and is more concerned about rising Chinese giant It doesn’t care much about Russia which it sees as a low hanging fruit ready for upcoming social upheavals..It can afford to do that because, by 2017, it will become not only self sufficient in oil but will also be able to export. This self sufficiency will be short lived, however, and it will become dependent on foreign oil again by 2030.

All the talk about the US supporting this or that group or State in the Middle East is hot air except, of course, when it comes to Israeli security. However, Israel is not happy with such detached policy of the US regarding the wider Middle East. That was evident by Ehud Barrack’s statement when he commented about the Syrian events by saying that these events prove that you cannot rely on foreign powers for protection. He is saying that Israel does not trust the US administration to deal effectively with Iranian nuclear ambitions.

January 26th, 2013, 11:53 am

 

omen said:

207. majedkhaldoun said: Zoozoo said
Iran official: Attack on Syria is attack on us(Iran)
That exactly what the US should know, if US wants to weaken Iran ability to make nuclear weapons,US must start by seperating Syria from Iran.

we are in the midst of an alliance shift. the west used to be an ally to iran. now because of dwindling supply of oil, we are slowly returning back to iran again.

our iraq policy doesn’t make sense until you take this into consideration. we practically gave iran that country.

american great reluctance to unseat assad doesn’t make sense unless you consider the west wants iran to retain regional control.

western corporate interests want more than anything access to caspian sea. they’ll sacrifice syrians in order to get iran to agree to build a pipeline.

January 26th, 2013, 12:06 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

216 VISITOR,

The US is once again losing an oportunity of appearing as a world power defending opressed people. And will remain in the arabs minds as the imperial army that destroyed Irak, massacred its populations while did not build or create anything positive instead.

You may say I am a dreamer if I expect something positive to be done for the people by an Empire. You may be right.

Israel may declare what they declare. Nothing really interesting is declared publicly by any world ruler. Real intentions are never shown. Specially by jewish.

The worrying question is how after 10 years of Fierce War Against Terrorism and the Axis of Evil, the result of this (let´s believe) stupid US politics is the creation of a powerfull Axis of Evil unitying Tehran – Bagdad – Damascus – Beirut. It looks as if the politics of self fullfilled prophecy has been very successfull for the US and ISRAEL. The result is clear:

1- Division of the Arab World in Chi´a and Sunna.

2- No real militar enemy for Israel due to the Chia / Sunna confrontation.

3- Future partition of Syria and Iraq in mini ethnic states.

4- Israel being the only powerfull state in the area.

Only the abolition of Chia and the creation of a Sunna unity in Bilad Al Sham would lead to a homogeneous power that would leave Israel in danger. Just go back to what happened in the second half of XII century and find similarities.

January 26th, 2013, 12:13 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

Must read to understand socio-politics of today´s Syria,

http://policytensor.com/2012/12/11/the-syria-conundrum-reconsidered/

January 26th, 2013, 12:16 pm

 

Visitor said:

218 Sandro,

Agree.

I make references to XII century history of the Middle East in many of my comments. That epoch of history must be studied in depth and understood by all the Arabs.

Also agree about what you said about heretics.

January 26th, 2013, 12:26 pm

 

revenire said:

No real news again in the West’s press about Syria. It is falling off the pages as the SAA mops up the animals. The Western reporters who fell in love with the terrorists are licking their chops (they saw many of their own kidnapped or killed by their new terrorist friends). The puppets hand-picked by the West are no longer heard from. A small group of rabble posts things online but this is mainly foreigners – not Syrians – and a few traitors.

Damascus will not forgive those who called for Syrian blood to be shed.

January 26th, 2013, 12:30 pm

 

zoo said:

Italy asserts solving Syrian crisis top priority
26/01/2013

ROME, Jan 26(KUNA) — One of Italy’s foreign policy’s priorities is concluding a peaceful solution for the Syrian conflict coupled with supporting the Syrian opposition coalition ahead of the Syrian donors’ conference in Kuwait next week, a government official said Saturday.
“Solving the Syrian crisis remains a top priority on the agenda of the foreign policy of the Italian government and its diplomacy,” Foreign Minister Guilio Terzi said in a statement.
Terzi said he made some phone calls with head of the Syrian coalition of opposition forces of the Syrian revolution Muaath Al-Khateeb.
Terzi reiterated to Al-Khateeb Italy’s support for the Syrian people and coalition, for the ultimate goal of reaching a credible political solution which did not include Bashar Al-Assad.
The statement said Terzi called his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu and agreed on need of rallying international support for the Syrian opposition coalition.

January 26th, 2013, 12:30 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrian army fights rebels in Damascus suburb

http://www.timesofisrael.com/syrian-army-fights-rebels-in-damascus-suburb/

Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad reportedly destroy rebel forces, stronghold south of the capital
January 26, 2013, 6:57 pm 0

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops raided an opposition stronghold near the capital on Saturday, killing rebels and uncovering tunnels they used to move around and smuggle weapons, the state-run news agency said.

SANA said three tunnels were discovered after clashes in Daraya, just south of the capital, Damascus. Syrian troops have been trying to capture Daraya for weeks, but have faced strong resistance from hundreds of rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad.

The rebels have used Damascus suburbs to stage attacks on nearby government facilities.

January 26th, 2013, 12:33 pm

 

Visitor said:

Zoo would like to see terrorist thugs like his Hizbistani friends to have a say in the Middle East,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/26/262663.html

Defected Syrian diplomat reveals a plot by Hizbistani terrorists to kill pilgrims in no place else than Arafa during the rush hour of the pilgrimage.

January 26th, 2013, 12:34 pm

 

Badr said:

Marigoldran,

I see. So you are a citizen of a country, which in the sixties till mid seventies, got involved in what was none of her business, and was given a bloody nose in the process.

January 26th, 2013, 12:41 pm

 

Badr said:

Revenire,

Concerning something you wrote to Marigoldran,

1. After having written the followings:

“There is no way you’re talking about Vietnam.”

“where was this 30 year war with millions dead you spoke of? It never happened.”

“where was it again that had a 30-year civil war with millions dead? No history book in the world has such an event.”

“Marigoldran there was no thirty year war that ended recently where millions died.”

“There was no civil war lasting 30 years where millions died in the 20th century. None.”

you had no basis to claim: “And, I never said anything about Vietnam or the length of its war. Go back and look – find me the quote.”

Why? First, because you mentioned Vietnam earlier (comment #408 @ 11:30 pm in the previous post). Second, when someone says something about “X” without making any exception, then as a matter of fact, he is saying the same thing about “Y”, if “Y” is part of “X”.

2. “You said you came from a country that had millions of deaths, a civil war, and that the revolutionaries won.”

Revenire, you made a false combination of Marigoldran’s words.

January 26th, 2013, 12:45 pm

 

zoo said:

Finally a journalist talks about the different agendas of KSA ands Qatar.
I disagree on his claims on the unanimity within KSA decision makers about this agenda.

Saudi Arabia v. Qatar on Syria
by PETER LEE
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/01/24/saudi-arabia-v-qatar-on-syria/

With all the reams of reporting on Syria, I am surprised that relatively little is written, in English anyway, about the divergence of aims between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Qatar backs the Muslim Brotherhood and, it appears, would not object to a brokered deal to end the insurrection that allows the MB to get its nose in the political tent, then make its play for winning control of the new government through some combination of foreign pressure, domestic mobilization, and elections.

Saudi Arabia, it appears, has no love for the Muslim Brotherhood and is perfectly happy to crater the Assad regime through a bloody insurrection abetted by foreign jihadis, in order to deny Iran a regional ally, score another victory for fundamentalist Sunni rollback, and increase the pressure on the Shi’a-led government of Iraq by adding the factor of a hostile, pro-Saudi and overtly Sunni Syrian regime to the increasingly disgruntled and emboldened Sunnis of western Iraq (some of whom are reportedly participating in the Syrian war).
….
This week, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Saud, explicitly rejected any negotiated settlement—a position which, though advantageous to Saudi interests, was probably greeted with dismay by the war-weary Syrians of every political stripe, and the foreign powers who are tired of the Syrian sideshow and would like the whole problem swept under the rug with a Yemen-style transfer of power:
….
However, Prince Saud has drawn the line in the sand, indicating that Saudi Arabia is optimistic about a scenario of total regime collapse—and a subsequent political endgame in which Saudi allies occupy a privileged and protected position in the new power structure instead of getting massacred by a tag team of threatened Sunni citizens and the newly “democratic” Syrian army.

This is something that the United States, EU, and Turkey are probably equally loath to commit to, for reasons beyond the quite understandable “the last thing we need is another Middle East military quagmire” concerns.

The unwillingness of the anti-Assad coalition to encourage, enable, and validate the Saudi strategy by implying any intent to commit forces to restore order and nationbuild after a regime collapse—as much as fear of an eventual Syrian quagmire—probably accounts for the western squeamishness about threatening armed intervention in anything more than the most toothless and abstract terms.

….
Saudi Arabia, by its intransigence—and, possibly through sustained, sub rosa support for religiously fundamentalist fighters, foreign and domestic, inside Syria—holds a de facto veto on the policy position of the anti-Assad powers and the future of Syria itself.

January 26th, 2013, 12:45 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

I am in permanent phone connection with my colleagues in Damascus and other cities like Aleppo, Hama or Sweida. The most atonishing question is to see how the majority of those who dealt with me in my professional sector were hidden pro-regime (beneffiting from the regime via wasta) and now have shown their real nature by defending the regime actively. Most of them were not there due to their professional capabilities but due to their Wasta Capabilities…

Many of them have fled the country to Dubai, Lebanon or US, but expect to return to keep their bussinesses that depended exclusively on the regime connections and good will.

Even more atonishing if you want is to see how a vast proportion of plain lebanese people is pro-Assad, in this case not for material interests, but for political alliances. Observing how a nation that has so utterly suffered the terror politics of Assad Mafia may defend Assad´s status quo, is, at least, psicollogically striking.

January 26th, 2013, 12:48 pm

 

Visitor said:

These are the names of thugs recently eliminate by Nusra and sent over to lowest hell in an attack on security branch in سعسع,

1 -العمید الرکن عدنان ابراهیم من جبلة قریة الشراشي
2 -العقید الرکن عماد عباس كنج من القرداحة قریة بحمرا
 3 -المقدم احمد موسی من منطقة الفوعة بادلب
 4 -المساعد أول نور الدين سليمان الخطيب السويداء شعف
 5 -المساعد اول حمد ابراهیم خضور من بانیاس القلوع
 6 -المساعد اول سامر ودیع داؤد من جبلة
 7 -المساعد اول عمادکاسر اسعد من جبلة
8 -المساعد اول سمیر عزیز محمد من جبلة
 9 -المساعد اول اسامة جبور جبور من القرداحة
 10 -المساعد اول حارس زعیتر من الغاب
 11 -المساعد اول مصطفى المهر من الغاب
 12 -االمساعد اول سام شندیة من حمص
 13-االمساعد اول علی رمضان من طرطوس الدریکیش
 14 -الرقيب مهند عصام الداهوك
 15 -الرقيب اول مضر العنزان

Notice that they all come from one and the same group of well known thugs.

January 26th, 2013, 12:48 pm

 

zoo said:

@225 Visitor

These lovely Syrian diplomats are playing now “The Gay Shia Girls in Mekka”

January 26th, 2013, 12:49 pm

 

zoo said:

#230 Wiz

Thanks for naming the martyrs.. that will ensure them paradise.

January 26th, 2013, 12:51 pm

 

zoo said:

Thank you HARP! The opposition prefer to see the displaced and refugees to die as ‘martyrs’ while they spend 40millions a day for their hotels and tickets…

Syrian opposition says UN aid programme will bankroll Al Assad

Phil Sands
Jan 27, 2013

Damascus // A multi-million dollar emergency aid programme for Syria, to be funded by the United Nations and implemented in association with the Syrian government, has drawn heavy criticism from the opposition, which accuses the UN of bankrolling president

The US$519 million (Dh1.9 billion) Humanitarian Assistance Response Plan (Harp), unveiled last week, aims to deliver what the UN says are life-saving food, water and medical supplies to areas affected by the deepening conflict.

Although designed to mitigate the dire situation facing millions of Syrians displaced from their homes and left without shelter, food, work or medical care, the programme is highly controversial.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/syrian-opposition-says-un-aid-programme-will-bankroll-al-assad#ixzz2J6aWjWcZ
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

January 26th, 2013, 12:54 pm

 

zoo said:

Sandro

Even more atonishing if you want is to see how a vast proportion of plain lebanese people is pro-Assad, in this case not for material interests, but for political alliances.

Astonishing for expats like you, totally out of touch with Syria’s and the region’s realities.
You just don’t get the strong rejection of the majority of people both of Islamism and of the West intervention.
Bashar was a leader of resistance to Israel , now he is about to become the leader of the difficult fight against extremist Islamists: If he wins, he is a hero

January 26th, 2013, 1:02 pm

 

omen said:

62. Observer said: ZOO wrote in the previous post a news item from the Russian press that is interesting
Here it is

BEIRUT, January 25 (RIA Novosti) – The Syrian Interior Ministry called on all citizens, who fled the country amid the ongoing bloody conflict, to come back and pledged to help with formalizing documents.

“All Syrian citizens, who either fled the country legally or illegally due to the developing events, will receive an all-embracing assistance upon their return,” the ministry said in a statement.

is it because alawites are escaping syria? leaving the regime without a base of support?

January 26th, 2013, 1:05 pm

 

revenire said:

Badr our bored friend told you he came from a country where millions died in a 20th century version of the Thirty Years War (I was not involved in that conversation). There was no such war in the 20th century. Then he later claimed he lied to try to “trap me” into saying Vietnam was only a decade long. After that he admitted the entire thing was a lie and a childish attempt to “troll” me (whatever that means).

Our friend tires of saying “the war goes on” over and over and seeks to play children’s games.

My professional opinion is that he’s angry the terrorists are losing and losing badly.

One can repeat “the FSA controls 90% of Syria” on the Internet 1000x a day but this doesn’t make it real does it?

Thanks for the comment.

January 26th, 2013, 1:18 pm

 

revenire said:

Omen yes, all the Alawites have fled Syria.

Pathetic.

Desperate.

Clueless.

January 26th, 2013, 1:18 pm

 

mjabali said:

Visitor المزور said in an exchange with Sandro Low:

“218 Sandro,

Agree.

I make references to XII century history of the Middle East in many of my comments. That epoch of history must be studied in depth and understood by all the Arabs.

Also agree about what you said about heretics.”

Would any of you champs care about enlightening us with your historical knowledge? And, what is the lesson to be learned?

No Sarcasm intended…

January 26th, 2013, 1:19 pm

 

mjabali said:

Visitor المزور

Sunnism was spread in the Middle East by the sword of the ruler. It wan not through conviction. These days it is maintaining a life because of the money of retards of the oil countries.

January 26th, 2013, 1:21 pm

 

Tara said:

If HBJ provides us with weapons, he is the hero . Oh let me not forget Erdo. He is a hero too.

Note both do not dye their hair, do not sleep under the mattress, and their wives do not call them Batta.

Would never imagine to call my husband a “Batta”

January 26th, 2013, 1:23 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

233 ZOO,

Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaahhahahahhahahahaa !!!!!!!!!!

Do not tell me you live in Hajar Al Aswad surrounded by islamists or maybe in Malki surrounded by political rats and human garbage.

Regarding me, I am not an expat, I am just in political asylum outside my country. You and many like you do not know ANYTHING about the causes that have led this country to revolution. To social and popular revolution. You filled your dirty stomachs with the beneffits that should have been distributed to the worker class all around the country but instead were amassed by 5% of the
corrupt syrian population. Shame on you and shame on Assad who invested billions of stolen dollars outside Syria (Dubai, Lebanon, etc) and tried to appear as the syrian leader. While he is the biggest suckxxxer of the arab and middle eastern history.

January 26th, 2013, 1:24 pm

 

omen said:

232. zoo said: Thank you HARP! The opposition prefer to see the displaced and refugees to die as ‘martyrs’ while they spend 40millions a day for their hotels and tickets…

zoo, you know the regime will steal the money to help fund the militia. last week, stories were coming out the regime couldn’t even pay the shabiha. we know the regime has stolen medical supplies and food aid has been redirected to areas filled with regime supporters.

Phil Sands
Jan 27, 2013

Damascus // A multi-million dollar emergency aid programme for Syria, to be funded by the United Nations and implemented in association with the Syrian government, has drawn heavy criticism from the opposition, which accuses the UN of bankrolling president

like i said, the west isn’t invested in the opposition prevailing. the UN is controlled by corporate interests.

January 26th, 2013, 1:26 pm

 

Visitor said:

Zoo @231 & 233,

Believe me, those thugs are already overcooked in lowest hell.

Your reply to Sandro,

No one ever believed Bashar to be a so-called ‘resistance hero’. And even though I am also an expat., no one travels more than me. I am telling you from first hand accounts with people from across the spectrum. And believe me also Bashar will lose and will join those thugs I named in lowest hell for further roasting.

————————–

Zabali,

Did you recognize any of those names that I listed and were recently sent to lowest جهنم where you’ll join them someday?

January 26th, 2013, 1:30 pm

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Tara:we will burn Batta even if Syria is totally burned,I will cook feta on the fire…hahaha.
Visitor:Agree with you Tara,Burning Batta is more important than any thing else …
Let Syria get burned,Batta free Syria..even if it means ashes.
Abo jahal(Majie):yeh bro, we will burn Batta and 100000 koffar Shia ..they tought
Me in medical school and residency that amputation is first line of treatment .
Sandro low: Yeh bro..inshallah will burn Batta,Maher and Anissah…Syria will be
Burned but no big deal bro…Allah will build it again you know..Allah has not only
Billions but trillions and he does not charge Sunnis any interest.
Omen:Amen bro.
Usedair:Bro sheik yakoobi stated that jihad is more important than Syria or any
National crap.
Annie:This is so inspiring bros,I feel victory over coming..Batta free Syria is going
To be better than Switzerland,Jabhat Alnasra is going to take away the death penalty,this holland TV show confirms that.
All Abo Jahals and om Jahals together:
Allah Akbar…Allah Akbar..Allah Akbar.

January 26th, 2013, 1:32 pm

 

Citizen said:

Russia should come up with integral theory of fighting in new-type armed conflicts – Chief of General Staff
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_01_26/Russia-should-come-up-with-integral-theory-of-fighting-in-new-type-armed-conflicts-Chief-of-General-Staff/
Russian military scientists should come up with an integral theory of fighting in new-type armed conflicts, said the Chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, when addressing an annual General meeting of the Academy of military sciences.
According to him, a trend has emerged recently towards the blurring of distinction between the state of war and the state of peace.

Wars are no longer declared, while those that have broken out are following an unusual scenario.

The Chief of the General Staff cited colour revolutions as showing that even a relatively secure state may fall victim to a foreign invasion and plunge into chaos.

January 26th, 2013, 1:34 pm

 

Citizen said:

FIRST NATO PATRIOT BATTERY OPERATIONAL
http://www.aco.nato.int/first-nato-patriot-battery-operational-.aspx

NATO wants the Syrian-Turkish border similar to the inter-Korean border, stupid and aggressive!Syria will have the appropriate means to this stupid Western positioning!

January 26th, 2013, 1:44 pm

 

Visitor said:

#243 Qom-Stan in Syria (aka S.N.K.) is saying in his ridiculous comment:

Assad or we burn Vaterland

January 26th, 2013, 1:45 pm

 

omen said:

you know how many months the brits and the french have promised to arm the rebels? only to amount to nothing but hot air. now the saudis are making promises?

a reporter notes:

After my last trip to Syria: 1)talking about imminent end of the regime is totally misleading 2)military help to rebels reduced to almost 0.

January 26th, 2013, 1:50 pm

 

zoo said:

Bahrain reconciliation talks to start by early February

Bahraini government says the reconciliation talks with the opposition will begin early in February to discuss future political reforms

Reuters , Saturday 26 Jan 2013

Bahrain expects talks with the opposition aimed at breaking nearly two years of political deadlock to start next week or early in February, a cabinet member said in comments published on Saturday.

The Gulf Arab state, a U.S. ally against Iran, has been in turmoil since protests erupted in early 2011 led by majority Shi’ite Muslims demanding an end to the Sunni-led monarchy’s political domination and full powers for parliament.

Wefaq and five other pro-democracy groups have said they are ready to attend the talks but have demanded the government show seriousness in addressing their demands, including for a constitutional democracy with an elected government rather than one appointed by the king.

Thirty-five people died during the unrest and two months of martial law that followed, but the opposition says that number has risen to more than 80. The government rejects the figure.

January 26th, 2013, 1:53 pm

 

Syria no kandahar said:

Visitor
Go to hell you and Qum.

January 26th, 2013, 1:56 pm

 

zoo said:

wiz

Believe me, those thugs are already overcooked in lowest hell.

Maybe I should believe you since you are the doorman of hell

January 26th, 2013, 1:59 pm

 

Citizen said:

Position Changes On Syria

There seems to be some recognition that the attack on Syria is failing:
France said on Thursday there were no signs that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is about to be overthrown, something Paris has been saying for months was just over the horizon.

Fabius told RFI radio in December “the end is nearing” for Assad. But on Thursday, he said international mediation and discussions about the crisis that began in March 2011 were not getting anywhere. “There are no recent positive signs,” he said.
This is definitely a change in the French governments mind. The attack on Mali may be the reason for that. The public can hardly be deceived about the fact that the Jihadists France is trying to fight in Mali are the same ilk that Bashar Assad is fighting against. There is only so much hypocrisy that can be covered up.
Peter Lee believes that the Saudis are the ones that are still lobbying against a negotiated solution:

The United States and its European allies, it appears, would welcome some kind of negotiated settlement as long as Western face is saved by Assad stepping down. Turkey, which is facing a growing Kurdish calamity and has probably had a bellyful of its Syrian adventurism, would probably agree. And, as noted above, Qatar has a post-Assad electoral agenda based on its M[uslim] B[rotherhood] assets.
However, Prince Saud has drawn the line in the sand, indicating that Saudi Arabia is optimistic about a scenario of total regime collapse—and a subsequent political endgame in which Saudi allies occupy a privileged and protected position in the new power structure instead of getting massacred by a tag team of threatened Sunni citizens and the newly “democratic” Syrian army.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/

January 26th, 2013, 2:00 pm

 

Visitor said:

249 Qom-Stan in Syria (aka S.N.K.),

Nothing feels better than knowing that you have been deflated as evidenced by your comment!!!

January 26th, 2013, 2:01 pm

 

zoo said:

The end game is nearing…

Assad’s forces escalate offensive in key province; refugees flowing into Jordan

Beirut, January 26, 2013
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Assad-s-forces-escalate-offensive-in-key-province-refugees-flowing-into-Jordan/Article1-1002302.aspx

The Syrian army unleashed a barrage of rocket and artillery fire on rebel-held areas in a central province Friday as part of a widening offensive against fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. At least 140 people were killed in fighting nationwide, according to activist groups.

The United Nations said a record number of Syrians streamed into Jordan this month, doubling the population of the kingdom’s already-cramped refugee camp to 65,000. Over 30,000 people arrived in Zaatari in January — 6,000 in the past two days alone, the UN said.

Many of the new arrivals at Zaatari are from the southern town of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad first erupted nearly two years ago, the Britain-based Save the Children said.

January 26th, 2013, 2:02 pm

 

Tara said:

Kandi,

Forgive Visitor. He does not know you are not a Qum-lover like most others on this blog. I know. You wanted Batta to sell out Qum and get in bed with the west to save his reign.

I like the slogan ” Batta-free Syria”. Someone should send this suggestion to kafrnabal.

January 26th, 2013, 2:03 pm

 

revenire said:

242. VISITOR said: “no one travels more than me.”

Dog kennel?

😉

January 26th, 2013, 2:06 pm

 

revenire said:

I’ve seen SAA rocket barrages in person. They are fearsome.

January 26th, 2013, 2:07 pm

 

Visitor said:

Zoo @250,

The doorman of جهنم is called مالك خازن النار

This is one of the Highest ranking angels!

Who am I to refuse such honor intended by you (idiot) to demean me?!

And you thought calling you Z. Idiot is not worthy of your limitless idiocy!! I agree, I should come up with more appropriate description to convey your state of hopelessness!

January 26th, 2013, 2:08 pm

 

omen said:

243. kandahar, your last manifesto satirizing the opposition, painting a portrait of post assad syrian paradise – was much more lyrical. it involved bountiful harvests of fruits and size c cup stewardesses. it was a nice vision, actually.

January 26th, 2013, 2:10 pm

 

zoo said:

Omen

zoo, you know the regime will steal the money to help fund the militia

I know and I fully approve. The west is putting sanctions on the country, then they play the “generous” by giving money to the poor that themselves have created.
In parallel they pay the salaries of the terrorists who are destroying the country. It is estimated that Qatar has put billions of dollars to destroy Syria, that they’ll offer to reconstruct like Doha with malls and mosques.

They are cheaters and hypocrites and they deserve the be cheated and their ‘generosity’ abused.

It’s the turn of the opposition to be trapped. If they object to the humanitarian aid they appear monstruous, if they accept they will appear like been fooled by the regime.

These morons have failed to rally the Syrians against the regime, they want 40 millions a day to live in hotels and travels and the only thing they know how to do well, is farting.

Let them fart… they are nothing that parasites and will be judged very severely by history.

January 26th, 2013, 2:17 pm

 

Citizen said:

Syria was no longer the kind of weak, pissant, defenseless little military nonentity susceptible to US-NATO pseudo-military self-deception. As soon as the Russians stepped up to the plate it was GAME OVER for monkeys daydreams.

January 26th, 2013, 2:17 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

AlRai bews saidذكرت مصادر عسكرية اسرائيلية ان مرحلة الحسم في سورية قد دنت وان الرئيس بشار الاسد بدأ يسقط.
egypt news
#مصر تقول لـ #سوريا .. اياكم وانصاف الثورات
Waleed Bunni said
ارادة الله من ارادة الشعب والشعب السوري اراد الحياة وسيحيا بدون هالعيلة ،

January 26th, 2013, 2:18 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Visitor,

I’m really enjoying your posts, an my apologies for all the zionist propaganda. I agree with your description of the Obama administration. I would say ALL US administrations would prefer to isolate themselves from the ME if they could, but invariably, they get sucked in by militant Islam. Remember, terrorism is a way to coerce a country to react. If you recall, GWB and Condi Rice were “giving up” on the arab-israeli peace process; then 9-11 hit….

Iran and their friends will do what they can to kill innocent people, ensure a reaction, and waste lives and resources. If somehow we evil zionists could work with arabs who agree that this losing cycle of s–t isn’t worth continuing, I’d be elated. Somehow, I just don’t think there are enough like-minded arabs out there. Being a friend of Israel is asking for too much, apparently.

January 26th, 2013, 2:20 pm

 

zoo said:

wiz

When I was saying you were a “visitor from hell”, I was not wrong then. You smell evil and death.

January 26th, 2013, 2:23 pm

 

Visitor said:

Akbar Palace,

The conspiracy theorist in the Middle East are fighting their final battle of extinction. By the time America goes back to foreign oil dependency in 2030, the Middle East will no longer need its ‘good offices’.

The world is changing.

January 26th, 2013, 2:26 pm

 

zoo said:

AP

Iran and their friends will do what they can to kill innocent people,

Hypocritical zionist propaganda again… The reality:

Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas will do what they can to prevent Israel from abusing the Palestinians

January 26th, 2013, 2:27 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo said
The end game is nearing…
another prediction by him, Bashar said it more than a year ago,,خلصت

January 26th, 2013, 2:28 pm

 

revenire said:

The SAA is cohesive. There have been relatively few defections. The same for the diplomatic corp – hardly anyone has defected.

I believe the Western fools believed Syria would collapse within a few months. I assume the traitors in the opposition sold the gullible West a bill of goods (as was done in Iraq).

Victory is close.

We await your orders President Assad. Give us the command to unleash the eagles with their screaming bombs to rain death down upon our enemies.

January 26th, 2013, 2:30 pm

 

Visitor said:

Zoo @263,

It was not you who called me ‘Visitor from hell’. It was Irritated. But thanks for admitting that, and uncovering yourself as Irritated who disappeared mysteriously.

So now we know who you are and probably you have quite few incarnation on this board.

Now, don’t try to fool the forum. You made me one of the Highest ranking Angels!! You cannot cover up your idiocy by using one of your other abandoned incarnations.

January 26th, 2013, 2:30 pm

 

revenire said:

262. AKBAR PALACE said: “Iran and their friends will do what they can to kill innocent people, ensure a reaction, and waste lives and resources.”

You besotted ape Palestinian families eat because Iran sends food to them. The Palestinian resistance fights because of Iranian and Syrian military aid.

Go pray and atone.

January 26th, 2013, 2:32 pm

 

zoo said:

After Daraya, now Homs… The SAA got the greenlight for another deeper cleanup of terrorists strongholds.

Saturday, January 26, 2013 by Reuters

Syria forces step up offensive on Homs

Syria’s army unleashed a barrage of rocket and artillery fire on rebel-held areas in a central province yesterday as part of a widening offens-ive against fighters seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

At least 80 people were killed in fighting nationwide, according to activist groups.

Activists said the army recently brought in military reinforcements to the central province of Homs and launched a renewed offensive aimed at retaking patches of territory that have been held by rebels for months.

An amateur video posted online by activists showed rockets hitting buildings in the rebel-held town of Rastan, just north of the provincial capital, Homs. Heavy gunfire could be heard in the background.

Another video showed thick black and grey smoke rising from a building in the besieged city. “The city of Homs is burning… day and night, the shelling of Homs doesn’t stop,” the narrator is heard saying.

January 26th, 2013, 2:34 pm

 

mjabali said:

Akbar Palace is hitting the bottle

January 26th, 2013, 2:39 pm

 

zoo said:

Wiz

I do not deny I was Irritated and I was asked to use only one nick, so I obeyed by respect to J.L

I congratulate you for your promotion to the position of the Hell Doorman

You do smell evil and death

http://www.deviantart.com/download/92483249/Doorman_of_Hell_by_jonlarkins.jpg

January 26th, 2013, 2:41 pm

 

zoo said:

266. majedkhaldoun

and Fabius two days ago..

January 26th, 2013, 2:43 pm

 

mjabali said:

Dear Syria No Kandahar:

Without you Syria Comment has no flavor.

January 26th, 2013, 2:45 pm

 

zoo said:

Now the armed rebels fight against each other!

Jihadists and Secular Activists Clash in Syria

By HANIA MOURTADA and ANNE BARNARD
Published: January 26, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/27/world/middleeast/syria-war-developments.html?_r=0

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The tensions had been simmering for months in the northern Syrian town of Saraqib. Civilian antigovernment activists had complained of rebel fighters needlessly destroying a milk factory and treating residents disrespectfully. A growing contingent of jihadist fighters from the ideologically extreme and militarily formidable Nusra Front was suspicious of the activists’ secular, nonviolent agenda.s

On Thursday, mistrust erupted into confrontation. Masked men believed to be with Al Nusra raided the headquarters of two secular civilian grass-roots organizations — setting in motion one of the most dramatic tests yet of the makeshift system of local governance that civilians and fighters have established in Saraqib, a rebel-held town.

January 26th, 2013, 2:47 pm

 

zoo said:

SNK

We love you!

January 26th, 2013, 2:48 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo=Bronco=Irritated

January 26th, 2013, 3:02 pm

 

zoo said:

The NATO lead regime change in Libya a success or a curse?

Fears grow that Libya is incubator of turmoil

By MAGGIE MICHAEL | Associated Press – 8 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/fears-grow-libya-incubator-turmoil-195835295.html

Libya’s upheaval the past two years helped lead to the ongoing conflict in Mali, and now Mali’s war threatens to wash back and further hike Libya’s instability. Fears are growing that post-Moammar Gadhafi Libya is becoming an incubator of turmoil, with an overflow of weapons and Islamic jihadi militants operating freely, ready for battlefields at home or abroad.

Already, Libya’s turmoil echoes around the region and in the Middle East. The large numbers of weapons brought into Libya or seized from government caches during the 2011 civil war against Gadhafi are now smuggled freely to Mali, Egypt and its Sinai Peninsula, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jihadis in Libya are believed to have operational links with fellow militant groups in the same swath, Libyan fighters have joined rebels in Syria and are believed to operate in other countries as well.

January 26th, 2013, 3:10 pm

 

zoo said:

Majie

You’re smart, I always say it

January 26th, 2013, 3:11 pm

 

Visitor said:

Zoo @ 272,

Cheap LIAR and a miserable co-man!!!

J.L. Does not care how many incarnations you have and he is not even monitoring the site. Besides, he has no means of ascertaining anyone is an incarnation, even by looking up I.P. adrresses, because different posters can post from the same I.P. address originating fom a network going through a main gateway or switch. You only need different e-mail accounts to post under different monikers.

I am sure there are still 3 or 4 incarnations of you posting here. You only mentioned J.L. In order to camouflage that from the rest of the forum.

After this revelation, no one should ever believe a word you say or even give you the slightest attention.

LIAR
CON-MAN

I find these more appropriate than Z. Idiot.

January 26th, 2013, 3:14 pm

 

Tara said:

I want irritated back.

January 26th, 2013, 3:15 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

MJABALI,

You know, I recognise alawi community (among other populations, minorities or even sunnis) have been mistreated in the past, due to poverty and ignorance that at the same time is caused by segregation from majority or in some cases due to historical circumstances.

But I find in you words and attitude the kind of person who thinks he is superior maybe not in cultural terms but specially in protection and brute force. And this is what alawis mostly are in Syria. People with poor background but who think they are the economical, political and cultural centre of today´s Syria just simply because they own the monopoly of force. Alawis think they are all in all in Syria but the sad point is that if all of them disappear there would be a little loss for Syria in economical, social and cultural terms.

January 26th, 2013, 3:22 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

المجلس العسكري: اشتباكات عنيفة في منطقة الشيخ محي الدين في وسط دمشق
اشتباكات عنيفة بالقرب من فرع الأمن السياسي في منطقة الجبة وسط العاصمة دمشق
دمشق:: دوي انفجار ضخم بالقرب من ساحة العباسين واشتعال كثيف للنيران وحالة من الهلع والذعر بين المدنين، ووصول سيارات الأسعاف للمنطقة

January 26th, 2013, 3:24 pm

 

Tara said:

Anisa, Bushra and any other member of the family should be kidnapped and used to negotiate with the retard for concessions.

January 26th, 2013, 3:26 pm

 

Tara said:

I just read on Alarabya that he FSA is shelling the presidential palace and Mezza Military airport with improvised missiles. I hope it is true.

January 26th, 2013, 3:31 pm

 

Badr said:

I did not have the intention to hurt anyone’s feelings by my short comment touching on the subject of Vietnam war, and I apologize if I did.

January 26th, 2013, 3:32 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

TARA,

Dubai at the end is a free zone and many people can enter there to execute the criminals in due time and in due manner.

Assads believe they can massacre the whole syrian people and even if they lose power they can be granted a safeheaven in Dubai. But it does not work this way. Maybe it works in Saudi Arabia but not in Dubai.

January 26th, 2013, 3:36 pm

 

Citizen said:

War in Syria will be Over by July 2013: Russian Analysts Predict
http://youtu.be/wIm9DGYEe1w?t=2m28s

January 26th, 2013, 3:47 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Visitor,

Your words give me hope.

Revenire,

If Iran only provided food, I would agree with you. But no, the noble Iranians send the Islamists-for-life increasingly dangerous weapons without the instruction booklets.

Yes, Iran is doing so much for the Arabs, it’s hard to imagine what the arab world would do without them? Like live peacefully?

January 26th, 2013, 3:48 pm

 

revenire said:

The ability for Hamas to resist Israeli aggression came of Syria and Iran and not the Gulf states.

This is just a simple fact.

The Gulf states bought off Meshaall with fifty pieces of silver.

Another simple fact.

January 26th, 2013, 4:19 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Now that Asmaa ,got rid of her mother in law and her sister in law.she should be the woman of the palace, if Bashar died, she should be the presidentess, all what she needs is a gun or a knife,or a little poison.

January 26th, 2013, 4:21 pm

 

Citizen said:

http://topwar.ru/uploads/previews/2013-01/a5bb1_23454_250x160.jpg
What happens in Mali or a dog owner brings

The fact that the main idea of ​​the United States, Britain and their satellites in the near future will be the creation and expansion of the zone of controlled chaos, I began writing in early 2011 goda.Tut important two words: chaos and upravlyaemyy.To is a region of the world has to sink into anarchy , destroy their infrastructure for a life to the global world players were more convenient to send mass …

January 26th, 2013, 4:21 pm

 

omen said:

from oct: remember this filmmaker detained who, due to celebrity pressure, was later released. he gives us a glimpse inside the security apparatus & what a mess it is:

“This detention was the biggest fiction of my life,” he says, still amazed at how surreal the experience was: physically unharmed himself, yet witness to horrors suffered by other prisoners around him.

Nyrabia used his fame to help the revolution from the very beginning and believes another activist turned him in under torture. Yet he quickly realized he would be getting special treatment. “When I heard an officer ask, ‘Is that the brilliant filmmaker?’ I knew he’d heard that word on television.”

Outside, an international support campaign was already working on his release. His friends had his Gmail, Skype and Facebook accounts closed in order to prevent other activists from being identified and arrested. “Google, Facebook and others have good arrangements with the resistance.”

Unlike his 80 cellmates pilled up in a 3×7-meter room, he wasn’t tortured and his case moved along fast; his interrogation began as soon as he landed in jail. “Their fantasy is CSI, the TV show. They want to catch spies. They have a lot of imagination. They’re obsessed with a supposed universal conspiracy, they really believe it. They can’t imagine that an activist isn’t a foreign agent. That’s why they pay more attention to foreign ties than what activists actually do on the ground.”

He refers to his jailers as “poor people,” before recalling the time when one of them asked seriously who this “Robert De Niro guy” was in a video pleading for his release and how he knew him. (His arrest prompted several artists including De Niro, Judd Apatow, Michelle Rodriguez to shoot a video called “Free Orwa”)

“I wanted to laugh sometimes,” he says.

Fact and fiction

What struck the filmmaker most is how little his jailers knew about the activities of regime opponents. “They had a lot of wrong information, and even when they were right, they weren’t really sure. They don’t know anything about the resistance, they don’t understand how the National Council or the coordination committees work. Their only strategy is to get names through torture. They are looking for 97,000 people. It’s complete anarchy.”

In his cell, out of 80 men, there were two real informants and only three real activists. Ten were simple criminals that had no idea what they were being accused of. But what was really striking was that most of his cellmates (65 out of 80) were soldiers in their twenties without any political conscience who had been held for two, five or seven months, suspected of “thinking about deserting” or accused of “criticizing the shelling of their village.”

For Nyrabia, the confusion stems from the fact that there is no communication among the regime’s four main security entities. Military intelligence, air force intelligence, political security, and state security are even fighting each other for Bashar Al-Assad’s favor.

“Mazen Darwish, a journalist, was arrested eight months ago by air force intelligence officers, who are the worst. We have no idea what happened to him, even though he is much more moderate than I am. There is no logic.”

Nyrabia describes uneducated, tired officers uneasy about their job, complaining they had had no vacation since the beginning of the revolution, and whose obsession with conspiracy blinded them to their own inhumanity. One day, one of the officers got very angry at a Human Rights Watch report accusing the prison of hanging people by their feet for three days. “Here, we always hang them by the hands for three days, never by the feet!” said the officer, excited to have uncovered a “foreign lie.”

Nyrabia recalled that the officer who cuffed him “kept saying that when I left I would say he had been mean to me.”

Western blindness

The general sense of unease brought more violence. At noon, the doctor always started his rounds by hitting sick prisoners. Nyrabia saw his cellmates return broken, with no nails and signs of electric shocks. The lack of sun, rampant humidity, insects and skin diseases were nothing compared to the constant screams of tortured prisoners. At night the screams, mixed with the laughter of drunken officers and an awful smell of sweat emanating from torture rooms, took over the cell through the one and only window. “I will never forget those nights and that smell.”

Nyrabia says he came out of jail even more convinced that the revolution cannot succeed without outside help. For him, the behavior of the West shows complete blindness. “If an Islamist activist needs money to help injured people, he calls Saudi Arabia or Qatar and the next day, there’s money on his account,” he says. “But when a non-religious person calls Europe to save the same injured people, it takes the West a month to say ‘yes,’ and then they want receipts!”

A liberated Syria will swing toward “those who saved the people in need,” Nyrabia explains. “Qatar gives us $55 million in humanitarian aid when the US promises to give us only 15. The West says it is preventing the Islamist danger by not intervening, but the result will be the opposite.”

But Nyrabia believes most of Qatar’s money does not transit by Syrian Islamists. “Qatari money transits through…” He pauses, takes a deep breath and carefully chooses his words “… free-market rightists.” Businessmen? He refuses to elaborate.

Though he is safe, Nyrabia weighs every word to avoid endangering others, and to be able to return to Syria some day. “’Free-market rightists’ is enough. And that’s good, it’s too complicated for them, they won’t understand,” he says.

Before returning to Syria, the filmmaker his message to be heard. “One of the miracles of this revolution is that the Syrian diaspora is being brought together through the Internet,” he says. “There are hundreds of networks around the world that find ways to transfer money. So why do Western bureaucrats keep flooding the Syrian Red Crescent [the Muslim version of the Red Cross] with money?” Although this official organization functions according to international law and gives receipts, Nyrabia suspects that it is under the regime’s control and that it sends aid only to pro-Assad regions.

January 26th, 2013, 4:23 pm

 

revenire said:

“Another video showed thick black and grey smoke rising from a building in the besieged city. ‘The city of Homs is burning… day and night, the shelling of Homs doesn’t stop,’ the narrator is heard saying.”

This is music to my ears.

Let’s add some spice from the always colorful Ziad to the rat soup we’ve cooked for today:

HOMS: A car driven by terrorist cockroaches from Al-Qusayr to Homs City went up in a blaze of fire when explosives in the vehicle were ignited. All four wretches were sent to Hell. Their names:

Nu’man Ali Abd-Al-Latif
Sirajeddine Muhammad Mashlab
Muhammad Hassan
Qassem Mufid Dalilah

January 26th, 2013, 4:23 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

دبلوماسي سوري: خلية من حزب الله كانت تخطط لتفجير بمكةبقيادة نائب القنصل العام السوري في جدة وضابط أمن دولة وأحد رجال المخابرات السورية
This proves that HA is evil ,and Nasrallah is not Mosslem

January 26th, 2013, 4:41 pm

 

mjabali said:

Sandro Low:

You think that I am from what you termed “People with poor background.” Sorry to tell you dude that my background has nothing to be ashamed of. The number of the educated men and women from my “background” is impossible for a simple man like you to comprehend.

See mr. Low we have two different looks on Syrians. You think that if someone is from a village he/she must be backward and not up to your standards. You are wrong Hajji. The Syrian countryside always produced quality men and women. You need examples? You seem a little unaware of what went on in the Syrian history…

You also said about the Alawis:

“if all of them disappear there would be a little loss for Syria in economical, social and cultural terms.”

Hajji Sandro only an ignorant man would say something like that.
Do you know Hayder Hayder, Saad Allah Wannus, Badawi al-Jabal…etc…

Your knowledge of the Syrian culture is almost Zero.

By the way how is the space program you are running doing these days?

January 26th, 2013, 4:53 pm

 

mjabali said:

Visitor المزور

Dude thanks for all the thumbs downs…that mean I pissed the hell out of you…this is good….

January 26th, 2013, 4:57 pm

 

revenire said:

“295. MAJEDKHALDOUN said:
دبلوماسي سوري: خلية من حزب الله كانت تخطط لتفجير بمكةبقيادة نائب القنصل العام السوري في جدة وضابط أمن دولة وأحد رجال المخابرات السورية
This proves that HA is evil ,and Nasrallah is not Mosslem”

Yeah, he’s not a “Mosslem” rather he’s from outer space.

Sectarian much?

January 26th, 2013, 5:03 pm

 

mjabali said:

Visitor the king of thumbs ups and down said:

“By the time America goes back to foreign oil dependency in 2030, the Middle East will no longer need its ‘good offices’.”

Only idiots can not see that America is getting rid of its dependency on oil, especially the oil coming from the Middle East.

By the year 2030 probably half if not more than America’s cars would run on alternative energy and not oil.

The moment America is going to feel that it has no need for Middle Eastern Oil completely, or the moment oil loses its value, or the moment oil runs out, the moment America would change its policy in the Middle East. Democracy may enter the kingdoms of darkness at that moment.

January 26th, 2013, 5:07 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

296. MJABALI

Exactly His Mijesty MJabali, people from villages are always those who will give the fuel for the revolution. They are the best, because their hearts are pure and virgin, and they have not been corrupted in the city. They enjoy the power of the country life and the wisdom of tradition. Just like arabs and beduins revolting in Daraa, Homs, Hama, Idleb, Raqqa, Deir, Zabadani…. Do you get it now? Those villagers of today you call ¨rats and terrorists¨ are the alawis of the past. But the difference is that as a majority the sunna will not deal as a sectarian minority and it will open power to many more. I trust at the end sunnis will offer more respect to minorities than a God-dictator.

January 26th, 2013, 5:26 pm

 

Visitor said:

“By the year 2030 probably half if not more than America’s cars would run on alternative energy and not oil.

“The moment America is going to feel that it has no need for Middle Eastern Oil completely, or the moment oil loses its value, or the moment oil runs out, the moment America would change its policy in the Middle East. Democracy may enter the kingdoms of darkness at that moment.”

Oooooh!! Zabali @299, the recently hired gas pump wind shield cleaner picked up quickly on the secrets of the trade. He now knows so much about alternative energy and Ameican foreign policy just after spending few months wiping wind shields.

I am sure Sheikh 3Ar’3our would be extremely pleased to know he hired such a فطحل from the mountains. Expect a raise soon. You may no longer have to rely only on tips!!! You may even get promoted to a salaried staff!,

January 26th, 2013, 5:27 pm

 

mjabali said:

Visitor the king of thumbs ups and down said when trying to put his two cents regarding Obama’s foreign policy:

“The US under Obama is driven by one and only one overriding principle: to dismantle the Bush legacy. ”

Only an idiot would say what you said mr. Visitor.

Facts say that Obama continued with many of Bush’s policies. Sometimes he exceeded Bush in Bushist behavior, like the case of bombing targets inside Pakistan for example.

Even my dog knows that Obama continued many of Bush’s policies and cared less to dismantle any legacies.

I can tell that you are reading al-Arabiyah too much.

AS always mr. Visitor, I dismantle your logic with ease as my habit.

It took me two minutes to bring you this example of your outlandish statements. ثقافتك متواضعة مع العلم أنك تحاول أن تظهر بمظهر المتعلم.

Again mr. Observer you have nothing to answer so you insult me. This shows clearly that you are not up to the challenge.

Still waiting for your and Sandro Low’s history lesson? What happened with you guys?

January 26th, 2013, 5:50 pm

 

mjabali said:

Sandro Low:

Dude: stop your lies: When did I call anyone a “rat” or a “terrorist?”

Stop hitting the Vodka bottle my man.

Your answer shows that you are drunk. It is very emotional and has nothing to do with what I wrote responding to your lunacy before.

You are losing track of what we were talking about to give me an emotional outburst about the merits of people from the countryside.

Dude wasn’t it you who always made fun of the countryside origin of the Alawis?

You seem drunk to me.

Why don’t you answer to your claim about the cultural loss of Syria in case your crew killed all the Alawis, something you mention casually here and there.

Dude, leave the bottle alone. Your country needs you.

January 26th, 2013, 5:57 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

MJABALI,

You may be very well educated, but I see you cannot check in the British Encyclopaedia or even in Wikipedia.

Just take some minutes and read about what happened in Aleppo, Damascus, Mosul and Jerusalem between 1.146 and 1.187 (times of Nur-i-din and Salahuddin).

Then you will be able to answer:

What was Nur-i-din main goal?

What was Salahuddin main goal?

What regionally happened as a result of religious and ideollogical unity in the arab side?

January 26th, 2013, 6:02 pm

 

mjabali said:

Sandro low:

Do you want me to give you the answer as they taught us in the school in Syria or as what I think the true answer is?

January 26th, 2013, 6:05 pm

 

Visitor said:

Sandro,

Why do you waste your time with this guy?

Have you not been following this forum?

This guy wants to re-write hstory in order to suite his distorted way of looking at things, such as cursing all the companions, glorifying man-god-incarnate and what he perceives as the so-called السلالة القمرية العلوية and worshiping the moon and stars as in pre-Abrahamic times.

The guy is sick. Don’t get sucked in into his distorted brainless head.

January 26th, 2013, 6:13 pm

 

mjabali said:

Visitor the thumbs up and down king:

Dude you do not even trust your own words so you manage to give yourself sometimes over 20 thumbs ups. I saw you do this. I read this site so often that I notice all these little changes. You do not even trust your own words. What can I say.

As for re-writing history, the way your like want history to be taught closes the way for logic and necessary re-writes. You want to keep things as they are. I question your history. This scares you.

It is obvious why you want no one to re-write history. Heroes like Salah al-Din would be exposed to what they really are: selfish, sectarian and bloody and not the pious, pro-Ummah type of man they always portray him in the fake history books you worship.

January 26th, 2013, 6:24 pm

 

SANDRO LOEWE said:

MJARALI

You are out of time, out of place, out of order. Syria is not your Assad´s Syria anymore. Open your mind to new realities, your elite club of corrupt sons of corrupt bureaucrats, Baath Party members and moukhabaraats is not reliable anymore to analyze reality on the ground and prospects for the future.

History is written with a certainf degree of error acceptable which does not use to exceed in more than 25 %. You are denying almost 100 % of history written in books. Check with Assad Psychiatrics.

January 26th, 2013, 6:34 pm

 

Visitor said:

Brainless idiots like you Zabali do not scare even a dog!!

But you will never get the satisfaction of engaging in polemical futility.

I just hope your dog is still taking care of your mating problems.

January 26th, 2013, 6:45 pm

 

zoo said:

#280 Visitor

Mr smart ass…

You see liars everywhere because you are one the biggest, and a stupid and pretentious one.
You want to appear as an expert and you are a ridiculous wannabe.
I never met someone so dumb and vulgar in Syria. It is so relieving that you are in the opposition and an expat who love America.
I wish you’ll never set your foot in Syria, you are a walking virus.

January 26th, 2013, 6:56 pm

 

Visitor said:

Zoo @310

Why did you edit your comment @310 during the edit time?

Before your edits, it read: “If you don’t believe me ask the moderator…”

of course, I know why you made the edits.

You realized your statement is lame because you implicitly admit your lie by putting your credibility into questioning, and it is also outright stupid because there is NO moderator.

Instead, you went on a rampage of insults completely losing your cool.

Well, that is a prize for me. Getting so many insults from a con like you is a dream come true.

For me, to expose such a con of a Zoo IS an achievement, especially when you know that I only have the time to look after your deceptions on weekends, unlike you who is on Syriacomment 24/7 behind the keyboard deceiving every contributor.

It is YOU who will never set foot in Syria. But you will hear a lot about me when Syria becomes free. You know where to find me. I am not too far away from the hideouts where your idol will soon find himself in.

January 26th, 2013, 7:17 pm

 
 

revenire said:

Most of the terrorist supporters here have never set foot in Syria. Most of them would be arrested if they ever did.

January 26th, 2013, 7:21 pm

 

revenire said:

“But you will hear a lot about me when Syria becomes free. You know where to find me. I am not too far away from the hideouts where your idol will soon find himself in.”

Are you Jihad Makdissi?

January 26th, 2013, 7:23 pm

 

Tara said:

Not a big deal. I also posted under another name in the past and out of respect to JL, I complied.

January 26th, 2013, 7:34 pm

 

MarigoldRan said:

And the war continues.

January 26th, 2013, 7:54 pm

 

Syrian said:

I have always suspected that ZOO is also Warren

January 26th, 2013, 7:58 pm

 

omen said:

another prisoner swap in the works?

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel shied away from confirming a report that Syrian rebels would set free nine Lebanese pilgrims held since May in return for the release of 1,000 Syrian opposition detainees.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Charbel said General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim took with him to Qatar a file detailing the negotiations carried out by the Lebanese authorities since 11 men were kidnapped on May 22 on their way back from a pilgrimage to Iran.

Two of them were freed separately in August and September.

Charbel said Ibrahim will hand over the file to the Qatari authorities, which have recently appointed an official to follow up the case of the hostages.

An Nahar daily said there were unconfirmed reports that Qatar was negotiating the prisoner swap and that the Syrian government was studying the request.

The newspaper also said the nine pilgrims were moved by their kidnappers from the Aazaz town of Aleppo to Daret Izza.

Charbel met on Tuesday morning with Ibrahim before he traveled to Doha, in his second visit to the Qatari capital in a week.

In his remarks to VDL, the minister reiterated that there are no Syrian political prisoners in Lebanon although he confirmed that Syrian nationals are serving sentences for committing different crimes.

who were the two freed separately?

does this involve nasrallah’s nephew?

January 26th, 2013, 8:01 pm

 
 

zoo said:

#317 Syrian

of course! I am everybody here, I am even Majedalkhaldoon and Sheila, Georges, Badr and Ann etc….

January 26th, 2013, 8:09 pm

 

Juergen said:

heartbreaking….

This female refugee lost both of her children when their tent in Atmeh refugee camp caught fire. This footage was filmed in late December 2012 near the Syria…

January 26th, 2013, 8:10 pm

 

Syrian said:

A big victory happened in the last 2days that has not mentioned here.
The liberation of around 300 prisoners from Edlib central prison
http://youtu.be/ksGy3U8a0Wk

Also A 7 second video of a Batta soldier taping himself proudly shooting from his machine gun when he shoot himself fatally in the eye
http://youtu.be/7F9Hz5XWYaw

January 26th, 2013, 8:18 pm

 

revenire said:

“Syrian” wow, what a victory. I started weeping. Maybe those are the death row prisoners Saudi Arabia sent.

January 26th, 2013, 8:26 pm

 

Juergen said:

Syrian

we have a saying in German: Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall-

Pride comes before the fall

January 26th, 2013, 8:33 pm

 

Syrian said:

#319 ZOO
It doesn’t really matter and that is why I never brought it up,because all these comments here is just talk, and talk is cheap, the real action is in Syria,I only come here to blow off some steam, I do enjoy though watching you waisting your time endlessly talking to the few who have already made up thier mind,

January 26th, 2013, 8:39 pm

 

Syrian said:

322Rev.
سمعت شو صار مبارح بسعسع؟

January 26th, 2013, 8:45 pm

 

omen said:

this is called moving the goalposts after the game has started:

I will tell all of you a secret even Josh Landis doesn’t know: The United States is happy to see Assad kill the terrorists. Obama will never say so publicly but it is true. They say nothing about the SAA’s operations to crush the enemy (and crush them we will). The more jihadis the SAA kills the better the US likes it.

what happened to the west’s diabolical plot to engineer “regime change”? a la iraq? you & your ilk were wrong from the start. that was never the plan. the truth is assad & regime have served imperialist interests from the start.

January 26th, 2013, 9:04 pm

 

Syrian said:

#323. Jurgun
I can almost see it one minute he is smiling the next minute he is next to Hafiz.
What a nightmare!

January 26th, 2013, 9:07 pm

 

Syrian said:

اسماء الضباط القتلى في تفجير فرع المخابرات العسكرية بسعسع
BY ADMIN – POSTED ON 2013/01/26
POSTED IN: أخبار محلية

فيس بوك

جاري التأكد وقد وصلنا مايلي:
اسماء بعض قتلى تفجير فرع الامن العسكري في سعسع

بعد استهدافه من قبل ابطال النصره واستهداف أحد الحواجز بواسطة سيارات مفخخة سقط عدد من القتلى والجرحى حيث استطعنا التأكد من وصول عدد كبير من الجثث لمشفى تشرين وعدد كبير من الجرحى كما يوجد قتلى وجرحى في مشفيين آخرين

الخبر الاكيد هو مقتل رئيس الفرع العميد عدنان ابراهيم و قسم كبير من الضباط و والعناصر
وتدمير المقسم ووسائل الاتصال بلكامل اثناء الهجوم
… والقتلى للان قابل لزياده الاسماء الواصلة حتى الان هي :
مقتل كل من
العمید الرکن عدنان ابراهیم من جبلة قریة الشراشیر
العقید الرکن عماد عباس كنج من القرداحة قریة بحمرا
المقدم احمد موسی من منطقة الفوعة بادلب
المساعد أول نور الدين سليمان الخطيب السويداء شعف
المساعد اول حمد ابراهیم خضور من بانیاس القلوع
المساعد اول سامر ودیع داؤد من جبلة
المساعد اول عمادکاسر اسعد من جبلة
المساعد اول سمیر عزیز محمد من جبلة
لمساعد اول اسامة جبور جبور من القرداحة
المساعد اول حارس زعیتر من الغاب
المساعد اول مطصفی المهر من الغاب
االمساعد اول سام شندیة من حمص
االمساعد اول علی رمضان من طرطوس الدریکیش
الرقيب مهند عصام الداهوك
الرقيب اول مضر العنزان…

http://all4syria.info/Archive/67941?wpmp_switcher=desktop

January 26th, 2013, 9:19 pm

 

revenire said:

Omen regime change has been part of the plan for a long time. Those US government documents are all public.

It’s been documented by Seymour Hersch and others. It is also stated Western policy. War on Syria is war on Iran is war on Hezbollah for geopolitical reasons. The West is more than happy to see 500,000 Syrians die (and so is Israel).

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/03/05/070305fa_fact_hersh?currentPage=all

http://byliner.com/seymour-m-hersh/stories/the-redirection

What changed? The policy has failed. Backfired. Benghazi. Mali. Reelection of Putin. Strength of the Syrian state (army, institutions, etc).

It isn’t so hard to understand.

I am not sure what you bring to the table but being a student of history isn’t it.

You’re just wrong and could not move an idea across this room with a forklift.

January 26th, 2013, 9:24 pm

 

Syrain said:

ريفنير لك انت ما بتحكي عربي، ؟ ماريغولدرن كان مظبوط حكيو انت إيراني ولا شو وضعك؟

January 26th, 2013, 9:45 pm

 

omen said:

article covers bush era rationales. even so, what it doesn’t take into account is that most of the world’s oil lies under shia dominated territory. with ksa reserves in decline, if the west doesn’t want to be cut out and caught empty handed, it needs shift tack & start remaking alliances now. flipping iraq from sunni to shia controlled is the beginning of that shift.

if the US wanted to diminish iran’s regional control, it would have unseated assad already. (i’ve already mentioned how invading iraq has strengthened iran rather than weaken it.)

obama has from the beginning balked at arming the rebels. he went around the gulf states and pressured them against arming the opposition. turkey this past spring lobbied to put up a no-fly zone and wanted to carve out a humanitarian corridor. clinton said no. the US sent up to two envoys who (besides put up a charade of fraudulent political process that enabled assad to continue his slaughter) failed to produce a plan that insisted for assad to step down.

the US putting up road blocks to arm the rebels and pressuring turkey against being proactive is strange way to try to unseat assad. if you think this regime change, then you live bizzaro world. even the french and brits, despite promises to do so, refuse to arm the opposition.

and this was all before benghazi or mali happened.

obama has continously given assad a greenlight to continue killing. even his redline against chemical weapons, which would have provided valid justification to intervene – turned out to be mushy as oatmeal. this administration denies chems were even used. the west has passed on every opportunity to follow a more muscular approach. now we find out even the UN is going to wind up funding the regime. a diabolical plot, i’m sure, to undermine assad.

January 26th, 2013, 10:29 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

SYRIAN
ظريفه فكرة العامي … حطو عالمترجم وشوف … الغبي رح يفوت بالحيط

January 26th, 2013, 10:55 pm

 

revenire said:

Omen without Obama’s support of regime change in Syria the SAA would have crushed the terrorists into tiny pieces long ago. The entire opposition is a project of the United States.

The funding, the arms, the rest all comes from abroad despite any fairy tales you might have read.

I am not in a Bizarro world or any other world than the real one.

The documentation – and not from the Syrian government alone – is all over the place.

Because US policy is schizophrenic doesn’t negate the fact that they are the ones pushing regime change. As I said, they counted on the SAA withering away and also were delusional over believing after Libya Russia would fall for “humanitarian intervention” again. It won’t happen.

I am well aware of how your associates see Obama saying chemical weapons is a red line actually giving Assad a green light to murder everyone. That may fly on Twitter or with like-minded people but it is not the case.

Aside from the already documented policy for regime changes my personal opinion, based on contacts my associates have in the US military, is that the United States will not risk World War III over Syria and going against Russia via a No-Fly Zone (started by Turkish actions – it is rather absurd to argue that the Patriots are there because Turkey is afraid) would draw in Iran/Hezbollah into a large regional war that could get out of hand very quickly.

I believe what you do is miss on the factional war in the US.

Assad isn’t going to lose this. That isn’t a remote possibility.

January 26th, 2013, 11:04 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

SNK
How many times have i told you, irony is the essence of sarcasm. Given the quality of your new masterpiece, I think you should settle for writing lyrics for Ali El-Deek.

January 26th, 2013, 11:13 pm

 

majedkhaldoun said:

Zoozoo
you never commented under my name. and you can not.

January 26th, 2013, 11:25 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

To SNK, …. what the heck, to all the retarded loyalists.

Again…

The boy is at it, again
No shame, and of course, not a strain
*****
The thugs proclaimed aloud
It’s the fool or we burn it, they vowed
With bombs and rockets they killed
And with tanks our homes they plowed
But the boy still cries in vain
He blames the victims…. the slain
For the boy is at it, again
With no shame, and no restraint
*****
The truth is clear and stark
But lies and deception is the mark
Of the loyalists, especially when they bark
Their integrity is down the drain
And of honesty, they own not a grain

****
Let the boy cry out in vain
To prepare for the worst of his pain
When we end the fool…and his reign

January 27th, 2013, 12:05 am

 

Visitor said:

Syrian 317,

There is a very good possibility.

I once estimated him to be on Central Time when he was trying to fool everyone to think he’s down under in Aussie.

Warren is in Toronto acording to his own revelations which is Eastern Standard Time with only one time difference with Central Time.

January 27th, 2013, 12:21 am

 

Ghufran said:

Leave the google-inspired slogans and face the truth, the troubles in countries that have already toppled existing regimes and the ones that trying to do that are due to three undeniable factors:
Oppression and agreesion bring only more oppression and aggression, this is one reason why the new revolutionaries are copying the behavior of old regimes.
Regional and foreign powers are making things worse,not better, for countries in transition, Arabs as usual are paying the price being toys instead of toy makers.
Third world countries deserve better governments and their citizens are entitled to humane and fair treatment but the process of getting out of the ugly label of being ” third world” can not be reduced to a mere violent uprising that will magically turn things around for the better. That is my sad and pessimistic personal comment on the tragic state of affairs in the troubled regions called The Middle East. Islamists are not the only reason for Egypt’s and Syria’s problems,among other countries, but those backward forces will make sure that the road for recovery will be longer and bloodier.

January 27th, 2013, 12:22 am

 

Ghufran said:

A late but telling confession by Hillary :
قالت وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية هيلاري كلينتون، في جلسة استماع أمام الكونغرس الأمريكي إن سقوط الأنظمة في دول شمال إفريقيا بفعل الربيع العربي أدى إلى حالة من الارتباك، وغياب الأمن، وزيادة التطرف المسلح في منطقة الشمال الإفريقي.
وأشارت إلى أن ذلك زاد من نطاق عمل المتطرفين ومستوى تسليحهم، إضافة إلى وصول قادة إلى السلطة ليست لهم خبرة في الحكم وإدارة الدولة.
وأضافت كلينتون أن “الثورات العربية أربكت ديناميكيات السلطة ومزقت قوات الأمن في أنحاء المنطقة”، داعية إلى استخلاص العبر من هجوم بنغازي.
if these words are translated into policies, the US is likely to have an even more cautious approach to the Syrian war,and other wars in the region, if Hillary is articulating a new thinking in Washington, the EU will follow, turkey and the GCC are not relevant now.

January 27th, 2013, 12:44 am

 

Syrialover said:

New post and thread started

January 27th, 2013, 1:25 am

 

omen said:

forgot to note, another tell from this administration has been the lack of monetary support. the nc was promised by the west all sorts of support of funding & arms if it managed to unite. where is it?

a rebel commander interviewed said dec was the first time he got a salary. expats have been a main source of support.

if regime change was US intent, this would not be the case.

the lack of funding & support that undermined secularists and created a vacuum that brought in extremists was intentional. israel for one benefits here.

documentation? the press have asserted a lot of things that later turned out not to be true. information nowadays is being manufactured. gov even has an office assigned to the task.

despite my pointing to all these negatives, i still think the opposition will manage to find a way to overcome.

January 27th, 2013, 1:42 am

 

omen said:

339. Ghufran: A late but telling confession by Hillary.

that’s hardly surprising. despite the rhetoric it espouses, the US has long preferred dictatorships over democracies. this is preferable for corporations’ bottom line.

January 27th, 2013, 2:13 am

 

revenire said:

Omen US policy is regime change. Look at it another way – Hitler’s policy was to subdue Russia. Hitler failed then and the Obama has failed now.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Libya could do NOTHING without US support.

January 27th, 2013, 2:51 am

 

Syria Comment » Archives » Syrian Agriculture Collapses; Al-Qaida ... | MAIB FTN Community Press Review 2013 | Scoop.it said:

[…] Economy: Syria's farming sector now in “tatters,” the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned Wednesday. Analysts said the growing privations could hurt the rebels as much as, or more than, the government of …  […]

January 28th, 2013, 3:05 am

 

Syrian Agriculture Collapses; Al-Qaida Thrives - Syria Comment | Global Refugee Reportage | Scoop.it said:

[…] (CNN) — When you think of refugees, you may think of huddled masses, tired and poor. But those aren't the only types of people fleeing Syria. “Members of the regime, little by little, are flaking off,” U.S.  […]

January 29th, 2013, 5:11 pm

 

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