I wonder whether the Syrian army is provided by the Phone GPS of these leaders by the US to get rid of them,.

It is obvious that something is being cooked and that nobody wants a situation where Islamist rebels remain in charge of large swath of territories, however, for any deal to work an alliance, as fragile as it may be, between yesterdays enemies has to be formed where Assad does not run in 2014 but elements from his regime and armed forces, considered acceptable to most, are given positions that can assure minorities and secular forces inside Syria, sadly enough many people asked for this 2.5 years ago !!
Like it or not, bad apples from both sides have to be removed if Syria is to stand up again. The current wins by the army and the regime are not enough to secure a long term victory, there is no way Assad regime can stay after all of this bloodshed and destruction regardless of how people decide to divide the blame.
Look at the latest attack in Harasta that took the lives of tens of Syrian officers and soldiers and tell me how such an attack can be prevented without some type of a deal between the fighting factions, foreign terrorists excluded.
(aksalser confirmed the news about saleh, the attack was reported here first, just saying)
This is a comment from akslaser:
بالرغم من أنني من صفوف الجيش السوري ولكن أترحم على قائد لواء التوحيد وأدعوا له بالرحمة الحرب للرجال وهو كان رجلا على الأقل لم يكن مثل باقي قادة الحر الذين بحثوا عن السلطة والمال والنفوذ أو مثل غيره الذين هربوا لتركيا كان قائدا ميدانيا يحب العمل والخير ولكن الحروب الأهلية تجعلنا نترحم على العدو قبل الصديق للأسف

Martyr al-Saleh is a great hero of Syria and its Revolution.

He will continue to live as inspiration for every Syrian while he lives eternally in the Highest level of Paradise.

Ass-head and his criminals on the other hand are a disgrace to humanity. 56 such criminals along with 4 high ranking Generals were destroyed today in Damascus and are now burning in hell due to their evil and due to the crimes they committied. Ass-head will soon join them.

Three military planes were also shot down today.

Twenty more criminals were also destroyed near Al-Safirah.

A complete column of criminals from both Hezboola and ass-head criminals was decimated while trying to invade Qalamoun.

The heroes of the revolution are advancing on all fronts.

[…] was the head of Liwaa al-Tawhid, prominent in the fight in the north. He was one of the founders of the faction, which now has more […]

The death toll from two years of fighting in Syria is approaching 70000. What does the violence mean for Christians in Syria? http://youtu.be/5huPcAZSyZw

AbelQader Saleh was on Qatar’s payroll. He was therefore supporting a Moslem Brotherhood vision of Syria.
With his death, Qatar gets another blow to its colonialist plan on Syria after its failures in Egypt and Tunisia.
Maybe it is time to also “decapitate” the Saudi funded Al Nusra and Al Qaeda.

Tawheed leaders Saleh and AbdulHakem Yasin used captives as suicide bombers.

Congratulations: turning the Arab Spring into an internal Arab war about “Islam” is exactly what the West was aiming at (but probably not the brainless Gulfies).
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/18/syria-revolution-civil-war-conflict-rivalry

Zionism – The Greatest Criminal Ruse of All Time

Welcome to Zionism…Now Bend Over (Part I)

Welcome to Zionist History…Now Bend Over (Part II)

From Yalla Souriya:

Syria – Progress Posts

Misinformation/Misconceptions of the Syrian Revolution

Misinformation – incorrect information
1. Syrian Revolution = civil war
2. FSA = all groups fighting the Assad regime
3. Rebels = all those fighting the Assad regime
4. Assad regime = Assad regime without Iran/Hezbollah
5. Iran/Hezbollah/etc. = regional impact entities

Misconceptions – as a result of misinformation
1. Syrian Revolution = civil war/internal religious conflict
2. FSA = Al Qaeda
3. Assad regime = safer alternative
4. Iran/Hezbollah/etc. = safer alternatives
5. Outcome = Assad regime or al Qaeda

Results of misconceptions
1. International involvement – not necessary or preferable
2. Individual involvement – not interested/not my problem

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/syria-progress-posts-misinformation-misconceptions-of-the-syrian/

Good riddance!

Akbar Palace,

Are you off the grid?

By the way, have you heard of secret nuke site 012?

Assadism is the greatest criminal ruse. Zionists and their 60 years of history pales in compare to Assad and most importantly Besho’s handy work over the past three years.

Congratulations to Assad and most importantly his agents of death for finally beating the Zionists at something.

Of course, the US is giving sensitive information to Iran, Russia and Assad to kill the leaders of FSA. This is a part of the deal with Iran: US helps finishing the rebels and Iran gives up nuclear program while conquest Syria and Lebanon until the Mediterranean Sea. Why US accepts this I do not know, but this is the deal.

This is the main aim from day 1. United States never wanted the egyptian and syrian revolutions to succeed. They acted as if the supported the rebels and the people´s legitimate demands but they never give real support.

Now this is the end of the last revolution of XXIst century.

[…] death therefore is very bad news for the opposition,”  Aron Lund, an independent Syria expert, wrote on the blog Syria Comment on Sunday. “Even if the front holds, Tawhid could be drained of cohesion, and end up losing sub-units and […]

Ziad,

What I find interesting about “Veterans Today”, is, like most anti-semitic websites, they don’t allow for open debate.

Which tells me a lot about their “cause”: it is an illogical obsession and they can’t back up their obsessive “facts”. If you took all the time and energy anti-semites spend on Jews and Israel, you could power a small city.

Heads-Up,

No. What is “secret Nuke Site 012”? If it’s “secret”, how do you know about it?

Sami,

Thanks. I don’t ask that people, especially arabs support Israel or even like Israel. Most probably don’t like Israel. My hope is that one day, Israel will be officially accepted as a legitimate state in the region like Jordan or any other arab country. I also hope that Palestine and Israel will sign an agreement and live peacefully together.

Part of getting the region on a path to peace, is getting rid of despots and kings and supreme leaders and allowing the people to elect their representatives.

Akbar Palace,

Nuke site 012 is secret in the sense Obama, IAEA and the so-called P5 know nothing about. Many others know about the site.

It exists right in the center of mullahstan.

If they sign the deal, then everything nuclear goes as scheduled as far as the mullahs are concerned, plus of course NO sanctions.

How do you like carpet sales bargaining techniques courtesy of so-called ‘moderate’ Rouhani?

Heads-Up,

Yeah, I heard news reports anti-regime Iranian exiles are stating such a facility exists. More ammunition to fuel the fire.

Iran has to be treated like Saddam Hussein. You either comply with the IAEA or you get sanctions. Right now it isn’t the UN doing the negotiations it is those 5 or 6 countries conducting the negotiations, and you are only as good as the weakest link.

They have to require 100% unfettered inspections and removal of all enrichment equipment that allows them to enrich up to nuclear weapons grade material.

…

The “pro democracy” “pro freedom” crowd is crying like crazy over a guy that:
-wanted to implement sharia law
-used captives as suicide bombers
-was taking money from authocratic dictators (just from another country so its ok i guess)
-brought the war to Aleppo, thus creating hundreds of thousands of new refugees and destroying the livelyhood of everyone.

SUCH A LOSS FOR SYRIA

The worse problema of Syria is religion. Was not for religion no russians, no mullahs, no imams, and no Assads stupid dictators would have been able to play with people´s feelings and beliefs. If people stopped following religion sects, prophets and names then Syria would become the Paradise.

What´s happening in Syria today is the punishment of the real and only God in the Universe against those who dare fight for a prophet, a book or a named religion. They all are heretics.

الميادين تواكب سيطرة الجيش السوري على قرية النقارين والمعامل والمحالج في محيط مطار حلب

ريف درعا عودة مئات العائلات النازحة

http://www.juancole.com/2013/11/children-blockade-continues.html

Israel is very hard to like if you’re an Arab or simply an American who understands he or she is subsidizing this with tax dollars.

Jarba is trying to justify why he now accepted to delay calling for the resignation of Bashar al Assad, a call that has been the open goal of the “revolution” and the main pre-condition to peace talks.
I wonder how he can justify his change of mind after refused the dialog for more than a year that cost 120,000 dead, millions of displaced and billions of destruction.

A Moment of Truth Looms for Syria

Here’s why the Syrian National Coalition is willing to join peace talks in Geneva next month.
By
Ahmad Jarba
Nov. 18, 2013 7:24 p.m. ET

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303531204579204200168065482

Next month, negotiations on the future of Syria are expected to take place in Geneva. We, the Syrian National Coalition—with members in Syria and abroad, allied against the Assad regime—made a commitment last week to attend the negotiations.

We intend to work toward the objectives set out last month in the “London 11” gathering of foreign ministers calling for a full transfer of power in Syria. Yet while it is vital to…

The most senior FSA commandor in Daraa is reported dead, waiting for confirmation:
مقتل قائد المجلس العسكري في درعا العقيد المنشق احمد فهد نعمة اثناء توجهه الى بلدة عتمان ليشارك ب “” معركة عتمان بوابة درعا “”

Another monster killer loyalist slave of the Israeli criminal regime bites the dust.

Good riddance.

صفحة لشبيحة بشار على الفيس بوك تعلن عن مقتل

اللواء بدون شرف محمود علي حسن ” أبو يعرب ” بتفجير إدارة المركبات بحرستا البارحة ..

سلم على حافيض مع ستين جهنم

ارتفاع أعداد قتلى وفطايس “‫#‏عملية_المركبات‬” إلى 150

قالت واحدة من الصفحات التابعة للنظام والمختصة بنشر الأخبار العسكرية إنه وردتها حصيلة جديدة لمن سقطوا في تفجير إدارة المركبات في ‫#‏حرستا‬ بريف دمشق، موضحة أن عددهم وصل إلى 150 قتيلا.

إلى جهنــــــــم وبئس المصير

خاص – يقال .نت

هنا ضاحية بيروت الجنوبية ..
هنا الجنوب ..
هنا البقاع ..

هنا عقر دار حزب الله حيثُ بات نعي وتشييع “شُهداء الواجب الجهادي” شبه يومي.

وقد لُوحظ مع بداية تشرين الثاني ارتفاع وتيرة النعي والتشييع بشكل لافت في مناطق الحزب.
19حزبياً بينهم 4 قياديين أعلن الحزب عن مَقتلهم دون ذكر مكان مقتلهم مُكتفيا بعبارة “استشهد أثناء قيامه بالواجب الجهادي المقدس”
وبحسب العدد المعلن عنه من قبل الحزب فقد جرى توثيق مقتل 19 عنصرا بينهم 4 قياديين في الفترة ما بين بداية تشرين الثاني ولغاية اعداد هذا التقرير وهم:
1. القيادي حسن محمد مرعي وهو ملقب بـ ” أبو ربيع ” من النبطية!
2. القيادي علي شبيب محمود والملقب بـ”ابو تراب الرويس” من بلدة لبّايا في البقاع الغربي.
3. القيادي حسن نعمة ملقب بـ”باقر”
4. القيادي موسى أحمد صقر من الهرمل
5. كمال علي حدرج والملقب بجعفر وهومن بلدة الغسانية الجنوبية
6. حسين علي علوش من دير الزهراني
7. محمد مهدي قانصو ملقب بـ”أبو زهراء” من بلدة كفرمان
8. حسن أحمد بلاغي ” أبو صادق “من بلدة معركة الجنوبية
9. حسن نعمة – باقر من بلدة محرونة الجنوبية
10. أكرم صادق حوراني من بلدة عين بعال الجنوبية
11. حسن خضر مصطفى من بلدو مجدلون قضاء بعلبك
12. علي الشيخ رضا حجازي
13. محمد أحمد سيف الدين والملقب بـ”ساجد” من تحويطة الغدير –شويفات
14. جعفر حسين هاشم من بلدة عين التينة – البقاع الغربي
15. محمد علي جمال خراساني والملقب بـ”باسل”
16. حسن يحيى مشهدية والملقب بـ”قرار”
17. علي حسين ناصر
18. محمد زغيب
19. الياس أحمد حيدر
هذه هي الأسماء المعلنة ل19 قتيلا في أقل من 18 يوما.

العالمون بما يحصل في سوريا، يؤكدون أن وتيرة النعي ستتواصل على ما هي عليه لا بل سوف ترتفع.

ويلفت هؤلاء الى أن نسبة الجرحى هي عالية نسبيا، وتصل الى 7 أضعاف لعدد القتلى.

ويعتقد هؤلاء بأن النبرة العالية لحزب الله، في الأسابيع القليلة الماضية، تتصل مباشرة بصراخ الألم الخارج من منازل اللبنانيين الذين ينخرط أبناؤهم في جيش حزب الله!
http://youkal.net/2012-12-02-14-05-23/24-25/33378-بين-1و17-تشرين-ثاني

حزب الله يفقد 20 عنصراً خلال 24 ساعة معظمهم في القلمون
المجموعة: تحت الضوء نشر بتاريخ الإثنين, 18 تشرين2/نوفمبر 2013 12:54
قتل أكثر من 20 عنصر من “حزب الله” خلال الساعات الـ24 الماضية داخل الاراضي السورية وسقط معظمهم في منطقة القلمون في ريف دمشق، التي تشهد اشتباكات عنيفة منذ ليل الجمعة الماضي.

واشارت المعلومات الامنية إلى أن القتلى سيشيعون في مجموعات على ان تكون كل منها مكونة من أربعة الى خمسة قتلى وان التشييع بدأ بهذا الشكل منذ الامس.

http://youkal.net/2012-12-02-14-05-23/24-25/33357-حزب-الله-يفقد-20-عنصراً-خلال-24-ساعة-معظمهم-في-القلمون

Abdul Ameer Almajr:
لنكن شجعانا ونقول، علينا ان لا نلوم اسرائيل على طلبها منا الاعتراف بها “دولة يهودية”، لاننا انفسنا صرنا نقسم بعضنا على اسس دينية وطائفية، بعد ان هاجر معظم المسيحيين وغيرهم من ابناء الديانات القديمة في هذه المنطقة، لانهم باتوا “رعايا” غير مرغوب فيهم في بلاد المسلمين! ثم صار البعض يعمل على تنقية المناطق طائفيا، ولا ندري ماذا يخبئ لنا المستقبل بعدان اصبحت رقابنا بايدي الجهلة والمأجورين، الكبار منهم والصغار على حد سواء!
Let us be brave and say we should not blame Israel for its demand to be recognized as a Jewish state since we ourselves are divided along religious and sectarian lines.
Most Christians and followers of other ancient religions in our region have left after becoming unwanted citizens in Muslim countries. Some of us are also ” purifying” their areas by displacing other sects.
Out future is uncertain after our necks are now in the hands of the ignorants and missionaries, small and big.

Don Walton of The Lincoln Nebraska Journal, does NOT recognize a nun when he sees one! How sad 🙁

Catholic figure [nun] warns of [supporting] Islamic extremists in Syria

http://journalstar.com/news/local/catholic-figure-warns-of-islamic-extremists-in-syria/article_bee43c09-f45e-530a-ac63-7efd3adfcfcc.html

Russia blames militants for aid problems

Lavrov made the remarks in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper on Monday.

The number of different militant groups in Syria exceeds 100, “including hardcore terrorists who have been put on relevant lists” linked to al-Qaeda, he said, adding these groups often engage in heavy clashes with the so-called Free Syrian Army and other rival militant groups.

“Humanitarian aid becomes bounty in which they are interested. At this stage, the key problems in its delivery are being created by militants,” the Russian Foreign Minister added.

The Syria opposition has declared that it will attend the planned peace conference if the government opens humanitarian corridors for them.

“The fact that the opposition, having agreed to attend the talks, is now setting some kind of humanitarian breakthrough as a condition for its participation is somewhat surprising and causes concern,” Lavrov also said.

“As practice shows, in nearly all cases, such corridors are used to transport not only humanitarian aid, but also weapons, money, and other forms of support to opponents of the regime,” he added.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/11/19/335417/russia-blames-militants-for-aid-problems/

Arms supplies to Syrian rebels hinder peacemaking efforts – Iranian Foreign Ministry

At a press conference in Moscow after talks with Russian Foreign Ministry officials and a Syrian government delegation, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian expressed regret that some counties continued to provide support and supply weapons to the “extremist forces and terrorists” in Syria, who had “made the people and government of Syria as well as opposition supporters their target”.

The diplomat called for an immediate halt to arms flows coming into Syria as the necessary condition for the Geneva-2 conference on a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.

The international community is moving closer towards the Geneva-2 international conference on a peace settlement in Syria, but the Syrian opposition is still not fully prepared for it, IHossein Amir-Abdollahian said after talks with Russian Foreign Ministry officials and Syrian government representatives in Moscow.

“It looks like we are getting closer towards Geneva-2,” he said. At the same time, he said that terrorist groups that appeared in Syria as a result of the conflict had made the people and government of Syria as well as opposition supporters their target.

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_19/Arms-supplies-to-Syrian-rebels-hinder-peacemaking-efforts-Iranian-Foreign-Ministry-9085/

Information about homemade chemical weapons in Syria were not denied – Lavrov

Conclusions of Russian experts that chemical weapons in Syria were home made were not denied, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with ‘Nezavisimaya Gazeta’.

He reminded that at the request of Damascus Russian experts investigated the incident with the use of chemical weapons in Aleppo on March 19.

“Russia has announced that our analysis indicated that these components came from handicraft industry. No one could argue with that. Thus I would like to underline that Russia has never tried to shield anyone officially or give someone else “carte blanche”, said Lavrov.

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_19/Arms-supplies-to-Syrian-rebels-hinder-peacemaking-efforts-Iranian-Foreign-Ministry-9085/

I hope some russian and iranian intelligence have got really killed in Beirut explosion. Let´s hope it is not another false flag operation done by iranian HA agents to unifiy chiites position inside Lebanon like operations done last summer in Beirut.

Unfortunately there are reports about civilians and children killed. Most probably Assad and Iran behind it.

Lavrov Reveals Amended Draft Circulated at “Last Moment”
http://mycatbirdseat.com/2013/11/lavrov-reveals-amended-draft-circulated-last-moment/

The rebels are losing big on battleground in Syria.

It is over and they know it.

That is eating themselves alive from inside. Hence we are witnessing the desperate shelling on civilian districts in Damascus and suicide bombing in Beirut.

Does that kind of desperation change anything?

Well, you have the answer.

Those so-called senior rebel figures are getting eliminated. If this becomes a pattern, it is a profound blows to the rebels.

And that is what I call Chopping off the snake heads.

27. Ghufran said:

Abdul Ameer Almajr:
لنكن شجعانا ونقول، علينا ان لا نلوم اسرائيل على طلبها منا الاعتراف بها “دولة يهودية”، لاننا انفسنا صرنا نقسم بعضنا على اسس دينية وطائفية،

هذا هو بالضبط المبدأ الذي أوجده العراب برنارد لويس ليفي لناطقي الضاد غير الشجعان ! انها مهزلة طالبوا الشجاعة ! !

UN Economic and Finance Committee Demands Israel End Occupation of Arab Lands, Including Syrian Golan, and Cease Violations International Law
http://www.globalresearch.ca/un-economic-and-finance-committee-demands-israel-end-occupation-of-arab-lands-including-syrian-golan-and-cease-violations-international-law/5358579?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=un-economic-and-finance-committee-demands-israel-end-occupation-of-arab-lands-including-syrian-golan-and-cease-violations-international-law

Read this and wonder at the sanity of ZIAD, APPLE_MINI and others who fantasise about Assad staying on in power:

“What to expect in a post-conflict Syria under Assad”

http://adandachi.com/istanbul/what-to-expect-in-a-post-conflict-syria-under-assad/#more-74

And please, don’t bother barking the hypocritical Assadist propaganda line about the only alternative being al Qaeda.

As somebody pointed out the other day, Bashar Assad will be going down as the most disastrous failure in the history of the Arab world.

He destroys a country to keep his control of it, then loses and leaves anyway.

APPLE_MINI,

Please give us your thoughts on where even $1 would come from for recovery, reconstruction and investment in Syria while Assad remains?

(Silence will be taken as an indication that you dismiss the issue as not important enough to think about).

SyriaLover,

Don’t expect any real replies from any of the agents of death on this blog. They will juts slither and spin away any facts that they don’t deem is helping their dear leader. Especially the piece of assad excrement that likes to deny massacres, this agent of death is only superseded by one other agent of death in their callous disregard to Syrians on this blog.

Guess Where the Hamas Head Muqawama’s Grand-Daughter is Getting Medical Care NewZ

http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-leaders-granddaughter-treated-israel-125630629.html

Congratulation to dog-poop loyalists. Dog-poop athad has finally valued you rather handsomely.

One Loyalist= 2 Goats.

SL

I point out that the so-called “revolution” whose exclusive goal was to topple Bashar al Assad to allow the creation of another Sunni Islamic state friendly to Israel…

“will be going down as the most disastrous failure in the history of the Arab world.”

39. Syrialover

Don’t worry. If the Syrian goverment has been able to provide basic services for 3 years despite these destructions, it shows that it is smart enough to get the country back on its feet.
The UAE ( and possibly Qatar) will rush to get reconstruction businesses and besides Iran and Russia, many rich European countries, such as Germany have already offered to contribute.
The Syrian goverment will never sell its country to anyone and will not become dependent on the the IMF and the World bank. It may go slowly but it will never submit to the string attached “help” that the EU and the USA always provide to ‘developping’ countries.

Worry more about expats such as you who may have to live in exile for the rest of their lives.

Bowing before the inquisitors on Syria

One of the problems for the left is the desperate need of too many of its best and brightest to maintain legitimacy “in the mainstream”. In practice, those who could be advancing radical new agendas or ways of thinking to deal with the catastrophic problems we face end up spending too much time watching their backs, toning down their message and trying to promote their careers.

Rather than forging broad coalitions with others on the left, they bow before inquisitions – and not only inquisitions initiated from the left itself (bad enough), but inquisitions imposed on them from those with reactionary agendas.

So it has proved with the Stop the War conference in London on Nov 30, which was designed to ward off the pressures for more military “intervention” in Syria.

Two of the biggest-name speakers due to attend, Jeremy Scahill and Owen Jones, both pulled out after a campaign of intimidation from the “humanitarian (sic) interventionists”, led by the Pulse website. The not-so-concealed agenda of the interventionists, even of the fork-tongued variety at Pulse, is a military attack on Syria as a way to … well, I’m not sure even they know what they would achieve by dropping bombs indiscriminately on Syria. (And if they still believe in precision bombing, they obviously haven’t been following the news of our earlier interventions.)

The supposed justification for this campaign of intimidation was the participation of a nun based in Syria, Mother Agnes. (Actually Pulse simply don’t want a Stop the War conference in any form but they don’t have the honesty to admit that.) Mother Agnes is supposedly a supporter of Bashar Assad, though no one seems to be able to offer any definitive proof. We’re just supposed to rely on Pulse’s word, it seems.

Mother Agnes has now pulled out, in what looks like an effort to save the conference.

Rather than producing clear reasons for why Mother Agnes’ views were beyond the pale and why they could not participate were she present, Scahill and Jones simply ran for cover, fearful that Pulse and the Syria war cheerleaders would be able to exploit the mainstream agenda to make them look bad by association.

Scahill and Jones have not done something principled or progressive here. They are trying to stay “onside” with the corporate media, the main political parties and the Syria war-mongers. In short, they are looking out for their careers.

Not that one can necessarily blame them. But we should be honest about identifying what is going on here. They are looking to keep their credibility within a wider political system that, they otherwise seem to acknowledge, is deeply compromised and corrupt. In this episode, they are not chiefly worrying about countering moves towards an attack or saving Syrian lives, even while they claim this is exactly what their participation is about.

http://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2013-11-18/bowing-before-the-inquisitors-on-syria/

Akbar Palace,

Do you think it is time to abandon the US ship before disaster strikes?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-israel-need-to-agree-on-an-iran-deal/2013/11/18/a60f934a-507d-11e3-9e2c-e1d01116fd98_story.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/11/18/the-axis-of-hope/

Syrian Troops Capture Key Town Near Lebanon Border
DAMASCUS, Syria November 19, 2013

Syrian government troops captured a key town near the Lebanese border from rebels on Tuesday, days after launching a broad offensive in the mountainous western region, state media and activists said.

The attack on Qara began Friday morning in what appeared to be an operation aimed at cutting off rebel supply lines to Lebanon.

The Qara route is particularly important to rebels entrenched in suburbs around Damascus, and also lies on the main north-south highway linking the capital to government strongholds along the Mediterranean coast.

State TV reported that troops are now “in full control of Qara after wiping out all terrorist units in it.” The Syrian government refers to all armed opposition fighters as terrorists.

A reporter for the private Lebanon-based satellite channel Al-Mayadeen who is embedded with the Syrian army reported from inside the town that troops had begun dismantling mines and explosives planted by the rebels. The channel showed soldiers on patrol searching for booby traps.

Rebels have responded with shelling into Damascus, with mortar rounds hitting almost every day over the past two weeks leaving dozens of people dead or wounded.

The state-run news agency SANA reported that a mortar round hit the wall of the capital’s historic Ummayad Mosque in the old quarter of the Damascus, causing material damage but no casualties.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/syrian-troops-capture-key-town-lebanon-border-20934291

Sunni Saudi Arabia fear, hatred and impotence toward Shia Iran’s growing regional and international power manifest themselves in Lebanon by cowardly terrorists acts .

Double bombing kills at least 23, including diplomat, near Iranian embassy in Beirut

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/double-bombing-kills-at-least-10-near-iranian-embassy-in-beirut/2013/11/19/2cbee066-50fc-11e3-9ee6-2580086d8254_story.html

BEIRUT —Twin explosions struck near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut on Tuesday, security officials said, killing nearly two dozen people in what appeared to be the latest in a string of sectarian bombings linked to the war in neighboring Syria.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 23 people were killed and 147 were wounded. Iran’s state news agency, citing information from Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi, said the dead included Iran’s cultural attaché, Ibrahim Ansari
The blasts hit the Bir Hassan area of the Lebanese capital, 50 to 100 yards away from the embassy, said one military official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The first explosion took place outside Roknabadi’s residence, Iran’s state news agency said. Images from the scene showed bodies lying in the street, and the twisted burning wreckage of cars, while medics rushed the wounded away on stretchers.

بعد إحكام السيطرة الكاملة على بلدة قارة بريف دمشق مئات السيارات على الحدود اللبنانية السورية في طريق الرجعة إلى البلدة

نور حمزة

ﺭﻭﻳﺘﺮﺯ: ﻛﺘﺎﺋﺐ ﻋﺒﺪﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﻋﺰﺍﻡ ﺍﻟﻤﺮﺗﺒﻄﺔ ﺑﺎﻟﻘﺎﻋﺪﺓ ﺗﻌﻠﻦ ﻣﺴﺆﻭﻟﻴﺘﻬﺎ ﻋﻦ ﺍﻟﻬﺠﻮﻡ ﺍﻟﻤﺰﺩﻭﺝ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻟﺴﻔﺎﺭﺓ ﺍﻹﻳﺮﺍﻧﻴﺔ ﻓﻲ ﺑﻴﺮﻭﺕ

وزارة الصحة اللبنانية تقول أن حصيلة التفجيرين الإرهابيين في الجناح حتى الساعة 12 بلغت 23 شهيدا و147 جريحا

المنطقـة مقبلـة على تحـولات كبــرى

المشهد السوري اليوم

الجيش العربي السوري ومعه حزب الله وكتائب أبو الفضل العباس وكتائب الحرس الثوري الإيراني يتحرّكون اليوم على كامل التراب السوري في كل الإتجاهات، يقضمون الأرض والمدن والقرى بقوة وسرعة وثبات، ويقطفون أرواح التكفيريين فرادا وجماعات بعد أن سقطت كل الخطوط الحمر في ريف دمشق وحلب وإدلب والقلمون وغيرها.. وساعة نهاية معركة حلب ستكون ساعة إعلان الإنتصار التاريخي والإستراتيجي الكبير الذي تحدث عنه سماحة السيد..

هل سمعتم أحدا في الغرب يحتج على ما يقوم به الجيش العربي السوري وحلفائه في مناطق كانت تعتبر خطا أحمرا لمعادلة التوازنات على الأرض بين النظام السوري وما كان يسمى بـ”المعارضة المسلحة”؟..

ألم يقل ‘جون كيري’ لتاجر المخدرات وعميل السعودية المدعو ‘الجربا’ بمناسبة مؤتمر أصدقاء سورية الأخير في لندن، عندما عبّر له ‘الجربا’ عن مخاوفه من يأثر الحسم العسكري للجيش العربي السوري على مؤتمر جنيف للتسوية السياسية في سورية؟.. فأجابه ‘كيري’: “اصمت يا ولد..هذه لعبة كبار”.

هذا يعني أن الرئيس السوري حصل على الضوء الأخضر لسحق فلول الإرهابيين دون رحمة.. لن يرفع أحد الصوت بعد اليوم ليقول أن “بشار الأسد يقتل شعبه”، فالإعلام العالمي تكفّل بتسويق حقيقة ما يفعله الإرهاب الوهابي بسورية من قتل وذبح وخراب وإغتصاب.. الغرب مجمع اليوم على أن الخطر الذي يتهدد العالم هو الإرهاب، وأن لا أحد يستطيع سحقه سوى الجيش العربي السوري وحلفائه.. والأسد سيتوج قريبا كأول رئيس في العالم انتصر على الإرهاب فيما فشل الإتحاد السوفياتي وأمريكا في ذلك من قبل.. نحن في الربع ساعة الأخيرة من الحرب.. قالها نصر الله، صدّق السعودي أم لم يصدّق، هذا شأن يعنيه ويتحمل وحده مرارة تبعاته.

تباشير انتصار بمساحة المنطقة

سماحته قال كذلك: “إذا كنتم تنتظرون أن تنتصروا في سورية فلن تنتصروا… وإذا حصل تفاهم نووي ففريقنا سيكون أقوى وأفضل حالاً محلياً وإقليمياً”.. هذا كلام كبير وخطير يضمر في كيميائه معادلات كبيرة وجديدة رْسمت للمنطقة ولا يعلم سرّها إلا ‘أوباما’ و ‘بوتين’ و’روحاني’، وبالتالي، الأسد وحسن نصر الله تبلّغوا تفاصيلها دون شك، فيما لا زالت إسرائيل وحلفائها من عربان الزيت آخر من يعلم..

صحيح أن أمراء الوهابية هم أكثر من يعانون ويصرخون غضبا ويأنون ألما، بعد أن استشعروا قرب الهزيمة، وأن في الجو رائحة مؤامرة أمريكية روسية إيرانية تحاك ضدهم، وأن هناك معادلات جديدة ترسم على حسابهم، لكنهم يجهلون تفاصيلها.. حتى نتنياهو لم يكتشف بعد أسرارها وسيذهب إلى موسكو للإجتماع بالقيصر عساه يعرف منه ما الذي يحدث في إدارة ‘أوباما ‘ بواشنطن.. إنها حقا مهزلة.. هل تحوّل ‘حسين أوباما’ من “سلفي وهابي” إلى “شيعي معتدل”؟.. لا أحد يعلم، لكنه بالتأكيد قبل بالخطة الروسية لإعادة توزيع النفوذ وجغرافيا المصالح في المنطقة بالتعاون والتشاور والتوافق بعيدا عن الصراع والتصادم بمنطق عقلية الحرب الباردة.. وبالتالي، فالمراهنون على التناقض بين أمريكا وروسيا إنما يراهنون على الوهم.. هذا ما قلناه من قبل وبدأ يظهر واضحا جليّا اليوم.

http://www.mepanorama.com/376976/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D9%80%D8%A9-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%80%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%80%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D9%83%D8%A8%D9%80%D9%80%D8%B1%D9%89/

Fares Al-Shihabi is not mourning the death of Saleh:

فـارس الـشـهـابـي كـتـب تـعـلـيـقـاً تـحـتَ نـعـي عـبـد الـقـادر الـصـالح)..

“انت تمجد خائن رخيص كل ما فعله هو احتلال حلب لمعاقبتها على عدم وقوفها مع ما يسمى زوراً و بهتاناً بالفورة كما اعترف هو بلسانه اكثر من مرة؟! هذا الغزو المغولي للغرباء الحاقدين ادى الى دمار حلب و نهبها و تشريد شعبها و انت تصفق لهم؟! الله محيي الجيش العربي السوري الذي نضع ف…يه كل ثقتنا و دعمنا ليخلصنا من امثالكم و يحرر سورية منكم لتعود اجمل و اقوى.” فارس الشهابي

ثمّ أكمل في تعليق لاحق:
“سنرى من سيندم طردتكم ارض الكنانة و قريباً ستطردكم تركيا لانكم اخترتم خيانة وطنكم. هذا النافق اعترف في اكثر من مناسبة على غزوه لحلب لمعاقبتها و ليس لتحريرها! اي لتدميرها و نهبها و تشريد اهلها و انتم تدافعون عنه!! فعلاً انكم غارقون في خيانتكم و في حقدكم لشعبكم و انا افتخر بوقوفي مع جيش بلادي و مع الرئيس الدكتور بشار الاسد ضد امثالكم. و بالمناسبة لقد استفدت كثيراً من ذلك فرصيد كرامتي و عزتي وصل للمليارات اما بالنسبة للاموال التي تعبدونها انتم فلم يبقى لي شئ منها بعد ان نهبها جحش مارع و لص عندان و الحمد لله. سنراكم قريباً تتوسلون العفو و الرحمة.”فارس الشهابي
ثـمّ تـابـع:
“و الاخ رأفت انت كنت عاقلاً و اليوم اصبحت ارهابياً ملتحياً تدعو لذبح الناس الذين تختلف معهم في الرأي!
و انا احترمتك في السابق و لكني الان اريد للدولة و للقانون ان يعاقبك على تحريضك و دعمك للارهاب.”

Shihabi and many in business class in Aleppo lost billions when rebels bombed and looted their factories and sold equipments for pennies on the dollar to Turkish Merchants.
Saleh was a Turkman from a humble background, many insist that he was clean and fair but others see him as a thief and a terrorist.

Do you think it is time to abandon the US ship before disaster strikes?

Heads-Up,

Thank you for the articles. They were good, and the first one was a WP editorial.

Like you, I am disappointed with the Obama administration on many levels including the important ones: economy and foreign policy.

I am more angry with those that voted for this professional “community organizer” knowing full well he wasn’t qualified and Obama’s friends and acquaintances were an excellent indication of who he was: a liberal who wants to steal from the rich and give to the poor, a nanny state chieftain, and an appeaser on foreign policy issues.

I trust those responsible countries to do what they deem necessary. I trust Israel will “pull the trigger” at the last possible moment. They’ve done it before.

مباشرة من قارة المحررة

Background of the Saudi-Israeli Alliance

From the very beginning of the Zionist movement, the Saudi royal family (in the person of the founder to his sons-successors) took a practically indifferent, if not outright sympathetic, look at the project of the Jewish state. King Abdul-Aziz was after all a mere puppet of the British colonial powers, and he did not lose time to prove his credentials (as an obedient puppet) to his masters. Once oil revenues started rolling in (much to the coffers of the American and British oil companies), the Saudi king used his financial wherewithal to influence Arab politics in a manner that suited the interests of his Western sponsors. In the Palestinian revolt of 1936-1939, the king was one of the Arab leaders who exerted much pressures on Hajj Amin Husayni to end the revolt and to allow the British government to prove its good will. The truce that ended the first phase of the revolt in 1937 was crucial in allowing the Zionists and the British to gain momentum and to put an end to Palestinian aspirations by instigating intra-Palestinian feuds: the revolt quickly degenerated into a mini-Palestinian civil war. The role of the Hashemites and of the Nashshashibi family (both of whom were on the payroll of the Zionists) was crucial in those schemes.

And then there is the suspicious and hitherto unrevealed role of St. John Philby, the adviser of King Abdul-Aziz who had extensive dealings with Zionist leaders. His biographer talked about a plan to bribe the Saudi king on behalf of the Zionists. Not much is known about the plan, and whether negotiations conducted to that effect by Philby had the approval or the authorization of the Saudi king.

The Saudi king did not spend much time worrying about the plight of the Palestinians. He was more interested in cementing his relations, first with the British and then with the American government, which he did with the FDR administration, thus establishing one of the longest “strategic” relationship between the US and a foreign country (an extreme dictatorship at that, but that has never been an anomaly for US foreign policy).

A few years after Israel was founded (and not with any role for the Saudi royal family and the token support that all pro-British Arab potentates provided to the Palestinian cause), Gamal Abdel-Nasser emerged as the pan-Arab leader and rival to the House of Saud. The Arab Cold War began, and the House of Saud were from the very beginning in the same camp with Israel and Western powers. It will be a long time before Western powers (who are obsessed with the protection of Gulf dictatorships) release the relevant documents relating to the role of House of Saud in Western Middle East plots and conspiracies.

Unholy Israel – Saudi Arabia Alliance

Israel and Saudi Arabia are rogue states writ large. They’re two of the world’s worst. They deplore democratic values. They spurn rule of law principles. They commit horrendous human and civil rights abuses. They’re responsible for daily crimes against humanity.

The Arab official’s name wasn’t mentioned. It’s believed to be Saudi Prince Bandar ibn Sultan. Representing his government, he’s very much involved in Washington’s war on Syria. So is Israel.

Bandar’s visit broke a decades long taboo. It marks the first known time a Saudi official visited Israel. It’s believed no others did so earlier.

Bandar did it covertly, not openly. He came to discuss interests both countries share. They include toppling Assad and confronting Iran.

Civilians in Beirut are paying the price for the evilness of HA and its Iranian benefactor. HA participation in the killing of Syrians is the reason beyond the bombing in Beirut today. It appears that more to come as long as Iran continues its aggression against the world.

Iran republican guard and Hezb Zbelleh lebanese iranian mercenaries taking control of syrian Qara town. Syrian rebels losing ground. Experts calculate Syria could be empty of syrians in two years time. Syrian population would change from 75 % sunni before revolution to become almost 40 % sunni after civil war.

http://youkal.net/2012-12-02-14-05-23/24-26/33446-القوات-النظامية-تسيطر-على-بلدة-قارة

No more needed to add to her file:

Mother Agnes has pulled out of the Stop the War conference. And yet she would have fitted in so well

“Mother Agnes is the Syrian equivalent of one of Hitler’s brown priests. She is on the record as saying that the video of the August 21 sarin gas attack on Ghouta in Damascus by the regime of Bashar al-Assad was staged by the Syrian opposition. In her 50-page dossier on the atrocity, she claimed that the corpses of gassed children that appear in the video were not really corpses at all, but rather ‘seem mostly sleeping’ and ‘under anaesthesia’. Mother Agnes told me:

‘Vidéos no. 1-6-11-13 and others related are fake, staged and prefabricated. Saying this I do NOT incriminate anybody and do not innocent anybody. I have no expertise in the matter of chemical attacks but in the videos that are proposed to our visioning I have detected sufficient evidences, especially that some victims are children abducted from the Lattakia mountains.’

In other words, Mother Agnes is at best a crackpot and at worst an apologist for one of Assad’s worst atrocities. As Peter Bouckaer of Human Rights Watch put it, ‘There’s just no basis for the claims advanced by Mother Agnes’ and ‘no evidence to indicate any of the videos were fabricated’.”

ttp://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/11/mother-agnes-has-pulled-out-of-the-stop-the-war-conference-and-yet-she-would-have-fitted-in-so-well/

Geneve 2 should deal about the dilema of Assad becoming the next president of the New Republic of Syria or the King of the New Kingdom of Syria instead.

Geneve 3 should deal about the imposible right of return of syrians living in refugee camps outside Syria and compensations for their expropiated lands.

JUERGEN

I did not follow the story of Mother Agnes when it happened because I was very busy at that time.

Now I look news related and I find out Mother Agnes is a MAN disguised of nun. It is frankly a terrifying image. I bet he is a shabiha from Assad.

As I christian I feel sorrow about this despicable people calling themselves christians. Really sad. If it is not a shabiha then it is satan dressed as a nun supporting the killing of innocent people.

Canada is justified not recognize the Syrian opposition

Canada ‘at odds’ with allies on Syrian rebels as new report cites abuse

By The Canadian Press November 19, 2013 3:01 PM
http://www.canada.com/news/Canada+odds+with+allies+Syrian+rebels+report+cites+abuse/9185308/story.html

OTTAWA – A newly released document says Canada is “at odds” with key allies by not recognizing the Syrian opposition.
…
Tuesday’s report follows a briefing note on the Syrian crisis for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird that reiterates Canada’s opposition to recognizing the Syrian rebel groups.

The July memo was obtained under access to information, and says Canada’s decision not to recognize Syrian rebels has cost it membership in an 11-country group that is trying to find a diplomatic solution to the long-running civil war.

Juergen

Talking about Christian religious figures willingly involved in Syria, any news of Father del’Oglio, the stauncher Christian supporter of the rebels?

Was he killed or he converted to Islam?

ZOO

DellOglio was killed by criminals on account of Assad Mafia. They have infested Raqqa región with criminals from Abou Ghreib prison and have orders to kill any foreigner in the war lines. Other journalists have disappeared in the last months. All of them killed by Assad.

Assad Mafia is the regime and the opposition, the security forces and the terrorists, they are all in one. This is the climax of Machiavelli work.

It happened in Lebanon, then in Iraq, now in Syria. Russia and Iran always behind it. Congratulations.

When I was in Syria I knew the regime was a big Shxxxt but now I realize all I could imagine was nothing comapred to reality.

ZOO I imagine you are an alawite, otherwise nothing make sense.

Or probably working for Russia or Iranian services?

Syria – Progress Posts

Misinformation/Misconceptions of the Syrian Revolution

Misinformation – incorrect information

1. Syrian Revolution = civil war
2. FSA = all groups fighting the Assad regime
3. Rebels = all those fighting the Assad regime
4. Assad regime = Assad regime without Iran/Hezbollah
5. Iran/Hezbollah/etc. = regional impact entities

Misconceptions – as a result of misinformation

1. Syrian Revolution = civil war/internal religious conflict
2. FSA = Al Qaeda
3. Assad regime = safer alternative
4. Iran/Hezbollah/etc. = safer alternatives
5. Outcome = Assad regime or al Qaeda

Results of misconceptions

1. International involvement – not necessary or preferable
2. Individual involvement – not interested/not my problema
3. People is stupid and Assad is eternal

“Israel and Saudi Arabia are rogue states writ large. They’re two of the world’s worst. They deplore democratic values. They spurn rule of law principles. They commit horrendous human and civil rights abuses. They’re responsible for daily crimes against humanity.”

As opposed to Bashar and his pack of hyenas that love democratic values by shooting at unarmed protestors. They do not spurn the rule of law but actually embrace it by torturing political dissidents to death. They hardly commit any massacres Houla, Qubair, Darayya, Jisr Shgour, Banyas, Bayda and many more don’t count and as such Syria is seen as an exemplary model for protecting Human and civil rights. They are not responsible for their daily horrendous acts of state sponsored terrorism against its own people but rather their actions of napalming schools, shooting SCUDs at University Students, and dropping barrel bombs on bread lines is seen as championing the cause of spreading peace and stability in the region.

It is rather telling how these agents of death on this blog just love human rights by embracing a lunatic dictator, not to mention their faked indignation towards a man who served Syria and embraced Syrians as if he was from there (something these Syrians do not even know the meaning of) which they have deemed him in the past with the worst of contempt as a lunatic Father. You are not even worth the dust off of Father Paolo’s shoes!

I think it is a waste of time trying to argue whether it was the Mossad, Al-Qaeda or Bandar who were behind the terrorist attack in Beirut, to me those evil forces are in the same camp.
There is a lot of anxiety in Israel and KSA about a possible agreement with Iran, there is also a huge disappointment that the US did not attack Syria, so, naturally, forces whose political future depends on keeping tension with Iran alive and destroying what is left of the Syrian state will be eager to stir trouble and spread terror and chaos, I expect more of that in the coming weeks but this will be like a wounded bird dance, it is unethical that people in the region are not treated like dignified humans but as disposable political toys owned and destroyed by toy masters.

From the news, the blast in Beirut today is the work of al-Qaeda affiliated group Saraya Abd Allah Azzam. Saraj al-Din Zurayqat, the Lebanese Sunni sheikh, tweeted about it. The Saudi head of the group: Majed…al-Majed made a voice message.

If this is true, this yet to be proven. What was the message behind it? Killing some bystanders, or blowing the Embassy? Killing the Ambassador? Killing a bunch of Majus مجوس صفويين?

Hizballah is fighting in Syria of course, especially in al-Qalamun battle that just started. These bombs killed some people and sent a message, but, these bombs are letting Hizballah stay and fight in the important Qalamun Battle.

Just so you may know, our well informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

The Guided Kingdom under the Guidance of His Majesty, the Worldwide Commander of the Faithful, His Majesty the Guided King continues to act like the Minaret of Guidance in a world filled with chaos and human rights abuse.

Today, the Guided Kingdom succeeded in passing a resolution concerning unprecedented human rights abuse in Syria whose government is usurped by the Ass-head of Serpent-head. The resolution passed with HUGE margin at the UN, thanks to the valuable efforts of all the Guided individuals involved in drafting and explaining to the world the abuses of the Ass-head.

Syrians continue to be eager to become Guided in exactly the same image as the Guided Kingdom under the Guided Commander of the Faithful, His Majesty the Guided King, and rid themselves and the world of the serpentine Ass-head

عمليات الجيش العربي السوري في ببيلا 19/11/2013

الجيش العربي السوري يسيطر على عدة مناطق بريف حمص 19112013

ZOO is such a comedian!

Hahahahah.

Quote from ZOO in #44: “The Syrian goverment will never sell its country to anyone ”

But forensically speaking it’s accurate. The Assads handed Syria over to Iran for free – no marketing or price to Iran involved.

SAMI,

You saw that when I posed a question to APPLE_MINI it was answered – although a bizarre and ridiculous response – by ZOO.

Dogs barking from the same kennel?

On October 2, Israel’s Channel 2 TV news said senior Israeli security officials met with a high-level Gulf state counterpart.
They did so in Jerusalem.

Ziad,

Thanks for posting the good news. See, arabs and jews can work together. They said it couldn’t be done.

They lied.;) They can!

Sami,

Good post…

Behind Lebanon suicide blasts, growing Saudi-Iran rivalry

Iran’s embassy was targeted today by suicide bombers angry at Tehran’s strong backing for the Syrian regime. Saudi Arabia is throwing its weight behind anti-Assad forces

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/2013/1119/Behind-Lebanon-suicide-blasts-growing-Saudi-Iran-rivalry

The deadly twin suicide bomb attack Tuesday against the Iranian embassy in Beirut illustrates how the conflict ravaging neighboring Syria is becoming more sharply defined as a Sunni-Shiite struggle between regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Iran is a staunch backer of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, providing logistical support and training. With that help, and a few thousand fighters from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah, the Syrian Army has clawed back some rebel-held territory in recent weeks.

Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, is a champion of the mainly Sunni armed opposition in Syria, a role it reportedly intends to pursue more forcefully in the coming months.

The bomb attack, which killed 23 people, was not the first to hit the mainly Shiite-populated southern suburbs of Beirut this year. Two car bomb attacks in July and August left a total of 27 people dead and nearly 400 wounded. But today’s attack featured new tactics and was the first against a strategic target, which suggests that more pre-planning went into it than with two previous random car bombings.

It also came amid indications that a long-anticipated regime offensive against the rebel-held Qalamoun region between Damascus and Homs is under way, which is expected to trigger a violent backlash in Lebanon.
..

@65 Sandro

All of the above and more, what about you? Are you a Saudi spy?

Inside Syria’s Next Big Battle

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mikegiglio/inside-syrias-next-big-battle

Hezbollah fighters say they can help the Syrian regime wrest away a key rebel stronghold. Rebels worry they might be right. Inside a brewing battle that both sides are painting as a turning point in the war.
….
Some 40,000 rebels may be massed in the region, according to a diplomatic report from a western embassy in Beirut cited by the Christian Science Monitor last month. One Hezbollah commander had the same estimate. “They have big numbers, for sure,” he said, adding that Hezbollah was “preparing something major” for Qalamoun. He expected to be deployed there within the week.

The commander, who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to journalists, had fought in Qusayr. He said rebels there were surprisingly well-equipped, their numbers boosted by foreign jihadis: “We felt like we were fighting the whole world.” He expected a similar opponent in Qalamoun, only on a greater scale — in Qusayr, the rebels eventually pulled out from the city, with many of them moving to Qalamoun.

Al-Waw, the rebel commander, said that this time around, he and his colleagues would have no choice but to fight until the end. He put the rebel numbers at 30,000, and said they were well-armed with everything from anti-tank weapons to homemade mortars, a stockpile enhanced by the recent seizure of a major arms depot in Homs. “We have nowhere else to go,” al-Waw said. Losing Qalamoun “means that you can consider Homs gone, and all of the [rebel-held] villages around Damascus go down too. This is the only way for us to survive — our lifeline is in Qalamoun.”

“If we’re fighting the Syrian army on its own,” al-Waw added, “we’re not going to lose. But if Hezbollah participates full-scale? It’s a possibility.”

Syria rebels lose strategic Qara village

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=62716

Syrian troops seize Qara village along key supply route between Damascus and Homs after three days of fighting.

Major capture

DAMASCUS – Syrian troops on Tuesday captured the village of Qara in the mountainous Qalamoun region along a key supply route between Damascus and Homs, a military source said.

The reported capture came after days of air strikes on the region near the Lebanese border, which is also a key smuggling route for rebels battling to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“After three days of fighting, the Syrian army has taken full control of Qara,” some 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of the capital, the Syrian military source said, adding that a “large number of terrorists” had been killed, referring to the rebels.

Russia, Geneva, Qalamoun and the Iran nuclear deal

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lines-game-iranian-spring-blooms-damascus
….
In a recent phone conversation with Bashar al-Assad, small bits of which were revealed to the press, Russian President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his country’s military and political support for Syria and its president. Moscow wanted Damascus to know that it appreciates its cooperation on making Geneva II a success, and to declare that the greatest danger to Syria comes from the terrorists and extremists.

At the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the Russians avoided publicly meeting with their Syrian counterparts – the situation then was still unclear to Moscow. Today, they have a better grasp of the internal situation and what needs to be done to end the fighting.

Two days after Putin’s phone call, the regime in effect declared the beginning of the long-awaited battle of Qalamoun, a mountainous region that runs along the border with Lebanon and is mostly under the opposition’s control. For their part, Saudi Arabia and the armed groups it backs in this area will do what they can to prevent another regime victory on the battlefield.

Perhaps a decision was also made on following through with the battles raging over Aleppo and its suburbs. It appears that it is beginning to dawn on nearby Turkey that the proposed US-Russian settlement in Syria is serious. This was reflected in Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s recent visit to Baghdad to make amends with the Iraqi central government – a trip that appears to have been arranged with the help of Iran.

If in fact the Iranians and the West do come to an agreement on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, then the face of the region as a whole is likely to change.
It has become clear that Iran is at the center of many events in the region, and the success or failure of its negotiations over its nuclear file will determine how events will unfold in the coming period.

Syrian troops keep progressing on ground amid upcoming Geneva II conference

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/826226.shtml

The Syrian troops on Tuesday scored a new strategic victory against the rebels in the northern countryside of capital Damascus, as Moscow is witnessing a flurry of diplomatic activities aimed at paving the way for a successful peace conference on the Syrian crisis in Geneva.

The Syrian troops on Tuesday completely recaptured the strategic town of Qara in the northern countryside of Damascus, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

The Syrian troops have started a large-scale offensive against the rebels in the north of Damascus earlier this week to dislodge them from Qara that was vital for the rebels who were wishing to attack the capital from its northern gate.

The recent battles in Qara have resulted in the death of tens of rebels as the army was ready to advance deeper into al- Qalamoun Mountains.

For the government troops, controlling the area is important to secure the road from Damascus to the central province of Homs, and to cut off the rebels’ supply line from the Lebanese town of Ersal, which is adjacent to al-Qalamoun Mountains.

The military operation in the northern rim of Damascus came along with a series of operations in the southern and eastern countryside of Damascus as part of the military tactic to dislodge the rebels from key areas of Damascus, Homs and the northern province of Aleppo.

Today marks a turning point in the fate of HA. Al Qaeda has taken up a new cause. HA played with fire at the order of its masters in Iran and the fire will burn it.

Loss of innocent lives is regrettable but I am sure lots of people believe that evil destroying evil is not a bad thing.

While Hollande hampers the nuclear deal and receive thanks from Israel during his friendly visit there, Cameron prefers to re gain Iran on its side

Tuesday,November 19 2013
Cameron makes first UK call to Iranian president in over a decade

LONDON – Agence France-Presse

Prime Minister David Cameron telephoned President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday, becoming the first British premier to call an Iranian leader in over a decade, Downing Street said.

Cameron and Rouhani discussed the upcoming negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme, the conflict in Syria and the recent improvements in bilateral ties between London and Tehran, it said in a statement.

“The prime minister became the first British prime minister to call the Iranian president in more than a decade today when he spoke to President Rouhani this afternoon, ahead of this week’s nuclear negotiations in Geneva,” a Downing Street spokesman said.

They “agreed to continue efforts to improve the relationship on a step by step and reciprocal basis” following the appointment of non-resident charge d’affaires to each others countries last week, the statement said.

Bulgaria is the new Saudis bitch in the UN
http://www.innercitypress.com/syria1saudistain111913.html

http://youtu.be/GTo7A2IuAzg?t=15s

A sucker is born every minute!

Former German youth international killed after Syrian airstrike

A FORMER footballer who quit the game to become a Jihadist has been killed by an airstrike in Syria.

Ex-German youth international Burak Karan played alongside established stars like Sami Khedira and Kevin-Prince Boateng during his time in the Germany youth system.

A photo of Karan, 26, holding an AK-47 assault rifle has appeared in tribute to him on the internet.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/351604/Burak-Karan-German-youth-international-killed-after-Syrian-airstrike

The bombing of the Iranian embassy, a turning point in the Syrian crisis.

The bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut claimed by Al Qaeda proves beyond any doubt the collusion between the Syrian rebels n and Al Qaeda terrorists. It also hints at Saudi Arabia and Israel efforts to derail the US-Iran nuclear deal that may restore Iran’s regional power.

With this bombing Al Qaeda has just made a declaration of war to Iran. Now Iran is totally justified to escalate its fights against Al Qaeda and its friends in self-defense in Lebanon and Syria.

Yet it is clear that Iran will not retaliate directly. It will provide much more help to the Syrian Army and to the Hezbollah to crush the Al Nursa terrorists in Syria, starting by al Qalamoun.

Bombing the Iranian embassy is another strategic mistake encouraged by the Syrian opposition and its supporter, namely Saudi Arabia, that will cost very dearly to the opposition and will flip the public opinion further against it.
In a way, it is giving the Syrian governement more credibility in its claim that this is not a “revolution” but an attempt by terrorists to destroy Syria.

Has anyone seen Hassan after the suicide bombing? I just hope that he was not having breakfast in the embassy basement when the place exploded.

In a battle of al Qaeda against HA, who is likely to win? Those who kill under the banner of اه يا حسين أوه يا زينب or those who kill under the banner of khilafa.

ومن حرستا ننتظر اول علامة

خليكم عم تنتظروا

Hezbollah Says Israel is Behind Beirut Attack

Hezbollah MP blames a “Western-Israeli alliance” for deadly suicide bombings near the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

A Hezbollah MP has blamed a “Western-Israeli alliance” and regional powers that back radical Sunni Islamist “takfiri” (radical) groups for Tuesday’s deadly suicide bombings near the Iranian embassy in Beirut, AFP reports.

“The aim (of the attacks) is to advance the program of murder, sabotage and chaos, threatening national unity and targeting stability,” the MP, Mohammad Raad, was quoted as having said.

“The program is being followed by a Western-Israeli alliance, whose interests intersect with those of regional powers and takfiri groups,” he claimed, according to AFP.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/174233

Israel, Egypt, Gulf fear US betrayal

The deadly terrorist attack that took place near the Iranian Embassy in Beirut on Nov. 19 could not have happened at a more sensitive juncture. Taking place a day before the resumption of the talks between Iran and the major powers in Geneva and ahead of a possible signing of an agreement, it also coincided with the visit of French President François Hollande to Israel, which, for its part, scared and alarmed the whole world with its apocalyptic prophecies about the “surrender agreement” with Iran. It occurred while the Middle East was seething and more volatile than it has ever been. It is no wonder that Iran, in an unusual fashion, was quick to point a finger at Israel, holding it accountable for the terrorist act.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/american-betrayal-israel-saudi-arabia-egypt-obama.html#

Syria’s Christians Flee Kidnappings, Rape, Executions

“Al Nusra didn’t come to our village; the people who came were from villages close by, and they were Free Syrian Army,” Rahel says. Christians were targeted because they were seen as being pro-Assad, although she added some of the persecution was motivated also by greed, with the better-off being picked off first and their property divided by powerful local Sunni Muslim families.

http://www.aina.org/news/20131119194447.htm

Running from assault, abduction, and assassination at the hands of jihadists and FSA rebels, Syria’s ancient Christian community fears a religious pogrom is set to erupt.

Traumatized by what they have endured inside Syria and fearful for their future, Christians fleeing the 32-month-long civil war say the persecution of Christians is worsening in rebel-held territories in the country’s north–and that the kidnapping, rape and executions of Christians aren’t just being carried out by jihadist groups, but also by other Sunni Muslim rebels, including those affiliated with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Christian refugees who have recently arrived in southeast Turkey–many of whom are retreading the steps of their forebears, who fled persecution in southern Turkey during the last century–say Christians are being seen as fair game by an assortment of jihadists and Islamist rebels, including FSA-affiliated fighters and others with the Army of Islam. Most of the targeting of Syrian Christians has been blamed on al Qaeda affiliates Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Syria and Sham (ISIS), but refugees like 45-year-old school director Rahel say the picture inside is more confused.

She says jihadists weren’t in her predominantly Christian hamlet of al-Yakubiye in Syria’s northwest province of Idlib. FSA fighters from neighboring Sunni Muslim villages were the problem.

Back in February, the news agency AFP wrote about al-Yakubiye, noting that although one of the three churches had been looted, relations between Syrian Sunni Muslims and local Christians were cordial. But in the intervening months, nearly all Christians have fled after half a dozen were executed with their heads chopped off and about 20 more were kidnapped. The evacuation of al-Yakubiye has added to a Christian exodus which is prompting fears that the civil war could spell the doom of Syrian Christianity.

“Al Nusra didn’t come to our village; the people who came were from villages close by, and they were Free Syrian Army,” Rahel says. Christians were targeted because they were seen as being pro-Assad, although she added some of the persecution was motivated also by greed, with the better-off being picked off first and their property divided by powerful local Sunni Muslim families.

Sitting on the terrace of a restored stone house in the small Turkish town of Midyat, where she lives for free along with her husband and four children thanks to a local Christian charity, Rahel says she can see no future for Christians in Syria. She says that the last few months have taught her one thing: “It is not possible for Christians to live there anymore.”

Her 53-year-old husband remained silent during the interview. According to Rahel he is suffering from shock. “He hardly sleeps and when he does he’s plagued by nightmares. Last week we heard about a relative being kidnapped.”

From the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have lived and worshipped in Syria. But the civil war has seen half-a-million flee–nearly a quarter of Syria’s Christians–with more arriving in Turkey and Lebanon each day.

Nearly 300 have sought sanctuary in the small town of Midyat and surrounding villages in the Tur Abdin region, less than 30 miles from the border. Tur Abdin is the historic heartland of the Syriac Orthodox church and the area is dotted with ancient churches and monasteries; one was founded in 397 AD.

The Christians’ biggest concern when it comes to Syria is an eventual rebel victory. They point to what happened in neighboring Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, where sectarian killings, persecution of Christians and an increasingly Islamist political culture more than half of the Iraqi Christian population to flee.

Before the civil war, Syria had an estimated Christian population of 2.5 million. The largest denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church, but there are also Catholics and Syriac [Assyrian] Christians as well as Protestants and adherents of the Assyrian Church of the East. The Western-backed political opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, has sought to allay Christian fears, although to little avail as more Christian villages and towns are affected and massacres are reported.

Many of the Christian refugees arriving in Lebanon are traumatized, says Najla Chahda of Caritas, the Catholic relief agency. “A lot of them are sharing with us some really horrible stories that some fundamentalists approached them, forced them to pay some rent, or amount of money that they don’t have,” Chahda said. “So they are just afraid and left.”

Stories have included forced conversion to Islam and churches being desecrated in this vicious sectarian conflict. Several clergy have been abducted, including two bishops, and in villages in Homs province, large numbers of Christians have been forced from their homes and farms. One of the worst atrocities was reported earlier this month with the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Homs, Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh, accusing al Qaeda-backed jihadists of killing more than 40 Christians during their occupation of the town of Sadad, north of Damascus.

“All the houses of Sadad were robbed and property looted,” Archbishop Alnemeh said in a statement. “The churches are damaged and desecrated, deprived of old books and precious furniture. Schools, government buildings, municipal buildings have been destroyed.”

Some Christian leaders in the West and in neighboring Lebanon have criticized the Middle East’s Christian patriarchs for appearing to side with Assad in the civil war, saying they are partly responsible for what is befalling their adherents.

“Unfortunately, the Christians have tied their fate not only to the regime but to Bashar al-Assad–and what I am afraid of is like what happened in Iraq,” says Basem Shabb, a Lebanese lawmaker and the only Protestant in Lebanon’s Parliament. He argues, “The Christians in Iraq were persecuted not because they were Christians but because they supported the regime.”

Heyfa, a 50-year-old mother of three girls and a boy, from a small village south of the Kurdish-controlled town of Al-Qamishli, doesn’t accept that criticism. She says that most of her neighbors weren’t Assad supporters; some were pro-rebellion, while others stayed neutral. Even so, that didn’t stop jihadists harassing Christians and preying on the women. “We left because I was afraid for the girls–I didn’t want any bad things to happen to them. I was worried the girls would be raped. I kept them inside.”

Her eldest daughter, Dima, aged 22, stayed for much of the war in Aleppo, where she tried to continue with her English studies at the university. But she says it got more dangerous there and not just because of the battles between Assad forces and the rebels over Syria’s onetime commercial hub. She left Aleppo a year ago to join her family at home after one of her friends was kidnapped, gang-raped and then killed. “We don’t know who did this or why,” says Dima. Some rapes and killings of Christians are opportunistic, she says, while others are clearly targeted by jihadist and Islamists. (She adds that Muslim girls are also at risk.)

A pretty girl with brunette hair, Dima sits curled up in an apartment in Midyat with her mother and her 16-year-old sister, Marie. Her father and two siblings are in a camp in Germany after the family got separated. The apartment is unheated and Dima seems to have the weight of the world on her shoulders–she’s the only one working as her mother is sick and her sister doesn’t understand either Kurdish or Turkish and can’t find work.

“It is hard. I am the one who works and the money I receive isn’t enough. I get 400 Turkish lira ($198) a month and 300 of that goes on rent. We can’t afford to use the heat. Many times we don’t have things to eat.”

Dima’s isn’t the only all-female household of Christian refugees in Midyat. Oarda Saliba, aged 40, has with her five daughters ranging from five years old to 20. A son and husband are also in Germany. “For Christians it is very difficult to stay in Syria and there are many bad things happening to women,” she says.” For jihadists Christian women are seen as their right. I didn’t want to take the risk with my daughters. In the streets they would touch and harass them. I don’t know if they were al-Nusra or not, although some were Libyans and Tunisian. But either way, they were terrorists.”

Sandro

I had similar thoughts, like a Monty Python figure may be in disguise.

Zoo

I have no news on his fate, its a mere tragedy. I hope he is fine. As i know him, he has the talent to reach everybodies heart, but if that includes hard time islamists is not so clear to me.
This simple priest had mor guts than any other bishop or clergy in Syria. I asked him when he was here in Germany, where are the voices of other catholic priests, the bishops about what is going on in Syria. He simply replied that they all have given in, and are part of the regime and not guardian for their people.

This story of a famous U18 player who died fighting in Syria made headlines this week in Germany

http://soccerly.com/article/soccerly/former-german-youth-player-dies-in-syrian-war

Any change in the value of goats?

What is Iran waiting?  Why the cowardliness?   Do not blame Israel.  Blame who did it and declare a war against al Qaeda.  Are they afraid?  They shouldn’t worry.  Tune up Ahh ya Hussein and Ooh ya Zainab and they will be just fine.

What will the response be? Hezbollah will use its own forces and its grip on Lebanon’s security agencies to tighten security, but such attacks look likely to recur. For Iran, this will be a psychological shock. It is the most serious attack on one of its missions since the Taliban massacred Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan in 1998. Thirty years ago, huge attacks on US and French barracks in Beirut, allegedly by Iran and Hezbollah, prompted President Reagan to pull forces out of Lebanon. But today, Tehran has invested too much in Syria to give up now, and this attack will give ammunition to those within the regime – particularly in the Revolutionary Guard Corps – advocating an uncompromising stance.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/19/bombing-iran-embassy-beirut-hezbollah-libya-stronghold-rebellion-syria

Who wants a Saudi employee as a president

Assad: “no need” to go to Geneva if opposition expects government to relinquish power

Published November 20th, 2013 – 11:44
http://www.albawaba.com/news/assad–535107

President Bashar al-Assad rejected outright the possibility of handing over power to the Syrian opposition as part of any negotiations in the anticipated Geneva II talks, visitors to the Syrian leader quoted him as saying, a local Lebanese daily said Wednesday.

“They want us to relinquish Syria to [the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition Ahmad] Jarba in II, and thus there is no need [for us] to go to if this is the general idea,” As-Safir quoted Assad as telling members of the General Secretariat of the Arab Parties’ General Conference in the Syrian capital Tuesday.

“There will be no success for any conference if Syrians do not paint the future of their country,” the Syrian president said, according to the paper.

The Damascus conference was attended by Hezbollah Arab Relations official Sheikh Hasan Izzeddine, Amal Movement politburo member Mohammad Jbawi, as well as senior officials from the Syrian National Socialist Party (SNNP) and the National Nasserite Organization. Representatives from Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia and Bahrain also attended.

Assad, participants told As-Safir, said was willing to “absorb” opposition members on certain conditions and strike reconciliatory deals with them “but it cannot pardon those who betrayed and shed its peoples’ blood.”

According to the daily, Assad also accused Saudi Arabia of seeking to disrupt the talks aimed at ending the 2-1/2 year-old war in Syria.

“Saudi Arabia is trying to disrupt some regional and international understandings and is seeking with its strength to postpone the 2 conference,” Assad told the representatives, the paper said.

The Sunni terrorists that Saudi Arabia and some GCC individuals are feeding to kill Lebanese Shias and their Syrians allies will come back to haunt them sooner than they expect.
They’ll soon learn, like Saddam’s Iraq did, that no one attacks Iran without paying a heavy price. As they are “half-men”, I expect Saudi Arabia to panic and call for a truce before they get humiliated even further.

Erdogan’s chances of changing the Constitution so he could become a president “with executive power” are fading .

Turkey parliament deadlocked over new constitution

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/87007/World/Region/Turkey-parliament-deadlocked-over-new-constitution.aspx

‘The parliamentary commission tasked with writing a new constitution could not produce any article over the last four months’, Ahmet Iyimaya of the Justice and Development Party says

He said it was unlikely a new constitution — a key pledge of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s latest term in office — would be ready before a general election in 2015.

One of the major disputes over the constitution lies with plans by Erdogan’s AKP to introduce an executive presidential system in the predominantly Muslim but staunchly secular state.

Observers say Erdogan — who has been prime minister for 11 years — is hoping to change the constitution to give the president US-style executive powers before running for the post himself next year.

The current presidency, held by Abdullah Gul since 2007, is largely a symbolic post.

Political parties in the 550-seat parliament have been working since 2011 to replace the current constitution which was drafted by the powerful military after the 1980 coup.

But little progress has been made.

“It looks difficult to write a new constitution before the general elections,” Iyimaya said.

Akbar Palace,

Don’t you think it’s about time to abandon US ship before disaster strikes?

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/20/michelle-barack-hes-bathroom-all-time-just-singing/

After loosing their ridiculous illusions that the rebels would win militarily and that Bashar Al Assad would resign, Turkey suddenly wants to rush the Geneva talks without noting that the delay comes from its own ‘proteges’ that they can’t convince to drop their absurd pre-conditions and create a single opposition delegation. Another mess in Turkey’s policy toward Syria

Turkey says Assad exploiting delays to Syria peace talks

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-20/238448-turkey-says-assad-exploiting-delays-to-syria-peace-talks.ashx#ixzz2lCJUIHzu
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

The only humiliation I see is the one Iran feels right now. Its baddy is bombed and it is even afraid of declaring war on Qaeda. It is, like its protégée Batta, reserving the right to respond.

Please show us some pride and do respond, at least in rhetorics.

Terrorist’s mortar damages historic mosaic in the grand mosque of Damascus

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=392786470824072&set=a.383617481740971.1073741828.383534111749308&type=1&theater

Syria – The Unraveling for Turkey’s PM Erdogan
November 18th, 2013

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2013/11/18/syria-the-unraveling-for-turkey-s-pm-erd

Erdogan consistently denies supporting the jihadists among the Syrian rebels, a claim that even the Prime Minister can’t believe. From the start of the violence in Syria through at least December 2012, Erdogan’s government supported the Al Nusra fighters, openly aligned with Al Qaeda. In July 2012, Haaretz broke this story: Turkey sets up secret base to bring aid to Syria rebels, sources say . This not-so-secret base trained and armed fighters headed for Syria.

Since the start of the violent conflict in 2011, Turkey has provided safe transit to the Syrian conflict for anti-Syrian government jihadists from Pakistan, Egypt, and throughout the Middle East. Erdogan’s government provides safe havens for terrorists on its southern border with Syria. When the Obama administration threatened to bomb Syria as punishment for the alleged role in a chemical weapons attack, Erdogan was openly enthusiastic.

Erdogan’s problems at home and with friends and neighbors

Erdogan and his AKP Party dominate the politics of Turkey. However, vulnerabilities from Turkey’s Syria policy persist and grow.

There is broad based public opposition to Erdogan’s efforts to support Syrian rebels. A 2013 poll found 72% of Turks opposed to intervention in Syria. Half of those who voted for Erdogan’s AKP party in the last election oppose intervention.

Rather than moderate his policy toward Syria, Erdogan went on the offensive. He claimed that opposition to his Syria policy originated among Turkey’s Alevi population. The Alevis share the same approach to Islam as the Alawites in Syria, the Muslim sect that dominates Syria’s government, including President Assad.

Like so much of what Erdogan says, the charge against the Alevis is disingenuous. At around 15% of the population, it is simply not possible that the Alevis account for 72% of Turks who oppose his Syria policy.

Erdogan’s bluster can’t change the glaring fact that his anti Syria policy has undermined his public support.

Erdogan’s once positive relationship with Iran is in tatters as a result of his Syria policy. Iran is spending considerable resources and effort to aid the al-Assad government. Their one time “zero problems” friends, the Erdogan government, is largely responsible for both the expenditure of resources and human effort and the threat to Iran posed by a jihadist, Al Qaeda victory in Syria.

Erdogan mounted harsh criticism of the United States the moment President Barack Obama called off the promised missile attack on Syria. His government followed up with a major arms purchase from China. This was seen as sending a message to Washington that Erdogan was upset at the cancelled missile attack.

Erdogan’s Achilles Heel

Thanks to Erdogan’s robust support of the Syrian rebels and foreign fighters, President Bashar al-Assad was forced to make some bold moves for the Syrian state to survive. His government granted Syrian Kurds autonomy in a contiguous region bordering Turkey. The Syrian Kurdish state became a symbol for Kurdish desires for independence everywhere. The process of receiving autonomy through negotiations was another plus. There was no protracted guerrilla war, no destruction of property, just a statutory declaration. Erdogan government opposed the Syrian Kurds declaration of self-rule.

This living example of Kurdish freedom and autonomy forced Erdogan’s to accelerate his negotiations with Turkish Kurds, which he did with considerable fanfare. Style won’t substitute for substance to satisfy the wary Kurds. Soon, Erdogan may have just two options: either give the Turkish Kurds the same deal Assad gave their Syrian brothers or face a renewal of hostilities. In either case, Erdogan loses.

Syria, Egypt Reveal Erdogan’s ‘Hidden Agenda’
November 20th, 2013

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2013/11/20/syria-egypt-reveal-erdogan-s-hidden-agen

The eruption of the Syrian conflict early in 2011 heralded the demise of Turkey’s officially pronounced strategy of “Zero Problems with Neighbors,” but more importantly, it revealed a “hidden agenda” in Turkish foreign policy under the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

What Sreeram Chaulia, the Dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs in India’s Sonipat, described as a “creeping hidden agenda” (http://rt.com on Sept. 15, 2013) is covered up ideologically as “Islamist.”

But in a more in-depth insight it is unfolding as neo-Ottomanism that is pragmatically using “Islamization,” both of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s legacy internally and Turkey’s foreign policy regionally, as a tool to revive the Ottoman Empire that once was.

Invoking his country’s former imperial grandeur, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davotoglu had written: “As in the sixteenth century … we will once again make the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Middle East, together with Turkey, the center of world politics in the future. That is the goal of Turkish foreign policy and we will achieve it.” (Emphasis added)

Quoted by Hillel Fradkin and Lewis Libby, writing in last March/April edition of http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org, the goal of Erdogan’s AKP ruling party for 2023, as proclaimed by its recent Fourth General Congress, is: “A great nation, a great power.” Erdogan urged the youth of Turkey to look not only to 2023, but to 2071 as well when Turkey “will reach the level of our Ottoman and Seljuk ancestors by the year 2071” as he said in December last year.

“2071 will mark one thousand years since the Battle of Manzikert,” when the Seljuk Turks defeated the Byzantine Empire and heralded the advent of the Ottoman one, according to Fradkin and Libby.

Some six months ago, Davotoglu felt so confident and optimistic to assess that “it was now finally possible to revise the order imposed” by the British – French Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916 to divide the Arab legacy of the Ottoman Empire between them.

Davotoglu knows very well that Pan-Arabs have been ever since struggling unsuccessfully so far to unite as a nation and discard the legacy of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, but not to recur to the Ottoman status quo ante, but he knows as well that Islamist political movements like the Muslim Brotherhood International (MBI) and the Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Party of Liberation) were originally founded in Egypt and Palestine respectively in response to the collapse of the Ottoman Islamic caliphate.

However, Erdogan’s Islamist credentials cannot be excluded as simply a sham; his background, his practices in office since 2002 as well as his regional policies since the eruption of the Syrian conflict less than three years ago all reveal that he does believe in his version of Islam per se as the right tool to pursue his Ottoman not so-“hidden agenda.”

Erdogan obviously is seeking to recruit Muslims as merely “soldiers” who will fight not for Islam per se, but for his neo-Ottomanism ambitions.

Early enough in December 1997, he was given a 10-month prison sentence for voicing a poem that read: “The mosques are our barracks, the domes our helmets, the minarets our bayonets and the faithful our soldiers;” the poem was considered a violation of Kemalism by the secular judiciary.

The US and Israel, in earnest to recruit Turkey against Iran, nurtured Erdogan’s illusion of regional leadership. He deluded himself with the unrealistic belief that Turkey could stand up to and sidestep the rising stars of the emerging Russian international polar, the emerging Iranian regional polar and the traditional regional players of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, let alone Iraq and Syria should they survive their current internal strife.

For sure, his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood International (MBI) and his thinly veiled Machiavellian logistical support of al-Qaeda – linked terrorist organizations are not and will not be a counter balance.

But while the eruption of the Syrian conflict compelled him to reveal his Islamist “hidden agenda” and his alliance with the MBI, the removal of MBI last July from power in Egypt with all its geopolitical weight, supported by the other regional Arab heavy weight of Saudi Arabia, took him off guard and dispelled his ambitions for regional leadership, but more importantly revealed more his neo-Ottoman “hidden agenda” and pushed him to drop all the secular and liberal pretensions of his “Turkish model” rhetoric.

A sucker is born every minute!

He came to kill Syrians, and was killed instead.

Report: British man killed fighting with “Syrian rebels”

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-11-20/report-british-muslim-killed-fighting-with-syrian-rebels/

Mohammed el-Araj, a Muslim man in his early twenties, was killed in Syria in mid-August, his family said.

Araj, from Ladbroke Grove, West London, was born on a British airways flight and grew up in the UK, his family told the Guardian.

Qatar in mourning: It got a big blow with the killing of the Turkman chief of their Moslem Brotherhood militia in Syria

In Qatar desert, Syrian opposition mourns fallen commander
By Amena Bakr

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/qatar-desert-syrian-opposition-mourns-fallen-commander-154907591.html#Uezds8I

UMM AL-AMAD, Qatar (Reuters) – On a patch of desert far from Syria, dozens of men gathered under a white tent to commemorate Abdelqader Saleh, a renowned Syrian rebel commander who died this week from wounds after an air strike in Aleppo.

The mourners, who included senior Syrian opposition members and relatives of Saleh, assembled on Tuesday evening in the empty expanses of Qatar, 20 km (13 miles) from the skyscraper-dotted skyline of the gas-exporting Gulf Arab state.

The unusual scene testified to how deeply one of the world’s richest nations has engaged with the cause of Syrians struggling for the past 32 months to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

Qatar has long armed and supplied Saleh’s Islamist al-Tawhid brigades, one of the largest rebel units operating in the sprawling northern city of Aleppo and the surrounding region.

Another round of applause to the opposition: They even succeeded to attract a ruthless Chechen Islamist leader to ‘topple’ Bashar Al Assad and bring ‘freedom and dignity’ to the oppressed Syrian Sunnis

Meet the Syrian Rebel Commander Assad, Russia and the U.S. All Fear

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303309504579181962177007316

Tarkhan Batirashvili, Ethnic Chechen, Leads Group Deeply at Odds with Western-Backed Rebels in Syria

The metamorphosis of a call for “democracy” into a call for an authoritarian “Sunni Islamic Emirate”

Desperate Syrian Rebels Turn to Al-Qaeda
Max Boot | @MaxBoot 11.20.2013 – 12:15 PM

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/11/20/desperate-syrian-rebels-turn-to-al-qaeda/

Two profiles of Syrian rebel commanders–one in the New York Times yesterday, the other in the Wall Street Journal today–capture the changing face of the conflict.

The Times article is on the death of a “pragmatic” rebel leader, killed in a recent government air strike: “The commander, Abdulkader al-Saleh, 33, was a recognized and accessible leader in a fragmented insurgency that has few. He managed to gather ragtag local militias into the Tawhid Brigades, for a time one of the most organized and effective rebel battle groups, and to bridge the gap between relatively secular army defectors and Islamist fighters.”

The Journal article focuses on one of the foreign jihadist fighters who have become increasingly prominent as the influence of homegrown “moderates” like Saleh have declined–Tarkhan Batirashvili, an ethnic Chechen who once served in the Georgian army and who has “recently emerged from obscurity to be the northern commander in Syria of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham (ISIS), an al Qaeda-connected coalition whose thousands of Arab and foreign fighters have overrun key Syrian military bases, staged public executions and muscled aside American-backed moderate rebel groups trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad.”

The fact that jihadist extremists are coming to the fore is utterly predictable. In fact, Saleh predicted it himself: “a Syrian insurgency with nowhere else to turn, he said nearly a year ago, would tilt toward foreign fighters and Al Qaeda.”

Pardon me for disrupting the Don ‘n Zoo show.

DavidKenner
Syrian rebels have destroyed roughly 1,500 of Assad’s tanks, according to this estimate. https://medium.com/war-is-boring/74ecd413cb93

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2013/11/20/davidkenner-syrian-rebels-have-destroyed-roughly-1500-of/

Uzair8

You’re most welcome. The opposition supporters certainly need some cheering up…

Just seen some images of Mrs Assad meeting ‘Martyrs’ families on Iran Military Forum. Here.

A few observations.

The child in pic 1 seems uninterested. He isn’t fooled. He can see right through the facade of smiles and recognises them for the monsters they are.

Mrs Assad seems as thin as her husband. Skeletons as first couple. Have their hearts withered away too?

Feel sorry for the Assad children. Born into the heart of tyranny. One (presumably) Assad kid seems to be sending a message. A cry for help. ‘SOS’ (pic 2).

It seems they struggled to get the kids to act naturally for the SANA photo shoot. Children can sense wrong. In pic 3 a couple of seemingly heavily sedated kids with Asma. Hey, even she seems to be struggling with the strong (sedative) vapour emanating from the children.

Perhaps the first pic was after the photo shoot. Their cheering up the child and helping him come to, as he comes out of his sedated state.

http://youtu.be/kfwafPXUeDY?t=3s

Michel Kilo made few people angry because of this:
تقول المعلومات إن الريف العلوي وصل إلى مفترق مفصلي جعله يخرج عن صمته حيال قتل أولاده، ووضعه أمام مستقبل حافل بالأخطار، هو الخاسر الوحيد فيه حتى في حال انتصر النظام على الشعب، ما دام انتصاره سيكون باهظ التكلفة بالنسبة إليه وسيعيده عقودا عديدة إلى الوراء وقد يخلق حالا من العداء بينه وبين بقية مواطنيه تستمر لقرون.
يتعرض العلويون لظلم مزدوج: من نظام يرسلهم إلى الموت دفاعا عنه، لأنه لا يكترث أبدا لمصيرهم، ومعارضة تحملهم المسؤولية عن سياسات نظام يضحي بهم على مذبح مصالحه الخاصة واستبداده. واليوم، وقد صار حل المعضلة السورية رهنا بإسهام العلويين أيضا في النضال من أجل الحرية، فإننا أصبحنا بحاجة إلى موقف صحيح تتخذه المعارضة يرى فيهم مواطنين يقتلون بدورهم على أيدي استبداد لم يعد لديه ما يقدمه لهم غير الموت، فلا أقل من أن يقدم بديله لهم أمل الحياة والكرامة والأمن، كي لا نضيع وتضيع بلادنا إلى الأبد!
Kilo is criticizing those who want to collectively punish alawites for refusing to join the rebels, he also said that alawites have a lot to lose regardless of the outcome of the war.
I think the same can be said about other components of the Syrian mosaic, Syrians paid a very heavy price in this war and now they will discover that it was for nothing.

The opposition with their exclusive obsession to topple Bashar al Assad have failed to win the hearts and minds of the Syrians, will Al Qaeda succeed to rally them to create an Islamic caliphate under “Allah” rule?

Al-Qaeda’s battle for hearts and minds in Syria

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/10463017/Al-Qaedas-battle-for-hearts-and-minds-in-Syria.html

Al-Qaeda spreads its gospel in market places and mosques in Syria as it steps up bid to turn country into new caliphate
A member of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) speaks By Ruth Sherlock, Kilis

5:46PM GMT 20 Nov 2013

Al-Qaeda is waging a campaign to indoctrinate civilians across northern Syria in a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam, the first step in its ambition to build an Islamic caliphate.

Behind the front lines of the war with the Assad regime, in towns and villages in rebel-held Syria, the group is quietly working to impose its ideology, sending its imams to preach in mosques, banning smoking and beard-trimming and telling women to wear the burka.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Jabhat Al-Nusra – both linked to al-Qaeda – first became known in the insurgency for being some of the toughest and best equipped fighters.

For many months, they insisted that toppling President Bashar al-Assad – not gaining an ideological foothold in Syria – was their immediate goal. But a week of interviews by The Telegraph with members of al-Qaeda, civilians living in Syrian towns and villages now under their rule, and with other rebel fighters in the areas, reveals the sophisticated strategy that the extremists are using to try to change the nature of Syrian society.

Speaking from a safe house in Turkey close to the border, Abu Abdullah, a Jordanian member of the ISIL, said he had come to “apply Shariah, the rule of Allah” to Syria.

Hehe. Goodbye.

مباحثات نووي إيران تنتهي بعد دقائق من بدئها

نقلت وكالة الصحافة الفرنسية عن دبلوماسيين قولهم إن الجلسة الأولى بين دول (5+1) وإيران في جنيف بشأن البرنامج النووي الإيراني انتهت بعد دقائق من افتتاحها. واعتبر الوفد الإيراني بالمحادثات أن “الثقة أصبحت مفقودة” وطالب بتوضيحات بشأن “المسار التفاوضي” قبل البدء في مناقشة مشروع اتفاق.

Akbar Palace,

Please respond to the following developments:

world powers: few hours ago, khameneii said iran will never stop enriching uranium. is this your final stand??

iran: yes it is.

world powers: ok then we have better thing to do than to waste our time with you.

iran: but , but….. we thought you surrendered to us. you cannot un-surrender now……:(

administrative to iran: you noticed everyone left the room, right ? i will see if i can set up a one-on-one meeting with you guys. now go to sleep.

It seems that the Saudi-Israeli propagandists are dumping all kind of rumors of failure before the meeting between Iran and the P5 has even started: the talks will effectively start only on Thursday 21 November

The first plenary session of the latest talks was brief and introductory, with diplomats saying the evening would be taken up with more bilateral meetings.

Iranian negotiator Abbas Araqchi told Iran’s Fars news agency that confidence lost from the earlier round “must be regained”.

He said Wednesday’s meetings would discuss the process of the negotiations and that talks on any draft agreement would probably only begin on Thursday.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25022666

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, was more up-beat, saying that the remaining gaps were narrow. “It is the best chance for a long time to make progress on one of the gravest problems in foreign policy,” he said.

“A deal is on the table that would be in the interest of all nations including countries across the Middle East. The differences that remain between the parties are narrow and I believe they can be bridged through political will and commitment,” he added.

More on the worried anti-Iran propagandists’ ridiculous report on the “failure” of the first meeting

Iran, world powers end first session after less than 10 minutes
November 20, 2013 07:48 PM

GENEVA: Iran and world powers finished their first session of crunch talks on Wednesday after only five to 10 minutes, diplomats said.

“This was just a brief introductory session,” one diplomat in Geneva said on condition of anonymity. “There will now be bilateral meetings.”

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-20/238460-iran-world-powers-end-first-session-after-5-10-minutes-diplomats.ashx#ixzz2lDyYjuJB
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Is Sunni prominent political leader’s business empire showing cracks?

The Saudi Royal Bailout of Saad Hariri

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/saudi-royal-bailout-saad-hariri

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri seems increasingly incapable of holding his late father’s financial and political empire together. But Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz has reportedly injected US$2 billion to prop up Hariri, despite a fallout between the latter and the king’s brother, Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz.

What is happening financially to Saad Hariri and his institutions? Is the business empire he inherited from his father Rafik Hariri truly on the brink of bankruptcy, or is it just going through a necessary transition to put right many of the mistakes that plagued it in recent years? Is it true that Hariri the son could put an end to the cash squeeze when he chooses, but is awaiting some key development?

The master of omission strikes again. What a sloppy lopsided translation and a torture of kilo’s words.

OBSERVER and TARA,
are goats part of our company’s portfolio? If you recall, Iran successfully cloned a female goat in 2009 for “medical”, there may be a deal even better than bridges and shrines. We should call for investors’ meeting.

ZOO DON ZOO DON ZOO DON ZOO DON ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Really boring like politics under Assad the Eternal emtpy head.
It is the same tactics. Cover all with slogans, images, what he said and did to try to avoid people think.

Assad will one day be seen as the worse stage in syrian history, by the way the longest history in the world.

Hamster,

Trading goats? Why not!

Never say no to any potential successful business venture. I am available and ready. As long as it is not blood money.

After been told on SC that the Sunnis are good for nothing except money matter ( mosques and malls), I am always bragging off my genetic business skills.

BTW, I find loyalist# 2 goats is a bit of overvalue….of the loyalists that is.

TARA
I agree on the overvaluation, but you know, this is the price by set what the loyalists call government. DAA’ESH may have a different price for their loyalists. But We should not deal with them. We only deal with loyalists.

Everyone’s laughing at Iran.

A bunch of clown leaders in a mad circus

(Don’t miss the last sentence).

Article:

DUBAI — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Tehran wanted friendly ties with all countries, including the United States, on the day Iran begins a new round of talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear program.

“We want to have friendly relations with all nations, even the United States,” he told an audience of Basij militiamen. “We are not hostile to the American nation. They are like other nations in the world,” he said.

“Death to America,” the militiamen chanted in response.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/11/20/world/middleeast/20reuters-iran-usa.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=4&

Today marks the first anniversary of zoo’s masters kidnapping peaceful activist Omar Aziz. Omar was murdered by torture in zoo’s masters’ Jail.

We see DON is back to help lighten ZOO’s load.

D.O.N. – Disinformation Or Nonsense

SYRIAN HAMSTER,

We know ZOO will feel sick smugness and pride about #127.

But in contrast, he’ll be squirming uneasily and hoping nobody notices the account in #126.

And he’d be privately frantic about this groundbreaking 3-part expose of the corruption and theft by his mullah sponsors in Tehran:

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part1

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part2

http://www.reuters.com/investigates/iran/#article/part3

Let’s not assume ZOO and his buddies here are directly employed by the Assad regime.

They could be part of Iran’s aid package to Bashar Assad.

It would fit their contempt for the people of Syria and indifference to the destruction of the country.

Guys, guys:

Please do not be too harsh on her. Noticed the long absence?

Was involuntary committed to a mental institution.

Recently discharged and back on SC to relish death…business as usual

—-

And also, don’t be harsh on the others. It is just a job, you know.

May be, a big May be, the callousness and the indifference are just a pretense.. Just a job necessities. I just hope that the money is worth it..

Al-Quds Al-Arabi lists 5 reasons why the international community is hesitant to support rebels in Syria:

ـ الموقف الامريكي المتردد وسياسة ادارة الرئيس باراك اوباما التي بدأت تسحب نفوذها من المنطقة بعد الخسائر الفادحة بشريا وماديا التي تكبدتها بالحرب في افغانستان والعراق، مما ادى لتخليها عن التهديد بتوجيه ضربة عسكرية لسورية، ردا على الهجوم الكيماوي في آب/اغسطس الماضي، وبالنتيجة تمنح واشنطن الرئيس بشار الاسد الفرصة تلو الاخرى، مبدية عدم الاهتمام بمعاناة المدنيين.
ـ اما العامل الثاني فهو الهجمة الدبلوماسية الروسية، ونجاح الرئيس فلاديمير بوتين بفرض اجندته وتصوراته، محاولا ملء الفراغ الذي يتركه تراجع الدبلوماسية الامريكية في الشرق الاوسط. وفي تصريحات لوزير الخارجية الروسي سيرغي لافروف خلال لقائه وفد الحكومة السورية في موسكو في وقت سابق من الاسبوع الحالي، اكد ان الاولوية المطلقة اليوم في سورية هي لمحاربة الارهاب، وليست لتنحية الاسد، معتبرا ان التوجه المشترك اليوم في العالم هو لوضع حد لنفوذ الجماعات الارهابية وليس تغيير النظم الحاكمة، ولم ينس لافروف الثناء على الجهود التي تبذلها دمشق بتنفيذ برنامج اتلاف السلاح الكيماوي، ليتبين لنا ان هذا الثناء جاء بالنهاية نتيجة لقصف المدنيين السوريين بالغازات السامة.
ـ العامل الثالث، هو التنظيمات الاسلامية المتشددة، وممارساتها بالمناطق ‘المحررة’، ولا بد من الاشارة الى هذه الحركات التي تتحمل مسؤولية نقل الثورة السلمية الى ثورة مسلحة، ساهمت بالبداية بتحقيق انجازات عسكرية على الارض، لكنها بدأت بعد ذلك تظهر صورتها البشعة من خلال الاعدام وقطع الرؤوس وفرض الشريعة على طريقتها في المناطق المحررة. هذه الصورة البشعة ساعدت بالنتيجة النظام على الاستمرار وجعلت نزع تنازلات سياسية منه امرا صعبا.
ـ العامل الرابع هو الخلافات بصفوف المعارضة والتدخل الغربي والاجنبي باجندتها، ففي ظل النظام القمعي طوال عقود لم يستطع الشعب السوري ان يبلور، معارضة او حتى احزابا معارضة ذات مصداقية، وقد ادى هذا النقص بالتجربة الى ان النخب السورية لم تستطع بعد الثورة انشاء كيان معترف به من جميع الاطياف، كما انها لم تتوصل الى ابراز وجه يمكن اعتباره رائدا او زعيما، ولان الازمة طالت وتعسكرت، فقد اختلطت الانشطة السياسية بالعسكرية، وبالتالي فتحت الابواب لتدخلات دول عربية واقليمية لمواجهة روسيا وايران اللتين تدعمان النظام. واستتبع ذلك صراع بين الدول الداعمة على استقطاب المعارضين الذين دخلوا ايضا بصراعات داخلية تعكس تنافس وتناكف الدول التي يرتبطون بها.
ـ العامل الخامس والاخير هو الصورة التي آلت اليها اليوم دول الربيع العربي. فبعد الاطاحة باربعة رؤساء لانظمة استبدادية في كل من تونس ومصر واليمن وليبيا، لا تزال هذه الدول تعاني وان بدرجات مختلفة، ففي حين شهدت مصر انقلابا على الشرعية، تعثرت التجربة الديمقراطية في تونس، وبينما تعاني ليبيا من انتشار الميليشيات المسلحة والدعوات الانفصالية، يبدو اليمن عاجزا عن فرض سيطرة الدولة على انحاء البلاد.

Summary:
– a weak US policy affected by the losses in Iraq and Afghanistan
– the Russian factor and Putin’s emergence as a powerful player
– militant Islamist groups
– the division in the opposition camp and the failure to resist foreign influence and come up with a credible leadership
– the troubling picture in countries that witnessed an “Arab Spring”

(the most critical factors in the failure of the armed opposition is their alliance with islamist terrorists and GCC thugs and their use of random violence against Syrians and the Syrian state)

Syrian Hamster and Tara: I am for any venture that shows how innovation can lead to improvement of freedom around the world.

Several points: cloning a goat is very important: goats can clear your yard of weeds, they produce milk, and they are small and easily managed. We would create a goat farm; then sell the goats to those that want to weed their pastures; or better, we can re-establish grazing in the NE of Syria where the graft of the regime has led to the disappearance of the water table, we can get it re established again.

Also, we can produce milk. It has to be fortified with folic acid, for it is poor in folic acid then we can feed the millions of refugees free of charge of course.

Now, one can also solicit the expertise of the regime in milking the goats: I think they would use the “tire” method to milk the goat, the same one that led to the death of Omar Aziz in his torture chamber. They have no clue on how to milk a goat in any other way. Put the goat in the tire and beat it to confess by producing milk. While they are doing this we will use the newest methods for our goat farm and beat them to the market.

In the meantime, the WSJ quoted by the regime insider mentions the Chechen leader who is fighting in Syria. Well, he failed to mention that he was the product of the prison system of the former Soviet Union system of justice. He also fails to mention that the fighters he has have been most effective in some actions against the regime. He fails to mention that his prowess is attracting more adherents not less.

Also, I am not selective but the same WSJ mentioned yesterday the COLLAPSE or near collapse of the Iranian Gas State Company due to the sanctions.

He also failed to mention the NYT article these days about the resentment of the people of Tehran at the “largess” of the regime towards the regime in Syria, when inflation has devalued the Touman by 50 % at least. Rouhani would very much like to dump the iPad; but the twin corruption machine in the IRGC want to continue supporting him. Well well, the destruction of the Markabat building in Harasta may have led to the death of 50 of these Iranians fighting for the regime.

You may watch my dear Syrian Hamster and my dear Tara the following report from future TV. This is today’s episode but you may want to watch the episode from yesterday as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB2K3Zm7IzU&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLBNjQP2o5guiaQ1Dasg0mus5m5dqq1eHQ

Now, it is interesting to hear the pro regime propagandists in Lebanon talk like ……….. George W Bush: we have to fight them there so that we do not have to fight them here is one discourse, the other is : they attacked the Iranian embassy as sectarians and linking the attacks to the Iranian policies in Syria is unacceptable; this is exactly like GWB saying that 9/11 happened because they hate our freedom and not because of our policies. Now, we also have the discourse of we are fighting “takfiris” as if the other has not practiced takfiri method when it tortured people to declare that there is no God but Bashar.

Today, J’amuse Jaffaari got his response from the KSA delegate when the former attacked KSA for its spreading of Wahabi ideology: he was told that the KSA government does not bomb and gas and destroy wholesale its cities and towns.

J’amuse was not amused, he fell silent.

As for so called victories, the delusion continues.

” Sell the bust so that they can buy the boom” is open for business: will build goat farms with rubble from the suburbs, and will have them eat the weed growing in the presidential palace so that the milk can go to the children refugees. As for chicken coops we will use helicopter blades, tank chains, and twisted BMP carcasses to make them. Eggs will be distributed but some will be kept to rot so that they can thrown at the likes of J’amuse in NY and his erstwhile brood studying in the evil West’s universities.

As for innovation, the best that the glorious Air Force can do is to throw barrel bombs, in the meantime, the revolution is making ever more sophisticated home made mortars and missiles and have actually been able to rig buildings to blow them up to pieces.

Now one more thing: HA has actually declared its intentions to staying in Syria as long as necessary to defend………. Lebanon and Palestine and the Resistance: well how stupid can you be when you tell your enemies that you are going to be busy in Aleppo, for now all they have to do is to keep it warm and active in Aleppo and Daray and so on and so forth…….. It also will continue to drag Lebanon further into the abyss of the Syrian maelstrom and as the NYT reported today Rouhani declaring that Syria is our Vietnam. What stupidity; it also declared to the rest of the Lebanese that it will not allow for the formation of a government effectively highjacking the Lebanese state to its agenda.

It actually has put itself in a corner.

Last but not least, Laughvrov is desperate now to create an opposition that can preserve the state structure in Syria for it has concluded that the regime is now another militia, that it cannot regain control of Syria, that the areas in the north are all becoming training and breeding grounds, and that it has the Syrian regime tied around its neck for a good while now. So we look for Qadri and Rifaat and this or that but in reality there is no one left for the retard has actually destroyed any chance of any dialogue or redemption or reform a long time ago.

If I were a neo con I would love this situation, it is dragging on and on and on. It is going to explode the region. It is going to entrench the protagonists. It is going to inflame sectarianism. It is going to weed out the weak and will pit the hardliners agains each other. It will keep them bleeding each other. It will keep the area unstable. It will increase arm imports. It will grind these societies into oblivion for two generations to come

The pyromaniacs calls the firefighters

Saudi Arabia urges Security Council action to save Syria
November 21, 2013 12:46 AM
By Kareem Shaheen
The Daily Star

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-21/238521-saudi-arabia-urges-security-council-action-to-save-syria.ashx#ixzz2lFJ3JGUg

Observer

“he was told that the KSA government does not bomb and gas and destroy wholesale its cities and towns. ”

Of course they don’t
Saudis are half-men who do not want to dirty their ‘aristocratic’ dishdasha. They pay mercenaries to do the dirty job of killing, car bombing, torturing, raping, destroying and decapitating.

Obsy

“Laughvrov is desperate now to create an opposition that can preserve the state structure in Syria”

The only desperate one is the opposition pressured like an rotten lemon by the whole international community to drop all of its pre-conditions and to unite, an impossible task.

The opposition must create a viable coalition now because if they don’t rush to Geneva soon enough , they will witness the total annihilation of the armed rebels and the collapse of the opposition. Even the ally Turkey is pressuring them as Turkey may soon see Al Qaeda on its territories and the Patriots will be useless against car bombs.
The clock is ticking for the opposition and for Turkey.

#130 SL

Yes and more……

Saudi Arabia is worried of possible terrorists attacks on its soil and will probably try to decrease the sectarian tension. Its mercenaries terrorists are getting out of control and may turn against the Kingdom

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/87068/World/Region/Saudi-Arabia-condemns-deadly-Beirut-blast-as-cowar.aspx

Saudi Arabia condemned a suicide attack that killed 23 people in Beirut, including an Iranian cultural attache, on Tuesday as “cowardly terrorist bombings”, the official SPA news agency said on Wednesday.

“An official source stated that the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strongly denounces and condemns the cowardly terrorist bombings in the Lebanese capital Beirut,” SPA reported, adding the government extended condolences to the families of the victims and the Lebanese government and people.

There’s a sucker born every minute

This sucker is on a mission to kill Muslims in Syria to protect Islam!

A British man in Syria has told the BBC he is fighting for a group linked to al-Qaeda.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25022097

Ifthekar Jaman, 23, from Southsea, Hampshire, told Newsnight the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) was engaged in a jihad to establish a state based on Islamic religious law.

He said it was his “duty” because Muslims were “being slaughtered”.

Jaman, whose family come from Bangladesh, is believed to have left the UK in spring of this year.

“I am ISIS. This is the group I am with. We are trying to establish the law of God, the law of Allah,” he said.

…

NATO countries will eventually reach a deal with Iran, this may not suit extremists on both sides but it will be good for the region. Those who do not want a deal, KSA and Israel, are the same ones who are behind the bombing in Beirut. The report about ” the near collapse” of Iran’s gas industry is not credible, indeed Iran is increasing its production of oil and gas and expects the lifting of some sanctions.
Turkey and NATO security chiefs are probably helping yesterday’s enemies to capture or kill yesterday’s friends. This is a list of rebels chiefs who were killed or injured in the last week:
1- «عبد القادر الصالح» الملقب بحجي مارع قائد لواء التوحيد وهو أهم قادة الميليشيات المسلحة في حلب و يعتبر القائد العسكري لتيار الاخوان المسلمين في سوريا, كما قتل معه أحد أهم قادة لواء التوحيد المدعو: أبو الطيب, كما أصيب عبد العزيز سلامة ( القائد العام للواء التوحيد ) .
2- العقيد هيثم درويش.درويش نهاية العام الماضي “لواء المجاهدين” ، وأصبح لاحقا قائدا لـ”لواء الفتح” التابع لجماعة الأخوان المسلمين قبل أن يعلن قبل يومين مغادرة ما يسمى”الجيش الحر” والالتحاق بعصابات “القاعدة”.
3- قائد المجلس العسكري في درعا العقيد المنشق احمد فهد النعمة.
4-محمد حسين النمر قائد “كتيبة مغاوير مهين”
5-أحمد العبدو قائد كتيبة “أبو بكر الصديق”
6-أبو حمزة قائد “كتائب القادسية “
7-خالد ادريس قائد “كتيبة مغاوير المباركية”
8-حسين الحبش قائد “لواء الحق”
9-زاهر العزو شمخة قائد “كتيبة مزيد الحمد”
Notice that Salim Idris and few others are not on the list.
At the end of the day, it was Syrians killing Syrians ,and destroying Syria in the process. Foreign friends and enemies were helpful in supporting their allies, they did that to protect their own interests but they will not be as helpful when the time comes to pay the bills of rebuilding Syria, actually Russia is using KSA’s money to finance an arms’ deal with Egypt !!

(Arab and Muslim nations proved to be unworthy of the world’s respect and are now behaving like savage tribes that know no rules and accept no boundaries)

#140 Ghufran

Selim Idriss is in a bunker in Turkey, wondering about how to make people forget his Al Nusra support and his insistance of removing Bashar Al Assad.

I’d like to share a comment on Yahoo about the death of Saleh:

“treated in a Turkish hospital, burial ceremony in Qatar, attended by Saudi puppet inciting revenge attacks. Is anyone still confused about who the Syrian army is fighting?”

That is enough to generalize the reality.

Saleh was a charismatic figure and was sharp as a Damascus sword.

Syria could use lots of people like him only if they can represent progressive ideology. Syria now needs leaders who can promote secular and pragmatic path for the country more than anything else.

Axis Of Evil: France, Israel, Saudi Arabia By Margaret Kimberley – November 20, 2013

http://www.albanytribune.com/20112013-axis-evil-france-israel-saudi-arabia-oped/

Iran has never invaded or occupied another nation, it hasn’t killed civilians with drones, it never had any colonies, nor did it enslave millions of people or keep a huge portion of its population behind bars. Its political system is run by a class of conservative clerics and can’t be called democratic in the classic sense. Then again, the same can be said for countries who only choose leadership from among those given a stamp of approval by the wealthiest 1%. Despite these attributes, Iran is demonized by forces in the West who want that nation to exist only as a vassal state.

Because Iran refuses to give up its nuclear power capabilities western nations have exacted crippling sanctions which have impoverished its people and deprived them of food and medicine. This country is a target of imperialism and Zionism and literally cannot win, no matter how much it bows down to the wishes of western powers.

The United States is also in a no win situation with Israel, its alleged ally. Israel gets the lion share of American foreign aid and pledges of fealty from politicians at every level of government. In return for this largesse Israel routinely gives American presidents marching orders about what it does and does not want.

Right now Israel wants Iran to be completely destroyed as a political and economic force. Sanctions are never harsh enough and threats are never bellicose enough to please America’s “greatest ally.” President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are now like the school wimp who gets tired of being beaten up for his lunch money and they want to change the game, if only a tiny bit.

So it was inevitable that recent talks between Iran, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and China were doomed to be scuttled by Israel. Like his predecessors, Obama is punished by Jerusalem no matter how deftly he toes the line, especially because other states can be counted on to do Netanyahu’s bidding.

France has joined with Israel and with Saudi Arabia in quashing the true Arab spring, deciding who does and does not stay in power in Syria or Libya and finally in scuttling any chance for a nuclear power agreement with Iran. The Saudis and the French are equal opportunity crooks. The Saudis will give the French the right to build nuclear power plants there, the French sell the Saudis armaments and voila, a deal between two devils.

Israel and its most hard line American friends have been trying to push the United States into attacking Iran for many years. George W. Bush was stopped in 2007 when his own National Intelligence Estimate inconveniently reported that Iran had no nuclear weapons capability. Obama in his shrewdness concluded that it would be too difficult. He has not given up on American imperial design but there is a point beyond which the United States will not go. When Vladimir Putin stepped up to Obama and put an end to talk of attacking Syria, the US tacitly admitted that it wasn’t attacking Iran either.

Of course NATO nations, Russia and China all have nuclear weapons and so does Israel. The treachery is all the more despicable because Iran shouldn’t be forced into negotiations in the first place. As a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty it has the right to develop nuclear energy and in fact it has the right to develop nuclear weapons, something its arch-enemy Israel has already done. But rights are only for people and governments who have the power to exercise them.

At the eleventh hour the French threw a monkey wrench into the agreement. Like a good little supplicant, Secretary of State John Kerry denied what was true to anyone who was paying attention and instead blamed the Iranians who are in fact the most eager for a deal.

The Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif was driven to complain on twitter. Apparently diplomatic circles are not unlike feuds between gossiping teenagers.

“No amount of spinning can change what happened within 5+1 in Geneva from 6PM Thursday to 5:45 PM Saturday. But it can further erode confidence”

“Mr. Secretary, was it Iran that gutted over half of US draft Thursday night? and publicly commented against it Friday morning?”

These talks will resume once again but will remain a farce. Not only are Israel and its fellow criminals eager to keep any agreement from taking place but they have enlisted the help of congressional accomplices like John McCain who have vowed to increase the disastrous sanctions.

…

Fascinating TRUTH that blasts away the myth of Hezbollah being Lebanese and created for resistance to Israel.

Hezbollah was an 100% Iranian construct and offshoot of Khomeini’s faction when it gained power 30 years ago.

This explains a lot. In fact it explains everything.

It’s incredible to see how the reality has been obscured and history deliberately rewritten by propaganda and disinformation about Hezbollah’s mission and history.

Article:

THE SECRET HISTORY OF HEZBOLLAH

It was always an outpost of the Iranian revolution

http://m.weeklystandard.com/articles/secret-history-hezbollah_767144.html?nopager=1

Fascinating TRUTH that blasts away the myth of Hezbollah being Lebanese and created for resistance to Israel.

Hezbollah was an 100% Iranian construct and offshoot of Khomeini’s faction when it gained power 30 years ago.

This explains a lot. In fact it explains everything.

It’s incredible to see how the reality has been obscured and history deliberately rewritten by propaganda and disinformation about Hezbollah’s mission and history.

Article:

THE SECRET HISTORY OF HEZBOLLAH

It was always an outpost of the Iranian revolution

http://m.weeklystandard.com/articles/secret-history-hezbollah_767144.html?nopager=1

102. ziad said:

¨Terrorist’s mortar damages historic mosaic in the grand mosque of Damascus¨

This is reason enough to kill all the rebels, their families, sons and daughters, destroy their houses and let them desappear. Also this is a good reason to give all power to Iran and turn the population in Syria from 75 % sunni to become just 30 % sunni.

Is this what you pretend?

I wonder what would ¨great heroe¨ Assad do if left alone in a village being bombed by jets and tanks. Probably he would hide underground like ¨brave¨ Saddam Hussein did.

Same prospects for Putin, NaziAllah and mafious Berri.

I’ve Had My Say this Morning

If I were a neo con I would love this situation, it is dragging on and on and on.

Observer,

I don’t “love” seeing others killed, but it does expose a fallacy and a myth that has been hanging around far too long: that the arab-Israeli conflict and the occupation is the reason for violence and instability in the Middle East.

Is isn’t.

I would prefer that the Middle East was another Europe, where countries can do business with one another and live in peace.

But this will NEVER happen, when people have NO say in electing their “leaders” and have no voice to change things.

You can “rag” on GWB all you want, but he was right. Arabs are BEGGING (even here on this website) Obama to do the same thing on the Assad clan (their removal) that GWB did with Saddam Hussein. And I agree with them. It could be done with in the same way with much less loss of American blood and treasure, to the BENEFIT of every freedom-loving person in the world.

“You’re either with us or against us” should be a warning to all despots out their who refuse to give their citizens the basic human right of elected government and freedom of speech.

I wonder why the regime insider even bothers to read my posts.

Here is a news worth his time to read from none other than the official SANA news outlet

http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=ar/Article/view/30740

AP; I was just being cynical as to how in reality an average US citizen would look at the conflict these days. Pox on both their houses is what I would say these days if I were someone living in the US. This is exactly what is happening, the most talked about program is not CNN or Fox news it is Duck Dynasty.

Now, it is clear as well that the roll out of Obamacare, the debacle with the red lines, the NSA stories, etc……. have clearly shown the public that the current administration is incompetent; that this US president is an amateur; and that the ME region is actually drifting into oblivion.

As for GWB I do not think for one minute that he was right about anything. As a matter of fact I think it is a war crime to wage an offensive war against a country that did not attack us. It will take a generation to repair the damage he inflicted.

As for j’amuse; he really should refrain from stoning others when his house is made of shattered glass.

Last but not least AP, I disagree with you: Sykes Picot and the creation of the state of Israel, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, the repeated wars. were meant to sow eternal instability and to create divisions. The Zionist project has a very dark side of exclusive rights to the Jewish people at the expense of the inhabitants that is undeniable. As for dictators exploiting the conflict to their end, I would say it goes both ways: in reality I would say that our alliance with Israel has cost us far more in blood and in treasure than is worth for our interests in the region. Now we are in a religious war with fanatics and the turn of Israel is coming lest the stupid leadership of the Israelis makes peace and makes peace quickly.

Time is running out on all dictators, including the Israeli one.

145. SANDRO LOEWE said: Is this what you pretend?

נתניהו הוא מתקשר אליך

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-21/238551-iraqi-shiite-militia-claim-responsibility-for-saudi-mortar-incident.ashx#axzz2l65AVaOD

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-21/238551-iraqi-shiite-militia-claim-responsibility-for-saudi-mortar-incident.ashx#axzz2l65AVaOD

he he he he he; once again the neocons must be laughing it up. One of the bombers is oops….. a Palestinian from our resistance camp. And of course a Shia militia in Iraq takes up the call of arms and fuels the Sunni Shia 50 year civil war.

I am off to watch Duck Dynasty

The opposition is getting weaker and more divided by the day in front of disgusted and dissillusioned Syrians more and more united behind their legitimate government

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=62776

Thomas Pierret, a Syria expert at Edinburgh University, said: “It is clear the current loyalist surge is linked to the prospect of Geneva II”, a slated peace conference that would bring rebels and the regime to the negotiating table.

“If the (opposition) National Coalition goes to the talks, it will be in a position of weakness, militarily and diplomatically,” said Pierret, adding that the United States has in recent weeks downscaled its assistance to the opposition.

“In any case, Assad’s departure is out of the question right now, because neither the Russians nor the Americans want it,” he added.

Observer,

I agree with you about Obama.

As for GWB I do not think for one minute that he was right about anything.

We’ll have to agree to disagree. At the time, Saddam was a rogue despot who was not complying with the UNSC for years. Ironically, we had more international support against Saddam than we do now against Syria and Iran. Go figure. I am not sorry the US conducted regime change in IRaq; I am sorry about the outcome, which, unfortuantely, had a lot to do with Obama’s insistence that we leave Iraq with our tails between our legs as a reminder to GWB about his “failed policies”. We should have had a permanent military presence in Iraq like we do in Germany and Japan.

Last but not least AP, I disagree with you: Sykes Picot and the creation of the state of Israel, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, the repeated wars. were meant to sow eternal instability and to create divisions.

Observer,

I don’t see any evil in the Sykes Picot agreement except that the waning elite needed away to “divy-up” the Middle East among themselves. Borders don’t kill people, people kill people.

Sykes Picot doesn’t have anything to do with Algeria’s mess, Egypts mess, Iran’s mess or Libya’s mess. IOW, I blame the problems on the Middle East on how the states are GOVERNED.

The Zionist project has a very dark side of exclusive rights to the Jewish people at the expense of the inhabitants that is undeniable.

Observer,

If the arab states incorporated the “very dark side” of Israel’s government and their policies, I’m afraid arabs wouldn’t know what hit them! Suddenly, they would be allowed to speak their minds, find jobs, do business, and appear in court for their crimes!

Very “dark” indeed Observer;)

You know, it’s really not that complicated. The Palestinians are a people and the Jews are a people. Dark, gray, purple, plaid, color it anyway you want. Israel and the Palestinians have to accept each other an figure out a way to live together. Israel with their 20+% of arabs as part of their population aren’t doing that badly; of course there is always room for improvement.

But Sykes Picot and Israel aren’t the reasons why the ME is so riddled with problems.

Time is running out on all dictators, including the Israeli one.

Observer,

I hope you’re right, but last I checked Israel doesn’t have a dictator. All officials in the Knesset and in the Prime Minister’s office have been elected by the people, including arab israelis.

As for your frustration with American voters, I can understand your point. I am frustrated they voted for Obama. Voters chose GWB for his second term because, probably, they liked the way he handled 9-11. Arab resistance professionals always tried to influence Americans by trying to increase anti-Israel sentiment, which is their right. Americans, like all voters, are not required to be professors or white land-owners any more. Everybody gets to vote and everyone relies on their instincts to decide who is really more qualified than the other.

If you don’t want to rely on Israel, give me the name of another Middle East country that is better suited.

@ Apple_mini

Saleh was a smart but vicious opportunist. He is a Turkman who are usually secular. He then became a Moslem Brotherhood afficionado in order to get Qatar’s and Turkey’s aid and then turned to Al Nusra to get Saudi’s aid.
He is one of the leaders that have allowed the ‘revolution’ to be hijacked and turned into a Islamic Jihad to bring Syria back in the middle age.
He was a charismatic warlord in time of war but a not a leader anyone would trust in time of peace.

Don’t let the door hit you in the back!

Saudi urges citizens to leave Lebanon

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/usatoday/article/3661865

Haven’t rich Qatar and Saudi Arabia promised to the Syrians “freedom and dignity”? what are they doing for the millions of refugees begging in Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan? Can’t they offer them shelters or it is only reserved for the Moslem Brotherhood leaders? Or they prefer to spend their money more usefully in buying more hotels in Paris or build more vagina like stadium for the Soccer game .

Syrian refugees in Lebanon blighted by poverty and debt

November 21, 2013 Updated: November 21, 2013

BEIRUT // Desperate Syrian refugee families in Lebanon are slipping farther into debt and poverty, affecting their children’s education and their dignity, an international aid agency said yesterday.

“Refugees from Syria face a daily battle to survive in a country where jobs and affordable accommodation are scarce.

“The perpetual hunt for work is crushing people’s hope,” said Nigel Timmins, who heads Oxfam’s Syria response from Beirut.

“One of the most tragic aspects of the refugees’ predicament in Lebanon is the plight of the children’s future. The survey found that only 25 per cent of children are enrolled in schools, pointing to a generation of Syrian children missing out on a much-needed education,” Oxfam said.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/syrian-refugees-in-lebanon-blighted-by-poverty-and-debt#ixzz2lHzccbpI
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

The Vagina Stadium of Qatar

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/18/qatar-accidental-vagina-stadium-al-wakrah-world-cup-stadium

Qatar’s accidental vagina stadium is most gratifying
The resemblance of the Al-Wakrah World Cup stadium to the female genitalia can only be a good thing – sport and vaginas are not always such public bedfellows

Pope Francis says worried about Middle Eastern Christians Concerned about Syria, Iraq and other conflict zones – 21 November, 14:49

http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2013/11/21/Pope-Francis-says-worried-about-Middle-Eastern-Christians_9658166.html

”The living conditions of Christians arouse great worry, who in many parts of the Middle East endure the consequences of current tensions and conflicts in a particularly burdensome manner,” said the pontiff, naming Syria, Iraq, Egypt and ”other parts of the Holy Land that sometimes drip with blood”.

The “Very Dark Side” of the Zionist Project NewZ

Don,

Here’s something you may want to forward to Pope Francis (and Observer):

Christian society in Israel is the only Christian community in the Middle East, which has experienced population growth through the last decades, despite the regional tendency of decreasing Christian communities.

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

News you don’t find in the Israeli Mafia Media

Pope: no Middle East without Christians – November 21 2013 at 02:59pm

http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/pope-no-middle-east-without-christians-1.1610480

Vatican City –

Pope Francis on Thursday said the Catholic Church will not accept a Middle East without Christians, who often find themselves forced to flee areas of conflict and unrest in the region.

“We will not resign ourselves to imagining a Middle East without Christians,” he said after meeting with Patriarchs from Syria, Iraq and Egypt, before calling for “the universal right to lead a dignified life and freely practice one’s own faith to be respected.”

Americans ‘have made up a new Islam’

http://rt.com/op-edge/american-war-new-islam-046/

They introduced three elements into their new Islam – Takfiris, money and Jihad Al-Nikah.

Americans and Israelis want the kind of Islam based on takfir.

RT: How can you explain the fact that Muslims from all over the world have been called to Syria – to the country that never saw clashes between religious communities and whose Christian community is so strong and lives side by side with Muslims?

NH: The US acts against Christians in the East on purpose. In Palestine, Israel cooperated with the US – they wanted to banish Christians out of there. Driving Christians away from Palestine has been continuing since the occupation – they went to great lengths in order to make 120,000 Christians leave Bethlehem in particular.

When the US occupied Iraq, Israelis were in charge of driving away Christians from there and they succeeded.

So there was just Syria left and they switched their attention to it. But in Syria it can only be done by destroying Islam from the inside, eliminating science and culture.

Anybody have an aspirin?

Israeli ZIONIST Nazi’s Show how Arrogant & DISGUSTING they Really are

Warnings about attacks targeting Hezbollah ties in Lebanon unheeded

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1362188/warnings-about-attacks-targeting-hezbollah-ties-lebanon-unheeded

A Western intelligence agency gave Lebanese government authorities audio evidence that al-Qaeda-style militants were planning attacks on targets related to Hezbollah over the past two weeks, but the warnings, which were passed to Hezbollah, failed to prevent Tuesday’s bombing of the Iranian embassy.

The warning was first reported by the Lebanese newspaper al Safir. Lebanese and Western intelligence officials have confirmed the report.

The report did not identify the Western intelligence agency, but it said that audio the agency gave to the Lebanese government caught a SAUDI organiser with links to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) attempting to co-ordinate an attack with a local militant group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

According to a local security official, the captured conversation was between AHMED AL-SUEDI, a SAUDI national who’s been described as AQAP’s liaison and co-ordinator in Lebanon, and Abdullah Azzam’s top leader, Majed al-Majed.

Tuesday’s attack, which killed more than 20 people, featured a suicide bomber on a motorcycle that struck the security checkpoint in front of the embassy. A second suicide bomber then drove an explosives-laden car through the checkpoint and towards the embassy before detonating, killing onlookers and emergency personnel who had reacted to the first explosion.

SYRIALOVER #144 said:

“THE SECRET HISTORY OF HEZBOLLAH”

To learn about Hizbullah from Tony Badran and the Weekly Standard is like learning about the Nakbah from an Israeli History textbook.

Ziad,

The Nakba is not a secret and it is known to anyone who wants to google it.

The Syrian Nakba, unfortunately, overshadows the Palestinian Nakba in terms of death, destruction and the number of refugees created. The other difference is, the Palestinian Nakba was fought to prohibit the Jewish people from forming an independent nation. The Syrian Nakba was fought to keep another in a long line of arab despots in power.

At least the Palestinian Nakba was a good cause from an arab perspective.

So, you need to explain why so many arabs have grown upset with Hezbollah. It is a given that Jews don’t like Hezbollah, but now we have a LOT of arabs who have grown unhappy with them. Tony Badran isn’t the only arab who wants them to go away. Do you read the posts here?

Support BDS

Committee for Justice in Palestine at the Ohio State University

Support PMS against the Zionist Entity:

http://www.israellycool.com/2013/07/18/apartheid-fail-of-the-day-2/

Akbar Palace,

What do you think the next step should be now that it seems the so-called P5+1 hit a wall over the nukes with the mullahstanis in Geneva?

I would like to remind you that Netenyahu has been talking the talk but has never walked the walk, as is the case with all the other PMs, ministers and military brass over this nuke thing for quite so many years so far. The more talk and the less walk only means scarecrowing to the layman, which also means the talker(s) are taken less and less seriously.

Heads-Up,

Kif hallak?

OK, the next steps. Plan an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and prioritize each target. Fairly easy and probably already done.
Next, keep track of enemy defenses and changes. Work with neighbors for possible use of airspace (here the Guided Kingdom will need to be on-board). Refueling will be necessary.

Next, practice runs. I think there have been a few, but they need to be frequent and more extensive reflecting a real operation.

Lastly, they need to pray and have something up their sleeve, like a super-duper laser beam or a few dozen 30000 lb bunker bombs.

Netanyahu talks a lot for sure. And the Iranian “almost a month away” warnings are already at least 10 years old. So, that may be a blessing in disguise, because I have no clue when the operation will go down. Rest assured Netanyahu’s speaking does warrant more aspirins so between reading the news and participating on this website, I think I’ll need to buy another large bottle of Bayer aspirin.

Ziad,

After reading this article, let me know if you are a fan of Paul McCartney. SIR Paul McCartney…

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/1.556260

Akbar Palace,

Do you think SLAM-ERs and JSOWs may come in handy?

Conducting Business with Iran isn’t Easy NewZ

Heads-Up,

Here’s a potential present I would deliver to the Supreme Leader of Iran if the nuclear talks don’t work…

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/05/03/pentagon-upgrades-bunker-buster-bomb-in-attempt-to-penetrate-key-iran-nuke-site/

Racan ‏@Racanarchy 2h
Ed Dark confirms 2 things: 1. He hangs out in trendy cafes 2. Assad militias DO disguise themselves as FSA (often) http://t.co/w39B5Cr8Tt

Aboud Dandachi ‏@AboudDandachi 2h
@Racanarchy @edwardedark Indeed.Considering how easy it seems for shabihas to pretend to be rebels,everything should be reexamined

Who is today’s Maestro?

Pepe Escobar :
Bandar Bush’s strategy – weaponizing and providing cover to Salafis, jihadis and every patsy or mercenary in between – will go on unabated. After Bandar Bush convinced Washington to get rid of the Muslim Brotherhood-friendly Qataris, the Saudis are the supreme warfare go-to channel. The Bandar Bush machine has ties with virtually every jihadi outfit in the Levant.

It certainly helps that Bandar has the perfect cover; the fact that he knows and has cajoled every significant player in Washington. In the US, Bandar Bush remains a dashing hero, even eliciting fawning comparisons with Gatsby. [5] Right. And my name is actually Daisy.

Even with its own embassy attacked in Lebanon, Iran is maintaining an extremely calibrated approach. The number-one priority is the nuclear negotiations in Geneva with the partner that really matters, the US. This explains Iran blaming the Beirut terror attack on the proverbial “Zionists”, and not Saudi-enabled jihadis posing as “rebels” and part of the whole Bandar Bush nebula.

For the moment though, enough of Orwellian newspeak. What happened in Beirut was a terror attack, cheered by Israel, and fully enabled by Saudis; a graphic display by the Likudnik-House of Saud axis.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-03-201113.html

The major world powers, including the United States and Russia, have already implemented the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention and have abandoned their stockpiles of nerve gas. And Israel can do the same. In the course of the signing in 1993, then Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said that “there are no weapons to fight non-conventional weapons, there are only certain policies that can prevent their use and production.” This statement by Peres, who is now the president of Israel, rings true to this day.

Ratifying the Convention will save Israel the considerable funds needed for the production and storage of chemical weapons. It will also be beneficial in strengthening the state’s reputation and prevent a situation in which Jerusalem is forced to do so under international pressure. After all, the agreement made by the United States and Russia concerning the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons is significant for Israel as well.

Alexander Efimov, Candidate of Historical Sciences and expert on the Middle East
http://journal-neo.org/2013/11/21/rus-izrail-i-himicheskoe-oruzhie/

This is not a sniper from the village. SAS.
Shot from a distance of> 300 m in moving 100 km / h is possible only goal before turning on protivohod when the azimuthal velocity is small, but high angular. Shot out of the window from the building in the course. Apparently besides the gunner was leading with the radio. The second shot was already downed, has not had to refocus. This is not a stray bullet, this is an order, and expensive.

http://youtu.be/lhBnXjI_qOM?t=6s

UN admits that there should have been political negotiations early in the crisis in Syria instead on focusing on a militart resolution

UN admits being late ( and mislead ) on civil war in Syria

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/un-admits-being-late-on-civil-war-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nid=58331&NewsCatID=359

“This is another grim reminder of the importance of … acting early. I wish there had been political moves already at the beginning of this conflict. Syrians would not have reached this level of suffering,” he said.

The deputy secretary-general underlined the necessity of a planned Geneva peace conference, noting that only a political solution can end the war. “I’m absolutely convinced that there is no military victory.

There were illusions last year and even two years ago. Look where we are,” Eliasson said, citing the transfer of weapons to both sides in the conflict.

By being widely recognized to fund Islamist rebels-terrorists, Saudi Arabia is now exposed to attacks that will conveniently be labelled as retaliation and pinned on Hezbollah and Iran to trigger an escalation of violence. Iran has not pointed its finger to Saudi Arabia but Saudi Arabia needs to make a quick conciliatory move toward Iran to stop te tit for tat

Iraqi group claims mortar attack on Saudi Arabia

The conflict in Syria is spreading, without any doubt. Al-Akahbar reports that an Iraqi group fired six mortar rounds into a ” remote area of northeastern Saudi Arabia” as a warning to Saudis about their treatment of Shias. That would include the Shias in this resource rich area of Saudi Arabia. It could be seen as the general stance of Saudis toward Iran, Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Saudis have financed and now lead the anti-Syrian government attack seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad.

The Saudis seem frenetic lately. Prince Bandar bin Sultan recently named himself the head of a 50,000 man “extraterritorial military unit” that will fight in the region, e.g., Syria. The Saudis were said to have an agreement with Israel to support an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, although Riyadh denied the story.

The warning shot from Iraq is a bold move intended to send a message. We’ll see what Prince Bandar’s militia does about this.

Full article from Al Akahbar English (Creative Commons)

Al Akahbar English, Lebanon Published Thursday, November 21, 2013

An Iraqi group claimed Thursday it had fired six mortar rounds that hit a remote area of northeastern Saudi Arabia a day earlier as a warning to the Wahabbi kingdom.
– See more at: http://agonist.org/iraqi-group-claims-mortar-attack-saudi-arabia/#sthash.kP4hhtLb.dpuf

AP; there was never a UN security council resolution allowing a war on Iraq. It is a war crime.

Sykes Picot is but one of many elements of the mess. Dictatorship is number one by far for the mess; today if you were to allow the people to declare their desires the vast majority would opt for a unified state but they have to be free and under the rule of law then they will unite.

Israel is a dictatorship to the Palestinians.

One simple test for you AP: can Palestinians in the diaspora be granted the right of return just every Jew has a “birth right to be a citizen of Israel” If not then it is a dictatorship.

Now we will agree to disagree. But my advise to you and Israeli regime is to make peace with the Palestinians. This is your last chance, the region is going to be swarming with fanatics that will very likely invite for a complete destruction of Israel.

Your leadership is as stupid and drunk with power as the so called leadership of Syria or Iraq. The difference is that the drunken power is that of occupation and oppression of another people.

Last but not least, no matter how much better the situation in Israel is; it does not diminish one bit the exclusivist nature of Zionism, and the abhorrent treatment of Palestinians to this day.

The ugly face of Iran terrorism under Ahh ya Hussein and Ooh ya Zainab is unraveling. The world will soon realize that a theocracy that has 89 billion dollars in theft is not to be trusted. Iran’ s nuclear capability must be neutralized by force. We are seeing the ugly face of Shiaa terrorism. A terrorism that is backed up by a massive, well selected propaganda machine worldwide as well as effective killing machine, namely HA and the IRGC.

Es sind die westlichen Führer und die vom Golf, die für den Krieg verantwortlich sind und welche die Schuld für den Tod von 120 000 Syrern und Zehntausenden Dschihadisten tragen.
http://www.politaia.org/terror/syrien-es-geht-um-die-wahrheit-von-thierry-meyssan/

Syrialover@147

“Amal, as long as Sadr was alive, was an adversary, and even after his death would never prove pliant enough…”

“The Secret History of Hezollah” should be published in NYT and other widely reached western and Arab press. It exposed HA foe what it is: an ranian tool made to threaten the whole ME. They are born and raised Arab yet nothing but freaking traitors who sold themselves and their country to Iran under ya حسين and ya زينب. I hope a day will come when those traitors are purged from the Middke East. They incite nothing but despise and contempt in the heart of all Arabs. It is so difficult to live in a country where traitors live in the midest of you.

Iran probably killed imam Sadr and will kill even Zainab herself if it come to it but will have no problem walking in Zainab funeral.

Is this accusation indirectly aimed at Qatar and Turkey who were instrumental in pushing the Moslem Brotherhood up to the Egypt presidency?

Brotherhood ‘stealing’ revolution: Kerry

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/brotherhood-stealing-revolution-kerry.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58332&NewsCatID=358

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of “stealing” Egypt’s revolution, in some of his toughest comments yet about the party that took power in the nation’s first democratic election.

Kerry said Nov. 20 the Islamist group had appropriated the revolt against Hosni Mubarak from young people who started the uprising in response to mass protests elsewhere in the Arab world.

Tara:

From the number of times you repeat the names of Zaynab and al-Husayen in your posts, and how you insult them repeatedly one could say with ease that you are bigoted against the Shia. The moderator should take notice of your repeated insults.

These screaming sessions you are starting about Zaynab made you really miss the real importance of Zaynab in the Syrian struggle.

To make matters simple: the Shia in general are involved in Syria for Zaynab, the SYMBOL they adore and which you, the Sunnis had prevented them from visiting in the manner they would like for a long long long long long time. Do you think they are letting you Sunnis control this shrine again without a fight, a huge fight to that matter?

You should know this since you came from the Sunni religious class that had participated in preventing the Shia from doing what they want. You like to think that you came from the business class. No …you came from the religious class. You have nothing to do with business and development. You have a lot to do with Fatawa and keeping the local population down.

The Obama administration is seeking an optimal regional policy to suit the US interests rather than the Israeli or Saudi interests. it means is that Washington’s actions will be guided by the range of US interests rather than by one of playing second fiddle to Israeli demands or Saudi regional ambitions. If this reset is carried to its logical conclusion, the balance of forces in the Middle East will be transformed beyond recognition.

Suffice to say, if the P5+1 and Iran talks currently under way in Geneva do result in an interim agreement, the path leading to the Geneva 2 conference on Syria in mid-December becomes that much easier to traverse.

Mjabali,

Calling Shias terrorism for what it is, is not different than calling Wahabbi terrorism for what it is. You gave yourself ample right to discuss the later and you deny me the right to discuss the former. Give me a break!

But your behavior is stereotypical for minorities in the ME which I truly come to disdain. They allow themselves to cry us an ocean expressing their fear of Wahhabism, freely cheering our demise under such pretext, while prohibiting the majority from expressing their fear of the sectarianism of minorities that has so far killed 120,000 Syrians.

And Mjabali,, please do not resort to Tashbeeh, threatening me by the moderator. Email the moderator and JL and complain as much as you find fit. I can’t be bullied by this nonsense. Calling the Shias terrorist for what they are is not sectarianism. It is no different than calling OBL for what he is. killing Syrians under the pretext of Zainab and Hussain is terrorism and any terrorism should be exposed.

Grow up Mjabali. You can’t suppress my freedom of speech when it comes against a group of people you belong or identify with while, you give yourself an ample freedom of speech for doing the same towards a group of people you consider your enemy.

Responding to Observer Post #182:

AP; there was never a UN security council resolution allowing a war on Iraq. It is a war crime.

Observer,

Read UNSC 1441. It invokes Chapter VII of the UN Charter:

Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations

It also states:

13. Recalls, in that context, that the Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that
it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations of its
obligations

“Serious consequences” means possible military force. This resolution was passed unanimously by the 16 members of the security council, Ironically, Syria was one of the 16 countries that voted FOR this grave resolution. Its wording was evaluated carefully before it was voted upon.

Saddam could have spared his country and his regime. But he was too proud to prevent it.

http://www.un.org/depts/unmovic/documents/1441.pdf

Israel is a dictatorship to the Palestinians.

Observer,

Some arab Knesset members are arabs. Are they dictators too? Are arab Israelis “Palestinian”? Why aren’t they demonstrating against the “dictatorship”? You know they are free to demonstrate. I read an article today that a couple of Saudis from the Guided Kingdom were arrested by the Saudi police because they held “Hug” signs.

I guess Israel’s dictatorship is relative. If these Palestinians think Israel is a “dictatorship” because they defend themselves without apologizing, just tell them the Israelis are too full of themselves;)

One simple test for you AP: can Palestinians in the diaspora be granted the right of return just every Jew has a “birth right to be a citizen of Israel” If not then it is a dictatorship.

Observer,

No. Every country has the right to determine their immigration policies. And many of them are restricted to ex-Pats. Ireland may only give immigration visas for those of Irish decent. Many countries are restrictive in this sense. Here’s an article I found that may be of interest to you.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130630-immigration-reform-world-refugees-asylum-canada-japan-australia-sweden-denmark-united-kingdom-undocumented-immigrants/

Israel and Palestine are also a special case. Israel and Palestine are in the midst of negotiating a final peace agreement. Believe it or not Palestine was supposed to be separated into 2 states: a Jewish state and an arab state. This isn’t going away considering the potential violence and the vast cultural differences.

So, while pointing out that Israel only gives citizenship to Jews, there are plenty of countries that will not grant citizenship to Jews and one of those countries is Palestine. It doesn’t anger me, it is what the Palestinians want.

But my advise to you and Israeli regime is to make peace with the Palestinians.

I agree, but it takes 2 to tango, and I don’t get the impression the Palestinians want to take on this responsibility with Hamas in Gaza and the PA in the West Bank. I think the Palestinians are happy to be in the news and receiving billion in aide.

This is your last chance, the region is going to be swarming with fanatics that will very likely invite for a complete destruction of Israel.

Observer,

The fear mongering doesn’t work anymore. The fanatics, as we’ve seen, will just as easily kill their own.

Your leadership is as stupid and drunk with power as the so called leadership of Syria or Iraq.

Those are strong words for a non-Israeli. I read the same comments from Ziad’s “Veterans Today”. Meanwhile Netanyahu may go down as one of the most dependable and successful Prime Ministers in Israel’s history.

The difference is that the drunken power is that of occupation and oppression of another people.

Well, with the “-ion” words notwithstanding, the status quo is what the Palestinians want. Don’t buy Israeli oranges or wine or diamonds or military equipment if that makes you feel better. the Palestinians know what they have to do to sign a final agreement, and it isn’t much different than what they have now. The difference being, there won’t be anymore claims. Now THAT’S a pill too hard to swallow for un-elected despots.

Last but not least, no matter how much better the situation in Israel is; it does not diminish one bit the exclusivist nature of Zionism, and the abhorrent treatment of Palestinians to this day.

Israel’s treatment of her arab/palestinian citizens is the BEST in the Middle East, bar none.

Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is a function of not signing a peace agreement, distrust, and prolonging the conflict. You want to kill Jews, then a wall goes up. You want to fire missiles into Israel? Then a blockade goes up, etc.

Observer,

Israelis have seen it all, heard it all, and prepare the best they can. They aren’t going anywhere. There are no countries that will take Joos as we found out during WW2 (sbeaking of immigration policies). So you can blame the Israeli-Palestine conflict on us if you want, you can make the issue sound as the worst thing known to Man, you can describe with adjectives aplenty how horrible the Palestinians are treated to your hearts content.

Meanwhile, so many more people are suffering a far worse fate outside of Israel’s borders.

Respectfully,

AP

PS – This is for you. Meet Abdol:

http://www.israellycool.com/2013/03/12/apartheid-video-of-the-day/

Saudi police arrest two men over “free hugs” – November 21, 2013

http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/saudi-police-arrest-two-men-over-free-hugs

RIYADH // Saudi religious police arrested two young men offering a “free hug” to passers-by in the Muslim kingdom’s capital, local media reported Thursday.

The arrests were made in the main Tahlia Street where the two men were waving banners marked “Free Hug” in English, according to news website Sabq.org.

The initiative prompted surprise and controversy in Saudi society.

“Today it’s one hug, tomorrow it’s a free kiss, and the next day it’ll be free sex!”

Tara, you are just a joke on this site.

A while ago you got warned by the moderator for your extreme sectarian comments. You were asked to apologize for your violent language.

Instead of apology, you started to flood the site by all kind of shallow comments. Apparently, you were panic: you could not swallow the humiliation if you had apologized.

It was pretty funny to watch you play those cheap and slimy tricks to dodge the chase and chastening by the moderator.

Your sectarian war is losing. I wish you could suck it up and pay your share of redemption when it is time to rebuild Syria.

Eat your heart out Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar

According to experts’ forecasts, in some time from now, the production of oil in Syria may reach 7 mln barrels a day. And, from the point of view of the amounts of oil deposits, Syria may find itself at the 4th place in the world.

Soyuzneftegaz reinforcing positions in Syrian raw materials market

Soyuzneftegaz is reinforcing its positions in the Syrian raw materials market. The Arab Republic provided the Russian company with a license for discovering of hydrocarbons along THE COSTAL AREA OF THE COUNTRY.

http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_11_22/Soyuzneftegaz-reinforcing-positions-in-Syrian-raw-materials-market-2656/

Soyuzneftegaz and Damascus are going to sign a contract for shelf drilling in the near future. Terms and conditions have already been talked through. Syria hopes that new joint projects with Russia will contribute to the growth of foreign investments in the country. However, it’s too early to wait for a substantial inflow of capitals, Vitaly Kryukov, an analyst with the Market Research Department of the Kapital financial house, says.

“It’s a difficult region where many problems haven’t still been solved. So it’s premature to talk about big investments heading towards Syria,” Kryukov explains.

However, Syria’s authorities are expecting other Russian oil and gas companies in their country as well. Experts say that, for example, Russian company Zarubezhneft may show interest in Syrian oil and gas.

Russian oil producers have been helping Syria to look for and develop Syrian oil and gas deposits for already many years. Soyuzneftegaz sent its experts to Syria 10 years ago. In 2005, they found oil with the total potential of extraction of 1 mln barrels per year at oil deposits that were explored earlier. If oil or gas are also found in Syria’s coastal zone, this would mean tens of millions of extra dollars for the Syrian economy.

Will Selim Idriss and his FSA militias answer the call to join ISIL to finally ‘topple’ Bashar Al Assad and create a Sunni Islamic Caliphate on the ruins of Syria.

http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/middle-east/261747-fight-for-aleppo-base-kills-15.html

…
According to an audio message posted yesterday on the Internet, an Al Qaeda front group fighting in Iraq and Syria has called for jihadist groups to join forces under its banner.

In remarks purportedly made by Abu Mohammed Al Adnani, the ISIL spokesman said militant groups should close ranks against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

“We call for all jihadist leaders and soldiers and people to accelerate in joining the project of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” Adnani said.

A Lebanese nun argues the US and others are wrong about Syria and should negotiate peace

http://www.pri.org/stories/2013-11-21/lebanese-nun-argues-us-and-others-are-wrong-about-syria-and-should-negotiate

Mother Agnes Miriam is a Lebanese Catholic nun who used to live and work in Syria.

Earlier this year, she was in the international spotlight for disputing evidence the US and others said pointed to a chemical weapons attack by the Assad government. Russia cited her work as an argument against intervention in Syria.

Mother Agnes claims several children who appear as victims in a video of the alleged chemical attack last August were actually kidnapped after unrelated attacks elsewhere in Syria.

And she says she’s just trying to track them down.

“The survivors, the families of those abudcted people, they said that they discovered that some children that were abducted … were figuring as victims in the alleged chemical attack. So this pushed me to track the children in the videos,” she says. “And as I am an expert in observation because I restore icons and other heritage objects, I began to see some discrepancies.”

She compiled a 50-page report that she says is mostly asking questions. But she cites “evidence” that shows the videos of victims of a chemical attack were fake.

She says her main concern is to uphold human rights for all Syrians. She argues that fundamentalist groups, under the cover of religion, are committing acts of barbarism against civilians, including Christians and Sunnis.

“It is an ethical role. It is a social role. It is a humanitarian role. It is a civilian role,” she says.

…

Syria army makes major gains

http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=156045&heading=Top%20News

DAMASCUS Syrian government forces have made advances in recent days in fighting with rebels around the big cities of Damascus and Aleppo.

Some of the key clashes have been close to the Lebanese border. Syrian troops, backed by fighters from Hezbollah have expelled the rebels from most areas on the Lebanese border.

A new offensive saw President Bashar Al Assad’s troops retake key positions in the Qalamoun mountains northwest of Damascus this week, one of the last conduits from Lebanon for the arms his government says they are receiving from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Those gains followed the recapture of southern suburbs of Damascus that impeded the rebels’ ability to carry out military action in the heart of the capital.

Syrian forces worked to consolidate a corridor to the international airport, east of Damascus, seizing an arc of territory from Shebaa to Muadamiyat Al Sham

The army’s recapture of the suburbs of Husseiniyeh, Diabiyeh, Buweida, Sbeineh and Hojeira threatened the rebels’ ability to maintain operations in south Damascus, a security source said.

It came as rebel hopes of Libyan-style western support for their provisional administration have dwindled in the face of US pressure for UN-brokered peace conference, also backed by Moscow.

Government forces hold the whole of the capital although rebels have repeatedly bombarded central districts from the outskirts.

The army also holds nearly all of the battleground central third city of Homs.

Troops have also marched on the northern city of Aleppo in a bid to consolidate supply lines to neighbourhoods under their control and deny those of the rebels.

“It’s part of an overall strategy to surround the rebels,” a military source in Damascus said. “It’s a patient, step-by-step way of retaking enemy positions.”

The military’s tactics have seen the recapture this month of a string of towns southeast of Aleppo, including Sfeira, Tal Aran, Tal Hasel, Aziziyeh and Dweirniyeh. The aim is to reopen Aleppo international airport to civilian flights, suspended in January, the military source said.

…

If the Saudi leaders do not rein the current Sunni hysteria against the Shias, they may end up by paying a heavy price within their own country

Saudi Rage Over Syria Leaves (Saudi) Shiites Anxious About Reprisals

Nov 21, 2013
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-20/saudi-rage-over-syria-leaves-shiites-anxious-about-reprisals.html

Saudi Arabia’s proxy war against Bashar al-Assad is popular among a mostly Sunni Muslim public enraged by the killings of their co-religionists in Syria. Among the kingdom’s Shiite minority, many worry that the anger will eventually be directed toward them.

Religious leaders regularly speak out against Assad, whose family follows a branch of Shiite Islam and is backed by the region’s main Shiite power and Saudi Arabia’s biggest rival, Iran. Abdulrahman al-Sudais, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, has called the Syrian president a force for “hatred, extremism and criminality.” Saudi Arabia is funding the Sunni-led rebels fighting to oust Assad.

While denunciations of Assad are widespread in the West too, in Saudi Arabia there are signs that the Syrian war is encouraging a more general criticism of Shiites. Three popular clerics posted a video on YouTube to coincide with Ashoura, the main Shiite festival, calling their celebration “inappropriate.” Mohammed al-Arefe, who has more than 7 million Twitter followers, said in the film that the festivities “would not please God.”

For the Saudi Shiites, who mostly live in the Eastern Province among the world’s largest oil fields, such messages add to a sense of oppression that has exploded into unrest in the past. Shiites instigated the most serious protests to break out in the kingdom since 2011, when the Arab Spring uprisings laid bare a growing religious divide across the Middle East.
….

We have not heard anymore of that ridiculous ‘transitional government in Gaziantep’ announced with a lot of media noise by the “coalition” whose purpose was to supposedly “administer” the rebels held areas.

Is it because these areas are shrinking by the day and Gaziantep, close to Aleppo may not be the safest place to move for a group of spoiled Syrian expats?

The eventual fall of Qalamoun will throw all the fighters out of Syria to Ersal, which is already the Lebanese capital of Sunni terrorism. Already thousands of fleeing civilians are invading Ersal.

The fall of Aleppo will throw all the fighters to Gaziantep and Hatay.
The Turkish army is getting ready for that eventuality, but in Lebanon the Lebanese army has no access to Ersal and remain impotent.

The Hills of Ersal: Where Killers Roam

http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/16764

The Lebanese town of Ersal is in an unenviable state. It now has the regrettable reputation of being “the capital of terrorism,” with hundreds, if not thousands, of militants infesting its streets and the surrounding jurud –the barren hills typical in this area of Lebanon.

Some like to wear unnecessary bandoliers or certain types of sunglasses, perhaps in an attempt to channel the Salafi version of Rambo.
The militants have effectively hijacked the town and its inhabitants, whom they occasionally assault, all the while exploiting religion for personal gain. They have imposed unlawful levies, kidnapped for ransom, and engaged in armed robbery, to name but a few of their feats. Their permanent rallying call is the so-called oppression of the Sunnis, a tired claim the militants use to amass arms and “fight Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah.”

The majority of the militants consist of Lebanese and Syrian nationals. They operate out of the porous border regions between Lebanon and Syria. It is there that they have established their “mini-state,” controlling informal border crossings, and moving around in convoys of tinted SUVs – mostly stolen – branded with the words “Baba Amr Martyrs Brigade” and the flag of the Free Syrian Army.

Tara:

You are free to what you want to say including insulting Zaynab and al-Husayn.

Do not cry if I called you on what you said.

Stop screaming and take responsibility to what you said and please try to defend your position with logic instead of barking at me with your لطمية.

You called for violence and supported foreigners coming to Syria. You supported violence and revenge. You supported when foreigners attacked and killed Alawites in their own homes in their own villages. You want revenge. You say it over and over. Your enemy is the minorities of Syria, whom your ancestors made them minorities in their own land. If I present to you this argument you call me names and accuse me with all sorts of things.

PS: You talk like Hizb al-Baath asking the public to grow up if they criticize their foolishness.

Selim Idriss’s militia Sukur Al Islam is been destroyed.. not by the Syrian Army or the Kurds but by its own Sunni “allies” that they called to help ‘topple’ the Alawite Bashar al Assad by military force

Al Qaeda affiliate captures Syrian town on border with Turkey
By Reuters | 22 Nov, 2013, 09.39AM IST

AMMAN: An al Qaeda affiliate has captured a northern Syrian town on the border with Turkey after ousting a moderate Islamist rebel unit and detained its leader, activists said on Thursday.

The fall of the town of Atma, a crossing point for weapons and for Syrian rebels, signals disarray among some of the rebel groups, which are ceding ground to hardline Islamist units.

Some of these groups are now playing a lesser role on the battlefield in the war against President Bashar al-Bahar
…
Activists said fighters of the al Qaeda affiliate – Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL – had stormed the headquarters of Suqur al-Islam, a moderate Islamist unit that controlled Atma, and set up roadblocks within the last 48 hours.

They detained Mustafa Waddah, the head of Suqur al-Islam, along with two dozen of his men.

A brief firefight took place at the headquarters and also near a Turkish security post in the town of Bukulmez, which overlooks Atma and its hilly terrain, the sources said.
…
“The ISIL deployed anti-aircraft guns at the main roundabout and took Atma quietly,” said one of the activists, who did not want to be named.
….
“The Turks have not stopped supplies from crossing into the town and movement across the border fence is normal.”

He said Waddah’s whereabouts were not known, but he may have been taken to the town of Dana, an ISIL stronghold where the group had set up a religious court.

Suqur al-Islam is a unit of the Free Syrian Army General Staff, headed by General Selim Idriss, the main opposition military figure, who is based in Turkey. But Suqur al-Islam and the General Staff have fallen out over sharing the weapons crossing through Atma, the activists said.

In the last few days, fighting erupted between Sukur al-Islam and other Free Syrian Army members after Sukur al-Islam seized seven trucks loaded with weapons sent by the General Staff that crossed through Atma ..
..
“Suqur al-Islam were exhausted after the fighting with the General Command and the ISIL walked easily into their headquarters,” said Abdallah al-Sheikh, an activist in Atma.

“Basically there was collusion between the General Staff and the ISIL.”
…
Free Syrian Army units, including Sukur al-Islam and the ISIL had cooperated in the region before, mainly to fight Kurdish militia linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party who had encroached on Atma, the activists said.

However, the two sides have also fought against each other, underscoring the complex relationships among Assad’s foes.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/26188847.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

A reverse gear?

The disaster of the opposition ‘coalition’ in the political arena and of the armed rebels in the military arena show without much doubt that without a strong and authoritarian central government, Syria will become a failed state, divided among warlords.
This evidence is now striking the international community who now only wants that Bashar al Assad stay in power and imposes order in all the areas held by rebels that have become a haven for criminals and terrorists.
Even Turkey, terrified by the growing proximity of terrorists on its border is ready to recognize that the only force that can stop the growth of Al Qaeda is the Syrian army.
One of the undisclosed purpose of the Geneva conference is to discreetly give back to Bashar al Assad and his government the full legitimacy to defend the country from the same terrorists the USA has been fighting for decades in Afghanistan.

Reluctantly that’s what the international community will do, a reverse gear.

After so many U-Turns I am not sure where to find Jarba and the NC:
اتهمت المعارضة السورية نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد بعرقلة انعقاد مؤتمر «جنيف 2» بتصعيده العمليات العسكرية واعتقال أحد أعضاء وفد «معارضة الداخل» إلى المؤتمر، في وقت ربط رئيس «الائتلاف الوطني السوري» أحمد الجربا زيارته إلى موسكو بلقاء الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين. وصد مقاتلو المعارضة أمس تقدم الجيش النظامي في منطقة القلمون بعد سيطرته على مدينة قارة أول من أمس.

وقالت مصادر في المعارضة لـ «الحياة» إن قرار «الائتلاف» هو التعاطي بإيجابية مع دعوة وزير الخارجية الروسي سيرغي لافروف لزيارة موسكو، غير أن الاتصالات الحالية ترمي إلى التأكد من الجربا سيلتقي «أصحاب القرار وتحديداً بوتين» للاطلاع على حقيقة الموقف الروسي.
وأشارت المصادر إلى إن «الائتلاف» يجري اتصالات لعقد مؤتمر موسع للمعارضة تشارك فيه قيادات «الجيش الحر» والكتائب المسلحة والحراك الشعبي و «معارضة الداخل» لتوحيد الموقف من «جنيف 2». وقالت إن «هيئة التنسيق الوطني للتغيير الديموقراطي» (معارضة الداخل) ستشارك في المؤتمر، علماً أن «هيئة التنسيق» أعلنت في بيان «الاستعداد للتنسيق مع المعارضة الخارجية إذا تم التوافق على نهج تفاوضي مشترك» في المؤتمر الدولي.
Mr. Jarba is now the one who is screaming to go to Geneva2

New voices coming from some Damascus Christains
شباب القصاع و باب توما
Wednesday at 9:23am
حكينا سابقاً .. وبنعيدها ..

الضغط بولد الانفجار .. والاعتقال بولد الحقد .. والقتل رح يجيب القتل .. والقصف رح يجيب الارهاب .. والتعذيب رح يجيب الحشد .. والتقسيم رح يجيب الجحيم .. وياعلي للشيعة رح تجيب الله أكبر للمسلمين .. واذا حدا مفكر حالو رح ينتصر فهو اغبى الاغبياء ..!

I just hope the hatemongers who claim to be Sunnites here will discover for the rest of their life the meaning of “niya”.

“A while ago you got warned by the moderator for your extreme sectarian comments. You were asked to apologize for your violent language.”

Take a looooong look at yourself in the mirror before pointing your finger at anyone else…

Only sectarian fool filled with hatred would mince peace with rampant killing! Not to mention your complete and utter disregard to Syrians that are not the right kind of “sunni” for you!

“I just hope the hate mongers who claim to be Sunnites here will discover for the rest of their life the meaning of “niya”.”

The pot calling the kettle black?

AP semantics. Each country has the right to determine its immigration policies after it has finished its ethnic cleansing does not wash with me.

Zionism remains an exclusivist racist phenomenon based on denying the other his/her basic right and humanity.

No matter the degrees and relativity of oppression, it is still oppression.

Israel is not going to survive in its current form. The Jewish people are far more important and valuable than the Zionist project and if it continues to deny the Palestinians their right it will be defeated.

Single bi-national state and move on.

The fingernail of a US soldier is not worth any battle for the sake of Israel. It does not matter if it is or is not a Democracy. Israel can and should take care of itself. We in the US agree with Michael Scheuer. No intervention. Solve your problems without us. Live in the ME and fight it over and die for your sick dreams and for your forsaken land. Do not involve us in your schemes.

This goes for all the others as well. Get it; apish; comprende?

TARA; there is no use arguing. It is the eternal inferiority victimhood complex at play.

Once again, if these bozos want to fight over visiting or not visiting this or that shrine and for dehumanizing each other let them do it. No one cares. No one gives a damn.

Observer:

I see you repeating the phrase “minority inferiority complex” over and over.

Play another one.

Fight historical facts with historical facts. Do not fight historical facts with your “minority inferiority complex” argument. They sell your argument in antique stores.

History of the Syrian “minorities” is coming to the open and we all need to argue about it. From this argument we could understand where everyone is.

From understanding the history you can solve the present problems.

By the way: your attitude is contradictory at best. You should be concerned why they fight over religious issues in a place about few miles from where you were born. Don’t you think?

203. ghufran

As a loyal puppet, Jarba follow his master’s directives.

I pointed out earlier that Turkey media reported that Davutoglu is so worried of getting all the armed terrorist pushed into their own country that he now calls urgently for Geneva.
Qatar had realized that HBJ’s strategy to force the Moslem brotherhood in the throat of Arab countries failed miserably. In addition the sequel of that strategy, namely the Qatar funded militia just had their commander killed.
Saudi Arabia is gradually realizing that Bandar Ben Sultan ‘smart’ strategy to annihilate Hezbollah in order to “give a lesson” to Iran is also failing. They see their funded Islamists been crushed in Syria like flies. In addition they also see that the Western countries would do anything to keep Bashar Al Assad in power, as there is no one else that could lead the Syrian military to stop Al Qaeda’s expansion in the region.

Therefore these countries, the ‘benefactors’, are gradually and discreetly making a u-turn. The ones who appear ridiculous are the people in the front line like Jarba, Idriss and Cie. Jarba made tempestuous declarations that he now has to recant and humbly bow and go to Geneva in the weakest state the opposition has ever been.

The opposition seems ton have lost the little left of its credibility and no Syrian with a sound mind could have any respect for them. They betrayed the ideals of the ‘revolution’ and causes the death of thousands of Syrians to please their ‘egos’ and their masters and they failed.

Mjabali,

You just said: “By the way: your attitude is contradictory at best. You should be concerned why they fight over religious issues in a place about few miles from where you were born. Don’t you think?”
—

So when I tried to point out how religous issues are taking place few miles from where I was born by pointing out how Iran is terrorizing the ME under the banner of ” ya Hussein and ya Zainab ” you tried to shut me off threatening me by the moderator and calling me different kind of names.

You contradict yourself within less than 12 hours. Do you not have insight into your behavior. This again nothing but typical minorities behavior: freely discussing religious issues of the others while accusing the majority of prejudice and sectarianism when others discussing the minorities own religious issues.

I am inviting you for once to analyze this behavior and develop some insight into it.

@209 Mjabali

I would say that the supposed ‘superiority complex’ of the Sunni Arabs hide a terrible sense of impotence and fragility.
Sunnis are divided between various sects going from ‘westernized’ to ‘extremists’.
Most Sunnis don’t know where they stand and do not dare criticize each others as that would expose their deep divisions and increase their sense of impotence. It’s the law of silence typical to insecure groups. Having a rich but weak and backward country like Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Arab Sunnis doesn’t help in reassuring the Sunnis, quite the contrary. For a while they looked at Turkey as an alternative Sunni model, but its support of the Moslem Brotherhood and its obvious neo-ottoman ambitions have shattered that option.
Therefore, the Arab Sunnis, instead of productively criticizing each other to find some cohesion, find a scapegoat, the Shias. The Shias appear coherent, united and since the emergence of Iran, they represent a strong political and military power.
The Sunnis secretly envy them and hate them for being strong and determined and for having more charismatic leaders then the senile King Abdallah or the wild Sunni religious Sheikhs.

Therefore I would say that the Sunnis are the one suffering now for an ‘insecurity’ complex that all the money they have and that they display cannot hide.
One wonders if their successive failures in the Arab Spring the Sunnis will open their eyes to the need of starting a serious soul-searching exercise in order to recover some of the strength they had in the golden age of Islam.
Yet they first have to admit they have a problem. Until now they are in total denial and prefer to put the blame of their failures on the others.
Sometimes humbly beating one’s chest in repent may open the mind.

Politics aside,

Beating one’s chest in a rhythmic motion while swaying using chanting music is nothing but a form of intoxication that alters a state of mind and has been used by religions to brainwashing people.

My honest opinion.

Add some alcohol to it and voila, the effect is more than intoxicating. Luckily those religions banned alcohol.

LOOOONG Response to Observer, Post 208:

AP semantics. Each country has the right to determine its immigration policies after it has finished its ethnic cleansing does not wash with me.

Observer,

I try not to persuade people to change their POV, I only point out facts that erroneous.

Your statement about “ethnic cleansing” is misleading and false, but I know facts be damned, you will continue to use it against Israel. That’s fine with me, I’ll just have to correct it.

The British Mandate allowed for 2 states in Palestine: a Jewish state and an arab state. When 5 arab armies entered Palestine to destroy Israel and wipe out the jewish community, Israel fought back and secured her borders which were previously undefined.

About 700,000 Palestinians fled or were exiled out of Israel and about 156,000 remained in Israel and became Israeli citizens. Today there are about 1.7 million arab citizens living in Israel. So much for “ethnic cleansing”…

BTW, the arabs wanted to ethnically cleanse the jews from Palestine just like they did in Hebron in 1929 and Jerusalem in 1948.

Look it up.

How many Jews live in Palestine? Why do the Palestinians REQUIRE Jews to leave land returned to them by the GOI?

Before you point an accusing finger, please tell the WHOLE story.

Zionism remains an exclusivist racist phenomenon based on denying the other his/her basic right and humanity.

Stop reading out of Palestinian textbooks and websites. All “basic” and “human” rights are afforded to ALL Israeli citizens.

Maybe you should read a little from the works of Khaled Abu Toameh.

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

No matter the degrees and relativity of oppression, it is still oppression.

Observer,

Yes, there are varying degrees of “oppression”. Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis, thousands of dead Syrians, Lebanese, Algerians, Libyans, and even Kuwaitis. Most at the hands for other arabs and muslims.

Your focus on Israel, as I’ve seen from you and other muqawamistas, is akin to focusing on a in-grown toe-nail while the rest of the body is suffering from terminal cancer. You can continue to focus on the toe-nail, but my suggestion is to heal the cancer first, if at all possible.

Israel is not going to survive in its current form.

Observer,

Thank you for your concern, but we’ve been hearing this prediction since Day 1. Israel is THRIVING and growing and improving, despite efforts to destroy Israel.

The Jewish people are far more important and valuable than the Zionist project and if it continues to deny the Palestinians their right it will be defeated.

Israel will last for however long as she is able. I have no prediction on this or the prediction of how long, say, Finland will survive, Italy or China for that matter. Jews are not any more “valuable” than anyone else. We just want the freedom to work and live in peace and the ability to live according to our customs and traditions. We will continue to support Israel which is our people’s homeland. We will continue to seek peace with all our neighbors while, at the same time, defend ourselves from threats.

Single bi-national state and move on.

Observer,

When Sunnis and Shia can live peacefully together, then we’ll talk about a “single bi-national state”. Right now Israel is working rather well. Just ask most Israeli arabs.

The fingernail of a US soldier is not worth any battle for the sake of Israel.

Observer,

Ironically, the “fingernail” allusion is usually used by arab muqawamistas to beat up Israelis for a comment made by some rabbi:

http://devrolijkemoslim.blogspot.com/2006/05/one-million-arabs-are-not-worth-jewish.html

But I will not beat YOU up for making this statement. I understand what you’re trying to say and I agree with it. Unfortunately, more US soldiers have died defending and sustaining arab countries than Israel. No American soldier died firing a weapon in Israeli territory.

It does not matter if it is or is not a Democracy.

I think it DOES matter if a country is a democracy or not. This is the real problem facing the ME, not the borders between Palestine and Israel.

Israel can and should take care of itself.

I agree.

We in the US agree with Michael Scheuer. No intervention.

Oy. Michael Scheuer, like most “isolationists” (Ron Paul, Pat Buchanan) are OK with Americans losing their lives in Vietnam and Europe, but for some reason, they have no such “feelings” about the Middle East. Does America really want Iran to take over the ME? I don’t think so. If Israel falls, I’m afraid a lot of other arab and muslim nations will fall to.

The US, as a policy, should support all nations seeking freedom and democracy. It’s that simple.

Solve your problems without us.

Israel is.

Live in the ME and fight it over and die for your sick dreams and for your forsaken land. Do not involve us in your schemes.

So should the US have bombed Syria for their us of CW? Should the US help conduct regime change in Syria? After all, Syria, Hezbollah and Iran are mortal enemies of the object of your obsession.

Make up your mind. If the US walks away like GWB tried to do, something usually comes up to get us back in, and it usually has nothing to do with Israel.

This goes for all the others as well. Get it; apish; comprende?

Sure. Leave the ME alone so the wolves can come out and do the rest. That works both ways. Can the US arm any of these countries? Do you want the US to arm Iran? What about sanctions?

I’m afraid the Michael Scheuer crowd isn’t fairly clear about this. They don’t want any American soldier anywhere near the ME. OK. But who are we going to support and who are we going to arm? You won’t get many clear answers.

Regards,

AP

Krauthammer: “Sucker’s Deal”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-suckers-deal/2013/11/21/9d03e966-52dc-11e3-a7f0-b790929232e1_story.html

Akbar Palace,

mah shlomkha?

You keep ignoring the most obvious question:

Is it not time to abandon US ship?

A Little Google Translate Action

mah shlomkha

Heads Up,

Ana kwyiss, shukran.

رأيي هو أنت أبدا التخلي عن أي شيء. كنت مجرد البحث عن حلول بديلة.

Crummy translation.

My opinion is that you never abandon anything. One should just search for alternative solutions.

Tara:

Number one: The sentences you took out of my text were said to Observer not to you. روحي خيطي بغير هالمسلة.. These games are easily detected.

Number two: Please ..please please argue about religious issues…It is us. the minorities who want to discuss religion with you in REAL TERMS, and you guys tell us we ahve a “minority complex” because we critique religion while showing you the dirty history.

You want to silence anyone who critique your sect, which happen to have a VERY violent history. Go ahead say whatever you want about Shia, Alawis, Husayn, Ali, Zaynab… The way you argue about religion is by calling Shia extremists, or calling their Mullah’s towel heads, or making fun of this or that.

Number Three: Till today you have no clue about the importance of Zaynab for the Shia and that they are fighting in Syria to protect her shrine from your ambitious plans to destroy the place and prevent Shia from visiting it like you had been doing for hundreds of years.

Arguing history in real terms makes you reach real solutions and not solutions that shoves the problem under the rug and keep on fighting and killing each other in the name of religion.

Number Four: If the Shia beat themselves up lamenting something is better than the Sunnis who blow themselves up and many others along the way.

How many suicide bombers the Sunnis had produced to the world in the last 30 years? I say thousands….they send one everyday these days….check out what happened in Iraq lately, of Pakistan….

Even with all of the injustice that takes place to the Shia in Saudi Arabia and Bahrin: How many suicide bomber you saw there? None.

An Umma of Suicide bombers or potential suicide bombers is no good for this time and age to be a part of anything.

Akbar Palace,

In my h. opinion, when the ship bottoms out there will be not many alternative solutions to look at. One has to abandon ship before the deluge happens.

Today was a very profitable day for the glorious and victorious revolution of the Syrian people.

Several towns east of Damascus fell under the firm control of the glorious and victorious fighters of the great revolution.

But, best of all, over 50 Shiite terrorists mostly form the terrorist hezboola were capture by our Guided fighters of the Guided revolution.

Of course, no mercy should be shown to these foreign desecrators of holy Syrian land. They should be executed on the spot.

Mjabali,

“You want to silence anyone who critique your sect”

You still aren’t getting it. Are you ?

It is YOU who is doing just that. You are projecting your own behavior on me. . You are accusing me of a behavior you demonstrated to all last night. You wanted to silence me by threatening me with the moderator because I mentioned Zainab and Hussein and the use of names by the Shias theocracy and its tail in Lebanon to brainwash people while the real agenda is geopolitical hegemony.

I tried to instill in you some insight in your behavior of wanting to have exclusive right to discussing religion while at the same time crying an ocean should anyone started to discuss the the people you belong to or associated with.

You either got my point but is pretending otherwise because your ego does not allow admitting it or simply can not fathom it. I tend to believe the former than the later. In any case, I have no interest in an exercise in futility.

Tara:

There is a difference between insulting Shia and discussing Shism. You insult them more than discussing anything.

As for reminding moderation: it is because your insults should be stopped because of many reasons and you as a previous moderator should know this first hand. Calling the Iranians an ugly race, or calling their Mullah’s towel heads is not good.

All I did was pointing out your words…Your own words…

After nearly three years of war which destroys half Syria,killed 100 thousands,maimed and orphaned many thousands,displaced 5 millions and sent 2 millions to refugees camps and some of the elite Syrians are only exchanging sectarian rants.
I have just heard that a 150 years old tree was cut today by some extremist who believes in a man who was born ages ago and told them not to worship nature,cover your women heads and kill any one who didn’t believe in his book,he told them that they should cut heads and limbs of every one who cursed him.
Why would any one with some degree of intelligence would believe in a man made myths?
Religions were created for crowd controls,there is no supremacy in being religious,no one can prove that even god exist,so why killing trees?
Just carry on killing each other.

Hysteria, lies,Nuclear false flag, ultimatum, acute diarrhea in the brain of Zion!
Israeli government: Iran making ICBMs to attack U.S.
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=84719
http://youtu.be/Dcptx3wCNZk?t=1s

Is John Bolton Preparing the Way for a Nuclear False Flag?
http://youtu.be/4qfBJ1TRUWA
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/09/05/grahams-hawkish-posture-confronts-war-weary-voters-in-south-carolina

AP

Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan would never support intervention in SE Asian wars again and Paul apologized for ever supporting Reagan long ago (1988.)

You say “Unfortunately, more US soldiers have died defending and sustaining arab countries than Israel.”

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/whose-war/

Buchanan and many others showed how US entry into Iraq was fomented chiefly by dual loyalists at home.

Mjabali

You threatened me by the moderator because I discussed Shiaa terrorism not because I find Iranians ugly or their mullahs towel-head. Those so-called insults do not really seal your case. Couldn’t you find anything of substance to make your point or can’t you find any? Is it that you again as a minority automatically turns on the “insult switch” should the discussion involves the sect of the people you belong to or identify with? When the same switch is turned off when its your turn?

Similarly, you attempted to silence Omen the same way.

Sunnis have gotten much worse “insults” from you and your colleagues, that you would not admit as insults but misconstrued as discussing the religions while in the same breath my discussing of Shiaa terrorism become an insult.
—

Sniper terrorists just ” shoot” the driver of our car, traveling at speeds of over 100 km / h.
Viktor Kuznetsov miraculously kept the wheel of cars and brought the car with the driver killed the zone of fire sniper.
In this very lucky Andrei Filatov .
Terrorists openly ” induced ” by our crew specific characters who do not hide their intentions and the terrorists publicly thanked for the tip .
In connection with the death of our driver – the father of two little girls – at the hands of terrorists , deliberately induced by the crew ANNA-news -known group of Israeli , Odessa and Russian bloggers recommend Russian terrorist supporters to leave the territory of our country until the end of December 2013 , and collaborators – foreigners , including two citizens of Israel do not recommend thereafter visit the territory of the Russian Federation .
Companions of the Union Marines Please check performance of our good advice , and , in case of violation , deliver supporters of terrorists alive in the nearest police station .
http://anna-news.info/node/12863

Please add below to my sectarian profile!

Read the part in regard to نظام الملالي and tell us if there is any difference to نظام الاسد.  
Living in Tehran under the Mullahs is like living in Damascus under Batta:

ففي بداية الرواية، نقرأ: “لا يمكن لشخص سليم العقل أن يتخيل الأكاذيب الذي على كل فرد في هذا البلد التي يبتكرها خلال حياته اليومية. فكل حالة تتطلب أكذوبة وسيناريو ملائمين”.

وفي مكان آخر من النص نقرأ: “يشكل الشك جزءا لا يتجزأ من الثقافة الإيرانية، كل علاقة هي مبنية على الخبث والحذر، فالنظام جعل من الوشاية والتجسس ركيزتين أساسيتين لحكمه ودمّر ثقة الناس بعضهم ببعض”.
—–

رواية صدرت بالفرنسية للإيرانية شادورت دجافان
“الجلسة الأخيرة”.. مقاربة بين الثورة والمجتمع بإيران

غلاف رواية الإيرانية شادورت دجافان “الجلسة الأخيرة” (الجزيرة)
أنطوان جوكي-باريس
 
القصة التي تسردها الروائية الإيرانية “شادورت دجافان” في روايتها “الجلسة الأخيرة” وطريقة حبكتها الفريدة، والبصيرة التي تتم فيها معالجة مواضيعها الكثيرة، تجعل منها تحفة نادرة داخل المشهد الأدبي الفارسي الحالي، وتبرراهتمام النقاد الفرنسيين بالرواية التي صدرت حديثا عن دار Fayard الباريسية.

شخصية الرواية الرئيسية “دنيا” هي شابة إيرانية تهرب من بلدها إلى إسطنبول للتخلص من الجنين الذي في بطنها، بعد تعرضها لاغتصاب جماعي في مركز للشرطة في طهران، حيث تم توقيفها بتهمة “سلوك منافي للأخلاق” فقط لجلوسها مع رفيقاتها في إحدى الحدائق العامة للمدينة. 

وبعد مرحلة قصيرة من الضياع في العاصمة التركية، تتمكن “دنيا” من استئجار غرفة، ومن العثور على عمل يسمح لها بدفع إيجار غرفتها وتوفير بعض المال، قبل أن تدخل كلية الحقوق لإكمال دراستها.

لكن الطمأنينة التي ستختبرها في إسطنبول وتجعلها تعشق هذه المدينة لن تدوم أكثر من عامَين. فعلى أثر رفع رسوم تسجيل الطلاب الأجانب في الجامعات التركية بشكل تعجيزي، تقبل الشابة مساعدة أحد مواطنيها وتنتقل للاستقرار في باريس، حيث ستوقظ عزلتها وبؤسها جروحا قديمة داخلها، فتقوم بعملية انتحار فاشلة تقودها -مجبرة- إلى عيادة طبيب نفسي.
…..
نقد النظام
لكن قيمة الرواية لا تقتصر على جمال قصتها وعناصرها الشكلية فقط، بل تكمن أيضا في المواضيع الكثيرة التي تعالجها وتطرح حولها آراء ثاقبة وفريدة، كالحرية والمنفى وعلم التحليل النفسي، كما تكمن في النقد الذي نستخلصه داخلها للمجتمع الفارسي والشرقي عموما، الذي يعاند تطلعات المرأة وأبسط حقوقها، وفي الهجوم المركز الذي تقوده دجافان ضد “نظام الملالي” من منطلق تحويله الإيرانيين إلى أشخاص قابلين للفساد وبارعين جدا في الكذب.

ففي بداية الرواية، نقرأ: “لا يمكن لشخص سليم العقل أن يتخيل الأكاذيب الذي على كل فرد في هذا البلد التي يبتكرها خلال حياته اليومية. فكل حالة تتطلب أكذوبة وسيناريو ملائمين”.

وفي مكان آخر من النص نقرأ: “يشكل الشك جزءا لا يتجزأ من الثقافة الإيرانية، كل علاقة هي مبنية على الخبث والحذر، فالنظام جعل من الوشاية والتجسس ركيزتين أساسيتين لحكمه ودمّر ثقة الناس بعضهم ببعض”.

وعلى لسان بطلتها “دنيا” تكتب دجافان عن استبداد الحرس بقولها “في هذا البلد، أنتم تحت رحمة خبثهم أو غيرتهم أو قسوتهم أو عدائيتهم أو مزاجهم. إذ لديهم السلطة في مراقبتكم، في استجوابكم، في تأنيبكم، في معاقبتكم، في سجنكم. يكفي أن لا يعجبهم منظركم، أو أن يعجبهم كثيرا. تكفي كلمة واحدة، نظرة، غطرسة، تعبير، حركة كي تقعوا في ورطة حقيقية. يجب أن تُظهروا لهم خوفكم منهم، تماما كما تخافون الله. وليس لأن ثمة شيئا تلومون أنفسكم عليه، وهذا يتطلب قدرة عالية على التمثيل”.

 
 In 1998,  the author she defended her Master’s thesis on religious indoctrination: an analysis of elementary school textbooks in Iran
http://www.alliance-us.org/en/Page.Culture.Lecture.Djavann.aspx

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/59A30962-E22F-4670-AE30-5C3A305970ED

ALAN,

I hope all your russian and iranian spies and mafias got killed soon. I really hate them. Their strategic and mafious interests have driven Syria to disappear into hate and religion wars. It will not take long until someone takes a kalashnikov and begin the search for corrupt regime supporters in Syria. Specially the messengers of that fxxxing rat called PUTIN PUTAIN.

Pat Buchanan’s strange “isolationist” history NewZ

225. amspirnational said:

Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan would never support intervention in SE Asian wars again and Paul apologized for ever supporting Reagan long ago (1988.)

amspirnational,

The key word in this sentence is “again”, because Pat Buchanan was a SHILL for the the war in Vietnam, where, as you know, 56,000 American perished. Quite a bit more than the Iraq war.

So suddenly, Pat Buchanan is a “peacenik”. Interesting.

You know it is one thing to be isolationist and one thing to be an interventionist like we are now (to some extent).

However, Isolationism is a Utopian concept. You can NEVER be totally isolationist. Especially now that the world is smaller and more technologically advanced. It is a pipe dream.

Since we don’t sit in Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan’s head, we don’t know what exactly “isolationism” means. Who are these anti-Israel bigots going to sell arms to and who are they going to sanction?

None of this information is posted on their websites or platform statements. But considering their views, you can bet many-a-handshake between these Paleocons and the Islamic Republic of Iran and other terror supporting theocracies. I don’t trust them and with good cause.

Buchanan and many others showed how US entry into Iraq was fomented chiefly by dual loyalists at home.

That’s it just a bigoted straw man. I say that because Iraq invaded Kuwait. Kuwait isn’t Israel. The US saved Kuwaits ass, not Israel’s. No American soldier has fired a weapon standing inside Israel’s borders. American soldiers died protecting Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. Iraq was led by another Arab despot who threatened the whole ME, not just Israel.

Now we are dealing with Iran, and Israel isn’t the only concerned party. If the US doesn’t want a leadership role, Israel will be happy to take that on. Just don’t work against them.

Sami, after you claimed Assad is the worst dictator in history, you reveal yourself as a faked “revolutionist”

The characters of those Syrian Expats who express their biased hateful view towards Assad have been exposed by Joshua Landis. He clearly knows what kind of people they are.

When sectarian haters scream out for revolution, it indicates a psychopathic behavior: they are not only trying to fool others, they are also suppressing their own identity.

Power comes out from truth. No one takes those fakers seriously.

Don’t forget that also brings insults to those true revolutionists who have lost their lives for progressive social change.

So, Sami, please spare us your shows.

Syria: The Neighbors Prepare For Rebel Defeat

http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/syria/articles/20131122.aspx

…
Victory is not a sure thing for the Assads. Many Assad supporters are getting out of Syria, or at least sending their families into exile (or “extended vacation”) until it becomes clear how all this will end. The rebels could still unite, the West could still agree to provide air support. But at the moment it looks like neither of those events will come to pass.

Syria’s neighbors (especially Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq) are now bracing themselves for the worst case, the defeat of the Syrian rebels. This would mean that the millions of pro-rebel refugees they are hosting would be joined by thousands of angry, defeated, and often still armed rebels.

The Islamic terrorists among the rebels are of greatest concern, because these men would be content to continue fighting in any country they land in. For the Islamic terrorist rebels from outside the region, it might be preferable to return to their home countries in the West and elsewhere and continue killing there. Most would continue operating against the Assad government, as would the more moderate rebel groups.

The Syrian refugee camps would become bases for the expelled rebels and the world would have a new terrorism crises to deal with. In a familiar drill, Western donors would support the refugees, the host countries would complain about the economic and social disruption of the refugees, and Syria and its allies (especially Iran and Russia) would complain about the rebels and Islamic terrorists living off the refugee camps and continuing to terrorize the Assad supporters in Syria.

Only Israel would escape this mess because the Arab world has been at war with Israel since the late 1940s and Israel has been able to cope with the Islamic terrorism.

While Iraq would find itself with more Islamic terrorists in Anbar province (largely Sunni western Iraq) the autonomous northern Kurds would now be helping the newly autonomous Syrian Kurds of northeast Syria maintain their independence from the Assad forces. This could get interesting. Otherwise, the worst case in Syria is not much different than the best case (rebel victory). The key issue is always about what is to be done with the Islamic terrorists.
..

If the Iran nuclear weapon deal is agreed upon, it is a huge victory for Obama and for Iran and a huge slap on the face of Saudi Arabia and Israel. Israel will easily rebounce, but will Saudi Arabia take its revenge by sending more suicide bombers in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon or would they come to their senses and work to stop the escalation of violence?

At Geneva talks, conflict over Iran’s right to enrich is ‘resolved and finessed’

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/july-dec13/iran_11-22.html

CNN Poll: More than half back Iranian nuclear deal

CNN Political Editor Paul Steinhauser

Washington (CNN) – A majority of Americans support an interim deal with Iran that would ease some economic sanctions on that country in exchange for concessions on Iran’s nuclear program, according to a new national poll.

A CNN/ORC International survey released Thursday indicates that 56% of the public would favor an international agreement that would impose major restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program but not end it completely, with 39% opposed to such an agreement.

“Predictably, there is a partisan divide on that issue, with two-thirds of Democrats favoring a deal along those lines but only 45% of Republicans agreeing with that view,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said.

The new Islamic front includes Salafists and Moslem Brotherhood militias but excludes Al Nusra. It may make the FSA and opposition coalition irrelevant as Saudi Arabia openly rejects Geneva II and still bets on a military victory

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/seven-syrian-islamist-rebel-groups-form-new-islamic-front/2013/11/22/

…
Charles Lister, an analyst at IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Center, said the new Islamic Front appeared to be mainly an attempt to centralize militarily and politically, but he added that “it is very likely that this move will result in further funding from Gulf states.”

Lister described the group — which he estimated will bring together at least 45,000 fighters — as an “extremely significant development” that further undermines the Western-backed Supreme Military Council and its political arm, the Syrian Opposition Coalition.

Its formation is also expected to raise questions about the relevance of U.S.- and Russian-brokered peace negotiations between the Syrian government and the coalition, as the latter’s already-limited influence continues to erode.

Sheikh, the group’s leader, now heads Suqour al-Sham, another Islamist body joining the Islamic Front. Abu Omar Hureitan of the Tawheed Brigade will be his deputy, and Zahran Alloush, the head of Jaish al-Islam, will lead its military division.

Syria: Let the Locals Lead – James P. Farwell, Darby Arakelian – November 22, 2013

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/syria-let-the-locals-lead-9449

Turkish President Abdullah Gül’s finger-pointing at the West that lays blame on almost everyone but Turkey for the deaths of over one hundred thousand Syrians, mostly civilians, says more about Turkish arrogance than Gül’s hollow posturing as a wannabe statesman. Syria, he warns, is becoming Afghanistan on the shores of the Mediterranean. He makes the point that Turkey is already hosting over half a million Syrian refugees, although over half live in cities, towns, and villages through their own means. The blame, Gül decries, falls upon the West for allowing Syrian president Bashar Assad and the Russians to use disposal of Syrian chemical weapons as a diversion to bolster Assad’s position.

What happened? Turkey miscalculated on two strategic points. It underestimated Assad’s tenacity and misjudged how long the uprising would endure. The Turks expected Assad to collapse quickly. Instead, Assad rallied support from Hezbollah and Iran, as well as within Syria itself. Refusing to support the U.S. designation of the al-Nusra Front as an Al Qaeda organization in Syria did not help. It wasn’t that Turkey disagreed with America’s reasoning. It simply hoped to undercut Assad’s propaganda message that he was fighting terrorists. The ploy hasn’t helped the rebels, and has merely complicated matters.

Gül and Erdoğan also failed to anticipate that many of the foreign fighters who poured into Syria might end up in Turkey, creating a refugee crisis within Turkey itself. By funneling support to the rebels, Turkey ignited a process it now finds itself struggling to stop. It wearies of refugee crossings and the abuse of its sovereignty for transiting weapons and chemicals. Just two weeks ago, Turkish officials reportedly seized twenty bags of sulfur, an ingredient for manufacturing mustard gas.

The FSA is collapsing

The Great Syrian Risk Game

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-great-syrian-risk-game/article5380370.ece

A weakened Free Syrian Army and a chaotic Syrian National Coalition leave the rebels across the country vulnerable to retribution from both the government and the Islamists

….
FSA fighters can be seen at the border posts with Lebanon — trying to get away from a battlefield that has turned against them, and afraid of the terrible revenge that the Assad forces might take. But neither Lebanon nor Jordan is keen to allow former fighters, who are often defectors, into their countries as refugees and the United Nations does not seem to have an explicit policy for them.

The collapse of the FSA, combined with the entry of Hezbollah (to conduct “self-defence duty,” as one of its leaders Mohammed Raad put it), as well as a confident irregular militia (shabiha), have given the advantage in the south-west of Syria to the Assad government. Highway 5, along the western spine of Syria that abuts the Lebanese border, will likely be in the hands of the Syrian armed forces within the week (although sources say that the army moves slower than it need to so as to exploit every victory and build morale among its troops). On November 20, the government forces took Qara, a major town since it closes off one of the last remaining supply routes from Lebanon for the opposition.

The Syrian army’s advance north toward Aleppo was facilitated by infighting among the radical Islamists and the remnants of the FSA. The most radical outfit — the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams or ISIS — emerged out of the Iraqi franchise of al-Qaeda and moved from the Iraqi town of Ramadi to the Syrian town of Raqqa, where they are now ensconced. Near Aleppo and at Azaz near the Turkish border, ISIS has been in pitched battles against competing Islamist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham and an FSA detachment al-Hijra li-Allah. Last week, ISIS fighters beheaded Mohammed Fares, a fighter with Ahrar al-Sham.

Unlike most Syrians on this blog I don’t hide behind anonymity. As such it is easily available for folks to ask about me.

My Grand Mother was Christian, my mother attended the Franciscan School, my cousin is half Alawite, and my wife is Anglican.

If some filth want to accuse me of sectarianism then I challenge them to show one post that would suggest that.

Furthermore as a Syrian that from day one only supported the peaceful activism to this revolution and continues to do so (even though both sides now claim this movement is either irrelevant or non-existent) I laugh at those minhebakjis that try to paint me in the extremists outlook.

So in short Apple, I took your outrage towards me as a badge of honour. For you and your ilk represent everything I hate, which is complete and utter disregard for your fellow Syrians in Support for some ass backwards ideology that has ripped apart the fabric that held Syria together and caused the death of so many innocent people.

You see Apple, you and your ilk called me and other Syrians that defied the moron you support a Mundas from day one. You tried to label us all extremists while you went after the peaceful leaders. Mattar, Sharbaji, Tayara, Kilo, Aziz and others either died from torture under the hands of the savages you support or had to flee so that they won’t have to meet that unbearable end.

This revolution is the only thing that will save Syria from the barbarians you support and the extremists you and your barbarians unleashed on Syria. This revolution is taking Syria back form the animal you call Assad.

And again I suggest you take a looooooong look at yourself and the hate mongering, disgustingly callous disregard to Syrians and their suffering that you have exhibited repeatedly on this blog before you point the finger at anyone else.

The mandate system was established by the League of Nations after the first WW. It is based on the peoples choosing their mandatory power: the majority of the people of what was then Greater Syria chose the USA because President Wilson espoused the self determination of people. Britain and France rode rough shod and took over the ME according to the Sykes Picot agreement.
Then the UN decided to divide Palestinian when its very charter prohibits it from doing so. It gave 51% of the land to 20% of the population at that time. As expected the Palestinians refused. The Zionists accepted as they were getting more than their fair share. So not only is the creation of the state of Israel illegal, it is also unethical.
Then several campaigns were conducted repeatedly to drive millions of Palestinians out of their homes and now denying them the right of return. The division of Palestine is illegal and unethical and remains a crime against them.

To this day, they do not have the right to their water, to their own money, to their own borders, to their own airport, to their own ports, to their own land, to their own courts. They keep being oppressed and Zionism remains a blight on their very existence. Their having a despicable leadership does not absolve Zionism from its crimes.

The US has no strategic interest in defending Israel come hell or high water. It is irrelevant if it is or is not a democracy. After the second world war, France was the main ally of Israel. After the 56 war, the US replaced France and the replacement was due to fact that the cold war was in full swing. Now that it is over, there are no strategic reasons to be an ally of a country that continues to fuel the real or imagined sense of the populations of the ME that they are victims of US hegemony.

Many other countries were maintained in dictatorships for the sake of the cold war such as the Greek Colonels, the Argentinian Junta, the Turkish Generals, and likewise the oppression of Palestinians by Zionism. Some countries remained intact because of the cold war, such as Yougoslavia or Belgium and soon Italy if the Lombardi league has its way.

I keep on repeating to all of those that continue to blame all of their misfortunes on the other be it the outside powers interfering or the inside oppressors or the memory of years of misfortune and oppression that now your fate is in your hands. It is not the fault of the US or anyone else that the Sunnis are being slaughtered for the supposed sins of their fathers and grand fathers and that now they will hold a grudge all too familiar that the other sects have held for hundreds of years because they feel rightly or wrongly that they are victims. It is not the fault of the US that Shia are being slaughtered in Pakistan and oppressed in Bahrain and ill treated in KSA.

If Israel wants to duke it out with Iran let them do it. Israel has long range air force, nuclear tipped missiles, nuclear bombs, and what have you. Let them if they are so concerned about Iran duke it out with them. Why should it be a concern to the US? If the Iranians get a bomb, they are then amenable to deterrence. They are amenable to severe sanctions. The Iranians have several problems that they need to deal with: 51% of the population is Persian, therefore the rest is something else. To keep the country together they have to play the Muslim card. If they do so the dilemma then is whether they wish to continue to espouse a revolutionary zeal and and vision of Islam that is espoused also by about 10% of Muslims. As a Muslim minority they have the advantage of the minority thinking and the sense of both righteousness and victimhood and therefore can be a great glue of their community. But they cannot appeal to the majority in this way. To remain a glue, like the Zionist they need an external threat. They also need to have a discourse that their “Islam” is the right one. Well, if this is what they want, they have a true dilemma, they will not be accepted unless they defend all Muslims and not only Shia. This is the base of all the anti Israel talk from Iran. Their only redemption is to liberate Palestine. They now know that they cannot do it. And even if they tried it is immoral to treat the Jews of Palestine for the sins of their fathers. And the clock is ticking with their population deserting mosques and refusing to continue to support adventures, and with a youth bulge that needs concrete steps for a better life. They are stuck.

If the Iranians wish to do so and continue on the present course of establishing outposts and alliances without regard to the will of the majority or minority Sunnis in Iraq and Syria and Lebanon and elsewhere, they risk a Shia Sunni civil war. If they wish to be a bridge to the others and bring solidarity to the Muslim community they will have to abandon the dictatorships that oppress their populations regardless of the majority or minority status of the ruing elite in Iraq and in Syria and in Yemen.

If they wish to join the community of nations, they can play a great role in insuring that the one sided Western view of the world order can be challenged to the benefit of the poor of the world without being confrontational about. If they wish to do so they will have to evolve and prove that their regime has a minimum of accountability and therefore they will have to change their constitution to abolish the rule of the infallible ruler. They have to decide whether to save Iran or the Revolution they cannot have both. Now let me give you an example of what they need to do: Tehran is 12 million people living on one of the major seismic fault lines in Asia. A magnitude 7 earthquake with their current building codes could result in the death of at least a million people. It is not unlikely that a 7 magnitude can hit. Also, they have at least 3 million Afghan refugees that they keep deporting and they keep coming back. The Taliban are coming back, no doubt about it; then more refugees will flood through. They will have on their borders more dependent entities: a rump Shiite Iraq that cannot stand with continued support; a Syrian regime that is a mafia and a Vietnam in treasure at least; an Afghan neighbor that is in slow collapse; a Russia deathly afraid of breaking up with a growing Muslim population etc……

The Syrian civil war has no strategic threat to the US. There is no need for us to intervene in the conflict. There is no need for us to solve it. If we do interfere we will be blamed regardless. If we do not interfere we will blamed equally. All you have to do is to listen to the viciousness of responses that you have here when sectarians passions come to the surface. There is an inferiority victimhood complex that is blinding on all sides; and it rears its ugly head each time I mention the fact that all the sects and minorities want: a) the majority to be secular while they remain minority sects, b) the majority espouses an identity in which the kinship of this majority to its sister communities across the border is abolished while they maintain their kinship across borders despite the “national differences” ( so Shia can have kinship with Iranians but Sunnis have to be Jordanian and Syrians and Iraqis only and not have any kinship with their fellow Sunnis and Iraqi and Lebanese Sunnis want to keep the kinship while asking the HA to leave Syria for the sake of Lebanon). See what goes around comes around. The bombers of the US embassy in Beirut can be reminded of the bombing of the Iranian embassy in Beirut again.

Now I watch and lament the fact that those who point to the shard in the eye of the other cannot feel the beam that is coming out of their head such as: the fanatics cut a tree, the other fanatics are beating their heads to lament the death of a figure 1400 years ago. The ones behead, the others use drills, the ones beat, the others burn, the ones bomb, the others rocket, the ones shoot the others cluster, the ones missile the others barrel bomb, you get the jest of it.

So, go ahead duke it out and get out of our hair; especially Israel. Go ahead, find an excuse to launch missiles and air forces and do not bother calling for help when you find yourself in a hot seat.

As for Iran, go ahead, have a messianic vision, have your Supreme Leader infallible in his judgment and decisions continue to bleed in Syria, and as for the regime go ahead continue to burn the place so that you remain in power over a ruined garbage dump of no consequence; and for HA go ahead continue to battle for the sake of defending a fancy Somalia called Lebanon; who cares.

As for the sectarians go ahead and continue to drink from the victimhood chalice of eternal hatred and an ever enduring feeling of inferiority masquerading as sanctimonious superior morality. We do not care.

The Divine Comedy depicted the Prophet and his Cousin being split daily and reformed nightly so that they can be split again in the morning. This is because their 1400 year old Schism seems to have become eternal and therefore they are forever in the hell being split for their Sinful Schism.

So from the Zionist to the Sectarian, go ahead, duke it out.

#238 Sami

You are a terrorist because you oppose Assad. End of story.

This is how they think. Period.

Observer at 239
Now I watch and lament the fact that those who point to the shard in the eye of the other cannot feel the beam that is coming out of their head such as: the fanatics cut a tree,

Could you please explain to me why you are objecting to the preservation of nature in Syria and what is my crime exactly?

After almost three years of hellfire burning in Syria, does anyone still believe there is chance for sensible and relevant debate between those faked “revolutionists” and the rest?

Is there any hope for future Syria? I believe so if law and order can be established.

Exchanging barbs is waste of time. Expose is necessary in order to help people who are still seeking truth.

ZIAD, #167 disliking the messenger does not change facts.

That piece on the true origins and agenda of Hezbollah is a clear reminder of past history, but it’s news to people who were too young to be aware of events 30 years ago.

I am willing to hear which part of the article is not true and any counter evidence. But I can’t imagine how you or anyone can contradict such well documented and easily recollected history.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF HEZBOLLAH

It was always an outpost of the Iranian revolution

http://m.weeklystandard.com/articles/secret-history-hezbollah_767144.html?nopager=1

TARA in #185 is right!

See this documentary about Iranian troops in Syria.

Assad doesn’t care if the world sees he has far greater loyalty and affiliation with Iran than he does with the country of Syria and its people.

Iranian military and their Hezbollah militia have been brought in to do the dirty work of killing Syrians and destroying the country. People who will do it with sectarian, primitive ruthlessness.

Bashar Assad has proved a filthier enemy to the people of Syria than any invader in history.

Iran’s Secret Army in Syria (BBC):

History now been written and will be known forever.

“Strongman” Hafez Assad’s proud legacy: a wet-pants coward and traitor who is terrified of the Syrian people and destroyed the country in panic.

The rotten empty core of the Assad regime has been exposed and nothing else will be remembered.

History will record that the seeds of the destruction of Syria today were planted the day Hafez seized power and took insurance with an outside alien power Iran to stay there.

APPLE_MINI writes:

“Is there any hope for future Syria? I believe so if law and order can be established.”

Translation: a plea for the end of the Assad dictatorship and the introduction of a new system which features rule of law, proper governance and competent management.

An admission by Little Apple that using the Syrian army as a personal militia, a fake corrupt judiciary and relying on 15 security services can’t produce law and order.

QUOTE: Hezbollah’s gangs keep coming to Syria & keep going back in boxes. They seem to like it!
https://twitter.com/RevolutionSyria/status/403675563065212930/photo/1

COMMENT: Dying for nothing and nobody. And recklessly destroying the future of ordinary Shia in Lebanon and Syria.

If any one can share a لطمية with us, I’d like to watch.

I remember one posted one long time ago.

Apple-mini,

I read the filth you wrote to me few days ago. I do not read your posts but Sami mentioned so I went back and read it.

You woke up at 3: 00 AM Syria time to interact with me? hehe.. I am sorry I keep you awake. This is the first time I keep a woman awake.

You called me “a joke” and in the same breath called Sami a “fake revolutionist” because he stated he doesn’t support Assad.? You continue to embarrass yourself.

Your hardly-a-massacre being status is beneath me that so I can’t be bothered. Sorry, I don’t find you at my level for any exchange. Find someone at yours.

And by the way, you talk about redemption, please let Batta know, that last time I heard Asma’s cousin contributed more than a million dollars to topple him.

Jasmine I did not read your post and I did not target you. Sorry you felt targeted.

I try to look at problems from different points of view: the point of view of an average American; the point of view of neocons; the point of view of the majority; the point of view of the minority; the point of view of Iranian interests, Russian interests, Israeli interests etc…..

One constant remains: and this what the Christians of Damascus wrote
حكينا سابقاً .. وبنعيدها ..

الضغط بولد الانفجار .. والاعتقال بولد الحقد .. والقتل رح يجيب القتل .. والقصف رح يجيب الارهاب .. والتعذيب رح يجيب الحشد .. والتقسيم رح يجيب الجحيم .. وياعلي للشيعة رح تجيب الله أكبر للمسلمين .. واذا حدا مفكر حالو رح ينتصر فهو اغبى الاغبياء ..!

In essence the ills are oppression, dictatorship, graft, corruption, lack of the rule of law, the death of hope, the triumph of hatred, the blindness of eternal feeling of victimhood.

One more thing: it was Dante’s Inferno not the Divine Comedy that had the splitting of the Muslim leaders daily.

So to shake the intellectual torpor I challenge.

I do believe though that if Israel and Iran want to duke it out let them do it directly and stop involving us in their fights: stop asking for the US to help or for the Lebanese to help or for the Iraqis to help or for the Alawites to help in your fights.

Go ahead Duke It Out Iran and Israel and pox on both of your theocratic houses.

Jasmine, felling down a tree is no less stupid then beating yourself for the death of a man 1400 years ago or having a piece of clay from Najaf for your head to pray on when you perform it or the belief that there is a disappeared Imam that is coming back or that the Supreme Leader is infallible or that the Pope is infallible or that the Prophet is without blemish or mistakes.

It is nothing more than mumbo jumbo garbage on all sides.

I look at the situation and see a 50 year religious war. All for the sake of what Aisha did to Zeinab.

And to top it off, we have another theocracy masquerading as a democracy which has the Star of David in the Middle of the two rivers the Nile and the Euphrates as a tribute to a sectarian Yahweh that prefers some of his creation over others and enjoys them to kill their foes including women and children as Joshua did to Jericho and you want us to fight the wars of these dudes?

Pox on both the theocratic houses of Iran and Israel. Let them duke it out.

Get them out of our hair.

I have to go watch Duck Dynasty.

Observer
No one can dispute the fact that religions have corrupted the mind and soul of human being,more than enriching their lives,it has been politicised.
Worshipping nature is the oldest religion and again it derived from fear of death but at least it was more honest than these man made and fabricated books,to scare the life out of you and promise you with virgins in a place no one knows if ever existed.
Lies and deception is the master of religious and political leaders.
Yes we are all frustrated and tired of what happened to a country we all adore and feel so proud of our belonging to it.

Tara:

Let us revisit your words again: here is what you said in comment # 185 about the Lebanese Hizballah:

“They are born and raised Arab yet nothing but freaking traitors who sold themselves and their country to Iran under ya حسين and ya زينب. I hope a day will come when those traitors are purged from the Middke East. They incite nothing but despise and contempt in the heart of all Arabs. It is so difficult to live in a country where traitors live in the midest of you.

Iran probably killed imam Sadr and will kill even Zainab herself if it come to it but will have no problem walking in Zanier funeral.”

Here is my points to you:

1-I do not want to tell you that even my dog knows that the Sunnis killed al-Imam Musa al-Sadr for the mere fact that he had empowered the Shia of Lebanon after long decades of persecution by who else!

So according to you, sitting on your table, or typing while you driving, or while on the trademill in NJ concluded that Iran killed him.

2- Hizballah has a wide popular support in every “Arab” country. Also, Hizballah has wide support amongst Arab Sunnis themselves.

Even my dog knows that Hasan Nasrallah could beat almost every “Arabic” leader in popular vote in their own country till today.

The Sunni leaders in the Middle East put money and power to change the popular image of Hizballah in the Middle East.

3- Funny when an average Sunni like you call to “Purge” the Middle East of thousands of Shia. Of course, you see no harm in this. You grew up on this notion that these people should not live. This is another call by you for violence and blood shed. We need dialogue and understanding and you want to “purge.” I suggest you take the time machine back into the 7th C. Amongst Sunnis of the Middle East it is easy for any average person think like you. This should be curbed and control don’t you think?

4- Everyone who uses the word “traitor” without thinking deeply is a lunatic in my opinion. The usage of word “traitor” means that you can kill. Everyone who uses it to label other people should not live in a modern society. Get the time machine and send them back to the 7th BC.

5- So Tara thinks in the Arabic Ummah…hahahhaa… What a racist idea?

Syria is not an Arabic country, I hope. Syria, today contains many ethnicities that makes calling the place Arabic or a part of an Arabic Ummah just wrong. Syria has: SYRIANS, Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Armenians, Sharkas…..etc I wish they take the word Arabic from the description of that place. The Arabs came as invaders and forced their language on the place. You, Tara, is repeating this aggressive colonial trend the Arab always had. This invade-them-all mentality is not kosher. This is another historic fact.

Tara please stop thinking that by issuing a Fatwa you could take the world. It belongs to others.

After being sidelined for months, have Al Assaad, the creator of the FSA defected or has been eliminated?

Top Syrian Rebel Commander Missing in Turkey for 10 Days

Syrian media say Asaad is said to have disappeared ten days ago, Al-Alam reported.

Social networking websites say the news has been announced by his family.

Asaad is said to have gone missing after the FSA commander Salim Idris and Oqab Saqr, a Lebanese lawmaker, called him for a meeting in an unidentified location in Turkey.

Social networking sites blame the Turkish government as well as the Syrian opposition groups in Turkey for al-Asaad’s disappearance.

Asaad, a former air force engineer, defected from Syria in July 2011. He set up the FSA a month later in Turkey.

Lebanon IDs second Iranian Embassy bombing suspect

http://www.nbc4i.com/story/24050845/lebanon-ids-second-iranian-embassy-bombing-suspect

Intelligence officials said they believed the second bomber was Adnan Mousa el-Mohammed, a Palestinian man who lived near the port city of Sidon. They offered no other information about el-Mohammed.
…
However, Sidon was the home of Mouin Abu Daher, the other bomber in the attack
…
Officials say Abu Daher was a follower of Sheik Ahmad al-Assir, a preacher from Sidon known for his fiery sermons denouncing Hezbollah. The sheik and his hard-line supporters battled Lebanese soldiers briefly backed by Hezbollah supporters in June in Sidon.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi threats, said Abu Daher also was a fan of al-Qaida-linked websites and vowed he would die in a suicide bombing.
…
Al-Assir has been at large since June having eluded attempts by Lebanese authorities to arrest him. Many of his followers have been at large as well and it was unclear if el-Mohammed was a follower of the sheik. El-Mohammed’s mother said the family did not know if he was with al-Assir.

Turkey is saying goodbye to business in Egypt. Erdogan’s Turkey increasingly isolated and suspicious in the Arab world is desperate to sell its goods and make investments to sustain its economy. It is now turning to Iraq and Iran instead, both Shia-majority countries.

Egypt expels Turkish ambassador over ‘interference’

CAIRO — Reuters
Published Saturday, Nov. 23 2013, 10:46 AM EST
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/egypt-expels-turkish-ambassador-over-interference/article15576693/

Egypt downgraded diplomatic relations Saturday with Turkey and expelled its ambassador from Cairo, a sharp escalation in tensions between the two countries that mounted after a military coup ousted the country’s Islamist president this summer.In a quick reaction, Turkey reciprocated by declaring the Egyptian ambassador “persona non grata” and downgrading relations with Egypt to the same level. Egypt’s ambassador hadn’t been in the country since August over the turmoil.

Observer
What about the theocratic house of Saudi ,do you want to keep them in your hair?

229. SANDRO LOEWE
§ got killed § I really hate them § hate and religion wars § takes a kalashnikov § fxxxing rat §
You are really need to treat!

Large section of the commentators on this Blog busy and engrossed in bickering sectarian and ethnic, religious and became a function of this site is to achieve the objectives of Bernard Lewis Levy!
Sunnis in Syria are aware that national security can not be achieved unless the Syrian national reconciliation and unity of all the components of the Syrian mosaic! We always meet on what brings us together! Here ,in the comments section, are methodology for the purpose of divide and conquer!!!

Dramatic media announcement of the capture by Al Qaeda of another oil field they can’t make any use of

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/23/warplanes-strike-rebel-held-areas-northern-syria-k/

Meanwhile, fighters from al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra ousted government troops from the al-Omar field Saturday during an overnight battle, Abdurrahman said. Syrian state media and officials did not mention it.

It is not clear if the field is operational. Before the uprising began in early 2011, the oil revenues provided around a quarter of the government’s budget. In 2010, Syria produced about 380,000 barrels a day.

Oil exports have ground to nearly a standstill since. Assad’s government now imports refined fuel supplies to keep up with demand amid shortages and rising prices.

In late 2012, rebels began seizing fields in Deir el-Zour, one of two main centers of oil production. In February, they captured the large Jbeysa oil field after three days of fighting. A year ago, rebels briefly captured al-Omar field only to lose it to government troops days later.

Rebels largely have been unable to benefit from the oil fields. The country’s two refineries remain under government control and the threat of airstrikes make working the fields difficult.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/nov/23/warplanes-strike-rebel-held-areas-northern-syria-k/#ixzz2lURahGdh
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Atrocities against Christians in Syria buried by Western media

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/11/23/336267/media-ignore-christian-killed-in-syria/

Press TV has conducted an interview with Dr. Randy Short, political commentator from Washington, about the targeting of Christians in Syria by foreign-backed Takfiri terrorist groups that include a massacre of 45 Christians, women and children, in the remote village of Sadad; atrocities ignored by Western mainstream media.

The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: First of all, why is it that Christians let alone Muslims are becoming the victims of terror by the insurgents?

Short: This is a design. I need to make it clear that the Saudis who are supporting this strongly, are equal-opportunity Christian killers. They are killing them in Saudi Arabia – the Ethiopians working who are there are persecuted.

These Christian minorities have been persecuted all over the Middle East. And the United States is equally guilty because their intervention in the region for the last 12 years has made life hard for Christian minorities.

And then there is the ignorance in the Western world particularly in the United States that imagines only Muslims in the Middle East, which gives them a justification to support Christian Zionism and the persecution of all Muslims at the expense of Muslims and Christians who happen to live in the Middle East.
…

Akbar Palace,

Shalom Aleikhem.

In your opinion, what is the signifcance of the military drills which will take place beginning Monday with Israel, US and several European countries participating?

In bed with Israel about Iran, but internationaly isolated, Saudi Arabia wants to show to the world that they are not “half-men” by rejecting peace talks on Syria

Saudi Arabia affirms stance on Syrian crisis
22/11/2013 | 11:42 PM | Gulf News

RIYADH, Nov 22 (KUNA) — A Saudi official source categorically denied on Friday a Russian press report that Saudi Arabia is ready to help with Geneva 2 conference, affirming the stability of Kingdom’s stance toward the Syrian crisis.
The report is inaccurate and Saudi Arabia maintains a firm position on the Syrian crisis, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) cited the source as saying.
The source was referring to a report by Russian news agency Novosti yesterday that the Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov noted the change in the Saudi stance in a recent phone call between King Abdullah and Russian president. (end) yms.mb KUNA 222342 Nov 13NNNN

Coincidence?

Each time Headsup appears and post some of his love messages to the Israelis or some pompous propaganda for the ‘guided and demented kingdom’, suddenly the thumbs for the rebels-lovers jump up while the thumbs for the peace-lovers thumbs go down…
Is he a magician?

@FrankfurtFinanz
The BRICS should launch a new bank transfer platform to rival US controlled SWIFT which is a global blackmail tool -ej. to block Iran trade

West arrogance blocks P5+1 progress with Iran

Without the basic ingredient of mutual respect, any negotiations will continue to be frustrated. French arrogance was perhaps most salient at this particular time.Three days before the opening of the third round of P5+1 talks in Geneva, French President Francois Hollande traveled to Israel in a display of pathetic kowtowing.

http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2013/11/west-arrogance-blocks-p51-progress-iran/

Uri Avnery

who will win? Obama or Netanyahu? Chomsky or Walt/Mearsheimer?
time will tell.
http://www.redressonline.com/2013/11/whos-in-charge-israel-or-the-usa/

Will the new Egyptian Constitution detach the state’s politics from religion and set an example for the Arab republics?

Islamists reject preamble of Egypt’s new constitution as reflecting ‘Western’ values

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/87272/Egypt/Politics-/Islamists-reject-preamble-of-Egypts-new-constituti.aspx

The ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party rejects the opening paragraphs of Egypt’s new draft constitution, accusing its drafters of adopting Western, secular values

…
The preamble then moves to stress the goals of the 25 January and 30 June revolutions: mainly achieving social justice, national independence, freedoms and rights, and separating religion from politics.

According to the preamble, “The constitution is for a civilian, democratic and modern state in Egypt.”

The above words triggered, however, furious reactions from Mohamed Ibrahim Mansour, representative of the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party. Mansour, in a request submitted to chairman of the committee Amr Moussa, said “The party strongly rejects the word ‘civilian’ because it reflects Western and secular values.” “We want the word ‘civilian’ to be omitted from the preamble and it is enough to state that the constitution is for a democratic and modern Egypt,” read Mansour’s request.

Mansour also wanted the preamble to state that the new constitution aims to keep abreast of Islamic Sharia and the latest international developments. The preamble states that, “We write a constitution that opens the road for the future and is in line with international conventions on human rights, which we played a role in writing and endorsing, and which the honourable institution of Al-Azhar stressed go in line with the noble goals of Sharia.”

Mansour also rejected a phrase stating that “A new chapter of the constitution promotes all forms of culture, including painting, music and theatre dramas.” Mansour wants the words “painting, music and theatre dramas” to be omitted, deeming it enough for the constitution to promote “all forms of culture.”

In contrast, representatives of three Egyptian churches and 28 representatives of various secular forces requested that the word “civilian” remain part of the constitution’s preamble.

Bishop Paula, representing the Coptic church, threatened to withdraw from the process if the word was omitted.

Hussein Abdel-Razeq, the representative of the leftist Tagammu party, said “the word civilian is necessary to stress that Egypt is not a religious state; it also reflects the 30 June Revolution’s principle of separating religion from politics.”

The way things are going point to a clear shift in the war to a situation where rebels are now against everybody else after losing the support of the public and foreign powers alike. This is why you see random shelling of non mitary targets, shooting at passing cars, kidnapping people and punishing the public as a whole. Another change is the fall of theory of ” evil shiism” after countries that has little or no Shia presence got trapped in Sunnis on Sunnis wars and all efforts to produce new decent governments have failed.
There is nothing left for Arab Springers to talk about, there is no doubt that the prople of the Middle East are not ready for a new political system based on freedom and real elections.

Israel really wants thermonuclear war between Russia and America.
Any American Jews reading this had better understand that ALL of you will also die – along with literally everybody else, mostly slowly, in this un/witting suicidal path the Israeli establishment has decided on, for they know that their authorship of 911 will come out, and American wrath will then know no limits.
the Israelis reason, that planetary death slowly follow thermonuclear war, but not with their direct involvement – always the clean hands act, for in their supreme egotism they wrongly imagine that somehow they will survive, though the rest of humanity be stricken, than that they be disgraced in the eyes of the whole world.
American Jews have a choice, either they be Americans, or Israelis – not both, and to be public about it.

U.S official: Israel’s ‘all-or-nothing’ posture on Iran is a path to war
http://www.albawaba.com/news/us-offisrael-iran-nuclear-535525?

BBC report about 2 IRGC officers fighting in Allepo with happy ending, the funerals of the 2 officers in Iran
http://youtu.be/jzbXin_KlAc

271. Syrian
is this part of your thesis,you throw your career on a BBC Doc? together with joshua landis?

Da!

273. Syrian
🙂

Mjabali

Hassan Nasralla was very popular before his mask has fallen. I myself was a big admirer. Now to the Arab masses, he is nothing but an Iranian tool. Read the Arab press and find out for yourself.

And yes, any one who pledges allegiance to a foreign country is a traitor. Isn’t that the definition of a traitor. Shouldn’t the traitors be purged? Either locked out or face more serious punishment. There is indisputable documented evidence that HA is an Iranian tool. Hassan himself went on TV and pledged loyalty to صاحب العصر و الزمان and mentioned in public that his aim is for صاحب العصر والزمان to control the whole Islamic world.

And no, I couldn’t care less about Ummah. I would rather live in a Monaco than in an Ummah.

please, do not assume anything about my uprising. You do not know on what values someone else. Making an assumption of the others ( who do not belong to your sect) upbringing should be the definition of sectarianism and I am not interested in arguing with sectarians.

Please think hard about this last paragraph of mine….

The West has reached an agreement with Iran in regard to its nuclear program.

The formation of the Islamic Front of the armed rebels is threatening the expats opposition of irrelevance.
In a state of panic, Jarba is finally realizing that the country who can still guarantee some role to the expat opposition in the future of Syria is not the USA or France but Russia.

Syrian opposition leader may arrive in Moscow in December

[ 24 November 2013 02:54 ]

Baku-APA. Leader of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF) Ahmad Asi Al-Jarba may arrive in Moscow in December, the movement’s vice-president, Suhair al-Atassi, APA reports quoting Itar-Tass.

NCSROF has gotten an invitation to visit Russia, but “a delegation of the Syrian ruling regime was in Moscow”, al-Atassi said, adding that the talks could not be fruitful.

“Thus, we’ve decided to arrive in Moscow later. Ahmad Al-Jabra will lead our delegation,” she said.

Commenting on the date of the trip, al-Atassi said, “As the schedule permits. It may be next month.”

Al-Atassi said she hoped that Russia “will be able to influence the regime to deliver humanitarian aid to suffering Syrians and to release prisoners, particularly women and children”.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Al-Jabra could arrive in Moscow.

“We expressed readiness to invite different opposition groups to Moscow, including the National Coalition. We received the response to the invitation. The Coalition said it accepted the invitation,” Lavrov said.

The Russian minister named the Coalition’s accord to arrive in Moscow for consultations as “positive”.

A great victory for Obama and Iran. Obama deserves well his Nobel Peace award.

Officials: Iran Nuke Deal Reached in Geneva

Deal confirmed by Iran’s foreign minister and E.U. spokesman
By Andrew Katz @katzNov. 23, 2013
Top diplomats from Iran and six major world powers said early Sunday that an agreement has been reached in Geneva on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.

The interim deal is reportedly not the final say on Iran’s nuclear program—its officials declare Iran has the right to enrichment—but instead one that will last for six months. For five days, negotiators had struggled to overcome differences and form a deal that would halt the weaponization of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from sanctions that have crippled its economy.

Read more: Iran Nuke Deal Reached in Geneva, Officials Say | TIME.com http://world.time.com/2013/11/23/officials-iran-nuke-deal-reached-in-geneva/#ixzz2lWnUdY7d

hehehehehehehe

276. Tara said:

The West has reached an agreement with Iran in regard to its nuclear program.

Erdogan insists on stubbornly antagonizing Egypt’s rulers.
He is indirectly making the Gulf countries his enemies and he risks to compromise the economy of his country if the rich Sunni Arabs start to boycott Turkey. This is probably why he is flirting with Iraq and Iran and asking Russia to help Turkey get a membership into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

PM Erdoğan says he won’t back down from stance that led to row with Egypt

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pm-erdogan-says-he-wont-back-down-from-stance-that-led-to-row-with-egypt.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58419&NewsCatID=338
…
I will never respect those who come to power through military coups,” Erdoğan told reporters on Nov. 23 in Trabzon.

“We have never respected those who don’t respect the people’s sovereignty, but we have always respected those who respect the people’s will. The steps adopted against our ambassador have triggered similar steps from our side,” he added.

I just finished reading the NYT on the agreement with Iran.

It is worth 4.5 billion dollars of money that will be released to the Iranians for halting their nuclear program to 5%, stopping enrichment to 20%, converting the uranium enriched to oxide that cannot be used for a bomb, dismantling Arak, and daily inspections of Natanz and Fordo to make sure that there is no cheating, and disconnecting centrifuges. The Iranians also get the “right to have a nuclear peaceful program”.

Now let us how the Israelis and the Saudis and the Syrian regime and the Lebanese HA are going to swallow that.

Yes, all of the ME can get out of our hair once and for all. The regime has lost the largest oil field. It now has to rely entirely on imports to fuel its war machine.

The bombers of the Iranian embassy are Lebanese and Palestinian.

Excellent post TARA. Once again, I lament the 1400 year old death of the prince of martyrs and for God’s sake go ahead and accept my condolences my fellow sectarians and leave me and my sect out of your eternal victimhood inferiority complex transformed into a dehumanizing superiority pseudo intellectual complex.

Excellent news indeed. The silence of Manar and Mayaddeen and SANA is telling even though the Daily Star has reported it already.

Now let the Israelis and Saudis and the mafia in Damascus sweat it a bit.

Let Russia sweat it a bit as well as perhaps as much as 4 million barrels of oil a day can join the world market. Venezuela is cooked, Nigeria unfortunately too if the price of oil goes below 95.

He he he he he.

Jasmine, I love the people of this world with a weakness for my home town and I continue to marvel at the incredible resilience resourcefulness, pragmatism, realism, and extremely true nature of the people in the ME. Further reason for wishing them to live in freedom and dignity. They deserve much much better than their current roster of leaders. They also are responsible for their fate now and forever. Continuing to blame others does not cut it for me any longer. Their current ideological mix of ideas is concerning as it will not solve their problems.

This continued anger at the world and at themselves is destructive to the extreme. Sectarian hatred is going to destroy the region and dictators are using it for their nefarious ends.

I urge you and others to take a break and go to your library or book store and read:

WHY NATIONS FAIL. It should open many minds.

Turkey is starting to pay the price of its viciouss collaboration with terrorists. As an excuse, Davutoglu said that the terrorists enter as tourits, thus impossible to filter

Turkey left alone in fight against terrorist groups on border with Syria

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-332176-turkey-left-alone-in-fight-against-terrorist-groups-on-border-with-syria.html

24 November 2013 /İREM KARAKAYA, BAYRAM KAYA, ANKARA
While trying to bring its long border with Syria — where a civil war has been ongoing for more than two-and-a-half years — under control, Turkey has been facing a lack of cooperation from Western countries, which accuse Turkey of turning a blind eye to foreign fighters using it as a transit country to fight in Syria.
…
Turkey has been exposed to critical barbs on providing support and weapons to armed groups — principally the Sunni, al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front — groups in Syria. Reports circulating mainly in foreign media allege that before joining the war in Syria, hundreds of al-Qaeda members, particularly foreign volunteers, use apartments in Turkey’s southeastern cities as safe houses, creating a flow of foreign fighters in the war-torn country. Reports also allege that Turkey is allowing these groups in so they can help topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The most recent report on Turkey ignoring extremist terrorists in its territories was published in The Washington Post on Nov. 17. The writer of the article, Liz Sly, said in her report that “for more than a year, Turkey turned a blind eye as thousands of foreign volunteers from across the Muslim world streamed through the country en route to fight alongside Syria’s rebels,” underlining that with this act, Turkey is perhaps calculating that the fighters would help to accelerate Assad’s ousting.

According to AFP, Davutoğlu said it is impossible for Turkey to identify potential extremists among the 34 million tourists who visit the country every year. “
…
According to Nihat Ali Özcan, a security analyst from the Ankara-based Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), fighters illegally entering Syria through southern Turkish towns is not a new problem but has been ongoing for approximately for three years.

Observer
You have been selective with your blame to nations and to people equally,and to make it even worse your denial of being sectarian to the core and your pretentious and pompous attitude is not working either.
You can blame Dante and others for the failure and the divide between the oily camel rider in the gulf,and the mullah in Iran,I wouldn’t care any less, but Please Stop being condescending if you don’t feel like having a proper dialogue.
And you think that you are the only Syrian who loved his country and wish the best to his own family left behind?

المعارضة السورية وأصدقاؤها… بين دعم وتقويض

By Noah Bonsey, ‫Al Hayat

“وبدلاً من جر الائتلاف إلى طاولة المفاوضات، يجدر أن تتمثل أولوية حلفائه الغربيين أولاً بضمان وجود أرجل تقف عليها تلك الطاولة”

Instead of dragging the NC to the negotiation table, the western allies should first make sure that the table has legs to stand on.

After Iran and the big 6 reached a historic agreement, Arabs as usual are left with nothing to cover their proud butt except few fatwas and a knife that can only kill a fellow Arab.
يا أمة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

US No More Willing to See Saudi Prince Bandar in Syria Case

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920903000637

According to al-Manar news channel, during his recent visit to Riyadh, US Secretary of State John Kerry has demanded the Saudi officials to dismiss Prince Bandar from heading the spying network which acts against Damascus.

And to show that its demand is serious, the CIA has also stopped its intelligence cooperation with the Saudi spy agency, the TV channel reported.

“The administration of US President Barack Obama is angry at the positions adopted by Prince Bandar on the Syrian case since it thinks that he manages the case through collaboration and collusion with the neoconservative groups in Washington which seek to spoil Obama’s policies on Syria, Iran and even Russia,” al-Manar added.
An informed source told FNA in September that tens of Saudi princes in a letter to King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud protested at Prince Bandar’s failure in coaxing the US into a war on Syria to topple President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

“The letter was signed by 17 influential Saudi princes and was submitted to King Abdullah’s Chief of Staff,” a Saudi source close to King Abdullah’s monarchy, who asked to remain unnamed due to the sensitivity of his information, told FNA.

The source also revealed that since the Saudi King and his Crown Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz are not in good health conditions, the King’s Chief of Staff controls the country’s affairs and the Saudi princes presented the letter to him to protest at Prince Bandar’s weak performance on Syria.

The source said that Bandar’s failure in persuading the US and its allies to wage war on Syria has created deep differences among the Saudi princes.

Earlier reports said that Prince Bandar Bin Sultan has spent tens of millions of dollars to persuade the US political and security officials to launch a military strike on Syria.

Prince Bandar has spent a sum of $70 million to encourage the American officials to attack Syria, a Saudi security source told FNA in Riyadh late August.

Tara:

Points that are taken from your own words:

1- What you always say over and over is the same attitude, and words, your ancestors always used talking to people from the Syrian “minorities.” So you are not showing any independent thinking. Drinking alcohol does not make you a “liberal” person. You need to speak and practice liberal ideas.

2- Till today you do not know that the Mahdi the Shia wait for, and you make fun of, is coming to this world for one main reason: To fill the land with JUSTICE. So if Hasan Nasrallah swore allegiance to a “mythical” character that is coming to fill the earth with JUSTICE
so what is wrong with that?

I think only idiots would make fun of someone who is coming to install Justice in this world, don’t you think? ليملأ الدنيا قسطا وعدلا

When you make fun of صاحب العصر والزمان I have to laugh….

The Mulla’s spokesmen have the right to be boastful of the deal on Iran nuclear program. The genius mullastan diplomats were victorious and the great powers lost the mos significant battle and will have no right to conduct daily search of Khamenei’s turban. Defeat is victory.

Well well, Defeat is Victory, War is Peace, Security is Liberty, Control is Prosperity, Corruption is Free Market.
I think Juan Cole, a liberal and an observer of the Iranian regime for years now has in his post today a very good description of the deal:

I think all should read his post for a thorough and honest assessment. In it he actually blasts the former GWB administration for years of animosity with Iran.

http://www.juancole.com/2013/11/agreement-negotiate-enrichment.html

Jasmine I am sorry you are thin skinned. I assure I had no ill will or ill feelings towards you or anyone else. I am not very good at writing clearly and often enough I do post several subjects at the same time.

First and foremost I am an agnostic. That is my sect. For awhile I thought that I was an atheist but I cannot affirm that God does not exist. There is nothing that would make me assert that he does or does not exist. Atheists by critiquing the book of Genesis want to assert his non existence but the book of Genesis is flawed and therefore there is no point in using it for one’s argument.

Agnostics are hated more than atheists by Deists. This is because those that assert God’s existence can argue with the atheists using the books and revelations and the prophets and the Mahdis and the Disappeared but do not have an argument with someone like me that says: I do not know. I have not experienced this Karma of belief and this Nirvana of union with God.

I look around me and see complete perversion of the uplifting of many messages of a higher calling in all ideologies: the Buddhists in Myanmar are oppressing the Muslims there, the Serbs were oppressing the Albanians of Kosovo, the Shia oppressing the Sunnis, the Sunnis oppressing the Shia and many others, the Catholics worshiping the Saints, the Protestants despising the Catholics, the Mormons told you are not Christians, the communists excluding many, the West imposing its value system on others, the Russians using nationalism to stifle dissent and limit their neighbor’s freedoms.

Most importantly I see leaderships that are not worthy of the name of leader act in a criminal and abhorrent and despicable ways and this is inclusive of many a Western and Eastern leader and the worst of the worst are today in the ME and some African countries.

Mugabe in Zimbabwe organized a lottery in which he of course was the winner of the first prize ticket: how cruel and self absorbed can you be to do such a thing. The North Korean leaders have actually starved their populations and I invite you to look on line the satellite image of NK at night to see it completely dark except for one spot in the capital.

Chinese leaders have just announced at the last meeting of the Communist party that extracting confessions by torture is to be abolished as it used to be police methods. The US allying itself with criminals and dictators around the world and using drug smuggling to fund CIA operations is criminal and despicable.

I am not selective except that there are systems of governance that are self correcting and inherently progressive. The English view of the working of politics of Hume and Hobbs turned out to be better than the French view of Descartes and Montesquieu which insisted that reason can limit the exercise of power whereas the former insisted that man’s passions have to be harnessed when it comes to power: therefore the separation of powers and the limits on executive branch power.

Last but not least I repeat my views:
1. There is no such thing as a Syrian National Identity. Those that want the population of Syria to think and act as Syrians are the ones that would like to use this card to maintain the majority divided while they maintain their religious affiliation intact.
2. There is a demand from minorities for the majority to be secular while they remain religiously affiliated: Christians in Syria want a secular state but with special privileges for themselves and protections as well. Likewise, the Sunnis of Iraq wanted a secular state while they maintained their Sunni control of the state under Saddam.

Now is it not ridiculous that there are some who claim to be Muslim, to have received a message to abandon themselves to the will of God, to worship none than him in an effort to liberate themselves from greed and avarice and hatred and to free their minds to better the world and to exercise solidarity with the poor and orphaned and the wayfarer and the abandoned turn to beheading another for his/her belief, for their dress code, and others to beat themselves lamenting the death of this or that figure and to await in rapture the return of a Mahdi?

This is my observation of the rise of mumbo jumbo religious and sectarian fanaticism and when I ask you and others to read this or that book there is nothing pompous about. I bought several copies and sent them to my cousins and children to read for I found it uplifting. It generated many discussions in my household about the validity of the book and its arguments and pointed out different views and perspectives.

Instead of accusing me of this or that, why don’t you go read the book and tell us what you think?

Why Nations Fail. It is more important than these religious books of Sadr or Ibn Taymya or Ghazzali combined and certainly much better than the rule of the Mahdi.

Apparently the Alawi belief is that Ali is God, Muhammad is the Spirit of God, and Salman the Persian is the Door to this God.

So if you have these kinds of beliefs used and abused to have self importance, a sense o superiority, an exclusive door to the truth and a blind obedience to the ruler, no wonder I have nothing but wonderment at the stupidity of man.

Hail to the Supreme Leader infallible and Hail to the Guardian of the Holy Places and Hail to the defender of the Pyramids against Terrorism and Hail to the Ray Ban Company for gracing their faces with nice shades.

Welcome to the 14th Century where a girl wishing to go to school is shot in the head and for a Supreme Leader imposing a dress code on a whole Nation and banning neck ties in the country and a Guardian of the Holy Places is obsessed with women driving or not.

Those kinds of leaders and those kinds of ideologies will go down into the dustbin of history one after the other.

After the Iranian ¨stupid¨ deal the only sollution ahead of us is destroying iranian capabilities creating a nuclear disaster to avoid a worse one. This is what will happen soon.

وينك ياحسني البوراظان:

إذا اردنا ان نعرف ماذا في ستي زينب علينا ان نعرف ماذا في زيمبابوي……

Tour with Syrian Army in Liberated Old City of Aleppo Reveals Destruction of Ancient Landmarks

Non-Syrian ISIL Court Judge Speaks about the Supremacy of Islamic Courts in Syria

هل ينتقل الصراع الى الداخل التركي والسعودي؟

يجول أردوغان في روسيا اليوم، ويحاول في حضرة فلاديمير بوتين أن يعلن كلامًا منمقًا حول مسؤولية الجماعات المتشددة عن العنف في سوريا. والواقع أن تركيا – أردوغان اليوم، تمرّ بلحظات مفصلية في تاريخها، وفي تاريخ الرجل بالذات. هو يعيش قلقًا مزدوجًا، قلقًا من أن تؤدي الخسارة التي مُني بها مشروعه في سوريا، الى الإطاحة به شخصيًا في الانتخابات المقبلة، والاطاحة بمشروعه للهيمنة على الشرق الأوسط واستعادة حلم السلطنة، والذي ما زال يأمل أن يتحقق.
بالرغم من كل الخسائر، ما زال أردوغان يعيش أوهام الحلم الامبراطوري التركي، لذا كان إعلانه في ديار بكر أن أي قوة لن تستطيع أن تواجه بلاده، معتبراً أن “القرن الواحد والعشرين سيكون قرن تركيا”. وقد تكون السياسة الاردوغانية تقوم على المراهنة على العودة قطبًا مركزيًا فاعلاً في الشرق الأوسط في التسوية المرتقبة، كدولة سنّة مركزية، بعد انكفاء الدول السنيّة العربية، وخاصة السعودية، ورفضها الانخراط الايجابي في الحل في سوريا وفي التسوية الشاملة في المنطقة.
يدرك أردوغان أن أمامه فرصة تاريخية قد لا تتكرر، بالتعويض عن خسائره وخسائر مشروعه الامبراطوري الذي أدّى الى تطورات خطيرة مقلقة داخليًا وخارجيًا أهمها:
أولاً: سقوط مشروع الأخوان المسلمين الذي كان يعني هيمنة تركيا على منطقة استراتيجية كبرى تمتد الى ما يشبه حدود الدولة العثمانية المنهارة، بالاضافة الى الخسارة ميدانية في سوريا، وفشل المراهنة على إسقاط نظام بشار الأسد.

DON

Shu jaqir elkalb elli am biehki ala TV Syria. Fi ktir klab mitlu alyawm fi suriya.

AliBaba and The 40 Thieves 😀

Mjabali

You continued to demonstrate sectarianism by referring to my ancestors and generalizing their pattern of behavior towards myself and towards the ordinary current Sunnis in Syria 14 centuries later. You assume that our default is that we the Sunnis want to repeat the behavior of our ancestors or co-religionists. This assumption is sectarianism. Your inability to comprehend that I can have an independent judgement is sectarianism. Your inability to stop blaming me for the murder of Hussain is sectarianism. Your rushing to labeling me sectarian because I am expressing my anti-Iran view and anti- HA views is sectarianism. You see, any time a Sunni would mention a non flattering opinion in regard to the behavior of group of people of your sect, no matter how solid the ground is for such an opinion, you will call it sectarianism and you will just not get it. Unless you (collectively) develop an insight into such a behavior, Syria should be partitioned, as we will not have a common ground to co-inhabit one country.
—-
You asked me why I find HA and its head Nasrallah traitors . I explained to you why I find them so. Instead of arguing the point, you talked about my ancestors.

Then, you started defending the idea of Nasralla allegiance by claiming it is to a mythical character ( Mahdi). I am fine with individual people allegiance to a mythical character. I am not fine with militia allegiance to the Iranian ولي الفقيه who is the Iran supreme leader. This is plain and simple treachery. Additionally, It is one thing to believe in a religion and a whole different thing to plot and execute a military capability to enforce your view of that religion. Take Nasralla speech, translate it into English, remove his identity, and have an independent non-Arab friends judge the content. I bet there will be a unanimous agreement that it is treachery.

Now enjoy the geopolitical agenda of صاحب العصر والزمان and see where Syria fits in it.

http://www.harouf.com/Munasabat/QAduhoor.htm
—

Just so you may know, our well informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

The so-called nuke deal with pariah mullastan will only accelerate the complete nuclearization of the region.

Today, the Guided Kingdom announced it will seek acquring nuclear technology as means for deterrence. The UAE and Egypt already announced similar intentions by following the Guidance of the Guided Kingdom.

It looks like, the deal Obama begged so badly to accomplish will only achieve the opposite intentions.

No one seems to believe that shady deals with a pariah entity will achieve intended objectives….except Obama of course. But foolishnessness often knows no bounds.

Observer,

Your posts continue to be real gems.

@286 Don

I am hoping that the Saudis, despite their visceral fear and suspicious of Iran would come back to their senses, kick Bandar Ben Sultan out of their foreign politics and make a friendly gesture toward Iran before it is too late.
Bandar Ben Sultan is even a worse and more vicious snake than Hamad Ben Jassem. Both of them share the responsibility of the disaster in Syria and the killing of 120,000 for nothing.
It is high time these dangerous baffoons are neutralized

Turkey prefers to get closer to Iran and farther from chaotic and unstable Arab countries

Turkey welcomes nuke deal, repeats its readiness to endorse it

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-welcomes-nuke-deal-repeats-its-readiness-to-endorse-it.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58440&NewsCatID=338

In a statement hours before the deal was reached, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said it was Turkey who wanted the deal more than any other country. “This deal would help defuse the tension in our region and establish a new workforce in the international arena,” he added.

Turkey’s economic relations with Iran have suffered due to sanctions imposed on its oil-rich neighbor. With the easing of these sanctions, Ankara believes the two countries could increase the trade volume and pave the way for fresh energy projects.

Davutoğlu to go to Iran

In the meantime, Davutoğlu will travel to Tehran tomorrow to attend the Economic Cooperation Organization, set for Nov. 26 and 27. Davutoğlu is expected to meet with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif on the sidelines of the meeting.

The Economic Cooperation Organization members

http://www.ecosecretariat.org/

Current Membership: Islamic State of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan Republic, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Republic of Tajikistan, Republic of Turkey, Turkmenistan and Republic of Uzbekistan

Iran to participate in the Geneva II Syria talks?

Deal strengthens Syria ahead of Geneva talks

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/iran/deal-strengthens-syria-ahead-of-geneva-talks-1.1259256

Dubai: The interim deal struck by Iran and the six world powers over Tehran’s nuclear programme has guaranteed Iran a seat in the expected peace conference on Syria and enforced Tehran’s influence on its only Arab ally, experts on Iran and security issues said. But the deal that was hailed by Syria as “historic” was also criticised by Israel, which has been alarmed by Iran’s nuclear programme, as a “historic mistake”.

“Undoubtedly, the [nuclear] agreement will push towards active Iranian participation in Geneva 2,” said Mahjoub Zweiri, an expert on Iran and a political science professor at Qatar University.

Happy Days continue in ‘Westen liberated’ Libya..

Bad times in Libya

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/bad-times-in-libya.aspx?pageID=449&nID=58386&NewsCatID=418

A little over two years after the former Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was captured and killed by rebel militiamen outside the town of Sirte, the Libyan state is teetering on the brink of collapse. A dozen different militia organizations have more authority than the central government, and if ordinary civilians protest at their arbitrary rule they get shot.

That happened in Benghazi, in the east of the country, in June, when 31 peaceful demonstrators were shot dead and many others wounded while protesting outside the barracks of the “Libyan Shield Brigade”.

It happened again in Tripoli just last week, when a militia brigade from Misrata that has been roosting in the capital for the past two years used heavy machine-guns on unarmed civilians who were demanding that it go home, killing 43 and wounding hundreds.

In between, there have been some eighty assassinations of senior police and government officials. Last month the prime minister, Ali Zeidan, was kidnapped by gunmen of the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room group. Almost all the east and the south of the country are controlled by militias who have seized the main oilfields and ports.

Oil exports, the country’s only significant source of revenue, have dropped from 1.4 million barrels per day last summer to only 200,000 bpd. Deprived of most of its income, the government will run out of money to pay its employees next month – including the militias that harass it, for it pays them off too.

And once the militias are no longer getting their protection money, things may get even worse in Libya.

Coping With Kaleidoscopic Change in the Middle East
http://youtu.be/TvcyZ-BloBM?t=6m14s

Who is this Ben guy? He seems to be loosing a lot! Maybe all he needs is a good screw!

don’t let Israel, Saudi,Paris ,London sabotage deal-NO WAR
Websrer G Tarpley
http://youtu.be/obqq4Xqznbc?t=5s

Full text of the agreement
A Temporary Deal With Iran
http://media.farsnews.com/media/Uploaded/Files/Documents/1392/09/03/13920903000147.pdf
There are possibilities today that don’t compute with a U.S. Middle Eastern policy utterly dominated by the Israel Lobby. Perhaps Netanyahu and Israel’s militarists have simply presented U.S. policy makers with ‘A Bridge Too Far‘.
It simply is very hard to square this deal with a U.S. slavishly under the thumb of the Israel Lobby. So let’s learn.

Are Obama’s Middle East Peace Talks Sincere?
by Shamus Cooke
http://rinf.com/alt-news/editorials/are-obamas-middle-east-peace-talks-sincere/
…..
If Obama is serious about peace talks, he must prove it by pressuring his regional allies publicly and privately to do what’s necessary for peace, as well as condemning Israel in front of the world stage if it continues to act provocatively, while also publicly denouncing the Democrats and Republicans if they try to provoke war with fresh sanctions.

Only this kind of consistency is capable of ensuring a temporary peace with Iran and Syria, and anything less will prove that Obama is implicitly pursuing the path of war by other means.

Political observers have noticed that almost all European countries have resumed their security cooperation with the Syrian government. They have expectations that it will not be a long time before those countries resume their political ties as well.

Top Syrian merchants and businessmen have pledged to cooperate closely with the government to launch a huge construction plan to rebuild the destroyed properties in Damascus and other big towns and cities.

Turkish authorities have started to cut ties with many military opposition groups, they even started efforts with Iran to reconcile with the Syrian government.

Just so you may know, our well-informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

Secretary Kerry continues to make contradictory statements in order to cover up the flip-flops of his Geneva escapades with pariah mullastan. Today, Kerry announced that the US will resort to force in dealing with Iranian nuclear threats. Coming from Kerry only one day after his supposed achievement makes one raise serious doubts about the secretary’s state of mental competency.

However, there are obvious reasons for Kerry’s latest pronouncement. Firstly, Kerry is seeking reprieve from the Israelis who unanimously condemned the latest so-called deal as a historical error of judgement on the part of the US and its European satellites. Secondly, Kerry is obviously worried about the intentions of the Guided Kingdom which were made clear following the announcement of the so-called deal. It is now expected that the Guided Kingdom will detonate a nuclear device within six months, following which, the Guided Kingdom will seek to build an arsenal of at least 500 warheads along with means to deliver them to any coordinate on the planet.

No doubt, the Guided Kingdom’s policies are the coolest and Most Guided on this earth, thanks to the unparalleled Guidance of His Majesty, the Worldwide Commander of the Faithful, as well as the Guidance of their Royal Highnesses the Royal Princes, Chief among them the Guided Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan, may he be protected and given long long life so that He may crush the head of Serpent-head of Ass-head.

Robert Fisk: He may huff and puff but Benjamin Netanyahu is on his own now as nuclear agreement isolates Israel

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/robert-fisk-he-may-huff-and-puff-but-benjamin-netanyahu-is-on-his-own-now-as-nuclear-agreement-isolates-israel-8960766.html

It marks a victory for the Shia in their growing conflict with the Sunni Muslim Middle East. It gives substantial hope to Bashar al-Assad that he will be left in power in Syria. It isolates Israel. And it infuriates Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Kuwait and other Sunni Gulf States which secretly hoped that a breakdown of the Geneva nuclear talks would humiliate Shia Iran and support their efforts to depose Assad, Iran’s only ally in the Arab world.

In the cruel politics of the Middle East, the partial nuclear agreement between Iran and the world’s six most important powers proves that the West will not go to war with Iran and has no intention – far into the future – of undertaking military action in the region. We already guessed that when – after branding Assad as yet another Middle Eastern Hitler – the US, Britain and France declined to assault Syria and bring down the regime. American and British people – those who had to pay the price for these monumental adventures, because political leaders no longer lead their men into battle – had no stomach for another Iraq or another Afghanistan.

Thanks Headsup for the joke of the day. It is always entertaining to read about half-men’s wet dreams. I guess Somalis and Filipinos will build the Saudi nuclear device.

“Secondly, Kerry is obviously worried about the intentions of the Guided Kingdom which were made clear following the announcement of the so-called deal. It is now expected that the Guided Kingdom will detonate a nuclear device within six months, following which, the Guided Kingdom will seek to build an arsenal of at least 500 warheads along with means to deliver them to any coordinate on the planet.”

Hassan Naserlat in this subtitled 2 minutes clip explain to the western world, the greatness and beauty of suicide bombing with an example so a western minds can understand

Maybe the 2 suicide bomber that his town last week were listening to him before their operation
http://youtu.be/DC62ORBk7qU

Hizboola terrorist POWs in Easetren Ghouta yesterday,
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=178407155689016&id=148809471982118&set=a.149084628621269.1073741828.148809471982118&source=46&__user=100003131418721

حزب الله ينعي 3من عناصره

نعى حزب الله عنصره “علي عزالدين هزيم” الذي قضى “أثناء قيامه بالواجب الجهادي المقدس”

وقد تم فصل رأسه عن جسده

كما نعى الحزب كل من ﺣﻴﺪﺭ ﻋﻠﻲ ﻛﺎﻟﻮﺕ من ﺍﻟﻨﺒﻄﻴﺔ و ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺍﻟﺤﺎﺝ ﻋﻠﻲ من ﺍﻟﻨﺒﻄﻴﺔ

SYRIAN
it seems that nus-qirsh sectarian gangs have also lost a key thug “Ali Eskandar” a leader of nus-qirsh hyena pack who were killing Syrians in Ghouta.

with defeat being victory, i bet that the sectarian nus-qirishites on this blog are now claiming major victories in Ghouta, or are they?

also, one must be awed at the military expertise of the iranian revulting guards to fall in the trap that was laid for them. Well trained… ah… really really well trained and led by a fearsome leader, who was first to run backward as shown in the clip. This is Iran under mullas. All propaganda and no real substance.

Riad al-Asaad’s tragic fate: Amputated from a leg and now possibly eliminated as a result of the vicious power struggle among the opposition ‘freedom fighters’

Free Syrian Army commander missing in Turkey: report

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/free-syrian-army-commander-missing-in-turkey-report-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58433&NewsCatID=352
….
Khaled Khoja, the SNC’s Turkey representative, told the Hürriyet Daily News that he learned from several social media websites that the commander has been missing for about 10 days. Khoja confirmed that the commander lost a leg when he survived an assassination attempt about five months ago in Deir ez-Zor.

Khoja said the commander was attempting to form his own brigade against the Assad forces and parted ways with the main commanding order of the FSA.

One of GCC member country helped the Iran nuclear deal.

US and Iran held secret talks on nuclear deal for a year

http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/us-and-iran-held-secret-talks-on-nuclear-deal-for-a-year

…
Oman’s Sultan Qaboos was a key player, facilitating the eventual release of the hikers – the last two of whom returned to the United States in 2011 – and then offering himself as a mediator for a US-Iran rapprochement. The secret informal discussions between mid-level officials in Washington and Tehran began.
…
So, with the assistance of Sultan Qaboos, officials in both countries began quietly making plans to meet in Oman.

Beyond nuclear issues, the officials said the US team at the March Oman meeting also raised concerns about Iranian involvement in Syria, Tehran’s threats to close the Strait of Hormuz and the status of Robert Levinson, a missing former FBI agent who the US believes was abducted in Iran, as well as two other Americans detained in the country.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/us-and-iran-held-secret-talks-on-nuclear-deal-for-a-year#ixzz2lcKAhUwV
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

SYRIAN HAMSTER
Hizboola terrorist are only good at massacring civilians in the towns surrounding the town Set Zinab ,while the IRGC are occupying the top of Qasiuon Mountain shelling Damascus suburb for the 1st time in Damascus history.
Probably yesterday Hizboola soldiers where too busy watching the news about that nuclear deal thinking that it is one of the prophecies that Mahdi is about to appear when they were attacked,killed and captured
Their propaganda machine are working though the FB page that I linked their pictures have been closed, but here is another link from the net with more pictures
http://youkal.net/2012-12-02-14-05-23/24-26/33927-صورة-وزعها-الثوار-لأسرى-من-حزب-الله-في-الغوطة

Iran nuclear deal: Saudi Arabia and Gulf react with caution
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/24/iran-nuclear-deal-middle-east-reaction-saudi-arabia

Saudi Arabia fears rapprochement between Washington and Tehran after 30 years of estrangement will be at its expense

Saudi Arabia maintained a discreet silence on Sunday about the Iranian nuclear deal in Geneva but is thought likely to issue a guarded welcome despite its strong and clearly signalled reservations about what it fears is the rehabilitation of its longstanding regional rival.

Analysts in Riyadh said it would be diplomatically impossible for the Saudi government to publicly condemn an agreement designed to contain Iranian nuclear ambitions however deep its concerns about the direction of evolving US policy.

The Saudis have been unusually vocal in recent weeks in warning about a rapprochement between the US and Iran after more than 30 years of estrangement. King Abdullah is also openly unhappy with Barack Obama’s policy on Syria – in some ways a proxy war between the Saudis and Iran – and is stepping up efforts to aid rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

In Damascus, the Syrian government, significantly, was quick on Sunday to welcome what it called “an historic accord”. Iran is Assad’s most important regional ally.

Mohammad bin Nawwaf, the Saudi ambassador to Britain, warned at the weekend that the kingdom would not “sit idly by” if Iran acquired a nuclear weapon. But as the Geneva deal aims to prevent that, Riyadh has little choice but to insist on full implementation and careful monitoring.

Does Saudi Arabia have any other choice than to adapt to Iran’s growing power in the region and its own declining importance?

“The Saudis and the other Gulf states spent billions of dollars backing Saddam Hussein in his 1980-88 year war against Iran – itself a response to the fears created by the 1979 Islamic revolution. Adjusting to a genuine thaw in relations between the west and Tehran is not going to be easy.”

As expected the cowards Assad’s militias under the command of the cowards IRGC are raining missiles over Ghouta’s towns after their great loses in the last 2 days.
جحيم أسدي ينهمر حمما صاروخيه على الغوطه
بعدما نجح الثوار السوريون في السيطرة على المواقع الإستراتيجية التي وقعت تحت قبضة قوات بشار الأسد والحرس الثوري الإيراني ومن ضمنه “حزب الله”، فتحت مرابض جبل قاسيون نارها الصاروخي الثقيل وراحت تمطر الغوطة بوتيرة عنيفة للغاية، في تمهيد للأرض لشن هجوم مضاد.

وتؤكد مصادر موالية للنظام أن الأسد يستعمل صواريخ عالية القدرة التدميرية، لم يسبق له أن استعملها، سابقا.

http://youkal.net/2012-12-02-14-05-23/24-26/33928-جحيم-أسدي-ينهمر-حمما-صاروخية-على-الغوطة

Bahrain welcomes Geneva agreement with Iran

Diplomatic solutions help achieve stability, peace

By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Published: 19:28 November 24, 2013
Gulf News

Manama: Bahrain on Sunday welcomed the deal brokered between the 5+1 Group and Iran, saying that it concurred with its pro-stability and peace policy.

“The agreement is in line with the positions of the Kingdom of Bahrain and its steady policy that diplomatic solutions are the right way to ensure stability, achieve international peace and security and make the Middle East a zone free of nuclear weapons,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. This “complies with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the objectives and principles enshrined in international conventions and the resolutions of the United Nations, the Islamic Conference of Cooperation and the Arab League,” the ministry said in the statement carried by Bahrain News Agency (BNA).

HRW accuses rebels of war crimes in Sadad. This is the first piece of the report which is available on HRW website:

Opposition fighters in Syria apparently executed civilians and others in their custody during an offensive in the Christian village of Sadad from October 21 to 28, 2013. Other civilians were also killed unlawfully by opposition sniper fire. Civilians killed by opposition shelling, as fighting between government and opposition forces in the village continued, may have been killed unlawfully.

Yarmouk camp may now have a chance after fighting destroyed 20-25% of its homes and facilities. Up to 40,000 civilians are still in Yarmouk, I yet have to see what did rebels achieve by attacking this heavily populated area.

خيوط اللعبة | ربحت إيران في «مرونة المصارع»… ماذا عن الأســد ولبنان؟

دمشق تتهم، طهران لا

كان الهجوم على السفارة الايرانية شديد الاتقان. أظهر ان المخططين جهة فاعلة وقادرة على الضرب بقوة. ذهبت الشكوك والاتهامات مباشرة صوب السعودية. لا احد يستطيع ان يؤكد او ينفي. المستفيدون كثيرون. هو، اذاً، اتهام سياسي بامتياز يشبه ما حصل بعد اغتيال الرئيس رفيق الحريري.
سارع وزير الاعلام السوري عمران الزعبي للقول ان الاستخبارات السعودية والاسرائيلية تقف خلف التفجير الارهابي ضد السفارة الايرانية. هنا، أيضاً، الاتهام سياسي بامتياز. سارع او ربما تسرَّع. ليس مهماً. السعودية حالياً في قفص الاتهام المعلن عند سوريا وحزب الله، وغير المعلن عند ايران وروسيا.
في المقابل، بقيت ايران شديدة الحذر. حصرت الاتهام باسرائيل وحلفائها، ولم تذكر السعودية مطلقاً. مرشد الثورة الاسلامية السيد علي خامنئي ألقى خطاباً طويلاً خلا من اي اشارة الى التفجير. اختار، بدلاً من ذلك، ان يعطي شرعية للمفاوضين الايرانيين في جنيف. وزير الخارجية الايراني محمد جواد ظريف اختار صحيفة سعودية لنشر مقال بعنوان «جيراننا اولويتنا». تراوحت الخيارات بداية بين صحيفتي «الحياة» و«الشرق الاوسط»، واختيرت الثانية لانها اكثر تعبيراً عن السياسة السعودية. الهدف واضح: تهدئة مخاوف الرياض من الاتفاق العتيد مع الدول الغربية.
هنا بيت القصيد. وضعت ايران نفسها الآن في مصاف الكبار. لا حاجة للغرق في اتهامات ومهاترات تؤثر على المفاوضات. هي الآن ضحية الارهاب. هذا مفيد جداً. لا بد من انجاح المفاوضات. كل شيء يأتي في وقته. الملفات كثيرة ولا تقتصر على النووي.
لم يكن التفجير من النوع القابل للهضم لولا ضرورات التفاوض. يُقتل الملحق الثقافي. يسقط عدد من مسؤولي الامن. ربما سقط آخرون ايضاً. على الارجح سقط آخرون وربما احدهم مهم. السفير غضنفر ركن ابادي لم يكن الوحيد المستهدف. لا احد يعرف، غير اصحاب الشأن، من بالضبط قد قُتل. هذه مسائل امنية استخباراتية دقيقة. لا بأس. كانت الرسالة خطيرة وواضحة. ايران مستهدفة. يعرف من استهدفها انه اجتاز خطاً أحمر.

الرد في سوريا

لم تمض ساعتان حتى اجتاز الجيش السوري كل العوائق ووصل الى بلدة قارة. بدأت معركة القلمون. تقدّم الجيش ايضاً في ريف دمشق الجنوبي وريف حلب الجنوبي. هنا الرد أهم من الرد المباشر على التفجير. ايران وسوريا وحزب الله يعرفون هذا. كل المنطقة امام تحوّلات كبيرة. الصبر وحسن التفاوض مع الابقاء على القوة العسكرية هو الشعار. التنسيق خلف الكواليس قد يفاجئ كثيرين، أكان مع قيادات عسكرية مقاتلة بدأت تعود الى كنف الجيش السوري وتسلّم سلاحها، او حتى مع اهالي عرسال الذين قد يكشفون قريباً عن خطوة ضد المسلحين على اراضيهم. حتى الشمال اللبناني قد يشهد تغييرات. يجب تمهيد الطريق ليبدو الامر على أنه استكمال لحرب مكافحة الارهاب.
لنوسّع الآن الخريطة قليلاً: مصر تطرد السفير التركي. وزير الخارجية الاميركي جون كيري يتهم الاخوان المسلمين بـ«سرقة الثورة». بريطانيا تقرر استئناف بيع وتسليم اسلحة الى مصر. قرر العالم طيّ صفحة الاخوان في مصر، تفرح السعودية، ينتعش الفريق اول عبد الفتاح السيسي، تقلق حماس. تربح اسرائيل ايضاً. لا شيء اصلاً يفسر هستيريا اسرائيل ضد الاتفاق النووي سوى رغبتها بالحصول على ثمن في فلسطين.
أميركا وروسيا: تفاهم وتنافس
بعد ايام قليلة يوافق الكونغرس الاميركي على طلب الرئيس باراك اوباما تخفيف العقوبات عن ايران. ربح سيد البيت الابيض انجازاً على مستوى دولي. صار منذ أمس رهينة النجاح وهدفاً لاسرائيل. لا بأس. يعرف اوباما انه امام منافسة شرسة من الروس. نظيره فلاديمير بوتين يتمدّد صوب القاهرة. لا يرسل عادة وزيري دفاع وخارجية الا الى الدول المهمة لبلاده. كذلك استقبل نائب وزير الدفاع الجزائري لصفقة سلاح بمليارات الدولارات. استقبله قبل ايام من لقاء اوباما مع العاهل المغربي الملك الحسن الثاني. هل بالصدفة؟

Mugabe in Zimbabwe is married to the cousin of Rami of Jableh and Il Jong In is related by marriage to Nasif of Sabboora. They deal in cell phones, banana imports, and stolen plumbing from the times of resistance forces presence in the Switzerland on the Mediterranean.

The door Salman is how you get to Ali the God; how the disappeared 12th Imam gets incorporated into this you have to go to Qom to find out. There you will find that those reading Nahj Al Balagah have now interpreted as follows:

Defeat is victory, Security is Liberty, Corruption is Free Market, Oppression is Obedience, Surrender is Sovereignty, Inaction is Resistance, Secularism is Religiosity, Minority is Majority, Shia is Victim, Sunni is Oppressor, Right is Supreme Leader, Wrong is Freedom to dress they way you like, Self Flogging is Spirituality.

Yes TARA you have to be whatever the “poor oppressed deprived fearful peaceful meek humble honest pure minority” wants you to be while it remains ” righteous sanctimonious know it all special status uppity stiff upper lip superior minority”.

” The World Recognizes Iran’s Right to Nuclear Technology” banners the mouth pieces of the Supreme Infallible Leader of the Republic of the Righteous Sanctimonious Waiting for the Rapture of the Return of the Mahdi of Justice ( while the IRGC mete out injustice and starvation to the children of Damascus ) for a mere 4.2 billion dollars.

He he he he.

It is really telling that these days we continue Tara and I to be graced by such superb appellations and ridicule.

It is actually a proof that the act of mere reading is not possible when one is fully engaged in self flogging while awaiting the rapture of the return of the Mahdi and in carrying out the orders of the Infallible Supreme Leader.

Now to give each his due: while some are self flogging and awaiting the rapture of the return of the Mahdi of Justice, the other side is just as foul and stupid and arrogant. For it is now busy apostatizing the rest of the world; starting by …..oops their own.

Now the great KSA is going nuclear. Let us see if the KSA will go out of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty to be followed by the GCC stooges as well. Let us see if Turkey is going to ask for a “peaceful” nuclear program.

All are in fit that the Great Satan is being rehabilitated and that the French will have their cheese sold in the Bazaars followed by smuggled Pouilly Fume vintage 2007 and excellent year.

Now let us see if Israel and Iran are going to duke it out. Let us see if the incompetent GCC are going to join in and then again pox on all of their houses starting of course with that of the iPad Resistance Retard.

Even after it is now a known fact that the 2 suicide bombers that attacked iran embassy were Lebanese from Sida who were obviously returning the favors after HA killed tens of their Aseer group including one while he was in their custody,HA propaganda machine is still trying to blame the KSA for it,and as if Iran would not do stuff like that while just few years ago Iran was caught red handed trying to assassinate the KSA ambassador to The US.

For the Menhebakjis
My cousin needs a new car. He asked my advise. I thought I would ask you guys what would your “leader” recommend? An Audi A 6 or a Panamera?

How about a Jaguar or a Range Rover? All wheel drive or not. With Sirius Voice recognition system or not?

Can you please go ask him? He can check on the iPad the car comparison chart for me. Unless of course he is busy exercising “democracy with his wife and children”

Cheers.

The “heroic” Assad militia ran away and left the Iraqi abo alfadel alabbas militia on their own hoping for Al Mahdi to save them.
أحد مقاتلي لواء أبو الفضل العباس في الغوطة الشرقية يكتب على صفحته في الفيسبوك :
“الجيش السوري ينسحب من القاسمية والبحارية والقيسا ودير سلمان يعني احنا اصبحنا محاصرين للاسف”
“اتمنا من الجميع ان يسامحني اذا اخطأت بحقة لا اعرف قد تكون هذة اخر كلمات اكتبها”
“لم يخبرنا احد ان الجيش سوف ينسحب لاكن بعد انسحاب الجيش احنا اصبحنا محاصرين من جميع الجهات”
…………..
ثم يغيب عن صفحته حتى الآن

Pictures of dead Iraqi militia yesterday in eastern Ghouta
https://fbcdn-photos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s720x720/1476474_580487592030500_54687778_n.jpg

Didn’t take much for the rethithanth propaganda to thpin it. let uth thum it up

Iran loses enrichment of anything above 5%
Has to dismantle a couple of reactors (costing billions) to junk
Has to destroy its strategic highly enriched uranium and convert it to gas
Has to go through daily inspections, which may include Khamenei’s turban and perhaps its underwear (zouzou: does he wear any?)
gets to export pistachio and buy gold
gets 1/20th of its frozen money
Still has sanction regime imposed

If this does not spell ربحت إيران في مرونة المصارع or
V I C T O R Y i would have no idea what victory would be.

The two terrorists who blew themselves up in Beirut were not Syrians, one was a Lebanese and the other Palestinian, both were in Syria according to their families and both were followers of the terrorist sheikh Ahmad Al-Aseer. Shortly after the bombing in Beirut rebels in Ghoutah launched an attack to stop their losses there, this attack is still ongoing but I do not believe it will succeed, indeed the initial burst of excitement that followed the attack turned into uncertainty about what did the rebels achieve beside killing 60 pro regime fighters and losing over 100 of their own.
While this was happening, everybody , except Israel, welcomed , or did not oppose, the agreement between Iran and the West with Russia’s blessings. The war in Syria is now a huge inconvenience for all and the time for a compromise has come despite the reported delay until January. Rebels want to go with a victory in their hands, hard to achieve in my judgement, and the regime now does not mind waiting or even not going.
Syria, my friends, is today the sick relative that people are tired of keeping alive at a huge cost but not ready to let go for emotional reasons..
كل ثوره و انتم و ثوار كم و القائد الملهم بخير

Sigh, we got some funny analysts who are busing calculating what the Iranian is losing compared to what they can gain.

They either are willingly blind or monumentally naive to realize the monumental impact of the Geneva pact: The west and Iran finally are waving olive branches to each other.

I actually can hear the crumbling sound from Saudi monarchy house. When the west finds Saudi being of less use, their tolerance towards the brutal and backward Saudi rulers will become thinner and thinner.

To Saudi citizens, it is actually a piece of good news if they are still holding aspiration for human rights and political freedom.

It comes to me without surprise when our Syrian “revolutionists” are depressed by the news in Geneva.

صباح الخير من أرض الشام …
أرض الشام مقبرة المجوس ..
حزب الشيطان يعترف بمقتل 6 من قيادييه في الغوطة ,القلمون
والقتلى هم …
1/ علي اسكندر، تم الدعس والختم في 23-11-2013
2/ علي عز الدين هزيم،تم نحره والختم في 25-11-2013
3/ محمد نصرالدين،تم الدعس والختم في 20-11-2013
4/ذوالفقار عزالدين تم الدعس والختم في 25-11-2013
5/ محمد علي الحاج لم نحصل على صوره له 25-11-2013
6/ حيدر علي كالوت، لم نحصل على صوره له 25-11-2013..
إلى جهنم و بئس المصير سلموا عل الخميني و قولوا له أهل الشام رجاااااااال و انتو خدعتونا يا خنازيرنا .. يللي بعدوووووووووووووو ..
غرباء

30 minutes ago ·
4 more Hizboola terrorist killed in Syria
عكس السير
المكتب الإعلامي الموحد فـي القلمون ‫#‏الإعلام_الحربي‬ ‫#‏عــــاجل‬
…………………………………………………………………………………..
مقتل أربعة عناصر من ميليشات حزب الله في مزارع دير عطية على أيدي الكتائب العاملة في القلمون

Saudi Arabia isolated in its media criticism as Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE hail the Iran nuclear accord and don’t seem to think that Iran is a menace.

Qatar, Kuwait welcome Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers

http://news.yahoo.com/qatar-welcomes-irans-nuclear-deal-world-powers-foreign-070922304.html

Saudi Arabia and Oman are yet to make an official comment on the deal.

#324 Ghufran

Stupidity, foolishness and infantilism have been the trade mark of the opposition from day one.
What can be expected from a leaderless, visionless, chaotic ‘revolution’ manipulated by Youtube and Facebook from Sweden, Turkey, France and the USA and funded by hysterical and bored GCC Arabs looking for revenge in an exciting war game.

لى جهنم و بئس المصير أهل الشام رجاااااااال و انتو خدعتونا يا خنازيرنا .. يللي بعدوووووووووووووو ..
غرباء

Sixth British jihadist [MERCENARY TERRORISTS] reportedly killed in Syria

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/sixth-british-jihadist-reportedly-killed-in-syria-8962600.html

He has been named as Abu Naseebah al-Britani by Shiraz Maher, head of outreach at Kings College London’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR).

Charles Lister, an analyst at Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, added that he is believed to have been killed fighting for the al-Qa’ida linked ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams) in Deir Atiyah, north of Damascus.

No further details about the man are currently available.

The death follows a reports that four British men have died fighting for the al-Qa’ida linked al-Nusra Front in Syria over the summer.

Three of the men, all thought to have been from London, were killed near Aleppo.

A fourth man, fighting for the same group was shot two weeks later. He has been named by the Times as Mohammed el-Araj, 23, from Ladbroke Grove, west London.

A fifth man, Ibrahim al-Mazwagi, 21, from North London is believed to have been killed in February.

MI5 estimates suggest that 200-300 Britons have travelled to Syria to fight against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, some of which have joined forces influenced by Islamic extremism.

A new study by charity Hope Not Hate suggests that a groups linked to British Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary have “facilitated or encouraged” up to 80 young Muslims from the UK to join al-Qa’ida-linked forces in Syria.

…

We Have to Challenge Al-Qaeda’s Warped Narrative – or More British Jihadists [MERCENARY TERRORISTS] Will Die in Syria

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/524985/20131125/british-jihadis-afghanistan-islamists-radicals-quilliam.htm

The confirmation this week of a second British man killed in Syria has shed some light on a disturbing trend – that of young British Muslims travelling to Syria to take part in the Syrian civil war, which has now entered its third year. Mohammed El-Araj, who was 23 and from West London, was reported to have been killed in August in an attempted ambush on pro-Assad forces near Aleppo.

Another Briton, Ibrahim al-Mazwagi from North London, was killed in February, after travelling to Syria having previously taken part in the Libyan conflict.

The internet has been used effectively by Al Qaeda and related groups to spread their narratives. Marginal religious scholars, often self-proclaimed, have been able to gain wide audiences online for takfiri proclamations, which declare certain individuals or groups to be non-Muslim for the purpose of legitimising their killing, which has happened in the case of Shia Muslims in Syria. There is now an urgent need for greater investment in challenging extremism online, as well as in the ‘real world’.

This can be done in part by establishing a strong positive narrative which helps British young people at risk of radicalisation to integrate into British society, and to challenge the extremist narrative that is now effectively promoting the large-scale killing of both Muslims and non-Muslims.

…

“To Saudi citizens, it is actually a piece of good news if they are still holding aspiration for human rights and political freedom.”

What is the word for those pushing for freedoms and human rights for others but deny the very same for their own people?

Hypocrites ?

Sami,

“Muqawamitas”?

339. sami said:

What is the word for those pushing for freedoms and human rights for others but deny the very same for their own people?

Menhebakji loyalist to the Israeli criminal regime.

[…] the 17th Abdelqader Saleh, leader of Aleppo’s Liwa al-Tawhid Brigade, was confirmed killed by a regime airstrike. The death […]

Don,

More info on the Israeli criminal regime:

http://www.israellycool.com/2013/08/07/bedouin-idf-soldier-most-important-value-of-idf-is-respect-for-human-beings/

Syrian troops kill over 100 “rebels” in siege battle – 25th November 2013

http://www.businessghana.com/portal/news/index.php?op=getNews&id=193391

The Syrian troops repelled the “rebels'” attack against military positions and checkpoints at the towns of Baharieh, Qasimieh, and Qaria al-Shamieh area in the Eastern al-Ghouta Suburb.

The incident came as hundreds of rebel fighters reportedly infiltrated from neighboring Jordan to help the trapped rebels in the besieged al-Ghouta countryside.

The battles in the south and east of Damascus have been coupled with others in the northern rim of the capital, namely in Deir Attieh town, located in the al-Qalamoun Mountains.

Following the government troops’ recapture of the town of Qara in al-Qalamoun, more than 500 radical rebels from the al-Qaida- linked Nusra Front have stormed Deir Attieh and entrenched there, according to al-Watan paper.

The paper added that the Syrian troops had tightened the siege on the town in a bid to recapture it from the Nusra fighters.
…

This conference could have been held two years earlier avoiding 120,000 death, billions of destruction, millions of refugees if the opposition had not aimed obsessively and exclusively at the ‘toppling’ of Bashar al Assad without any consideration for human lives and sufferings.
Not only they have not “toppled” Bashar al Assad but they will be sitting at the same table, weaker than ever, after having shouted for more than two years that they will never bow.

Syria peace conference on January 22: UN

UNITED NATIONS, United States – Agence France-Presse
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syria-peace-conference-on-january-22-un.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58483&NewsCatID=359

Syrian government and opposition negotiators will meet for the first time since start of the country’s 32 month-old war in Geneva from January 22, the UN announced Monday.

UN leader Ban Ki-moon called the landmark conference “a mission of hope” to end the civil war.

Pope Francis says he won’t rest while Christians are persecuted in the Middle East – 11/25/2013

http://www.catholic.org/hf/faith/story.php?id=53302

Pope meets with Eastern rite leaders.

Pope Francis had some words for the world on Thursday concerning Christians in the Middle East. The Holy Father called attention to the plight of Christians in the Middle East and said he would not resign himself to a Holy Land without Christians.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) – Pope Francis, in meeting with leaders of several Eastern rites said, “Syria, Iraq, Egypt and other areas of the Holy Land sometimes overflow with tears. We won’t resign ourselves to a Middle East without Christians who for two thousand years confess the name of Jesus, as full citizens in social, cultural, and religious life of the nations to which they belong.”

Pope Francis reinforced his support for persecuted Christians everywhere, especially in the Middle East where Muslim majorities routinely persecute them.

For some conservative, extremist Muslims, the choice is simple. Convert and pay or die. There is no dialogue between Christians and Muslims of this stripe, just as lambs and wolves have no concord.

Unfortunately, these Muslims feel compelled to persecute Christians which normally results in displacement. Many Christians have recently had to flee ancient homes to seek asylum amongst the countries that would have them.

The Pope reiterated his belief that every person has the right to freedom of conscience and called for “everyone’s right to a dignified life and to freely profess their faith to be respected.” He added that as long as these people were persecuted, no matter what religion, he would “not rest.”

Christians in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt have recently been targeted as extremist Muslims target them in those countries. Russia is considering asylum for about 50,000 Syrian Christians.

In Egypt, the Coptic Church there has faced significant persecution, despite the promised of previous president, Mohamed Morsi, to protect them. His promises counted for nothing as members of the Muslim Brotherhood attacked Copts.

Christians are routinely kidnapped and killed by extremists, especially in Syria where the Christian minority has lived peacefully for two millennia.

…

…

While Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar openly welcome the deal, Saudi Arabia cautiously acknowledges that it is a “primary step”

http://www.aawsat.net/2013/11/article55323530

The statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency on Monday said: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia views the agreement as a primary step towards a comprehensive solution to the Iranian nuclear program so far as good intentions are provided and as long as it leads to a Middle East and Gulf region free of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.”

It added that Riyadh “hopes that this step will be followed by more important steps leading to guaranteeing the right for all countries in the region to peacefully use nuclear energy.”
..
For its part, Qatar described the nuclear agreement as “an important step towards safeguarding peace and stability in the region,” in a statement released by the Foreign Ministry.
..
Kuwait announced that it “welcomes” the agreement between the P5+1 and Iran in Geneva….
Bahrain also welcomed the Geneva deal on Sunday

Egypt asks Gul to press Erdogan to stop ‘pestering’ Egypt and stop supportinhg the Moslem Brotherhood

Egypt issues demands to end tension with turkey

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/87443/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-issues-demands-to-end-tension-with-turkey.aspx

“The role Turkish President Abdullah Gul is playing in helping cement Turkish-Egyptian relations is instrumental, and is highly appreciated in Cairo. However, we have to be clear that we are deeply dismayed at the position of the Turkish Prime Minister [Recep Tayyep Erdogan], which we told the President,” said the official source.
…
The first demand, according to Cairo officials, is for Turkey to stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and Qatar in collating evidence to forward to the International Criminal Court, seeking to prove the 14 August sit-in dispersals by security forces in Cairo and Giza amount to a crime against humanity.

Egypt is not subject to ICC regulations and is “confident” that neither the Security Council nor the prosecutor-general of the ICC would start such a case anyhow, the Cairo official continued.

This said, Cairo is “furious” that the Muslim Brotherhood “is working with Turkey and Qatar” with regards this matter in the first place.

The Egyptian decision to dispel the Turkish ambassador – summoned for consultation following the ouster of Morsi – was prompted by a meeting in Ankara last week. Initially, the Turkish ambassador was sent back, which was not reciprocated by Egypt, who never sent its ambassador back after a similar recall for consultation.

The official added that Egypt also demands that Turkey stops hosting meetings for the Muslim Brotherhood that seek “to destabilise the interim phase, or force civil strife to help serve the political interests of the Brotherhood.”

In addition, Egypt demands an end to the “aggressive statements of the Turkish Prime Minister against Egypt, and his glorification of the Muslim Brotherhood and Rabaa.”

Erdogan first made the four-finger Rabaa solidarity sign during a speech in Turkey following the dispersal of the sit-ins last August, and has defended the Brotherhood in subsequent statements.

These demands, according to Egyptian officials, are an indication that Egypt desires to end the state of hostility with Turkey.

Just so you may know, our well-informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

Our knowledgeable benefactors analyzed the so-called nuke deal with the pariah entity of mullahstan and determined the following.

The so-called deal cannot be called a deal as such. Rather it is more appropriately described as an agreement over bad debts similar to what a bank would do when a loan becomes problematic and the debtor has bad credit history.

Such an agreement allowed both the mullahs and Obama to claim so-called victory at the same time. The mullahs can claim that they have gained temporary respite for their suffocating economy. While Obama can claim victory by offering LIMITED sanctions relief without need for Congress approval which would have blocked the deal in the Congress.

Obama, once again, proves his incompetency and the fact that he doesn’t belong in the White House. He can only offer half-solutions exactly as he did when he resorted to Congress in order to avoid the most obvious choice of crushing Ass-head militarily following the use of CWs in east of Damascus last August.

Obama once again just off-loaded the nuclear threat of mullahstan to the next President of the USA. The obvious conclusion is once again: Obama is UNFIT to rule.

For these reasons the Guided Kingdom is determined to acquire nuclear technology of its own as a means of deterrence, since the USA is NO LONGER reliable and most likely going down the drain. Before the next US President is sworn in, the Guided Kingdom will acquire enough nuclear warheads to vaporize mullahstan when and if the need arises.

The White House should stop making more absurd statements like this one. The legitimate Syrian government made it clear that Bashar al Assad may leave or stay as the Syrian people decide at the next election in 2014, independently of the Geneva talks.

White House hopes peace talks will remove Assad from power and bring new government to Syria

http://www.canada.com/news/White+House+hopes+peace+talks+will+remove+Assad+from+power+bring/9210552/story.html

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says removing Syrian President Bashar Assad is the goal of talks scheduled for Jan. 22 in Geneva.

zouzou thinks that it can fool us by using “business ghana”
business ghana!!!!
why not dog-poop SANA,
Anyone seen their “correspondent” … dig .. no need for shovel, use your spoon, or toothpick… aha .. alwatan.

The SNC desperately repeats its pre-conditions….

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/syrian-peace-talks-announced–but-doubts-remain-20131126-2y6ig.html

However soon after the announcement, Laui Safi, a spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said the group would only attend the meeting if the following preconditions were met: the release of prisoners and relief for besieged towns, and that President Bashar al-Assad plays no role in the transitional government.

The opposition will not only need to maintain unity within its own ranks but also ensure the support of all groups fighting inside Syria – including the Al-Qaeda linked jihadi groups – to ensure the talks went ahead, analysts said.

“The concern for the Opposition is that either they dissolve in disagreement or they are outmanoeuvred at the table by a Syrian regime that holds more cards at this point,” said Mona Yacoubian, a senior Middle East adviser at the Washington-based Stimson Centre.

“We see the regime gaining on the ground … they are playing a role with the implementation of the chemical weapons agreement which gives them the perception of a degree of authority, and their allies Russia and Iran are very strongly behind them in a way that is not the case with the Syrian opposition.”

Rebels gunmen to leave Yarmouk camp

Agreement underway to end crisis in Damascus refugee camp
Published today 21:40

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=651112

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Palestinian factions in Syria are scheduled to hold a meeting Tuesday to discuss the terms of an agreement to end the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.

A major part of the agreement is to evacuate all gunmen from the camp in return for the Syrian government to resume providing services to the camp’s population.
…
The PLO, he asserted, is interested in evacuating all gunmen from the camp because it is “located in Damascus which is fully controlled by the Syrian government’s security services.”

Some gunmen, he added, have already left the camp in the past few days. The rest are expected to leave as soon as the agreement is put into effect.

One of the great achievements of the opposition in bringing ‘freedom and dignity’ to Syrians with the complicity of Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia

Al Qaeda advancing in Syria
Fighters consolidate grip on northern swath of country

….
For the United States and other western governments, ISIL’s expansion to north and eastern Syria, especially Idlib and Aleppo provinces, is alarming. Seven years ago, the United States committed tens of thousands of troops and billions of dollars to rolling back al Qaeda in Iraq. The famous ‘surge’ succeeded in buying time and space for more moderate forces, but the militants — battered and bloodied — clung on. Now they have space in Syria, where U.S. Special Forces and military technology are absent.

Fishman, who is a fellow at the New America Foundation, says, “Although the worst fears of Iraq in 2006 were avoided, they have the potential to be realized in Syria,” not least because jihadist groups benefit from the tolerance or even support of “close U.S. allies such as Turkey, which has allegedly backed JaN skirmishes against Kurds in Syria, and Qatar.”

Both ISIL and JaN have been involved in attacks against Kurdish militia in northern Syria, with several vehicle-borne suicide attacks in recent days. But Fishman says Turkey’s policy of using jihadist groups as a counterbalance to Kurdish ambitions in Syria is “inane.”

“Obviously Turkey has had a long fight with Kurdish groups, but toleration of al-Qaeda is always a bad idea,” he says. “These groups cannot be controlled, and they contain elements that measure success in completely brutal ways.”

ISIL seems supremely confident of its destiny and has even defied the overall leader of al Qaeda, Ayman al Zawahiri, who earlier this year instructed it to confine its operations to Iraq. Rather than cede the lead role in Syria to al Nusra, as Zawahiri ordered, ISIL last week called for “all jihadist leaders and soldiers and people to accelerate in joining the project of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.”

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/national-news/Al-Qaeda-advancing-in-Syria/-/11788232/23137104/-/1145jec/-/index.html#ixzz2lgtrW8ab

unbelievable video interview with children in Syria

Was Bashar al Assad born under a lucky star to have chosen Iran and Russia as allies and survived an assault of the most powerful and rich countries in the world, or was it an intelligent understanding and a far sighted vision of the geopolitical changes in the region?

Jürgen, you are disgusting. You know very well that all the “normal” people have leaved Jobar since at least 2 years, and you show us a staged interview with kids in the middle of a totally empty street (i. e. a street under rebel-control) where an attack happens, but we have no way to know if this attack was staged as well or who is shooting. You also know very well that many attacks have been staged, including the one that killed the French journalist. So you just broadcast people who are evil enough to use these kids and even more than that, take them as human shields, since they probably belong to someone who is related to the rebels.

“In this new world order things aren’t quite what they seem, and true freedom seems more of a hobby than an ideal to fight for. The lesson is: First, count the cost, then have an escape plan when your international friends look the other way”

Rebels Bleed, the World Looks Away
The heart breaks for the freedom fighters of today when they begin with high ideals but end up begging for help to get the bigger guy off their backs.

Nov. 25, 2013 4:27 p.m. ET
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303531204579207981217520214

One can almost feel the despair of Ahmad Jarba in his Nov. 19 op-ed “A Moment of Truth Looms for Syria.” His call for international assistance for the rebels is clearly an admission that they didn’t consider the cost of beginning a war against the Assad regime that even Mr. Jarba admits is “not a civil war. It is a revolution.”

This shows that the rebels’ faith in international assistance was more zeal than contemplation. Did they not recall the films of the Iranian woman bleeding to death in the street while the international community looked the other way or found other reasons not to get involved? Did none of the revolutionaries see the big boys of the world making deals with despots all around them while the dying were waved off as collateral damage?

The heart breaks for the freedom fighters of today when they begin with high ideals but end up begging for help to get the bigger guy off their backs. In this new world order things aren’t quite what they seem, and true freedom seems more of a hobby than an ideal to fight for. The lesson is: First, count the cost, then have an escape plan when your international friends look the other way

….

Mina, so the over half million people who can not offered to pay $ 500 dollars a month to rent in Damascus are not “normal” people?
What an evil repulsive creature you are?
Even kids under fire did not move anything in you?

zouzou again… It summarizes articles for us, so in one Alqaida is advancing in Syria, and yet in another dog-poop finds its lucky star… Freudian slip?, or just dumb blind brouhaha propaganda?

May be both, you know, them dog-poop sniffers are deep thenkers.

@361 Hammy

Your h-p are hollower than before, yet they smell as bad.

A new Muslim Brothers party is being Fabricated in Turkey 😎

Syrian Waad Party denies being Muslim Brothers arm

Syrian oppositionists are holding extensive meetings in Istanbul to prepare for the announcement of a new Syrian party named the National Party for Justice and Constitution, or Waad according to its Arabic acronym.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2013/11/new-syria-party-denies-brotherhood-affiliation.html#

The meetings of the party’s constituent body decided that party members will be one-third Muslim Brotherhood, one-third Islamists and one-third liberal national figures.

It has been rumored that Waad was no more than the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, a claim supported by Ali Bayanouni, the Brotherhood’s former controller.

He had said that Waad was about to be launched and that the new party will strive for “equality, justice, dignity and freedom” for the people of Syria and will seek to ESTABLISH “DEMOCRATIC” MECHANISMS ACCORDING TO THE ISLAMIC MODEL. [hehehehehehehe!]

According to Atassi, “[Waad] has no organizational links with the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP). [BWAHAHAHAHAHA!]

Well-informed sources told Al-Hayat, “Meetings were held between [Waad] officials and senior AKP officials in Turkey. [Waad] hopes to benefit from AKP’s experience in various fields.” 😎

…

Observer@ 326

“Yes TARA you have to be whatever the “poor oppressed deprived fearful peaceful meek humble honest pure minority” wants you to be while it remains ” righteous sanctimonious know it all special status uppity stiff upper lip superior minority”. ”

Very well put! It summarize the minorities in Syria that support al Assad. Time has come to force a mirror and ask them to open their eyes and see the real face.

I once wrote a post.. About 3 years ago… Explaining how I have always tried to put myself in the shoes of others.. Feeling their pain, imagining their fear, and dreaming their aspirations. No longer I can do that. I no longer has empathy or sympathy. I no longer can excuse them. Every time I look, I see the ugly face. As Syrian put it repulsive and evil.

Denmark emptying it’s jails in Syria!!

Denmark: 80 Danes [MERCENARY TERRORISTS] Fighting in Syria

The Danish recruits are mainly from “Islamist environments,” and criminal gangs, PET said. It also warned that the number of those with ties to criminal gangs that join Islamist circles is increasing

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/CP/2013/11/24/Denmark-80-Danes-have-joined-Syria-fight

Denmark’s security service said Sunday it suspects around 80 people have travelled from Denmark to Syria to join the civil war since mid-2012.

In a report, the service known as PET said those who travel to Syria are mainly Sunni Muslim men aged between 16 and 25. At least seven were killed in Syria and around 40 have returned to Denmark again, PET said.

The Syria conflict has attracted hundreds of foreign fighters from European countries, many of whom have joined Islamic militant groups.

The Norwegian intelligence service PST has said an estimated 30 to 40 people – and possibly more – have left from Norway, including two teenage sisters aged 16 and 19 who made headlines last month.

The Danish recruits are mainly from “Islamist environments,” and criminal gangs, PET said. It also warned that the number of those with ties to criminal gangs that join Islamist circles is increasing.

“The threat and the security risks tied to the increasing number of people from Denmark that participate in the armed conflict in Syria is PET’s highest priority right now,” PET chief Jakob Scharf said.

…

It was high time to recognize the negative influence of the wild fatwas dropping Sunni sheikhs and stop them ..

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait tighten controls on preachers
November 26, 2013 12:51 AM

DUBAI/KUWAIT: Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have been quietly reining in their sheikhs on concerns that they could use their influence to stir up trouble and inflame sectarian divisions at a time of high tension over the crises in Syria and Egypt.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and home to a powerful conservative figures, have declined to respond to local media reports in recent months which said nearly 20 sheikhs had been sacked or suspended.

In Kuwait, which has a relatively open political system compared to other Gulf Arab states, the authorities have resumed the monitoring of sermons, pulled a television preacher off the air and deported a foreign imam.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-26/238928-saudi-arabia-kuwait-tighten-controls-on-preachers.ashx#ixzz2liMjBqPA
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

2 Swedish journalists abducted in Syria

http://www.stltoday.com/news/world/swedish-journalists-abducted-in-syria/article_8979e329-30ae-5868-b2c1-432e1a750f02.html

Two Swedish journalists were abducted in Syria as they were trying to leave the country, Sweden’s Foreign Ministry said Monday.

The men were “taken” on Saturday as they were on their way out of Syria, spokeswoman Catarina Axelsson said. She declined to give other details, and said Swedish diplomats in Beirut were trying to get more information on the situation.

The ministry didn’t name them, but Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter said they were the newspaper’s stringer in Paris, Magnus Falkehed, and a freelance photographer, Niclas Hammarstrom.

…

Robert Fisk: He may huff and puff but Benjamin Netanyahu [Poor Bibi the butt joke of the world] is on his own now as nuclear agreement isolates Israel 😀

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/robert-fisk-he-may-huff-and-puff-but-benjamin-netanyahu-is-on-his-own-now-as-nuclear-agreement-isolates-israel-8960766.html

It marks a victory for the Shia in their growing conflict with the Sunni Muslim Middle East. It gives substantial hope to Bashar al-Assad that he will be left in power in Syria. It isolates Israel. And it infuriates Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Kuwait and other Sunni Gulf States which secretly hoped that a breakdown of the Geneva nuclear talks would humiliate Shia Iran and support their efforts to depose Assad, Iran’s only ally in the Arab world.

But there’s no doubt that Geneva has called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s bluff. He may huff and puff, but if he wants to bash Iran now – on the basis that Israel must remain the only nuclear nation in the Middle East – he’s going to be on his own when his planes take off to bomb Iran’s nuclear plants. The Aipac attack dogs can be sent up to Congress again by that most infamous of Israeli-American lobby groups to harry Republicans in support of the Likudist cause, but to what purpose? Did Mr Netanyahu really think the Iranians were going to dismantle their whole nuclear boondoggle?

When he said yesterday that “the most dangerous regime in the world took a significant step towards obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapon”, many Arabs – and an awful lot of other people in the world, including the West – will have wondered whether Israel, which long ago obtained the world’s most dangerous weapon, is now – in rejecting the Geneva deal – the world’s most dangerous government. If Mr Netanyahu and his clique in the government decide to twit the world’s major powers amid their euphoria, he may bring about – as several Israeli writers have warned – the most profound change in Israel’s relations with the US since the foundation of the Israeli state. It would not be a change for Israel’s benefit.

…

Obama needs to take on the Israel lobby over Iran

The outcome of a looming showdown between the two who loathe one another will be critical

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df0d49e8-55dd-11e3-96f5-00144feabdc0.html

The real alternative to the Geneva process, argue the Americans, is not the better deal of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dreams. It is a breakdown in negotiations followed by an accelerated nuclear programme in Iran – leading either to an Iranian bomb or to war. The Obama administration believes that, by making this case, it can face down Israel’s formidable phalanx of supporters in Congress, traditionally marshalled by the American Israel Public Affairs committee.

The administration’s confidence that it can win the argument over Iran is bolstered by an opinion poll, taken before the Geneva agreement was nailed down, which showed the American public was in favour of a nuclear deal with Iran by 56 per cent to 39 per cent. The administration’s calculation is that the strong public desire to avoid further wars in the Middle East will override the public’s traditional sympathy with Israel and antipathy towards Iran.

Aipac is a formidable lobbying organisation. But the recent fiasco over Mr Obama’s request to Congress to approve missile strikes on Syria following the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad’s regime showed that the Israel lobby cannot always deliver victory on Capitol Hill. Aipac lobbied hard in favour of strikes on Syria. But deep public opposition to military action weighed more heavily with Congress.

As the Iran debate moves forward in America, so it will take on a personal aspect. Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu detest each other. Now they are about to stage a very public showdown. It would be a humiliation for the US president if his Iran policy is pulled apart in Congress at the behest of the Israelis. But the stakes are very high for Mr Netanyahu and Israel, too – and victory could be as dangerous as defeat. If a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear issue is blocked and war follows, Israel will be accused of dragging America into a conflict. But if Mr Netanyahu confronts the Obama administration through the US Congress – and loses – the fabled power of the Israel lobby may never be quite the same again.

…

Talking about fatwas bring to mind the most infamous fatwas of them all, a fatwa that made an unknown less that average writer with less than average novel, the most famous person in the world, when the infallible Khomeini issued his death fatwa with 5 million dollar bounty on Salmon Rushdie head, when will the Iranian people kick those 7th century leaders of their?!

Al-Qaeda and the Syrian conflict
http://journal-neo.org/2013/11/26/rus-al-kaida-i-sirijskij-konflikt/

262. Heads-up
/ the military drills/
It seems Al Qaeda Airforce is about to start falling from the sky.

Moscow anxiously watches Western plans for military action against the Damascus regime
The SSV-201 intelligence ship Priazovye continue its voyage in the appointed region of military service in the eastern Mediterranean,
“The crew has the mission… of collecting operative information in the region of an escalating conflict,” it added. The source said that the ship’s deployment was carried out within the minimum time possible.
Russia wanted to receive the maximum information about the possible military action in the interests of Russian state security.

Iran deal leads to a more humble Turkish foreign policy

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/iran-agreement-turkey-foreign-policy-failure-syria.html#

Syria is a major component of this shift. By being able to sustain Syrian President Bashar al-Assad — despite facing immense political, economic and military pressures — the Iranian regime proved its weight on the ground. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey made a mess of a situation that had until recently seemed in their — and the rebels’ — favor. The social, political and physical disintegration of Syria and the flooding of al-Qaeda-affiliated groups to fill the vacuum prompted the Barack Obama administration to look at Iran and Russia for a mutually agreed solution. The election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the softening of Iran’s rhetoric provided a welcome opportunity. Whether or not Iran gets an invitation to the international conference on Syria scheduled for Jan. 22, its position will be firmly represented in Geneva.

Davutoglu’s trips to Washington and Baghdad, his categorical denial that his government had backed Sunni extremists in Syria and official expressions of support for the nuclear deal have been interpreted in Turkey as a “fresh start” in regional politics. The damage is extensive and trust may never be restored while Erdogan is in power, but as Suleyman Demirel — Turkey’s former president (1993-2000) and pragmatist par excellence — famously stated, “Yesterday is yesterday, and today is today.” As cynical as it sounds today, it may not be far-fetched to imagine the Turkish prime minister once again embracing his “brother” the Syrian president in a few years’ time.

Ultimately, Turkey’s relevance for and influence in its wider neighborhood depend on its ability to mend its own social, ethnic and religious fault lines. Its leaders’ attempts to manipulate the divisions beyond its borders have only exacerbated those at home and in turn left the country deeply exposed to regional instabilities. If the Iranian nuclear deal nudges them to employ a more humble, introspective and unifying discourse — one that would stop antagonizing secular Turks and Alevis, while pushing on with the Kurdish peace process — it would also be a victory for Turkey.

…

[Bibi The Dork] Netanyahu awkward isolation

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/netanyahus-awkward-isolation

More recently, Netanyahu tried to derail negotiations with Tehran, which didn’t work. He said any agreement would necessarily be unacceptable, which few considered credible. He demanded that the U.S. take his warnings seriously, but they fell on deaf ears. The more the Israeli leader railed against the very idea of diplomacy, the more Netanyahu found himself on the sidelines.

In slightly larger context, the White House had also been warned that diplomacy with Iran would almost automatically derail Israeli-Palestinian talks, which have been quietly underway for several weeks. Indeed, Netanyahu had a subtle warning for Obama: if you care about the Middle East peace process, stop talking to Iran.

But the ploy didn’t work, in part because the real opportunity with Iran was/is too important to pass up, and in part because Obama apparently doesn’t see Netanyahu making any real strides in the peace process anyway.

And this in turn only isolates Netanyahu further, which makes the Israeli leader that much more furious.

Israeli jaw-jawing about a military strike puts it into a corner with no good exit option. Netanyahu’s definition of a bad nuclear deal seems to include… any nuclear deal. So say that one is negotiated. What can Israel do then? Netanyahu could follow through on his rhetoric and launch a unilateral strike. Maybe that would set Iran back a few years. It would also rupture any deal, accelerate Iran’s nuclear ambitions, invite unconventional retaliation from Iran and its proxies, and isolate Israel even further.

If Netanyahu doesn’t follow through on his rhetoric, then every disparaging Israeli quote about Obama’s volte-face on Syria will be thrown back at the Israeli security establishment. Times a hundred.

Anyone prepared to make the case that Netanyahu has handled this well?

…

A friend of mine went missing in Cairo on Sunday.

“German writer Abdel-Samad missing in Egypt

A German writer threatened with death after criticizing Islamists has gone missing in Egypt. Police suspect that Hamed Abdel-Samad was abducted by religious extremists, but the investigation is still ongoing. ”

http://www.dw.de/german-writer-abdel-samad-missing-in-egypt/a-17253695

SYRIA IS OVER

zouzou can’t write the word poop … how classy…

360, Syrian

I know people from Jobar (who happen to be pro-revo) and I know when they left. Just watch the videos and you’ll see it’s empty. Just ask anyone from Jobar.

Bhadrakumar brilliant as usual
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2013/11/26/a-windfall-afghan-exit-strategy-for-obama/

Hussni Al-Borazzan Opens His Mouth 😀

Free Syrian Army says will not halt fighting for Geneva-2 talks

http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_26/Free-Syrian-Army-fighter-will-not-participate-in-Geneva-2-Idriss-5992/

The head of the Free Syrian Army [Hussni Al-Borazzan] said on Tuesday that rebel forces loyal to him would not join a planned peace conference in Switzerland in January and would continue their fight throughout the talks.

“Conditions are not suitable for running the Geneva 2 talks at the given date, and we, as a military and revolutionary force, will not participate in the conference,” General Salim Idriss told the pan-Arab news channel Al Jazeera.

“We will not stop combat at all during the Geneva conference or after it, and what concerns us is getting needed weapons for our fighters.”

Syrian National Сoalition believes that opposition must participate in Geneva-2 as united front

Syrian National Сoalition is aware that the opposition should participate in Geneva-2 as a united front, and will make every effort to do so, said Monzer Akbik, chief of staff of the coalition’s presidency.

“It is logical that the talks will not be productive if the opposition is different. We will try to connect, but it is very difficult to unite all sides of the opposition… We will try to collect most part of the opposition for talks,” he stated.

Syria talks participants still undecided – Brahimi

The list of participants at the Syria peace talks being held by the United Nations in January has yet to be finalised, international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said on Monday, leaving open the thorny question of whether Iran would be at the table.

Asked if Iran and Saudi Arabia would come to the talks, Brahimi told a news conference: “We haven’t established a list yet, though these two countries will certainly be among the possible participants”.

Brahimi plans to meet US and Russian sponsors of the talks again on December 20, and he called on the Syrian government and the opposition to reduce the intensity of the conflict, although “being realistic” a ceasefire was unlikely to happen before the talks begin, he said.

…

Moallem: Pressures Will Not Enfeeble Syria’s Determination to Stand by Palestinian People

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920905001348

The Minister underscored that all the relevant UN resolutions confirmed the Palestinian people inalienable rights, asserting that the Israeli occupation is seeking to liquidate the Palestinian cause through refusing to abide by the UN relevant resolutions and rejecting any kind of accountability.

“Syria has been aware for the need to maintain the rights of the Palestinian people, therefore it stood by them and defended their rights as well as it hosted about half a million Palestinians as they enjoy their full rights,” the Foreign Minister said.

He added “Syria endured and is still enduring a lot of pressures to force it abandoning the Palestinian people’s legitimate cause and abandoning the occupied Syrian Golan, but these pressures will not debilitate its determination to stand by the Palestinian people until they establish their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital based on the UN relevant Resolutions No. 242, 338 and 497 related to the occupied Syrian Golan.”

…

“I know people from Jobar (who happen to be pro-revo) and I know when they left”

Hmmm… Anyone else see the stupidity in this statement?

Why do I have a feeling that the so called Iran deal is creating anxiety among the Menhebakjis? Is it because like Bibi, the iPad will be sacrificed? I do not know what will come out of it, but the days of revolutionary rhetoric are over.

The mullahs are sacrificing the nuclear program in part ( of course to give up completely would have been equally suicidal ) because the sanctions were biting so hard that they were deathly afraid of an uprising. They therefore save the regime their most important concern at this time. The final deal is yet to come.

Now to placate Israel and KSA what would the US do? Arm them to the teeth is of course one action, the US will get billions in purchased weapons. They may even invite Israel to join Nato, who knows. As for KSA, it will probably get Syria in return.

The question therefore remains: which of its allies does Iran want to sacrifice? It will sacrifice Syria and turn HA to a pure political party if it feels that Israel cannot attack it now and perhaps not in the future it can show that it will not hold the northern border of Israel under the threat of HA rockets.

HA will have its arsenal under the Lebanese army. Its leader will go for a refresher course in Najaf or Qom and it will move to be a political party.

The other scenario is of course that the hardliners in Iran will fight to the death in Syria, the fighting a way of killing the nuclear deal, of embarrassing and marginalizing the Rohani Zarif axis and of stocking a confrontation stance.

I am not sure, but one thing for sure, a Sunni Shia war of 50 years is in the offing.

Syrian Hamster and Tara I salute you. That video clip of the IRGC work in Syria is actually great news. Here is the report about it

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-26/238922-friction-between-iranian-syrian-soldiers-surfaces.ashx#axzz2l65AVaOD

The cornered SNC’s new strategy is to derail the Geneva talks

As Ibrahimi represents both the UN and the Arab League in the negotiations, he wouldn’t be able to remain impartial. A tough time ahead for Ibrahimi

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-26/238977-syria-opposition-to-take-full-possession-of-arab-league-seat.ashx#axzz2llHCJuVW

CAIRO: The opposition Syrian National Coalition will take full possession of the country’s seat on the Arab League now that it has formed a provisional government, its chief said Tuesday in Cairo.

Ahmad Jarba, speaking at a news conference with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, also said the Coalition would hold a meeting sometime next month to discuss strategy ahead of a peace conference scheduled for January 22 in Geneva.

Just so you may know, our well-informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

Congratulations to the people of Syria. Your heroic fighters of the blessed revolution accomplished great victories in Eastern Damascus the last few days. First, it is important to know that the heroic fighters have imposed blackouts on reporters who were used by the scum bags of the Serpent-head of Ass-head to gather information about the movement of the victorious fighters.

Nevertheless, some good news still made it to the outside world so that Syrians can celebrate the victories.

Countless scum bag thugs of the low life stooges of Ass-head were eliminated in the last few days. Estimates range from 200 to 400 such low life ‘bees’ were confirmed eliminated.

Similar numbers of the similarly low life scum bags of hezboola terrorists were also eliminated, in addition to countless numbers of the so-called Abu Albasal terrorist group.

Juergen

Couldn’t you use some of your numerous friends among the Islamists Syrian rebels to free your German friend?

U.S. and Saudis in Growing Rift as Power Shifts

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/world/middleeast/us-and-saudis-in-growing-rift-as-power-shifts.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&hp
…
How the Saudis propose to win the struggle for Syria is not clear. Already, their expanded support for Islamist rebel fighters in Syria — and the widespread assumption that they are linked to the jihadist groups fighting there — has elevated tensions across the region.
After a double suicide bombing killed 23 people outside the Iranian Embassy in Beirut last Tuesday, the Arab news media was full of panicky reports that this was a Saudi “message” to Iran before the nuclear talks in Geneva. A day later, a Shiite group in Iraq claimed responsibility for mortars fired into Saudi Arabia near the border between the two countries.

The Saudi-owned news media has bubbled with vitriol in recent days. One prominent columnist, Tareq al-Homayed, sarcastically compared President Obama to Mother Teresa, “turning his right and left cheeks to his opponents in hopes of reconciliation.”

American efforts to assuage these anxieties, including Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip to Riyadh earlier this month, have had little effect.

The Saudis have already broadcast their discontent about the Iran agreement, and America’s Syria policy, by refusing their newly won seat on the United Nations Security Council last month. It was a gesture that many analysts ridiculed as self-defeating.

Beyond such gestures, it is not clear that the Saudis can do much. The Obama administration has made fairly clear that it is not overly worried about Saudi discontent, because the Saudis have no one else to turn to for protection from Iran.

The Saudis have increased their support for Syrian rebel groups in the past two months, including some Islamist groups that are not part of the secular American-backed coalition.

“They are working with some people who make us squeamish,” said one United States official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “But they’re effective, they’re the real deal. These are Islamists who foresee a Syria where Alawites and Christians are tolerated minorities, but at least they’re not enemies to be slaughtered.”

Akbar Palace,

Turkish Air Force is taking part in the largest air combat maneuvers in Israel’s history currently taking place in Israel!

Does that mean Netenyahu and Erdogan are once again friends?

Zoo’s comment regarding Juergen’s friends unfortunate circumstances is disgusting and shallow.

It is of no wonder such utter callousness is written by this agent of death. Just like his peers on this blog they have shown nothing but contempt and ridicule to the suffering that Syrians have endured under the banner they support.

Also telling their constant attack and leveling the ridicules label “extremists” to anyone opposing the ugly evilly they support.

Perhaps calling them Zooinists is a proper adjective. Considering the animal they support…

France’s ridiculous argument to try to calm the SNC ‘s hysteria over having to sit face to face with Bashar al Assad in Geneva.

Bashar al Assad is the president of Syria. As any president, he has no intention to be personally present during negotiations. They will be conducted by a delegation that the Syrian government had nominated with agreement with the him.

Assad to be kept out of Syria peace talks, France
http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20131126-assad-be-kept-out-syria-peace-talks-france

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not be invited to next month’s peace talks, dubbed Geneva II, French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday. Factions of the opposition Fabius dubbed “terrorists” would also not be represented, he said.

Syria: FSA ( Selim Idriss) commander says group will not attend peace talks

Head of the rebel opposition says they will not attend Geneva II and will not respect any ceasefire

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut 2:38PM GMT 26 Nov 2013
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10475784/Syria-FSA-commander-says-group-will-not-attend-peace-talks.html

The commander of the western-backed rebel Free Syrian Army has said that his group will not join planned peace talks in January, or respect a ceasefire in Syria during the conference.

General Salim Idriss’ outspoken aversion to the talks highlights the challenge of assembling an opposition delegates that will have enough power to affect change on the ground.

“Conditions are not suitable for running the Geneva II talks at the given date and we, as a military and revolutionary force, will not participate in the conference,” Idriss told the pan-Arab news channel Al Jazeera. “We will not stop combat at all during the Geneva conference or after it, and what concerns us is getting needed weapons for our fighters.”

“Rebels” massacre 10 medical staffers in northern Damascus’ suburb

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-11/26/c_132920177.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) — Syria’s Health Ministry said Tuesday the rebels massacred 10 medical staffers in the northern countryside of the capital Damascus, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

Five doctors, five nurses and two drivers have been massacred by the armed terrorist groups in the Deir Attieh town in the northern outskirts of Damascus, said SANA, providing no further details.

The al-Qaida-linked groups have recently infiltrated Deir Attieh after the army had dislodged them from the adjacent town of Qara.

…

NYTimes new article: U.S. and Saudis in Growing Rift as Power Shifts

just confirms us the rosy reality for the thaw of hostile relationship between the west and Iran. Also a bleak future for the Saudi and US alliance.

“In the wake of the accord’s announcement on Sunday, Saudi Twitter users posted a wave of anxious, defeatist comments about being abandoned by the United States.”

Still those moronic Syrian Expats are trying to paint the Iranian as losers while standing firmly behind of rear end of the Saudi.

Still, they try to appear to be aspired “revolutionists”. So lame…

I suggest people go read the article. Not a single word about pro-democracy appears in it. Just raw and naked truth.

New Fatwas offers relax to rules on women in Saudi Arabia

Gender-mixing while shopping allowed: Senior Saudi scholar
‘Women can stop getting pregnant temporarily to contribute to birth control’

http://www.emirates247.com/news/region/gender-mixing-while-shopping-allowed-senior-saudi-scholar-2013-11-25-1.529159
…
“There have been many cases when women presented the right opinions and view points,” he said.

Sheikh Manei also appeared relatively open to women getting jobs but again stressed they should be dressed decently.
“Women can take any job provided they do not hold all the powers in any company.

Time has come for the Arabs to unite themselves against the enemy. I applaud giving the AL seat to Jarba’s transitional government and remove any remaining legitimacy from the mafia gang in Damascus, the Iranian puppet.

Once that is done, will eye the seat in the General Assembly.

The opposition is in a ‘loose-loose’ situation for Geneva

Syria peace talks face major obstacles: analysts

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iMwQdxIKKBPDpPb31wb7McLK9obw?docId=89b4a93d-033f-4382-b5e7-5b7f1fa2f222

The opposition has to go, according to Shaikh. “It is weak and it needs the legitimacy that has been conferred on it by the international community. And they don’t want to be the ones who are blamed for the failure of the talks by not showing up.”

The rebels are “running a huge risk” by going, he added however. “If there are no real achievements and the situation on the ground is the same if not worse … then of course this group of individuals from the opposition will be facing severe criticism.”

How pathetic to use the NYTimes only when it fits your narrative…

Yet another hypocritical flip flopping by the agents of death on this blog!

Israelis, Saudis And The Iranian Agreement

By George Friedman
…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stratfor/2013/11/26/israelis-saudis-and-the-iranian-agreement/

There are other significant political issues that can’t be publicly addressed. The United States wants Iran to temper its support for Hezbollah’s militancy, and guarantee it will not support terrorism. The Iranians want guarantees that Iraq will not develop an anti-Iranian government, and that the United States will work to prevent this. (Iran’s memories of its war with Iraq run deep.) The Iranians will also want American guarantees that Washington will not support anti-Iranian forces based in Iraq.

From the Saudi point of view, Iranian demands regarding Iraq will be of greatest concern. Agreements or not, it does not want a pro-Iranian Shiite state on its northern border. Riyadh has been funding Sunni fighters throughout the region against Shiite fighters in a proxy war with Iran. Any agreement by the Americans to respect Iranian interests in Iraq would represent a threat to Saudi Arabia.

Several hundred Islamist Turks fight in Syria

Turks worry as sons go to fight in Syria

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turks-worry-as-sons-go-to-fight-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58535&NewsCatID=352

Several hundred Turks are estimated to be among thousands of foreigners swelling the ranks of Islamist rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, generating what some politicians say is a risk that, radicalized and battle-hardened, they could one day return to stage attacks on Turkish soil.

“We send those who are in the path of God for jihad,” said Abu Huseyin, a tradesman identified by several locals as a man who helps recruit fighters for Syria from this mixed Turkish, Arab and Kurdish city 50 km from the Syrian frontier.

Despite the huff and puff, Saudi Arabia has no other viable choice than to stick with the USA

What does Saudi Arabia want?
Betrayed by the West’s deal with Tehran, Saudi Arabia is weighing its options.

26 Nov 2013 12:11 Shashank Joshi
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/11/what-does-saudi-arabia-want-201311186368635816.html

…
When we put all this together, it becomes clear that Saudi Arabia’s position is no different to that of any other nation allied with a larger power: It fears abandonment, and tries to show its leverage by threatening to leave the alliance, but it cannot. Of course, the Kingdom will continue to look for new friends, and – as it did in Bahrain – deal with its own problems independently when it can. But there are limits to what this can achieve, when only the US can guard against the big threats. Saudi Arabia can flirt with other allies, but it will remain wedded to the US for the foreseeable future.

Symphony differentiate sectarian Drummers!
Bobubm Bobubm Shiites ! Bobubm Bobubm Alawites! Bobubm Bobubm Kurds ! Bobubm Bobubm Christian ! Bobubm Bobubm shabiha ! Bobubm Bobubm Minhebakjie ! Bobubm Bobubm Allah Akbar! Bobubm Bobubm Khrrrrrrrrriiiiieeeeeee ! LE-AL3ASR EL7ADJARI Khrrrrrrrrriiiiieeeeeee!KHADAM EL-MASON Khrrrrrrrrriiiiieeeeeee!KHER KHERRRRRRR RRRRRRIIIIIEEEEEEE!

Gateway to terror: British Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary ‘sent hundreds to join al-Qa’ida in Syria’
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/gateway-to-terror-british-islamic-preacher-anjem-choudary-sent-hundreds-to-join-alqaida-in-syria-8960883.html

Maybe not Geneva, but surely a ceasefire is needed
After Iran deal, the next step is to end the Middle East proxy war in Syria

The US and Russia should bring Saudi Arabia and Iran to the table, among others, before the Geneva II conference

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/26/us-russia-syria-proxy-war-ceasefire

….
Convening a Geneva 1.5 would not be easy for Russia or the United States – there remains considerable distrust and differences between them over Syria. But as the chemical weapons deal demonstrates, US-Russia cooperation on Syria can pay significant dividends. Since agreement at Geneva II is probably beyond reach at the moment, pursuit of a regional ceasefire is the best option moving forward.

I’ve been missing the contributions of Joshua Landis on this blog. But he has been active recently in the comments at Qifa Nabki.

Here’s a link to a post at QN that Elias lifted from the comments: Three Outcomes in Syria

Under the previous post at QN, we see a to-and-fro with Joshua and Camille Otrakji, as well as a couple of people who used to post here often.

Joshua is also active on Twitter.

Israeli retaliation?
America has never been in greater danger than it is now. The battle between the US and Israel has always been fought on a covert level, but recently this hidden conflict has been coming closer to the surface – and is now about ready to erupt aboveground. If the President hasn’t put America’s defenses on a state of high alert, then he isn’t doing his duty to defend the country.
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2013/11/24/a-moment-of-great-danger/

Congratulations for the correct choice. friends!
http://youtu.be/_FVuCegLnMU?t=1s

Here is a younger Nasrallah explaining the niceties of martydom to a western audience.

Nasrallah explains the feeling of becoming a martyr

“He who drives his truck into the enemy’s military base to blow himself up and become a martyr, he drives in with a hopeful heart, smiling and happy … ”

Goose, meet Gander.

Translation of Netenyahu’s Histrionics:
The narcissistic child(Israel) complains to daddy(US) that the victim (Iran) of his torment is in fact a ruthless bully who must be stopped at all cost. Father may know what is the best course of action to deal with the overweening brat, but the spoiled child’s over-indulgent mother(AIPAC), with a rolling pin in hand, upbraids her husband whenever he waivers in support of her child’s whims .
Metni

Jarba (and his benefactors) are struggling to deal with the humiliation of having to go to Geneva to insure the survival of the SNC as the FSA officially refuses to go and as Bashar al Assad declares that he has no intention to hand his power to no one in Geneva.

That’s why Jarba keeps making promises that the “final” decision will ne taken at the “next” meeting of the opposition “sometimes” in December

Press Statement
John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
November 25, 2013

I thank Joint Special Representative Brahimi for his efforts to bring the regime, the opposition, and the international community together for this important meeting at an important time.

We have long underscored that there is no military solution to the violence in Syria that has taken more than 100,000 lives and displaced millions. The conference on January 22 is the best opportunity to implement the Geneva Communiqué and form a new transitional governing body through mutual consent—an important step toward ending the suffering of the Syrian people and the destabilizing impact of this conflict on the region.

This horrific conflict began as a peaceful protest by Syrians who aspire to live in a country where freedom, dignity, and equal treatment under the law are protected. Now, in order to end the bloodshed and give the Syrian people a chance to meet their long-deferred aspirations, Syria needs new leadership.

We are well aware that the obstacles on the road to a political solution are many, and we will enter the Geneva conference on Syria with our eyes wide open. No one should underestimate the difficulties ahead. In the coming weeks, the regime and the opposition will need to form their delegations, and we will continue to work in concert with the UN and our partners on remaining issues, including which countries will be invited to attend and what the agenda will be to advance the Geneva Communiqué framework for political transition.

To contain the growing threat from extremism and foreign fighters within Syria, and to ensure respect for Syria’s territorial sovereignty, we cannot delay the work of establishing a transitional government. Since foreign states have considerable influence on the factions waging war within Syria, they too have an important role to play. While it is ultimately up to the Syrian people to form a new government and bring an end to the conflict, the United States and our partners can help get them there.

The thousands of men, women, and children suffering in Syria today cannot wait for us to meet in Geneva for their cries to be heard. The Assad regime must stop using starvation as a weapon of war and immediately begin providing greater humanitarian access to besieged communities. The international community must be proactive and diligent in drawing greater attention to this issue and putting the necessary pressure in place to change behavior on the ground.

PYD strongly condemns the hostile statement of the Syrian National Council on the Kurdish Interim Government project.

European mercenaries take part in killing Palestinian civilians
http://youtu.be/fA8YqPUE3KM?t=1s
The Euro-Mid Observer for Human Rights revealed on Monday that hundreds of Europeans are voluntarily working as mercenaries in the Israeli occupation forces.

In a comprehensive report due to be published shortly, Euro-Mid also found that dozens of Europeans have been actively recruited to participate in the killing of Palestinian civilians, including children, especially in the Gaza Strip.

According to the report, a number of European organisations that are directly related to right wing Jewish and Christian groups have organised projects and campaigns to call on Europeans to join and support the Israeli army in the Occupied Palestinian Territories……………………

Logic that defies logic.

If Jarba goes to Geneva, he is humiliated but if Batta declare his willingness to participate in Geneva, he is proud?

One would think that if a prez of a country is forced to go to a conference where the negotiation is about an interim government taking HIS place, one would think it is the ultimate of humiliation to that prez! But NO. No No and No. Not to our loyalists.

Surrender is sovergnity. Victory is defeat. Humiliation is pride. Ruthlessness is bravery.

This is my view of the outcome in Syria in the next 6 months.

The FSA will collapse as its fighters either join Al Qaeda, are killed or defect and no one is providing them with weapons anymore.
The Syrian Army together with the Kurds, the Iraqi army and Lebanese Hezbollah are now free to direct their weapons against Al Qaeda and its allies.
No one objects anymore to Bashar al Assad remaining in power as long as he commits to clean up Syria from Al Qaeda.

While Saudi Arabia and Kuwait rich Sunni sympathizers continue to send fund and send weapons to Al Qaeda, the USA, Russia, Iran and the EU start to discreetly re-enforce the Syrian army under a secret agreement that they will not turn their weapons against Israel. As Israel is also concerned by the growth of Al Qaeda, it wouldn’t mind having Syria do the dirty job.
Turkey starts to discreetly collaborate with Syrian military intelligence to help destroy the Al Qaeda dens on the border.
The different factions of the Syrian opposition dissolve into political parties and the Syrian government remains dominated by the Baath party revamped.
Syria remains a secular state, just like Lebanon.

Here is my prediction for the next 6 months: there is going to be a boom in Syria as the move to a transitional government will take place. Therefore, I will not
“sell the bust so that they can buy the boom” I will wait to sell the bust until after the transitional government is in place. The 9 million displaced will come home and they will need new housing and new schools and new hospitals and new roads and new garbage collection and new water pipes and new sewers and new electrical grid and new factories and new shops and new parks. The areas destroyed by the regime will become the star places to be: all new and shiny. It will be paid for by all those wishing to have influence: Russia Qatar Turkey KSA and China. It will not be paid for by Iran, its Rial is worthless unless it wants to give up the sanctions relief and give it to the refugees of Syria.

As for the areas under the regime they will remain second rate ugly dirty backward areas with ugly photos and awful statutes of the late “dear leader”. The only economy would be in those areas making statutes of the dear leader and paying cell phone bills to the family business.

However, we can count on their satellite TV to continue to give us a great sense of pseudo modernity.

I also predict that the Republicans will win the Senate. The lead in the house will increase, the Ukrainians may go into a crisis and Georgia may join Nato.

China will provoke Japan, Obama will want to have a community organization pow wow and Australia will be abandoned like KSA.

I also predict that nuclear tipped missiles will be deployed in the peninsula and that a resurgence of the most nefarious groups will take place in Anbar and Syria.

Lebanon will not have a government, and Israel will increase incursions and provocations and suicide bombers will mushroom.

Headless corpses are being repatriated to Lebanon these days. More will go back to Tehran.

I also predict that goat farms will sprout in Syria and they will eat the garbage and weed that the regime has allowed to accumulate. In so doing, they will also eat apples and relieve themselves in the zoo of Qurdaha.

I also predict that the self flogging for the death of the martyr will increase in intensity and that the rapture waiting for the Justice of the Mahdi to come will lead to a near drunken state of affairs.

The feeling of superiority by the complexed minority will also increase and the guidance from the Supreme Leader will take over any logical reasoning.

I am glad the property that I have is in an area that has been fully destroyed. I will not sell the bust so that they can buy the boom. I will keep it now and transform it to a goat farm.

Turkish Air Force is taking part in the largest air combat maneuvers in Israel’s history currently taking place in Israel!Does that mean Netenyahu and Erdogan are once again friends?

Heads-Up,

I didn’t know this. I’ll need to find some articles. I suppose we can thank the Supreme Leader and his thugs Nuslira and Betho for getting the ME on the same page.

BTW – this agreement with Iran will come apart like tissue paper in rainstorm.

Don,

If you want Obama to take on the pro-Israelis now that he’s up to his eyeballs in debt and Obamacare, I say, “bring it on”.

The US congress is firmly behind Israel, and only a few kooks and anti-semites will go out of their way to support Iran and the Supreme Head Wrap.

Akbar Palace,

The term Supreme Head Wrap that you came up with is spot on.

It’s definitely much better than the obsolete Towel Head.

Agree. The so-called agreement will come apart exactly as you said.

Supreme Head Wrap?

Loving it! Brilliant.

Supreme Head Wrap it is!
—–

After Iran deal, the next step is to end the Middle East proxy war in Syria
The US and Russia should bring Saudi Arabia and Iran to the table, among others, before the Geneva II conference

Jeremy Shapiro and Samuel Charap
theguardian.com, Tuesday 26 November 2013 14.52 EST
( it is not a coincidence that Israel,and its political prostitutes, and sandy arabia’s sheikhs are the only ones who are opposed to a deal with Iran and potentially Syria)

Underfunded and outgunned Free Syrian Army faces additional enemies

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/july-dec13/syria_11-26.html

….
Instead, FSA commander Salim Idris vowed to continue fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

But, as Margaret Warner reports, that objective has become increasingly unlikely as the underfunded and outgunned group is forced to fight additional enemies.

MARGARET WARNER: Last November, we met Colonel Abdul-Jabbar Aikidi at his rebel command post outside Aleppo. His Free Syrian Army units were on the march, he told us, taking ground in the city and surrounding area and seizing the momentum against Bashar al-Assad’s government forces.

COL. ABDUL JABBAR AL AIKIDI, Free Syrian Army (through interpreter): We have almost full control on the ground, though they are superior in the air and with rocket launchers, tanks and artillery. But we are superior on the ground and we have control.

AB Atwan:

النظام السوري حقق مكاسب سياسية كبيرة، ولم يعد أحد في الغرب أو في الجامعة العربية نفسها التي جمدت عضويته فيها، يتحدث عن إسقاطه، بينما أصاب اليأس العديد من السوريين من احتمالات تحقيق هذا الهدف، بعد ثلاث سنوات من التشرد والمعاناة، وما عودة مئة ألف لاجىء سوري في الأردن إلى بلادهم ومواجهة الموت، في الأشهر القليلة الماضية إلا أحد الأدلة في هذا الخصوص، فإذا كان العرب الذين يتحدثون عن تحريرهم وبلادهم، يسبون نسائهم، ويعاملونهم معاملة سيئة ويقترون في العطاء المالي والإنساني لهم لتحسين ظروفهم المعيشية وهم الذين يملكون آلاف المليارات ويغلقون أبواب بلادهم في وجههم فإن العودة أكرم مهما كانت محفوفة بالمخاطر.
لا نستغرب، بل لا نستبعد، أن نرى جون كيري وزير الخارجية الأمريكي يجلس مبتسماً مع وليد المعلم وزير الخارجية السوري لبحث المشاكل العالقة بين البلدين، وفي الغرفة المجاورة رئيس وكالة المخابرات جون برينان يبحث خططاً مع نظيره السوري حول كيفية مواجهة الجماعات الاسلامية الجهادية، فمن كان يتصور أن يهاتف الرئيس باراك اوباما الرئيس الايراني حسن روحاني، ومن كان يحلم أن تتوصل واشنطن وإيران إلى اتفاق شرعن تخصيب اليورانيوم وبقاء أجهزة الطرد المركزي على حالها؟
علمنا اليوم أن سلطنة عمان استضافت حواراً سرياً أمريكياً إيرانياً، وقد نعلم غداً أن السلطنة نفسها، أو عاصمة عربية أخرى، ليست الرياض أو الدوحة حتماً، تستضيف الآن حواراً سورياً أمريكيا؟ فأمريكا مغرمة بغرف التفاوض السوداء سواء لوضع خطط الحرب أو السلام!
بعد ثلاثين عاماً يكسب “محور إيران” دبلوماسياً ويخسر محور “الاعتدال” في المقابل، وتهادن أمريكا المحور الأول وتلجأ إلى تهميش، بل احتقار، المحور الثاني، الذي أسسته ودعمته، فهي دولة لا تبني سياساتها على الأخلاق وإنما المصالح.
قد يكون هذا المكسب قليلاً او كثيراً، وقد يكون طويل العمر أو قصير، ولكنه يظل أفضل كثيراً من الخسارة، وفرضته لغة القوة، ولا عزاء للضعفاء والمتسولين، المسرحية انتهت وستبدأ فصول اخرى قريباً.
Atwan suspects that the US and others will soon have to deal with the Assad regime after realizing that as bad as the Syrian regime is, it is more predictable and less dangerous than the Jihadists who will repeat what their fellow terrorists did to the US and other NATO countries after receiving help in Afghanistan (against the Russians) and Libya (against Qadhafi)for example.

A typical Assad supporter, a slave mentality with no self respect,
Yesterday the head of the Syrian students association bowed down and kissed Putin hand shocking Putin him self
?????????????????????? أحد الشبيحة الأبرز لنظام الأسد في روسيا – قام نواف ابراهيم رئيس اتحاد الطلبة السوريين في روسيا ورابطة الدول المستقلة (الاتحاد السوفياتي سابقاً) ، بمفاجأة الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين لدى زيارته لجامعة الصداقة بين الشعوب والواقعة في موسكو، بتقبيل يده أمام الطلاب في الجامعة بعد أن عرّف عن منصبه.

شاهدوا واتعظوا .. ولك بوتين نفسه انصدم !!…..?????????

http://youtu.be/q99E9sS89nk

5 Star Jihad in Syria
(The Telegraph)

This is holy war of the 21st century. Unlike the much more ascetic jihad in Afghanistan in the 1980s, where fighters followed the puritanical Wahhabi practices of Osama bin Laden and were cut off from the outside world for months, nights in Syria can be spent online gaming, chatting to family in the UK or watching al-Qaeda videos on the internet connection that is provided at their sleeping quarters.

The jihadists believe they have it so good in Syria, that the phrase “five star jihad” has begun circulating online. One widely circulated tweet read: “A brother who was in Mali couldn’t change clothes or shower for 2 months, subhanllah here it truly is a 5 star Jihad, may allah reward him,” one man tweeted from Syria.

Abu Qa’qaa’s Flikr account, which is entitled The Remedy of the Heart, reads like an “Agony Uncle” column for radical extremists. In one anguished message, the contributor explains he wants to be with a girl (’I know it’s haram [irreligious] but i’m so weak!’ he writes), and is torn between marrying her or travelling for jihad to Syria, “the land of honour”.
Abu Qa’qaa’ replies: “Leave and either Allah will bring her to you or give you better :)”. Another man explains he wants to travel to fight in Syria, but only if he will be guaranteed he will be able to get married there. Abu Qa’qaa’ replies: “Lol there’s plenty of sisters her. Marriage is always on the go. We all want to get married here :).”

Analysts have noted that many of the people following English-speaking jihadists, and an increasing number of those volunteering to travel to Syria, are women. The Flickr pages of Abu Qa’qaa’ and others are littered with requests from girls. One woman asks him: “Are there any specific Jobs that sisters can do? … I’am only asking because wallahi the mujahideen are doing SO much, they are truly Real life supermen, Is there a way sisters can unload the pressure & contribute?”

نعى حزب الشيطان عنصرين جديدين هما فؤاد علي حسن وجعفر رعد والأخير من بلدة بدنايل

Now that the opposition has created a Mickey Mouse “interim” government with zero power and in exile, Jarba naively believes he can ask the Arab League to allow the opposition ‘government’ to replace the legitimate Syrian government’s seat at the Arab League. Will Jarba be discouraged to send the official request letter and if he does, would the AL humiliate Jarba once more by refusing?

Syrian opposition demands official representation in Arab League
News | 27.11.2013 | 06:07

Syrian opposition lays claim to the seat of the Syrian government in the Arab League, the leader of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, Ahmad Al-Jarba, said Tuesday while meeting with the Secretary-General Nabil el-Eraby.

“The interim Cabinet will send an official letter in the following days,” Al-Jarba told journalists recalling the Arab League’s pledge to give the opposition the right to participate in the organization once an interim government was formed.Syrian opposition demands official representation in Arab League
News | 27.11.2013 | 06:07

Zoo, the whole pact of the so-called “opposition” including those spineless and powerless Syrian exiles and Syrian Expats in the west, in Turkey and in GCC are all demented. (no longer in Egypt for sure)

They have been contributing nothing to help solving the Syria crisis. Instead, not only they prolong suffering of Syrians inside the country, but also they put lot of damage to the reputation of real opposition inside Syria.

They have stupidly boosted up the power of the authoritarian government by undermining the true voice of genuine opposition.

In the end, they even manage to give a bad name to the word:”opposition”.

A proud “minority” kissing the hand of Putin linked by Syrian in # 421 and that same shabeehs would write تقارير on every one and his brother.

I can picture the supporters on SC kissing hands and feet too right and left

In new Syria, will educate the slave among us how not to be so.

” We sell the bust so that they can buy the boom”
The following is a report of the ECWSA economic council of Western South Asia on the reconstruction cost of Syria.

Some very important figures: unemployment is at 58% and will rise above 60% next year then we will have a further inflationary cycle that will make the currency even more worthless than ever.

Here is the report: I am holding on for the boom is coming after the demise of the regime.

http://www.lorientlejour.com/article/842389/a-lescwa-on-planifie-deja-la-reconstruction-de-la-syrie-dapres-guerre.html

Richard Walker
The strange bedfellows
http://americanfreepress.net/?p=13790

Supreme Head Wrap ????? In Iran or in Israel? Or and instead of or? That is the question.

Akbar is your J-tribe really in the position of making fun with others head covers? Jews have and use commonly a plenty of absolutely ridiculous hats and head (religious) covers. And even burgas (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haredi_burqa_sect).

Some examples.

The Jewish hat also known as the Jewish cap, Judenhut (German) or Latin pilleus cornutus (“horned skullcap”), was a cone-shaped pointed hat, often white or yellow, worn by Jews in Medieval Europe and some of the Islamic world.

Kippah or yarmulke How Jews see the role of these caps:

“Mr. President, the kippah to us is a sign of reverence.” Rabbi Feller, another member of the group, continued, “We place the kippah on the very highest point of our being—on our head, the vessel of our intellect—to tell ourselves and the world that there is something which is above man’s intellect: the infinite Wisdom of God.”

Tallit
Kashket

Shtreimel, Spodik, Kolpik, Kashket, and Fedora

ETC

Use for example “Hasidic” or in Google’s image search and you have some reasons to a long laugh. This men with their Head Wraps and religious pigtails are – what Akbar? And there are plenty of “these” walking around New York and Israel.

You Akbar with your strange Sunni fan club here are constantly making “fun” (= mocking) Shias religious figures. Let then us the make a bit fun with your “chosen” crowd. Fair isn’t it Akbar? Well I know your attitude. Calling Shias (and Sunnis when it suits you) as towel heads is for you “legitimate political critics”, but calling your clan’s supreme “boys” as “fur heads” is anti-Semitism. Odd moral. We all have anticipation against different leaders and what they represent. But is this constant towel head and dog poop name calling really the only and best political satire that your newly found “alliance” can produce?

Head Wraps for Peace

Sim,

Feel free to poke fun at jewish hats.

My favorite is the streimel. It’s like wearing a birthday cake on you head.

I hope you’ll allow me the same.

http://www.wholesalepartystore.com/store/i/is.aspx?path=/images/products/60225.jpg&lr=t&bw=550&w=550&bh=550&h=550

Sim,

Here’s the Head Wrap of Hizboola’s leader Nuslira (friend of dog-poop and his patron, The Supreme Iranian Head Wrap):

http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.557993.1384423605!/image/2828389834.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_640/2828389834.jpg

Anyone Selling Candlesticks NewZ

Sim,

I found on the BBC website a music video with Rouhani in it. I’m glad he is working with enlightened Iranians (some in funny hats). I can’t understand persian, but I’m betting they’re singing about the plight of Syrians under the failed leadership of the Assad family and the terrible treatment of the Palestinians by the evil Zionists.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25117118

But if you are REALLY interested in listening to an astute arab peace professional, someone who has done SO MUCH to help arabs in need, you should really listen to every word this person has to say. She is well educated and very articulate:

Syria tells Western foes to stop dreaming Assad will go

Reuters By Dominic Evans

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Western countries which demand that President Bashar al-Assad step down should either stop dreaming or forget attending peace talks in January, Syria said on Wednesday.

Responding to an announcement that the long-delayed “Geneva 2” conference aimed at resolving Syria’s civil war will be held on January 22, it said Assad’s government would take part in the meeting but reiterated that it had no plans to surrender power.

The statement highlighted the seemingly unbridgeable gulf between opposing sides in the 2-1/2 year conflict, which has killed more than 100,000 people, caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, and driven millions from their homes.

The head of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army rebel brigades has rejected the Geneva talks and says there will be no ceasefire during the meeting. Powerful Islamist fighters have gone further, threatening to put on trial anyone who attends talks which do not deliver Assad’s ouster.

The National Coalition opposition group, which also has Western support but minimal influence over fighters on the ground, says it will decide next month whether to go to Geneva.

It has previously said it is ready to attend if humanitarian aid corridors are set up and political prisoners released, and insists Assad can play no future role in Syria.

Apple_mini

The expat opposition have made a series of strategic errors that brought the country where it is now.
Right from the start they disregarded that Russia and Iran were the only countries that could have helped sort out the conflict and pushed for the reforms requested peacefully.
Instead they listened to their Sunni allies, Qatar and Turkey that were promising full and quick victory with no reforms but a drastic regime change. In exchange Qatar and Turkey, both promoters of the Moslem Brotherhood, gave to the demonstrations the Sunni Islamist “color” that alienated and discouraged all the minorities to join.
As demonstrations were repressed and large cities refuse to participate to strikes and civil desobedience, the opposition made its second fatal mistake. It decided of using weapons under the pretext of ‘defending’ the citizens.
The West soon realized that the Qatar-Turkey created opposition was not able to be inclusive, lacked credibility within Syria and was manipulated by Islamist forces toward violence. Unconvinced, they dragged their feet to provide military help.
Pressed by time, the opposition made its worst and most devastating strategic mistake. It welcomes Al Qaeda and other Islamist extremists to counter the Syrian army which to their surprise had remained relatively united. They went on offensive.

They failed all along to try to find the positive forces of negotiations. Instead they opted for a violent regime change but were not even able to offer an alternative credible leadership.

In my view they bear the largest responsibility in the present state of Syria.

Iran vs Israel: The Malaysian “profile”

Pushing Peace
How Israel Can Help the United States Strike a Deal With Iran — And Why It Should

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139981/trita-parsi/pushing-peace
….
Similarly, Rouhani is believed to support the concept of adopting a “Malaysian profile,” which gained support during the Khatami era. The idea was that Tehran would, in return for an end to Israeli and American efforts to isolate Iran, assume a position on Israel similar to that of Malaysia: Iran would not recognize Israel but would limit its criticism of Israel to the plight of the Palestinian population, and would avoid getting itself entangled in activities against the Jewish state. The two rivals would also recognize each other’s respective spheres and disengage from further hostilities. This would have an immediate impact on Israel’s tensions with Hezbollah.

That plan is not perfect — nor is it Israel’s ideal relationship with Iran. But neutralizing Iran’s interest in fanning anti-Israeli sentiment would be no small gain and would significantly enhance Israel’s security and political position. Recognizing that, Israel should moderate its rhetoric and stop encouraging Congress to undermine diplomacy through additional sanctions. By doing so, Israel can both help diplomacy and ensure that the final outcome of the talks addresses key Israeli security concerns.

A couple of items from YS:

michaeldweiss [link]
PT: “when the city comes under bombardment, only schools, hospitals and residential areas are hit, and not any ISIS-occupied locations”

Racanarchy [link]
FSA dudes are dying due to crappy weapons, vehicles, and lack of bullets so when someone says ‘foreign backed…’ punch them in the throat.

I may as well share this latest update on YS. Don’t know how true it is:

@JadBantha

Otaiba was full captured by #FSA rebels and next is #Damascus International Airport #Syria Over 390 Hezbollah fighters were killed there

[link]

Snubbed by the Arab Sunni World, Turkey turns to Iran and Iraq

News Analysis: Turkey set to reap political, economic benefits from Iran nuclear deal
Nov 27,2013

ANKARA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) — Turkey, a neighbor and trading partner of Iran, hopes to benefit economically and diplomatically from the latter’s recent deal with some world powers on its nuclear program, which will ease the economic sanctions it faces, analysts say. “Turkey will benefit economically from a deal that, in the short run, diminishes tensions and helps revive trade in the region, and also promises a future boom in the Turkish-Iranian economic relations,” Joost lagendijk, a senior advisor at the Istanbul Policy Center, said.

Following Sunday’s deal between Iran and permanent members of the United Nation (UN) Security Council plus Germany, Turkish stocks have hit a three-week high while the local currency lira went up against the U.S. dollar.

Turkish officials are also upbeat on the positive windfall from the deal, saying that they intend to make most of it in the next six months. “I hope that Turkey will be able to export its goods to Iran once again, after the easing of the sanctions,” said Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, whose portfolio covers exports.

Just so you may know, our well-informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

Fearing a definite defeat of its Serpent-head stooge and a backlash from its low life scum bags of Shiite terrorists of hezboola due to ever increasing lethal casualties inflicting upon them by the Syrian people, the mullocracy of the mullocrats is now calling for a ceasefire in Syria.

However, this is nothing but a ploy so that the Ass-head can catch breath, and the hezboolas may restore face with angry misguided Shiites in Iraq and Lebanon who were led to believe that invading Syria would be a little picnic since they were led to believe that the so-called Mahdi will come to their rescue. It appears that the fabled Mahdi is no where to be seen, content in living/dying in the tunnel while more and more Shiite terrorists are eliminated as we speak cleansing Syria of such filth.

Of course, the glorious and victorious fighters of the Syrian people and revolution will not be fooled by the mullahs who are well known for their deceptions. Instead, the heroic fighters will continue in their mission of eliminating and destroying Ass-head stooges as well as hezboola and other low life invaders of Syria.

the war GOES ON.

did you hear that? president obama said “popcorn.” that’s my cue as a sleeper mossad agent to be activated. watch, i will now jump start a series of events that will wind up toppling assad all by myself.

long live the illuminati!

The embattled opposition announces a new set of pre-conditions without saying if they are in addition or replacing the old ones ( Bashar al Assad to resign, Hezbollah fighters to withdraw etc..)

Syria opposition sets conditions for talks

November 28, 2013
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000829526

The Associated Press BEIRUT (AP)—Syria’s main Western-backed opposition group pushed Tuesday for President Bashar Assad’s government to establish humanitarian corridors to besieged opposition areas and release political prisoners, saying it wants to see progress on those confidence-building measures before it will decide whether to attend an international peace conference.

بعض الجرائم لا تسقط بالتقادم، ولا سيما إذا كانت جريمة إبادة جماعية، خلفت، بحسب بعض التقديرات أكثر من 15 ألف قتيل.

الحلقة القادمة من برنامج “الصندوق الأسود” على قناة الجزيرة تفتح ملف مجزرة حماة التي اقترفها نظام الرئيس السوري السابق حافظ الأسد عام 1982 في محاولته للقضاء على الإسلاميين، وظلت تفاصيلها غامضة لأكثر من ثلاثة عقود، والحديث عنها قبل وقوع الثورة السورية عام 2011 كان من المحرمات.

“حماة 82” فيلم وثائقي استقصائي، يكشف ملابسات المجزرة، ويرصد تاريخ الصراع بين التيار البعثي والإسلاميين منذ منتصف الستينيات، باحثا في عشرة بلدان عن الأشخاص والوقائع والشهود ذوي الصلة بالصراع والمجزرة، وبعضهم يظهر للمرة الأولى على وسائل الإعلام.

ويتضمن فيلم “حماة 82” مقابلات مع بعض قيادات حزب البعث الحاكم ممن شهدوا الأحداث، منهم عبد الحليم خدام -نائب الرئيس السوري السابق، والقيادي السابق في حزب البعث- ومحافظ حماة السابق أسعد مصطفى.

جدير بالذكر أن فريق العمل حاول الوصول إلى رفعت الأسد -قائد ما يُعرف بسرايا الدفاع في الجيش السوري وشقيق حافظ الأسد- والذي تكرر اسمه كثيرا في الفيلم كمتهم رئيسي في هذه المجزرة، لكنه رفض المقابلة مهددا فريق العمل باللجوء للقضاء في حال كان الفيلم مسيئا له.

ويعيد الفيلم سرد الأحداث بلسان من شاركوا فيها منذ أكثر من ثلاثين عاما، بالإضافة إلى تقديم تسجيلات ووثائق حصرية محاولا كشف حقيقة ما حدث، ومن هي الأطراف الفاعلة المتورطة في المجزرة.

وتناول الوثائقي العلاقة بين النظام السوري البعثي والإخوان المسلمين، وما عُرف بالطليعة المقاتلة والتي تم تأسيسها من قبل بعض الإسلاميين من أجل مواجهة النظام وإسقاطه، والتي يتحدث قياداتها لأول مرة بعد هذه السنوات، وعن الخلافات التي نشبت بينهم وبين الإخوان خلال الأحداث واتهام كل طرف للآخر بالتقصير وبأنه يتحمل مسؤولية خسارة المعركة مع النظام آنذاك.

ويطرح “حماة 82” تساؤلا عن ما إذا كان يمكن للشهادات والمواد التي وردت في الفيلم أن تشكل نواة لتحريك قضية ضد الجناة والمسؤولين عن المجزرة -باعتبارها جريمة ضد الإنسانية وإبادة جماعية- أمام المحكمة الجنائية الدولية.

يُذكر أن برنامج “الصندوق الأسود” يسعى عبر سلسلة من الأفلام الوثائقية التحقيقية للبحث في ملفات وقضايا أثارت جدلا، أو ظلت طي الكتمان، في محاولة لكشف أسرارها وإعادة سرد الأحداث برؤية موثقة، ويتم بثه تمام الساعة 22:05 بتوقيت مكة المكرمة (19:05 بتوقيت غرينتش) يوم الخميس الأخير من كل شهر.

A family of criminals. The father killed the fathers. The son killed the sons…

Due to constant Guidance provided by His Majesty the Guided King, Dubai is now the winner,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKW8ZYBZcs0

Following the Guidance is a sure strategy that always leads to success.

Stuart Littlewood
If sanctions work against Iran, why not Israel? Will Agent Hague now rattle his sabre at Tel Aviv?
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2013/11/sanctions-work-iran-israel-will-agent-hague-now-rattle-sabre-tel-aviv/

.. Paul Flynn (Labour), in the wake of Hague’s statement this week, asked pointedly if it would be right for the Government to now approach Israel and ask for a reciprocal gesture, opening its nuclear facilities to international inspection in order to de-nuclearise the whole Middle East…

Nothing to be proud of. Success is not acheived by holding an expo or a World Cup. It is by building an economy that can keep the country afloat when the oil is depleted. Does Dubi have anything that can be shown in that expo? Or is it like just renting the space out and getting some tourists. I call that a misguided empty pride. Sorry.

And has the guided king of the guided kingdom learned a guided lesson that he can’t trust anyone including the US?

The Arab has the guided IQ but have never used any of their guided abilities to do anything of value.

http://journal-neo.org/2013/11/28/rus-livijskie-uroki-istorii/
…..
Approximately 50,000 Libyan civilians have been killed and as many wounded. Thousands of Libyans and migrant workers from the sub-Saharan region of Africa are kept in the prisons controlled by various militant groups, they are being subjected to torture and executed. The unemployment rate in the country is more than 30%, the country’s economy is in ruins, Libya’s statehood is being truly destroyed and going back to its fragmentation of colonial times. Local authorities are unable to control the situation in the country, where the rule of banditry and arms trafficking prevail. Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has been recently kidnapped by the Islamic militia. On 15 November, the militants who had fought against M. Gaddafi with the support from the Western coalition captured a military base, looted the weapons arsenals, in the Libyan capital they directed lethal fire at a peaceful demonstration, in which women and children were participating, and as a result 43 of them were killed and more than 500 wounded.

The government, which is not really supported by the national army, is incapable of providing security for the country’s citizens and borders. The vast Libyan desert has become a haven for Al-Qaeda fleeing from the persecutions by the French forces in Mali.

The generous funding provided for the Libyan militants by the Gulf monarchies has flooded the country with weapons and turned it into a shelter for regional terrorist groups. There are constant clashes between the competing ethnic and tribal militant groups fighting for land and access to the natural riches. Across the southern border, the violence spread into Niger, Chad, Sudan and across other countries of the region. In December 2012, Libya even had to close the border with Algeria, Niger, Chad and Sudan owing to the deterioration of the situation in terms of security and declared this area a military zone.

Oil production dropped dramatically from 1.6 million barrels per day to 150,000, with only 80,000 barrels being exported each day. More than 6.43 billion dollars of national income was lost because of the violence, strikes and blocking of the oil ports by militants. This situation threatens the European energy security since Libya is the largest supplier of oil and gas to Europe.

The eastern city of Benghazi, which is the centre of the oil industry, has been a no-go area for the Americans, the British and the French since the killing of American ambassador Chris Stevens in September 2012. The city has set up an autonomous regional government and announced the establishment of its own oil company, Libya Oil and Gas Corp, bypassing Tripoli.

Washington’s military adventure is not limited to Libya. The current situation in Iraq or Afghanistan clearly demonstrates that the tactics of the White House to bring new regimes to power by force in the regions which are strategically important for the USA is destined to failure and leads to awful tragedies for the population of these countries and increasing anti-American sentiments.

الصمود!

The battle in Dayr Atiyyah seems to be coming to an end. The results are similar to that in Maloula beside murdering 11 medical personnel in the main hospital. By the time this war ends most Christians in Syria would have left. This tragic outcome will bring Syria closer to Iraq where 90% of Iraq’s Christians left with no plan to return.
يا أمة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

Ghufran

I too left with no plan to return

And am I supposed to feel sadder if a Christian dies? Do their lives have more value than the other. Like Y=x + K Where K stand for the constant of Christianity.

Sorry. This doesn’t work on me. k in my book equals 0. I don’t feel sadder.

Or is the post targeting a different group of audience?

—

In any case, Happy Thanksgiving. Don’t eat too much Turkey.

Tara,
The point is not that Christians in Syria are more valuable than Muslims. Life is precious and taking it out for the sake of revenge or terrorism is a heinous crime regardless whether the perpetrator was the regime or the rebels, however, destroying the Syrian diversity carries a heavy price that goes beyond the loss of lives.
Data from Iraq shows that Muslims were far more likely to return to Iraq than their Christian counterparts especially that most Christians do not leave to another Muslim country but they emigrate to the West.
Happy thanksgiving to you and your family, I am hoping that my group here will eventually be able to deliver more aid to deserving families in the state and in Syria. There was Syria before the Assads and there will be Syria after the Assads, the GCC, Iran and Turkey among others can not be trusted to fix what was broken, that is a job for us to do.
Since Turkey reminds me of Erdugang I am not eating Turkey tomorrow, I will fast then break my fast with traditional Syrian dishes.

We’ll soon hear the good news of a liberated Jarmana.

In insisting on his racist comment, Ghufran brushes the bad taste he feels with the recognition that DUBAI and the rest of the UAE today just earned a 150 additional Billion US Dollars over in the next 7 years, which are not “oil” or “camel” or “desert tent” related.

And by the way,a scud just exploded Raqqa. No, it wasn’t aimed at ISIL, the regime proclaimed monster-enemy, but against Civilian areas

…………يا أحمقا قرفت من حماقته

you finish it doc.

Don’t you love it when zouzou’s resistance six-moth forecast now relies heavily on the hope of Israel (you know that enemy being resisted) “joining” the Dog-poop Head-Wrap Camp. Akbar must be laughing hard. Well he earned to laugh a lot for coning the term Head Wrap.

I think we should invent awards for regime propagandist comments. Here is the award system

Golden Dog-poop: Awarded to comments with fully irrelevant material aiming to distract from dog-poop crimes.

Silver Dog-poop Awarded to comments copied directly from regime sites and/or intentionally chopped off material and/or intentionally misleading translation

Bronze Dog-poop: Awarded to all comments that mention dog-poop with reverence

In the Head-Wrap Class of medals we should have

Gold Head-Wrap: Awarded to extreme cases of one or more of the following (thanks to partners TARA and OBSERVER for the full list) :
1. Surrender is Sovereignty.
2. Defeat is Victory
3. Humiliation is pride
4. Ruthlessness is bravery.
5. Any new and functionally similar term

Silver Head-Wrap Awarded to comments copied from racist and anti-Semitic sites as well as to comments with moderate to strong presence of one of the above mentioned double-talk constructs.

Bronze Head-Wrap Awarded to any comment describing nus-lira, aoooun, or non head-wrapped head-wrap followers in glowing manner. or to mild cases of the double-talk

Two supreme Awards still need definition, which are

poop Dog-poop
Warped Head-Wrap

These awards should be awarded only to those who show constant, steady, and long-term commitment to Dog-poop and Head-Wrap.

بروفسور فؤاد العجمي
وإذا جاز لنا أن نسأل مرة أخرى: لماذا بدت المغامرة العلوية تحمل بذور دمارها؟! فإن فؤاد عجمي سيخلص جوهر الصراع برمته في تحليله العميق لجذور نشوء هذا النظام، أو نشوء الثغرة التي سمحت لهذا النظام بالتسلل:
‘ لقد أظهرت سوريا بشكل سافر، ربما أكثر من أي أرض عربية أخرى، خلل الدولة العربية ما بعد الاستعمارية. الوحدة الوطنية كانت ادعاءً، والدولة نفسها كانت غنيمة بالغَلَبة. وأُديرت من قبل فئة حاكمة تستولي على كل ما يمكن أن تنتجه البلاد. ظن الشباب (الروم الأرثوذكس والسنة والدروز والإسماعيليون والعلويون) الذين اجتمعوا قبل عقود تحت راية البعث، بأنهم سوف يبنون شيئاً أفضل من نظام الإقطاعيين والتجار ورجال الدين. كتب الجيل الأول من البعثيين نعيهم لذلك الحلم المبكر بالمثالية السياسية. لقد انبثق الشبيحة بهراوتهم وبنادقهم من بطن تلك البراءة المتصلبة’ بصيغة أخرى… يستكمل فؤاد عجمي في الصفحة (50) من الكتاب، المشهد الذي كانت نهايته ولادة عصر الشبيحة بكلمات تنطق بلسان الأغلبية السنية التي يقول في رثائها:
‘مساكين أولئك الحرفيون والتجار الصغار ورجال الدين من مصائد حماه ودمشق: طائفة مارقة من الفلاحين استولت على وطنهم. كانوا ينظرون إلى الأمة من منطلق علماني، والآن يحاولون إعادة تعريفها على أسس دينية وإخراج العلويين من الملة ‘.
تفسر هذه الكلمات معنى الاستنتاج الذي وجهه المؤلف لحافظ الأسد في الصفحة (62) حين قال: ‘حافظ الأسد حطم بلاده وخلفيته العلوية غذت وحركت الإرهاب’.
أجل… لقد حطم حافظ الأسد بدهاء بالغ، ومن بعد ابنه بحماقة بالغة؛ إيمان السوريين بعلمانية الدولة الوطنية… ذلك الإيمان الذي ترجموه قبل حكم البعث واستيلاء العلويين على السلطة، حين انتخبوا مسيحياً هو (فارس الخوري) رئيساً حقيقياً لا شكلياً – للنواب والوزراء أكثر من مرة، وحين كان رئيس أركان الجيش (شوكت شقير) قبل انقلاب البعث من الطائفة الدرزية، لكن حكم الأسد دفعهم للارتداد إلى إعادة تعريف الدولة على أسس دينية.. ولا أحد يستطيع أن يلومهم في ذلك بعد أن رأوا خلال ثورتهم الأخيرة، أبشع صور الوحشية والطائفية والتعنت وامتهان الكرامات وانتهاك المقدسات، وهي تحاول أن تقف سداً منيعاً في وجه طموحاتهم باستعادة الكرامة، وتطلعاتهم باستعادة الوطن!
http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=107829

500 Turks fighting alongside Al Qaeda in Syria: report

http://dawn.com/news/1059093/500-turks-fighting-alongside-al-qaeda-in-syria-report

The interior ministry report, published in several Turkish newspapers on Wednesday, said about 500 Turkish citizens had joined the ranks of the Al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“Some have received training in Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the report said, according to Today’s Zaman newspaper.

…

تونس -’رضا التمتام: قالت وزيرة’شؤون المرأة والأسرة التونسية،’سهام بادي، إنّها لم تحصل على أي معلومة رسمية أو

تقارير تفيد بوجود أي حالة مما يعرف بـ’جهاد النكاح ‘ بالنسبة لفتيات تونسيات في سوريا
وقالت بادي في مؤتمر صحفي الثلاثاء إن”وزارة المرأة بعثت لوزارة الداخلية’برسائل رسمية’للاستيضاح حول وجود تونسيات انتقلن إلى سوريا لممارسة’ما يسمى بجهاد’النكاح، لكنها لم’تتلق’أي ردّ رسمي من الوزارة’.
وكان وزير الداخلية لطفي بن جدّو قد أفاد بشكل رسمي في مساءلة أمام المجلس التأسيسي (البرلمان المؤقت) في شهر سبتمبر/ أيلول الماضي، بممارسة تونسيات لما يعرف إعلاميا بـ’جهاد’النكاح’ في سوريا وقد عدن إلى تونس، وهن حوامل من مقاتلين إسلاميين في سوريا، دون أن يكشف أي معطيات فيما بعد.

المحامية التونسية، حنان الخميري، قد طالبت الأسبوع الماضي وزير الداخلية بالاعتذار للنساء المتهّمات بممارسة جهاد النكاح في سوريا، ومنطقة جبل الشعانبي في تونس، غربي البلاد حيث تتحصن مجموعة مسلحة’منذ أشهر، نافية وجود أي حالة لـ’ ما يُسمّى جهاد النكاح
http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=107837