US weapons to rebels in August?

U.S. arming of Syria rebels could be temporary, slow: officials
July 23, 2013
http://www.courant.com/news/nation-world/sns-rt-us-syria-crisis-usa-20130723,0,7919632.story

(Reuters) – U.S. plans to arm Syrian rebels passed one congressional hurdle but may face more when funding runs out in two months, further delaying the flow of weapons, U.S. officials and other sources said.

House and Senate intelligence panels this month agreed to a White House plan to provide arms to rebels fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, despite lawmakers’ reservations about the its chances of success.

But a U.S. official involved in the issue said funding for the classified program runs out on September 30, the end of the government’s fiscal year. That means the White House will again have to seek Congress’ blessing for arming the rebels, the official said, possibly setting up a renewed confrontation over Washington’s policy in the Syrian civil war.

Thank you Aron Lund for this article
As the war takes long time these murderers will rise in power,and they become more ferocious, it will be difficult to control them, specially if Assad dies , but they have no interntional respect,that means they will run away ,probably to Lebanon and Iraq.
Assad major military supporter is HA the newly listed as terrorist organization,these people remind me of Qaramita, they will have their days but they will be chased killed and disappear from earth

Very interesting post, sort of a response to this Guardian article refered here
http://angryarab.net/2013/07/23/guardian-on-alawites/

Syria, NATO and Hezbollah: Turkey is alarmed by Al-Qaeda losses against the Kurds

NATO Turkey is highlighting the shady reality that various al-Qaeda affiliated groups can openly operate within a NATO member state and within areas of close proximity. Not only this, it is abundantly clear that the Erdogan government in Turkey is more concerned about the Kurdish question than aiding and abetting al-Qaeda affiliates in border areas. Therefore, when Kurdish forces pushed back al-Qaeda affiliated groups and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), the armed forces of Turkey fired into the border area of Ras al-Ain (Ras al-Ayn) in Syria.

Kurdish forces in northern parts of Syria just like Hezbollah are equally alarmed by the sectarian and Takfiri elements within the plethora of terrorist groups which are being assisted by outside nations. Nations supporting sectarianism, sedition and terrorism against secular Syria applies to America, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and several Gulf states. NATO is also being dragged through the mud because al-Qaeda terrorist groups have a safe haven within parts of Turkey along the vast border areas. This safe haven applies to the free transit of international terrorists from various nations, military hardware, logistics, planned operations and breathing space when they are being forced back.

The Long War Journal reports that “If it is confirmed that elements of the Free Syrian Army are fighting alongside the ISIL and the Al Nusrah Front, it is yet more evidence that the FSA isn’t all that interested in making a break from the al Qaeda factions despite the fact that a top FSA commander was murdered by the ISIL just a week ago.”

In another report from The Long War Journal published after a leading FSA figure was murdered it was stated that “As noted here at Threat Matrix just yesterday, there is little chance that the Free Syrian Army would pursue its grievance with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant over the latter’s murder of an FSA commander in Latakia. The 24-hour FSA deadline to turn over the ISIL commander who executed the FSA leader in Latakia has come and gone. Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army, which is demanding that the US and the West pony up weapons, continues to “welcome” the ISIL.”

Al Jazeera is no friend of secular Syria but even this agency reports that “Leaders of the Western- and Arab-backed FSA told Al Jazeera that they did not consider the ISIL an enemy, but that they would defend themselves.”

“They are welcome if they help us fight the regime,” Colonel Abdel Rahman Suweis, a member of the FSA Supreme Military Council, said.”

“But if they want to cause strife, impose a new understanding of religion and make Syria another Afghanistan, we will take the necessary measures.”

The Syrian government, Hezbollah and Kurdish forces in the north of Syria are all fighting to preserve their respective culture and heritage against sectarian backed Takfiri and terrorist organizations. In another article by Modern Tokyo Times it was stated that “The mass media is trying to hype the “sectarian card” on both sides but it simply doesn’t wash. After all, Hezbollah is focused heavily on the Palestinian question despite the overwhelming majority of Palestinians being Sunni Muslim. At no point did this enter the equation for either Hezbollah or the government of Syria. It must be remembered that the government of Syria took in over one million refugees from Iraq irrespective if Christian, Sunni or belonging to the Shia faith. Likewise, Syria welcomed vast numbers of Palestinians which fled their homeland after the creation of Israel and because of the countless convulsions which hit Jordan and Lebanon in the past.”

http://moderntokyotimes.com/2013/07/21/syria-nato-and-hezbollah-turkey-is-alarmed-by-al-qaeda-losses-against-the-kurds/

Zoo
Don’t worry about funding, once they start , it is slippery slope, there is no going back,
As I said before ,sooner or later US will be involved militarily.

I want to remain optimistic that Syria will survive this round of strife and internecine killing, but I fear that it won’t. The more this conflict becomes sectarian, the worse Syria’s chances are, and the worse the chances are that the entire Middle East will know peace in our lifetimes.

Is no one open to reason?

By the way, I recently saw an interview with Robert Fisk made last March where he indicated that he saw a betrayal by the Western powers of the rebels being in the works. That betrayal is coming to fruition now, if one considers Britain, which worked hard to remove the EU arms embargo, now says it will not arm the rebels.

The strategy of some Western countries, if there is a strategy at all, seems to be to keep the conflict going. Arm the rebels enough to the point of a stalemate. Tweak the policy the other way whenever one side looks like it is winning. This way, Syria can be kept in a state of deterioration until perhaps, there is no Syria ruled as one state, or the central state is so weak it won’t matter. This is what Afghanistan looks like today, whether by design or by incompetence, and despite tens of billions of dollars spent on it.

The great irony is that Western public opinion, to which Western governments can now claim to adhere (they didn’t with Iraq), want to have nothing to do with an intervention in Syria by and large because of the totally immoral and unsuccessful invasion of Iraq.

I’m not sure this is what the US or British leaderships want. Evidence is hard to come by in the present. But I can safely assume that Israel’s leadership is quite satisfied with it.

The sad thing is that Syrians continue to oblige their enemies by destroying themselves and their country. It doesn’t matter whether one sides with the government or the rebels (though I believe the government provoked the violence initially), Syria is losing this war either way.

I caught Radio 4’s The World Tonight, a daily 45 minute news programme, a few hours ago. It’s available to listen again.

This episode had Syria as the top headline.

Syria: is the US preparing to support the rebels?

America’s most senior military officer has been outlining the options he believes the US armed forces could implement in Syria. A former special advisor to President Obama, Ambassador Frederic Hof tells Radio 4 what he thinks the White House may decide.

Listen from 8:15 till 16:16

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0375tdq

Hezbollah facing growing Syria backlash
22 July 2013

BBC News – 12 hours ago

“Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria is an Iranian decision, and it’s actually incapable of withdrawing from Syria at the moment even if it’s targeted at home,”

*********

Btw I like The Independent’s headline:

Hezbollah rattled as EU unanimously agrees to put group on terrorism blacklist

Monday 22nd July

The blacklisting of HA as a terrorist organization is the first in series of “political price” it will pay for killing the same people who opened their arms to the Lebanese shiaas during 2006 war.

It is well deserved.

And more to come!

mic check?

i’m not allowed to post twitter links?

stripped everything twitter related, still wont post.

oh well. i should take a hint.

Aron,

“It’s news to no one that the opposition movement in Syria is extremely fragmented, but what hasn’t received enough attention is that something similar seems to be happening on the regime side. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, it too has begun to decentralize and drift apart. Assad’s growing reliance on local proxies, paramilitary forces, and foreign militias is the best evidence.”

Outstanding article.

With this fragmentation and decentralization you eloquently described, how long before a “warlord” designation fits Assad perfectly?

HALLELUJAH!

12. omen said: oh well. i should take a hint.

If Assad goes, guys like Ali Kayali will take over and continue the fight much more brutally. Is this what the West and the Salafis want?

The above post by Aron Lund is well researched and well thought of that I believe it should be published in NewTork Times. If it would be up to me, I’d call it “the destruction from within”

—-

It is a lot of material for the cultists to digest tonight..

I’d also like it translated in Arabic and read by the Damascene business class….that the end is coming!

“But putting Volkssturm at the frontline was never a sign that your war is going well.”

That is besides the point, the move was made to keep the militias under one banner, not because the war was going bad.

As long as Assad lives, all the militias will fight for the same cause. Only if he is killed, they will fragment. And then the pan-Syrian line of Assad will be ignored, and Sunnis will be eliminated form the west.

This is also the main way an Alawite state would be formed. People seem to underestimate Assad’s close ties to secular Sunnis, and that an Alawite state has no interest for him.

16. Tara

Lol, I think you need to look at the larger context. At this rate, the opposition will be dissolved long before anything similar happens to the regime side. And when that time comes, Assad will still be around to assemble it.

Yes, the regime is in a shabby state, but nowhere near the opposition. Wishful thinking/hubris like this will only make the opposition’s fall harder, you should know by now how damaging it can be (everyone underestimating Assad is probably the reason he’s still around).

يا حسرتي على الفئير و الغلبان

“عتمد المؤسسات الدولية رقم 2 دولار شهرياً للفرد باعتباره حد الفقر الأعلى أو ما يسمّى الإملاق النسبي، وتعتمد رقم دولار واحد حداً للفقر الأدنى أو الإملاق المطلق، فهل تصح هذه الأرقام بالنسبة إلى سوريا؟

دمشق إن حساباً أولياً ينطلق من كون متوسط عدد أفراد العائلة السورية هو خمسة أفراد، بنسبة إعالة 1/5، أي معيل واحد لكل أسرة، ويعتمد أرقام الأمم المتحدة لخط الفقر الأعلى، ينتج منه أن الأسرة السورية تحتاج شهرياً إلى «30 * 5 * 2 = 300$». وباعتماد الرقم الحالي لسعر الدولار، أي حوالى 180 ليرة سورية، فإن هذا يعني أن الأسرة السورية تحتاج شهرياً إلى مبلغ «300 * 180 = 54000 ليرة»، لكي تعيش على الحد الأعلى للفقر، وتحتاج إلى نصف هذا المبلغ، أي 27000 ليرة شهرياً لتعيش على الحد الأدنى للفقر.”

Habib,

And Assad and the cultists underestimation of the enormity of the sentiment against their rotten rule is probably the reason why it has been 26 months and not khalset. The sectarian dynasty in Syria is finished. Mark my word. I will remind you once.

Assad has stayed too long due to the mere sheer of sectarian brutality…and believe it or not… luck.

20. Tara

I think open borders to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon would have something to do with the longevity of the fighting as well.

Remember, even the US had to pull out of Iraq after several years, so that a rather weak country like Syria could continue for even this long against the same enemies is pretty baffling.

The more you predict Assad will go, the longer he’ll stay. History should had taught you so much. But be my guest, keep underestimating him, and the continued shattering of hopes will be enough to destroy the insurgency.

This will likely end with some kind of Baath/MB power-sharing agreement. That is pretty bad, and not what anyone wants, but wait and see. What the “experts” (including Lund and Landis) predict for this war never happens.

Historically, the Assads gave shabeehas a certain degree of freedom as long as they did not defy the regime orders or go too far in their aggressive dealings with citizens, those shabeehas are now likely to be stronger and more independent and may have less reasons to obey Assad orders when public opinion in their areas is different from that of the central government.
I am afraid that Shabeehas main role, if this war continues and turns more sectarian, will be performing retaliatory sectarian cleansing campaigns to ” purify” coastal areas.
Shabeehas and thugs always existed in Syria but the war gave them more prominence as the Syrian state continues to deteriorate, unlike confused thawrajiyyeh I definitely blame rebels along with the regime for this disaster.
There will be a number of warlords in Syria but Bashar himself may not be one of them, other members of his family and Qirdaha circle will. Anti regime areas have many more warlords who, unlike the pro regime ones, are less tolerant of western “sins” and more likely to mistreat women.
Trust me on this, the same people , especially women, who are talking about regime Shabeehas would rather, if they have to choose, live under regime thugs than Nusra thugs.
The article picks and chooses, I guess it is more sexy to report about the man who bit a dog !!

The Telegraph:

By Ruth Sherlock, Beirut8:23PM BST 23 Jul 2013

Disillusioned by the Islamist twist that the “revolution” in Syria has taken, exhausted after more than two years of conflict and feeling that they are losing, growing numbers of rebels are signing up to a negotiated amnesty offered by the Assad regime.
At the same time, the families of retreating fighters have begun quietly moving back to government-controlled territory, seen as a safer place to live as the regime continues its intense military push against rebel-held areas.
The move is a sign of the growing confidence of the regime, which has established a so-called “ministry of reconciliation” with the task of easing the way for former opponents to return to the government side.
Ali Haider, the minister in charge, said: “Our message is, ‘if you really want to defend the Syrian people, put down your weapons and come and defend Syria in the right way, through dialogue’.”
Mr Haider, who has a reputation as a moderate within the regime, has established a system in which opposition fighters give up their weapons in exchange for safe passage to government-held areas.
Rebel fighters have privately said that they are aware of the amnesty offer, and that some men had chosen to accept it, although they say that the numbers involved remains a small proportion of those fighting the government.
“I used to fight for revolution, but now I think we have lost what we were fighting for,” said Mohammed, a moderate Muslim rebel from the northern town of Raqqa who declined to give his last name. “Now extremists control my town. My family has moved back to government side because our town is too unsafe. Assad is terrible, but the alternative is worse.”
The prevalence of extremist Islamist groups in rebel-held areas, particularly in the north, has caused some opposition fighters to “give up” on their cause.
Ziad Abu Jabal comes from one of the villages in Homs province whose residents recently agreed to stop fighting the regime. “When we joined the demonstrations we wanted better rights,” he said. “After seeing the destruction and the power of jihadists, we came to an agreement with the government.”
Mr Haider said that he had attended a ceremony yesterday at which 180 opposition fighters rejoined the government’s police force, from which they had previously defected.
Although it was not possible to verify this claim, when The Daily Telegraph previously visited the reconciliation ministry’s headquarters in Damascus the office was crowded with the family members of rebels fighting in the city’s suburbs who said their men wanted to return.
A ministry negotiator, who gave his name only as Ahmed, was in the process of arranging the defection of a rebel commander and 10 of his men from the Ghouta district.
“It took us three months of negotiation and this is a test,” he said. “If this goes well, the commander says that 50 others will follow.”
He described the steps taken to allow the return of fighters willing to lay down their arms. First, he said, a negotiator must cross the front line for a meeting on rebel-held territory. “We have to hope the rebel commander orders his snipers not to shoot us.”
Would-be defectors were given papers allowing them to pass through Syrian army checkpoints, and then waited in a safe house until the officials could get their names removed from wanted lists held by the more hardline defence ministry and intelligence agencies.
The rebels “did not sign up to be part of extremist Islamist groups that have now gained influence”, he said. “Now they want to come back to a normal life.”
In the days before the regime took the town of Qusayr last month, The Telegraph saw mediators on the Lebanese border work with the Syrian army to secure an amnesty for fighters wanting to surrender.
The phone rang with desperate calls from the parents of the rebels. “These mothers know that this is the last chance for their sons. If they don’t give up their weapons now they will die because they are losing the battle,” said Ali Fayez Uwad, the mediator.

Tartus and Latakia are Sunni-majority cities. They are also cities that are 1000% behind the government. The same goes for Damascus.

The entire sectarian line fails.

Alawites have a decisive majority in Tartous, rev. Tartous also has a significant Christian population. In Latakia , alawites have a large presence and may have a slim majority but there is no dominant sect. Armed rebellion in Tartous is limited to Banyas area, this is why Banyas will be a prime target for sectarian cleansing if things, god forbid, get to that point.
In Latakia, most of the armed rebels are near the borders with turkey, those rebels are mostly Turkmen and people from other provinces. I agree that the coast is reliably pro regime, also , most of the Sunni there have no appetite to participate in the rebellion for a number of reasons. It tells a lot about the nature if thisvwar when we see that middle and upper class Sunnis have mostly chosen not to take sides or in many cases support the regime, the reason is simple : those people will do better under Assad than under Nusra Et al as bad as the regime is. That is exactly why I think Syria is stuck between two bad choices, the rebellion failed to win popular support because most Sunnis now believe that Islamist rebels are worse than Assad.

This is an example of how dirty and unpredictable shabeehas business has become:
اعتقلت قوى الحرس الجمهوري يوم الاثنين المسؤول عن حاجز شارع الباسل في مدينة جرمانا “ابو يزن باسل سيف” و المسؤول عن حاجز الأوسكار المؤدي إلى طريق المطار “أبو أيمن عماد داوود”، وغيرهما وذلك في سياق حملة بدأت قبل أيام باعتقال زعيم الشبيحة حسين شعيب.

وكان اعتقال شعيب أثار غضب أتباعه(نحو 50 شخص) فهجموا بالأسلحة على ما يسمى بـ(مركز الدفاع الوطني في جرمانا) الذي شكله النظام من أبناء جرمانا بقيادة أحدهم ويدعى (فرحان الشعلان)، وأثاروا الرعب في المدينة وأجبروا المحلات على الإغلاق، بحسب كلنا شركاء.

و يرى أحد الناشطين في المدينة، بأن هؤلاء الذين يجري اعتقالهم اليوم كان النظام استفاد منهم في بداية الثورة، حيث عملوا معه في قمع الحراك وملاحقة الناشطين داخل وخارج المدينة، فكانوا يداهمون البيوت ويسرقون أصحابها ويعتدون عليهم، ووصل الأمر بالبعض إلى إقامة سجون خاصة بهم في أقبية الأبنية التي كانوا يسكنوها و في المزارع، لخطف و ابتزاز الناس و خاصة من الغرباء عن المدينة مقابل المال، وأيضاً لجمع المسروقات و إعادة بيعها، و هذا ما أثار استياء الرأي العام في المدينة من تصرفاتهم.

[…] Gangs of Latakia: The Militiafication of the Assad Regime https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/the-militiafication-of-the-assad-regime/ #AssadRegime loosing at the same level of […]

Huh? The “great” Syrian leader, Assad, asked Lieberman to support an “Alawite State”?? WTF?

Why didn’t the “great leader” build up the state he had? No, he’d rather invite Iranian and Hezzi soldiers in to kill his people and pit Sunnis and Shiites against each other and make this a sectarian conflict.

The “great leader” is an embarrassment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/22/syria-sunnis-fear-alawite-ethnic-cleansing

Tara,

Welcome back. Your posts are much appreciated and positive. Did you say you were in Iran? If so, please give us an idea of the mood there and what people are saying (if they weren’t afraid of speaking their minds).

What the US media failed to print about Helen Thomas.

I guess the “Zionist-Controlled” press missed something…

http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=33&x_article=2512

27. Akbar Palace

Lol, more Zionist outreach? You have your own local Muslim Brotherhood, go and suck up to them instead.

Ghufran

I am not surprised if this phenomenon will spread.
The Syrians who thought they were fighting for a better life are discovering that they are fighting for Islamist extremists, for Israel, for Qatar, for the USA while destroying their own family and killing their own brothers. They are not been offered a better life but a better death.

In my view, sooner or later the FSA will be deserted by the fighters. Gadgets and military aids promised by the West won’t change the growing wave of fighters who are either joining the Islamists or defecting back to the Syrian army.
With military defeats accumulating and the absence of serious hopes for a reversal, the Syrians fighters would rather be on the winning side, for them, and for their families.
If the amnesty procedure implemented by the Syrian government becomes accepted and flies well, I expect the collapse of the FSA very soon.
Once this happen, Jarba calls for weapons will sound irrelevant and he will have to move to Geneva II to allow the SNC to survive.

Thanks, Mr. Lund!

Finally, you are writing on the foreign Shia jihadists who are terrorizing the Syrian people, in addition to Bashar’s terror. This murderous terrorist, Ali Kayali, should be a top proirity for capture. In many ways, after the Banias Massacre, he is worse than Serbia’s Mladic.

You have your own local Muslim Brotherhood

Habib,

What’s wrong with the MB? Oh right. Freedom of speech. That’s always an issue isn’t it?

Anyone that takes the law into their own hands is a criminal. Last I checked, the MB is not a militia. It’s a club and political party. They only exchange ideas, not weapons.

Ghufran my understanding is Sunni are the majority in Tartus.

It is hard to get reliable information and maybe you’re right.

“Whereas the multi-religious diverse town оf Tartus until 1947 wаs inhabited by а Sunni Muslim majority, since the town saw increased Alawi immigration frоm the surrounding rural Alawite Mountains hinterland regions. Whereas іn 1947 Sunni Muslims accounted fоr 50,7 % оf the population, today Alawites form а majority оf 70% оf the town’s population. Sunni Muslims аnd а small Christian minority account fоr the remaining 30% оf the population.”

http://www.triposo.com/loc/Tartus

Although NPR claims Sunni are the majority here:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/06/02/187973123/tartous-a-rare-quiet-city-in-war-ravaged-syria

Thanks.

I don’t usually comment on Akbar Palace, as he is here for hasbara trolling games not reasoned discourse, but I do feel the need to point out that the Muslim Brotherhood is very much an armed militia and was behind the 1982 Hama armed insurrection.

“In 1979 the Brotherhood undertook guerrilla activities in multiple cities within the country targeting military officers and government officials.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hama_massacre#Attack_by_insurgents_in_Hama

We can’t expect a grasp of history from Akbar Palace – a Jew who didn’t know who Nahum Goldmann was (that defies logic). He also didn’t know the elected Iranian government was overthrown by the US in the 1953 to install the US-puppet the Shah. He repeats “Assad Assad Assad” over and over with an occasional “Iran” or “Hezbollah” tossed in for good measure. It is like watching a child’s wind-up toy – an “Akbar-In-The-Box” (excuse the bad joke).

Keep your eyes on Egypt. The situation there is deteriorating fast

Egyptian army chief General Sisi calls for street protests

In a speech at a military graduation ceremony, which was broadcast on television, Gen Sisi said: “I urge the people to take to the streets this coming Friday to prove their will and give me, the army and police, a mandate to confront possible violence and terrorism.”

“So that in case there was a resort to violence and terrorism, the army would have a mandate to confront this.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23434809

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23417339

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23425569

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/world/2013/07/22/intl-egypt-violence-escalates-sayah.cnn

With US weapons nowhere to be found, rebels grow increasingly desperate
July 16, 2013
http://www.syriadirect.org/sas/30-reports/645-with-us-weapons-nowhere-to-be-found-rebels-grow-increasingly-desperate

AMMAN: With uncertain weapons-supply routes and unfulfilled promises of arms from the United States, Syrian rebels are literally strapping themselves with explosives in a plea for arms.

In a video uploaded to YouTube last week, fighters in the besieged central city of Homs wear suicide belts, which they say they plan to detonate if the regime’s army storms the rebel-held neighborhood of Khaldiya.

“We wouldn’t do this except out of lack of weapons,” says one of the men, strapped into a belt and standing beside a decimated concrete structure that used to be a building. “There is nothing for us, we have no tanks or planes.”

The video, filmed in the most bombarded city in Syria, captures the desperation felt by rebels all over Syria as the weapons supplies begin to run dry.

The opposition’s political leadership in exile, the Syrian National Coalition, says it will rectify the situation. Last Saturday, the Coalition elected Ahmed Jarba as its new president, who has pledged to use his contacts in Saudi Arabia to garner additional military aid from the kingdom.

One wonders who are the desperate ones. Don’t they know that the UN chemical expert team is now in Damascus?

http://www.syriadirect.org/sas/30-reports/666-syrian-forces-seek-to-wrest-control-of-south-east-damascus-suburbs

Activists and the opposition Syrian Coalition accused the regime of using chemical gas during fighting at the Yarmouk Camp in south Damascus, where Free Syrian Army fighters have been holed up.

“Assad’s forces are using chemical and toxic gas bombs to shell the Yarmouk Palestinian Camp,” the Syrian National Coalition said in a statement on Monoday, adding that the use of chemical weapons “only proves the desperate state that Assad’s regime has reached.”

Tartus was a very small town till the 1960’s or 1970’s.

Like the other cities on the coast it did not have any Alawis living in up to the 1920’s. Of course there was Alawis before the Ottomans, but the Ottomans, and their Shiekhs and soldiers always kept the Alawis in the mountain, and surrounding areas.

Remember the Alawis used to rebel almost 12 months out of the year in that area against the Ottomans.

The Sunnis live where the castle is in Tartus. Some of them made houses within the walls of the castle itself, which is located on the strip facing the sea. Today, The Sunnis live in 2 neighborhoods, knowing their attitude about living in areas with Alawis.

The area around Tartus is mostly Alawis, Christians and the few Ismailis. Sunnis exist in nearby Banyas and the few villages next to the big Castle, like al-Bayda.

Sunnis are less than Christians in numbers in Tartus.

Sunnis migrated from interior Syria to Lattakia and not to Tartus, or Banyas or Jableh (the four coastal cites), so the number of Sunnis there remained small, where the Alawis just moved into Tartus.

Tartus was a Sunni town in the 16, 17, 18, 19 and 60/70 years of the 20th C. Before that it had Alawi periods with the Tanukhis and Bani Ammar. Tartus was super important during Crusade days, of course under the hands of the Crusades.

Containing the Fire in Syria
By Ryan Crocker

http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2013/07/24/containing_the_fire_in_syria_105338.html

The awful conflict in Syria grinds on, with more than 100,000 dead and no end in sight. The calls to “do something” – anything – become louder: arm the rebels, enforce a no-fly zone, send in the Marines. Before the United States acts, Americans should reflect on the realities in Syria in a historical context. Here are some relevant dates and events.

Syria, February 1982: The Assad regime corners the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in Hama, the country’s fourth largest city.
..
Lebanon, summer 1982: The Israelis invade Lebanon with twin targets – the Palestine Liberation Organization who control the south and the Syrian Army in Beirut and the Biqa’ Valley.
…
Lebanon/Syria, June 2000: Israeli forces withdraw from Lebanon under intense pressure from Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Iran.
…
Iraq, March 2007: I arrive as ambassador and find a situation eerily similar to the one I survived in Lebanon a quarter of a century before.
…

So this current fight didn’t start in the southern Syrian city of Dara’a in 2011. Nor is it part of the so-called Arab Spring. It began decades before. Lebanese, Palestinians, Iranians, Jordanians, Iraqis and Syrians – Sunnis, Alawis, Christians and Druze – all remember. Americans may not have ever really understood it in the first place. The history helps explain the ferocity of the fight on the part of both the regime and its opponents, and it illustrates why this regime is not like those in Egypt, Tunisia or Libya. It was ready for this war.
….
This will be a long war. There is little the United States can do to positively influence events in Syria. Our focus must be on preventing further spillover beyond its borders. There may come a point where exhaustion on both sides makes a political solution possible. We are nowhere near that point. And my fear is that at the end of the day, the Assad regime prevails. We must be ready for that too.

The embattled opposition tries to reassure itself about its old sponsors.

Reuters

9:45 a.m. EDT, July 24, 2013

DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar’s new emir will keep helping Syrian rebels until President Bashar al-Assad’s rule ends, Syria’s opposition envoy to Doha said on Wednesday, seeking to dampen speculation the rich Gulf state had scaled back its role in supporting the revolt.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has not made a detailed statement of foreign policy priorities following his accession last month, and some analysts have speculated the country is rethinking its backing for Arab Spring rebellions.

AP,

Thx. I did not go to Iran. Someine suggested that I was there sightseeing so I played along..

Zoo said
I expect the collapse of the FSA very soon.
it goes along with his numerous failing prediction.

As for Sunni and Alawi in Tartous, many Alawis who live in Damascus came from the mountain and bought properties in Tartous, you should not count them three one in Damascus, one in Tartous and one in the mountain, they all one person

Protesters in Cairo were shouting yesterday

ياسوري ياحمار خود مرسي و عطينا بشار

Syrian you ass take Mursi and give us Bashar

Gee, Majed you seem to know EVERYTHING about Syria and anyone with a contrary opinion is ALWAYS wrong. Thanks for being here to share with us.

Bad news for the “revolution”

Syria: disillusioned rebels drift back to take Assad amnesty
Hundreds of men who took up arms against President Bashar al-Assad are defecting back to the government side, The Telegraph has learnt.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10198632/Syria-disillusioned-rebels-drift-back-to-take-Assad-amnesty.html

Disillusioned by the Islamist twist that the “revolution” in Syria has taken, exhausted after more than two years of conflict and feeling that they are losing, growing numbers of rebels are signing up to a negotiated amnesty offered by the Assad regime.

At the same time, the families of retreating fighters have begun quietly moving back to government-controlled territory, seen as a safer place to live as the regime continues its intense military push against rebel-held areas.

The move is a sign of the growing confidence of the regime, which has established a so-called “ministry of reconciliation” with the task of easing the way for former opponents to return to the government side

Was chatting with a Sunni professor about the current situation. He said the government was very concerned about the unclear or shall we say unconvincing political message last year. In other words, they were not sure whether the general population were with them.

Thanks to the self-destructive progress of the rebels and the opposition. Most importantly, SAA have proven themselves to be effective force able to achieve strategic goals. Those factors have boosted up confidence and reassured the right path in this conflict.

Currently the regime has consensus that their political message is very clear and they have support from the majority.

And we will see more defection from the rebels. Clearly only among those Syrians.

UK and France are out of the game of supplying weapons to the rebels. US became the lonely jackal. Under the agreement, US administration can only play limited role.

Lots of actions today including missiles fired from jets. Strangely some Damascenes say they cannot go to sleep without sound of shelling because they know who are doing it.

Al-Sisi informed Israel of the coup three days prior

Israeli military analyst Roni Daniel revealed on Sunday that the Egyptian General Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi informed Israel of his efforts to remove President Mohamed Morsi three days before the coup.

Speaking to the Israeli TV channel 2, Daniel said that Al-Sisi asked Israel to monitor the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

He said Al-Sisi was afraid of Hamas, but his fear faded after the Israeli assurance that everything in Gaza has been under strict surveillance. Israel advised Al-Sisi to destroy the tunnels.

Daniel asserted that the military coup in Egypt is useful to Israel and it had been an “urgent demand” for Israeli and its security.

http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/6575-al-sisi-informed-israel-of-the-coup-three-days-prior#

Obama delivers weapons to Al-Qaida cannibals in Syria but not to the Egyptian military

Obama halts delivery of F-16s to Egypt, the Pentagon said on Wednesday

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/24/us-egypt-protests-usa-f16s-idUSBRE96N0VI20130724

Reverse’s Regime Hasbara Begins in 3….2…1…

I don’t usually comment on Akbar Palace, as he is here for hasbara trolling games not reasoned discourse, but I do feel the need to point out that the Muslim Brotherhood is very much an armed militia and was behind the 1982 Hama armed insurrection.

Reverse,

“Hasbara” works both ways. You are one of the most adept at pro-regime “hasbara”, please don’t lecture us.

Any armed insurrection, no matter which country, France, the US, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Israel, Egypt or Palestine can be put down by government forces.

But that’s not the issue motek.

The issues are:

– How did the government allow these groups to amass so many weapons? The Syrian government can’t protect her own people. Killing so many of his (assad’s) own people and non-combatants as well as destroying so many residential neighborhoods is unconscionable.

– How does the government put down these insurrections? Do they throw out the baby with the bathwater like the Assads are known for?

– What are the underlying reasons for the insurrection? Does the government stifle freedoms and economic growth like the Assads are known for?

Yes, it’s clear to this Zionist that if Israel used the methods Assad employs, Reverse would be the first to point his accusing fingers and beat his chest.

Saudis’ Unprecedented Break with Washington over Egypt

…before the Egyptian military coup, the Saudis had given secret assurance to Defense Minister and Chief of the Army, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, that the Saudis along with other conservative Gulf oil states including Kuwait and UAE would guarantee financial support should the Obama Administration cut the €1 billion annual aid to Egypt’s military in retaliation for ousting their man, Morsi.[4]

On July 17, the newly-sworn-in Egyptian transitional government confirmed that it has received €6 billion in grants, loans and fuel fromSaudi Arabiaand the UAE.

Saudi Arabiaapproved €4 billion in aid to Egyptand the UAE has offered €2 billion in desperately needed support for the economy. The Saudi funds comprise a €1.5 billion central bank deposit, €1.5 billion in energy products, and €750 million in cash, Saudi Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf said. The UAE will make a €750 million grant to Egyptand a €1.5 billion loan in the form of an interest-free deposit with Egypt’s central bank. [5]

The news is a double slap-in-the-face to Washington who had insisted that Morsi’s government buckle under to harsh IMF conditionalities as precondition for financial help.

Qatar reacts dramatically

Conspicuously, one Gulf energy-rich state absent from the aid is Qatar whose Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani had poured more than €6 billion in Egypt since the revolution two-and-a-half years ago and perhaps another €7 billion to bankroll Islamists in Libya, Syria and Gaza, the Palestinian enclave run by Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qataris home to the US Central Command’s Forward Headquarters and the CombinedAirOperationsCenter. And, most notably, until the Saudi and UAE-backed military coup against Brotherhood rule in Egypt on July 3, Qatar was home to leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of its major financial backers in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and across the Islamic world. [6]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/saudis-unprecedented-break-with-washington-over-egypt/5343092

Dempsey Offers Menu, Prices, Caveats, Syrian Regime Change A-La-Carte

After committing a half dozen acts of war across the Middle East in recent years, we’re now treated to the absurd spectacle of an American general warning us of the dangers of committing an act of war. On Monday, U.S. General Martin Dempsey starkly outlined options for military action in Syria in a letter to the Senate, ruefully adding a few caveats about costs and collateral damage that triggered some chest-thumping histrionics in the Senate. Dempsey’s menu of warmongering druthers included training and advising the opposition (the term ‘nonlethal’ is always excitedly appended to advisory activities); conducting limited missile strikes; establishing a no-fly zone; creating buffer zones; and controlling chemical weapons. These additional options come even as Congress approves arms shipments to Syrian ‘rebels’.

Importantly, though, Dempsey did emphasize that the use of force in any form would be “no less than an act of war”. This may appear to be a given, but it is not within the Washington bubble, hence the need to overstate the obvious. Outraged by this show of good sense, senior Senator John McCain threatened to block General Dempsey’s re-election as America’s top military appointment. McCain has been clamoring for a ‘no-fly zone’ for months, and finds the General insufficiently hostile to Syrian sovereignty. This is itself absurd, since Dempsey had just laid out five ‘acts of war’ for the White House to consider. While the various approaches appear quite different prima facie, they share a common objective—the end of the Bashar al-Assad government. As employed in Libya, a nominal no-fly zone bears little distinction from Dempsey’s “stand-off strikes,” the former providing rhetorical cover for a brutal aerial assault on a country’s military infrastructure, usefully evading Congressional interference and erecting a posture of last-resort humanitarian action.

Much to McCain’s continuing chagrin, Dempsey also usefully detailed some of the exorbitant costs of any of these actions, including the eye-popping $500 million upfront costs for a no-fly zone, followed by a mere billion dollars a month for maintenance. Controlling chemical weapons would run a billion a month, too. (Training unhinged Islamic jihadists came in comparatively cheaper, at just $500 million a year.) After laying out these costs, Dempsey couldn’t resist noting with dutiful trepidation that these expenditures arise even as we “lose readiness due to budget cuts and fiscal uncertainty”. This must have caused some discomfiture even among the most stalwart deficit hawks.

Dempsey also performed the tiresome hand-wringing pantomime, noting grave concerns that weapons or intelligence could fall into the hands of Al-Qaeda affiliates (such as those we are backing), as well as reminding us how heavily these decisions weigh upon our noble civilian leaders. (Perhaps we are meant to conjure Obama’s discerning visage, a gentle Caesarean wreath of laurels cresting his pate.) Any of the items on the a-la-carte menu, Dempsey noted, might produce “retaliatory attacks” and “collateral damage”, might inadvertently create “operational zones for extremists” or “unleash the very chemical weapons we seek to control,” among a number of other regrettable forms of chaos. One has to wonder whether Dempsey is late arriving to the Syrian conflict, considering it is common knowledge that arming extremist is the cornerstone of our Syrian strategy, or that it is quite possible that the extremists in our employ have already deployed chemical weapons in service to their discredited rebellion. Perhaps Dempsey ought to look back to Libya again for a better sense of what “unintended consequences” really entail—namely, destabilizing delicately balanced communities inside neighboring nations (see Mali) and the indiscriminate diffusion of both weaponry and stateless jihad across the region. It might also behoove McCain to ponder the internal effect of the Libyan no-fly zone, which precipitated not only the aforementioned regional phenomenon, but also left Libya itself reduced to a confection of simmering sectarian strongholds with a cowering and nominally federated government in Tripoli. The only question that remains is whether these consequences are “unintended” or not.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/07/24/syrian-regime-change-a-la-carte/

Hezbollah and FPM need to shore up Christian and Shia unity in Lebanon: Syria in Sight

Gulf and Western powers easily sacrificed the Christians of Iraq and clearly the same powers care little about the Alawites, Christians and the Shia minority in Syria which face Takfiri persecution and daily massacres. It is therefore incumbent on General Michel Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) to maintain a firm relationship with Hezbollah. The FPM is mainly supported by Christians while Hezbollah is a powerful force within the Shia community. If the FPM and Hezbollah are hoodwinked by outside forces which seek to cause divisions, then both communities will suffer in the long-term given the shifting sands being backed by Gulf powers throughout the Levant.

The Coptic Christians in Egypt were sidelined because America only cares about Camp David and protecting Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey at all costs throughout the Middle East. When the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt began to focus on taking over the political apparatus and espoused sectarian thinking towards the minority Christian and Shia communities, then like usual Washington wasn’t concerned. Not surprisingly, while the Obama administration is worried about the fate of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, little is said about the brutal murders of Christians by supporters of Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Indeed, while powerful Gulf nations are free to spread militant Salafi Islam throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia; it is abundantly clear that not one single non-Muslim place of worship is allowed in Saudi Arabia and apostates face death. This reality highlights the demise of Christianity within major Western nations and that secular governments care little when it comes to religious freedom. Therefore, the Christians of Lebanon should realize that they will be abandoned abroad at the drop of a hat because just like their co-religionists in Syria they are expendable. After all, when al-Qaeda affiliates and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are involved in destroying Christian churches, kidnapping Christian bishops, cleansing Christians and other minorities like the Alawites and Shia; then this means little in America, France and the United Kingdom because Gulf nations are allowed to fund Takfiris and al-Qaeda affiliates openly. Of course, elites in Ankara, London, Paris and Washington are also involved in many terrorist and sectarian ratlines.

Aoun commented about the kidnap of two Christian bishops by FSA Islamists in Syria by stating that

“These acts do not represent in any way a struggle for freedom, but rather terrorist acts committed by hate-filled, malicious terrorists who feed on the blood of innocents and the lives of civilians … while attempts to justify this terrorism under the pretext of seeking to oust the regime have become ridiculous and pathetic.”

Gulf and Western powers also want to weaken the Christians of Lebanon by sowing internal dissent and undermining the FPM because Aoun refuses to be bought. Similarly, the European Union is being forced to put more pressure on Hezbollah because of the whims of America, Israel and Saudi Arabia. This is based on utilizing anti-Hezbollah rhetoric throughout many media channels and by powerful think tanks espousing propaganda for their political backers. Therefore, the terrorist attack in Bulgaria appears to have been “a hatchet job” in order to lay the foundation of undermining Hezbollah.

Media agencies are powerful tools in the wrong hands therefore labeling Hezbollah to be sectarian and militant needs to be questioned. Hezbollah fighters in Syria are helping border communities against Takfiri fanatics and a plethora of Sunni sectarian forces which also have no qualms in killing Sunni Muslim clerics. In the last 12 months in Syria several Sunni Muslim clerics have been killed for either supporting the Syrian government or for seeking accommodation with other minority groups. Therefore, when Hezbollah helped to retake a border district between Lebanon and Syria the Christians once more began to rebuild their church which was defiled by Gulf and Western backed terrorists. However, the real reality on the ground is ignored because it doesn’t suit the agenda of powerful Gulf and Western nations.

In Syria it is Takfiri Islamists and a plethora of sectarian terrorist groups which are involved in beheading minorities, brutally killing captured Syrian soldiers, committing atrocities against civilians based on religious and political affiliation and setting off car bombs throughout this nation. Hezbollah, on the other hand, is fighting alongside the Syrian armed forces in parts of Syria irrespective if the soldiers are Alawite, Christian, Shia or Sunni. This isn’t surprising because Hezbollah supports the Palestinian cause and it is abundantly clear that the majority of Palestinians are Sunni Muslim. Therefore, the mass propaganda angle against Hezbollah is easily dismantled because this movement is resisting the hegemonic dreams of major Western powers, Gulf nations and the state of Israel.

http://moderntokyotimes.com/2013/07/24/hezbollah-and-fpm-need-to-shore-up-christian-and-shia-unity-in-lebanon-syria-in-sight/

Abandoning the region, America’s created chaos: Libya, Egypt, Syria, and a nuclear arms race

“Saudi Arabia has arranged to have available for its use two Pakistani nuclear bombs or guided missile warheads, Debkafile’s military and intelligence sources reveal.”

But that’s assuming that the chaos that is today’s Middle East is just the detritus of clumsy American policy confusion. Over the years I have suggested that the US (not just Bush/Obama) is working a from a “me-first, me-only” self-interest script. Having failed to defeat very inferior enemies in two wars; with shale oil turning up all over the world: its just not worth investing the resources (and risking a third failure of arms!) to fix that which America is continuing to destroy. The appearance of “what is seen in the region as an ineffectual Washington” is, therefore, not the result of naïveté or chance. In America’s haste to escape its policy-makers are improvising without calculating, or caring about the impact.

If the US is content to abandon its traditional allies, default on its own commitments and guarantees under its military Memoranda of Agreement with the Saudis (1951) and Israel (1952) then the sooner it slinks away the better for all. To continue the charade of engaged “superpower” serves only to muddy the waters. Iraq, Libya, Egypt are each in its way in a state of collapse and little can be done to reverse that. Syria, the one country where an early American intervention might have saved lives is beyond salvaging. America’s Gospel of Democracy may sell on the home front but, as seen in the region, it is but a fig leaf hardly covering its tiny fig. In fact, as demonstrated in the headlines above, the US is already being ignored by all of its prior “allies.” Israel and Egypt allied in fighting Islamist terrorism; the Saudis and Gulf Emirates funding the Egyptian military, arming Syrian rebels. Both openly defiant of American demands.

http://blogs.jpost.com/content/abandoning-region-america%E2%80%99s-created-chaos-libya-egypt-syria-and-nuclear-arms-race

Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood head reported to have fled to Libya

Locally-based social networking sites have said that Badie, with the help of members of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, managed to enter the country last night through the main border post at Musaid. RPG missiles were apparently used to destroy the post.

A warrant was issued in Egypt for Badie’s arrest on 10 July, accusing him of inciting the killing of protestors during the country’s recent events.

http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/07/21/egyptian-muslim-brotherhood-head-reported-to-have-fled-to-libya/

Youtube video uploaded on 24 July. About 4 minutes long. Perhaps from the Shaykh’s recent visit to the UK.

Misconceptions: Syrian Uprising | Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi | 06/07/2013

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi talks about the battle for Homs in Syria, and clears some misconceptions about the uprising against the Assad regime.

From Yalla Souriya about 10 minutes ago:

AcrossTheBay
1 Ibrahim Amin, editor of pro-Hezbollah rag, Al-Akhbar: “Europe’s declaration of war against the resistance means that any European presence
2 … in our countries and region is an unwelcome presence. It means that Europe must act, from now on, as though it is operating in …
3 … hostile terrain.”
4. “Someone in EU officialdom will soon find himself having to justify to people there the truth about the losses that Europe will suffer…

From Yalla Souriya about 15 minutes ago:

hhassan140
General Idriss says Islamic State of Iraq and Syria works for the regime and is the work of the regime’s intelligence. Al Arabiya

Press Tv seems to be upgrading it’s guest list. Joining the big league…

57. Uzair8 said:

Press Tv seems to be upgrading it’s guest list. Joining the big league…

UZAIR8 from Israel, big league or not, are you denying the fact that the Israeli apartheid regime is the primary beneficiary of this war in Syria?!

56. Uzair8 said:

From Yalla Souriya

This blog should be unmasked and more properly named “Yalla Israel’s Obedient Slaves”

ديرو بالكم

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/23/viber-support-page-hacked-by-syrian-electronic-army/

56. Uzair8 said:

General Idriss says Islamic State of Iraq and Syria works for the regime and is the work of the regime’s intelligence. Al Arabiya

Al Arabiya said that?! How convenient! You sure know how to pick and choose your sources! 😀

Then how come REUTERS told us Kamal Hamami a member of the Free Syrian Army’s Supreme Military Council, known by his nom de guerre Abu Bassel al-Ladkani, was meeting with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the port city of Latakia
to discuss battle plans?!

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_23643278/al-qaida-kills-free-syrian-army-commander

A flimsy and mediocre piece of Israeli garbage propaganda 😀

Pics of one of the buses hit by rebels in a massacre of passengers yesterday in Aleppo (Zietouni Tours bus)

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.488514477899623.1073741826.350722748345464&type=1

The Truth About War and Terrorism

Rand Paul slams Obama’s plans for military involvement in Syria

http://rt.com/usa/rand-paul-syria-stalemate-540/

After Hitto, Al Khateeb, now Jarba hiding behind Michel Kilo meets Kerry

Kerry to meet Syrian rebel leaders at U.N.

WASHINGTON —

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with the new leader of the Syrian opposition at the U.N. this week, as U.S. plans to boost military aid to the rebels gain steam.

Kerry will meet newly-elected Syrian opposition chief Ahmad Jarba on Thursday afternoon at the United Nations in New York, on the sidelines of a Security Council meeting.

“The secretary plans to meet with… president Jarba and other members of the coalition, including Michel Kilo and Burhan Ghalioun,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

“They will discuss the current situation in Syria, how to support a process of political dialogue and the Geneva conference, and ways to bolster our assistance to local communities.”

It will be Kerry’s first meeting with Jarba since he was elected head of the Syrian National Coalition on July 6.

Clear and strong words from nasrallah directed mostly at his internal enemies:
نصر الله للأوروبيين: هذا القرار “بلوا وأشربوا ميتو” .. قراركم يعني شراكة في أي عدوان.. ولن تجنوا منه سوى الخيبة .. لا اموال في البنوك الاوروبية ولا نصيّف في اوروبا .. لن يستطيع احد توظيف القرار الاوروبي في الداخل وحكومة دون حزب الله لن تتشكل

Nasrallah was absurd in his speech, since his decision to fight along with Assad the criminal, he committed political suicide, today he said HA has no money in europe, that is a big lie, he is using Aoun tayyar for his financial business, this will be monitored, Aoun may drop him at any time.
This decision to designate HA as terrorist organization has alarmed Miqati,Miqati will be effected by such decision too.
Lebanon will be left without a goverment

Majed can you possibly get any more dramatic? Can your statements be even more sweeping? The fate of Hezbollah has been decided here at Syria Comment!

How ridiculous.

PS – When are the millions of Egyptian volunteers arriving to fight Syria?

Egyptian protesters were shouting yesterday

يا سوري ياحمار خود مرسي وعطينا بشار

O Syrian humar (ass) take Mursi and give us Bashar.

Muslims ‘Give Most To Charity’, Ahead Of Christians, Jews And Atheists, Poll Finds

Muslims give more to charity than other religious groups, new research suggests.

At almost £371 each, Muslims topped the poll of religious groups that give to charity.

When they donated last year, atheists averaged £116, The Times reported (£).

The ICM poll found that Jewish donors gave an average of £270 per person.

Roman Catholics averaged just over £178, Christians just under £178 and Protestants £202.

http://networkedblogs.com/NqnVo

“Egyptian protesters were shouting yesterday

يا سوري ياحمار خود مرسي وعطينا بشار”

Was this yesterday as in the 13th of March as this commentator claimed?

الاسم سوري
الدولة سوريا
اجمل تعليق لليوم يقوله اهل مصر ( ياالشعب السوري ياحمار خود مرسي واعطينا بشار ) فعلا نحن بنستاهل حدا متل الاخوان او طالبان حتى نرجع متل افغانستان

2013-03-13

http://www.middle-east-online.com/?id=150999

Or May 26th as this Facebook page claims?

South Lebanon – جنوب لبنان · 13,071 like this
May 26 at 3:33pm ·
في مصر يقولون:يا شعب السوري ياحمار خود مرسي و عطينا بشار

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=219459841470887&story_fbid=460722244011311

Or is it just plain made up since there is actually no footage or a single Egyptian source that is claiming this made up chant?

It would be nice to see your source for this “claim”…

Zebari on Syria ( The Independent):

Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshyar Zebari, said with a united army in control of Damascus and the major Syrian cities, Assad “will survive for the foreseeable future”. Mr Zebari, pictured below, is one of the few leaders to be in touch with all parties in the Syrian civil war, including the government and various factions of the opposition, along with their foreign backers.
He was scornful of recent speculation about the possibility of a military coup in Damascus displacing Assad. He said “the idea of the army moving is a recent invention”, adding that it reminded him of abortive attempts by the CIA to organise the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in the 1990s, but that “this kind of regime is coup-proof”. Prime Minister David Cameron gave the impression in a recent speech that he thought that the Syrian army and security apparatus might be encouraged to move against the regime. 
Mr Zebari said he believes that the stalemate on the ground would not be broken even if the government or the rebels captured a few towns. “I saw lots of people but it is very depressing,” he said of recent meetings in the Middle East and Europe with all those involved in Syria, adding: “Nobody has any idea how to help.”
The Gulf monarchies are supplying advanced weapons to the rebels and the US and the Europeans “are conducting some covert operations in Syria and helping the Syrian opposition”. But he is convinced this will not really change the balance of forces on the ground which would only happen in the event of full-scale foreign intervention amounting to all-out war against the regime. He is equally convinced that there is no political will to do this and Mr Assad, Iran and Russia are fully aware of this.
Mr Zebari points out that when the US and Russia agreed to try to bring the Syrian government and opposition together at Geneva, the US effectively accepted that Mr Assad would be there: “When [Russian Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov and [US Secretary of State John] Kerry agreed on Geneva II it meant that Assad would stay in power until 2014 or until he finishes his term.” Syrian ministers visiting Baghdad made it clear that removing Mr Assad as head of state or army commander-in-chief was a red line for Syria.
Mr Zebari believes it unlikely that the oft-postponed Geneva II conference will take place at all and says that a conference on the sidelines of a UN meeting would not be taken seriously. The opposition still hopes that if it hangs on long enough there will be international intervention to overthrow Mr Assad along the lines of Nato military intervention in Libya in 2011. Mr Zebari said he has always told opposition leaders this is a pipedream.
He said that there is such a strong appetite internationally to do something to de-escalate the conflict that a renewed ceasefire arrangement might work. “They [foreign players] will go for anything to calm the situation.” But Mr Zebari said that such a  ceasefire would require heavy involvement by the UN and international peacekeepers.

Sami we’ve heard the chant before.

Ziad found another article showing American freedom of speech NewZ

Ziad’s post includes an article from RT (Russia Today):

“Rand Paul slams Obama’s plans for military involvement in Syria”

Ziad,

Even though Obama has no “plan for military involvment in Syria”, tell us, who within Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are “slamming” these governments for their involvement in Syria? (As if “plans” were all they were guilty of.)

Maybe you can find us an article.

Is Akbar Palace ever right about anything?

Obama to move forward with plan to arm Syrian rebels
By Brianna Kielar, Jessica Yellin and Tom Cohen, CNN
updated 6:56 AM EDT, Wed July 24, 2013
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/23/politics/us-syrian-rebels

Erdogan’s government is qualified as dictatorial and the counter-rallies organized by the AKP as a Nazi Germany reminiscence. Gezi will stay in Ergodan’s throat for a long time

Penn, Sarandon and intellectuals condemn Gezi crackdown in letter addressed to Turkish PM

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/penn-sarandon-and-intellectuals-condemn-gezi-crackdown-in-letter-addressed-to-turkish-pm-.aspx?PageID=238&NID=51364&NewsCatID=338

The signatories, who described the Turkish government as “a dictatorial rule,” slammed Erdoğan’s uncompromising stance regarding the protesters’ demands. Erdoğan’s orders “led to the deaths of five innocent youths,” the letter said, adding that he might be called to render account to the European Court of Human Rights for the police’s violence.

They also likened the counter-rallies organized by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a response to the protests with the annual Nuremberg rallies organized by the German Nazis.

“Only days after clearing Taksim Square and Gezi Park relying on untold brutal force, you held a meeting in Istanbul, reminiscent of the Nuremberg Rally, with total disregard for the five dead whose only crime was to oppose your dictatorial rule,” the letter said, emphasizing that more journalists were imprisoned in Turkey than in Iran and China combined.

“Moreover, you described these protesters as tramps, looters and hooligans, even alleging they were foreign-led terrorists. Whereas, in reality, they were nothing but youngsters wanting Turkey to remain a Secular Republic as designed by its founder Kemal Atatürk,” the letter added.

Egypt :
الخميس 16 رمضان 1434هـ – 25 يوليو 2013م KSA 00:44 – GMT 21:44مطالبنا الجمعة 17 رمضان: 1- حل جماعة الاخوان وتجريم نشاطاتها 2- منع وجود احزاب دينية وطائفية 3-تقديم مرسى وعصابته للمحاكمة 4- تجريم قاطع وواضخ لاستخدام دور العبادة فى السياسة والانتخابات 5المطالبة بدولة مدنية حديثة ودستور مدنى يفصل بين الدين والحكم 6-حمع السلاح من الشارع واخذ اجراءات صارمة ضد حامليه 7-مؤازرة الجيش فى معركته لفرض السيادة المصرية فى سيناء 8-المطالبة بتعديل كامب ديفيد لضمان امن مصر وسيناء #
Where are those hypocrites who still think that this is a Shia- Sunni war?

AKBAR PALACE #74 said:

”Even though Obama has no “plan for military involvement in Syria”, tell us, who within Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are “slamming” these governments for their involvement in Syria? (As if “plans” were all they were guilty of.)”

As always you base your argument on a non existing parity. There is no parity between the involvement of US/EU/Israel and Russia/Iran/Hezbollah. Syria, as a sovereign country, has every right to defend itself from all aggressors. Russia is selling weapons to Syria, and there exists a defense agreement between Syria/Iran/Hezbollah. On the other hand FUKUS are supporting and arming terrorists for the sole purpose to destroy Syria. They are doing it against their own self interest but being pushed to it by Zionist on behalf of Israel.

Obama as well as 83% of the American people are war weary and don’t want the US to plunge into another ME war on a credit card that already passed its credit limit. Zionists and few other mad dogs like McCain would love the US to attack Syria irrespective of the cost or the after effects. But Obama must play politics and will supply arms to the terrorists. That is how serious wars start.

Ron Paul had every right to slam Obama. Here is what said:

“Even if you believe we should arm Islamic fighters in Syria, shouldn’t, at the very least, Congress vote on the matter?” Paul asked of the crowd. “The Constitution is very clear. Congress is to declare war, not the President.”

“For our country’s sake, certainly for our soldiers’ sake — for the sake of every veteran who ever donned a uniform and fought for this country — America’s mission should always be to keep the peace, not police the world,”

I, as an American, agree with Ron Paul 1000%. I do not want my fellow Americans to die in, and my grand children to pay back the borrowed cost of yet another proxy war for Israel.

Yesterday the EU placed Hezbollah arms wing on the terrorist list. Their reason is that they fought in Syria alongside the SAA. Their cynicism breaks all records. While Hezbollah is on the list, the true terrorist head cutters, executioners, ethnic cleansers of Jabhat al Nusrah is not.

General Sisi made a speech, he was dressed in military uniform, he reminds me with Muammar Qaddafi, and he talked like Muammar

71 percent of Egyptians voiced their disapproval of the Brotherhood-led protests which have been taking place for three weeks, according to a poll conducted by the Egyptian Centre for Public Opinion Research (Baseera).
Baseera’s July opinion poll found that 20 percent of those polled were in support of the pro-Morsi demonstrations, while 9 percent remained uncertain about how to view the matter.
The report stated that residents of urban governorates seem less sympathetic to the pro-Morsi protests than those of rural areas. Urban residents polled at 17 percent approval, 77 percent disapproval, whereas the numbers were 21 and 67 percent, respectively, for rural residents.

Let’s keep Syria’s blood off America’s hands

Congress should join the 70% of Americans who oppose arming Syrian rebels, an act that will come back to haunt us.

Congress can still join with the 70% of Americans who oppose arming Syria rebels and heed former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski’s caution against arming the rebels (he called the Obama Administration’s decision to do so “a mess in the making”). Let’s hope they do.

Arming one side of Syria’s multi-sided and bloody civil war will come back to haunt us. Past decisions by the U.S. to arm insurgencies in Libya, Angola, Central America and Afghanistan helped sustain brutal conflicts in those regions for decades. In the case of Afghanistan, arming the mujahideen in the 1980’s created the instability that emboldened extreme militant groups and gave rise to the Taliban, which ultimately created an environment for al Qaeda to thrive.

There is no unified command or control in the Syrian opposition, as was the case of the Afghan mujaheddin. And due to the United States’ long history of diplomatically isolating Syria, we know even less about the nature of Syria’s opposition. The excuse that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is often invoked to justify anti-Assad forces. This short-sighted excuse has gained the U.S. enemies around the world, undermining U.S. national security. The same justification was used by the Bush Administration in its collaboration with the Assad regime to torture suspected militants in Syria. Arming the enemies of our enemies hasn’t made the U.S. more friends, it has made the U.S. more enemies.

That is why only a diplomatic solution can stop the bloodshed. Arming one side in Syria’s vicious civil war undermines diplomatic opportunities and will inevitably harden the resolve of the Assad regime and the rebels to fight it out to the last Syrian. Some armed opposition factions, including powerful Islamist coalitions, reject negotiation altogether. Yet these are the same groups that will likely seize control of U.S.-supplied weapons, just as they’ve already seized control of the bulk of the rebels’ weaponry.

Though the Intelligence Committees have signed off on further militarizing the conflict with U.S. arms, Congress still controls the purse strings. Members of Congress should support the bipartisan legislation led by Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) in the Senate and Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Rep. Chris Gibson (R-NY) in the House that would block military aid to Syria.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/07/23/arming-syrian-rebels-civil-war-column/2578667/

U.S. about to use military force in Syria – A catastrophic mistake

Damascus Countdown author

(Washington, D.C.) — The countdown to U.S. intervention in the mess in Damascus appears to be nearing the zero hour.

The Obama administration is actively considering using military force to bring down the Assad regime in Syria. Specifically, the White House and Pentagon are analyzing the idea of running a 24/7 “no-fly zone” over Syria, as well as training and arming rebel forces to defeat the Assad forces. But the costs would be high — upwards of $1 billion a month — and might not even be successful.

In my view, active U.S. military involvement in Syria would be a catastrophic mistake. I feel terrible for the bloodshed and carnage going on inside Syria. But tragically I see very little that the West can do to actually make the situation better.

Who exactly would we arm and assist? We’re talking about a civil war that is pitting Shia radicals (Assad’s regime, Iran and Hezbollah) against ”the rebels,” most of whom are Sunni radicals (including al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood forces). I don’t want any of them to win. Are there small numbers of rebels who might be better if they could really come to power? Perhaps. But the fact is they have very limited chances of getting to the top of the greasy pole. Indeed, if the wrong people seize control of Syria, the situation for the Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and the West could actually become much worse.

We can and should help with humanitarian relief. We can and should show mercy to those fleeing for their lives. We can and should help the persecuted Christians, and pray actively and consistently for peace and stability. But I don’t think the U.S. government or any Western power should stick its hand into that hornet’s nest.

http://brainerddispatch.com/opinion/guest-columns/2013-07-24/us-about-use-military-force-syria-catastrophic-mistake

Polish journalist taken hostage in Syria

Polish photojournalist Marcin Suder has been kidnapped by Islamist militants in north west Syria, say opposition activists

Suder, who works for the Studio Melon photo agency based in Warsaw, was abducted in a raid by armed Islamists on an opposition media office in the rebel-held town of Saraqeb, Idlib province, Reuters reports.

Computers and money were stolen in the raid in what could be part of conflict between opposition groups.

Eye witnesses said that foreigners were among the armed men who stormed the opposition media office.

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/142401,Polish-journalist-taken-hostage-in-Syria

Syrian rebels kill woman in attack on civilian convoy, activists say

One woman was killed and 19 people were wounded, some critically, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-Assad monitoring group based in Britain.

The hardline Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham uploaded video footage of the attack onto YouTube on Tuesday. It shows rebels firing artillery and mortars from a barren hillside and several trucks on fire. There is no return fire from the convoy of around 30 vehicles on the road between Salamiyeh, east of the central city of Homs, and Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Syrian-rebels-kill-woman-in-attack-on-civilian-convoy-activists-say-320886

Russia says US drive to arm Syria rebels hurts chances for peace

“If our American partners are now focusing on arming the opposition and are sharing plans… to strike Syrian government positions, then this, of course, runs against agreements to hold a conference,” he said.

“That goes against our joint initiative.”

http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Russia-says-US-drive-to-arm-Syria-rebels-hurts-chances-for-peace-320900

Syria’s Graphic Beheading Videos

welcome to the “distraction” tactic being exploited by the many elements trying to minimize the atrocities being committed by the jihadis—also known as the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA)—in Syria. Supporters of these jihadis exploit the fact that, in a time of war, as currently in Syria, news is not always reliable. They also claim that any news that portrays the Syrian government as the “good guys”—such as nonstop videos of the FSA committing atrocities—is just pro-Assad propaganda, that cannot be trusted (they never seem to see the flipside to this logic, that Western media can be disseminating false anti-Assad propaganda).

Thus, let’s not focus too much on the exact particulars—for indeed, exact information is not always clear—and rather acknowledge the big picture: namely that beheadings have become very common in Syria, even if we don’t always know the identities of those beheaded. But we do know who are doing the beheadings: al-Qaeda linked jihadis who are trying to transform Syria into a Sharia-ruling emirate.

Consider the video which some are now saying was not Fr. Murad—who was only shot (whew!) Whoever the men being beheaded are, what you are witnessing is the true face of the Syria “rebellion”—jihadis, most of them obviously foreigners. The ring leader appears perhaps Chechnyan, and can hardly speak proper Arabic (but one of the few phrases that he utters that is understandable is “we are enforcing the rules of Allah”). The bound men are then beheaded to wild cries of “Allahu Akbar!”

To appreciate the frequency of such beheadings, do a quick YouTube search with words like “Syria” and “beheadings,” and you will see any number of graphic videos of Syrians being beheaded by U.S.-backed jihadis. These are the videos that have still not been identified and removed by YouTube, but which likely soon will. Before them, there were many others that are now gone.

Among some of the ones currently up, are:

* A video of reportedly a Syrian policeman, having his head sliced off, to screams of Allahu Akbar; his head is then picked up and chucked to the ground.
* A video of reportedly a Muslim apostate to Christianity, either in Tunisia or Syria, also having his head sheared off to screams of Allahu Akbar.
* A video of a child, prodded by the Free Syrian Army, cutting the heads off of Syrian men for apparently being loyal to the Assad government.
* A video of the FSA making another child hack a man’s head off—again, to cries of Allahu Akbar.
* A video of the FSA tormenting and humiliating an obviously mentally-handicapped man, torturing another man, and at the very end beheading a third man—to cries of Allahu Akbar.

While strictly not a beheading video, let’s also not forget the video of an FSA fighter cutting out and biting into the heart of a dead soldier—the same video Russian president Putin rightly shamed the pr0-FSA West with. Before biting into the organs of his foe, the cannibalistic jihadi declares, “I swear to Allah, soldiers of Bashar, you dogs—we will eat your heart and livers! Allahu Akbar!”

So what’s to be learned by all this savage carnage, beheadings, cannibalism and what not? Those who wish to distract will insist that we cannot be sure of all the facts and circumstances—the identity of the executioners, the identity of the victims, the exact context, etc. They will nitpick and lose sight of the big picture. Hence the debate on whether Fr. Murad was beheaded or shot (incidentally, here’s a video of a man executed by jihadis in Syria by gunfire—again, to screams of “Allahu Akbar”; it’s not a whole lot better than the beheadings).

This speaks volumes, or at least it should. Even Muslims raping Coptic Christian girls, as in this video.

http://www.meforum.org/3561/syria-beheading-videos

Just to remember what it is all about, one has to always keep in mind the handy work of d-p athad , regularly cheered by and d-p lickers on this and other blogs.

Those “Proxy War Blues” NewZ

I, as an American, agree with Ron Paul 1000%. I do not want my fellow Americans to die in, and my grand children to pay back the borrowed cost of yet another proxy war for Israel.

Ziad,

Glad to know you’re another Arab-American who made it out of Syria alive!

BTW, do us a favor a tell us specifically how many “fellow Americans” like us have died for this “proxy war for Israel”? Give us a number.

Meanwhile, while you’re contemplating that, give us the number of Iranians, Hezbollah and Russians in Syria today who are helping to prop-up the Great Syrian leader who has failed in every way imaginable. It is possible that your imagined Israeli Proxy War could actually be an IRANIAN proxy war? After all, Iranians and Hezbollah are killing Syrians and THEY are being killed as well. No Americans I’m aware of have been killed in Syria. I think your concerns are misplaced:

http://www.timesofisrael.com/top-iranian-general-said-target-of-israeli-strike-in-syria/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QVzxA0VNkU

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-world/14145-revolutionary-guard-killed-in-syria-buried-in-iran

“Last June, bodies of 4 other members of the revolutionary guards who were killed in the clashes in Syria, were buried in different cities of Iran.”

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.528004

When Jarba asked France to arm the rebels, Hollande repeated the same 2 years old advice: You’ll get no weapons if you don’t show a united front and if you don’t get rid of the Islamists extremists in your ranks.
Just like Sabra did a few months ago with no result, Jarba promises a ‘provisional’ government in a month

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syria-opposition-to-meet-aug-3-4-in-istanbul.aspx?pageID=238&nid=51397&NewsCatID=352

Syria’s opposition National Coalition will meet in Istanbul on August 3 and 4 for talks on forming a provisional government, opposition sources said Thursday.

The Coalition’s new chief, Ahmad Jarba, said this week in Paris that he hoped to be able to announce the formation of a provisional government “within a month”.

Syria’s opposition has struggled to put forward a united front during the country’s more than two years of conflict, which have killed some 100,000 people.

The last attempt at forming a provisional government, under then rebel prime minister Ghassan Hitto, collapsed earlier this month when Hitto resigned after nearly four months of failed efforts.

July/25/2013

#87 Thyrian hamsther

Thanks for your regular h-p’s… They are less smelly and slimy as usual. Are you on a diet?

Michael Weiss bitterly and reluctantly admits that Bashar’s defense strategy against the rebels is working

The Latest Syrian Sideshow: Al-Qaeda vs. the Kurds
By Michael Weiss

http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2013/07/25/the_latest_syrian_sideshow_al-qaeda_vs_the_kurds_105341.html

The latest of these really is the crowning achievement of Bashar’s long-term strategy to sow chaos and confusion among his enemies since the belligerents this time are none other than two of his former proxies: al-Qaeda and the Democratic Union of Kurdistan (PYD) or the Syrian branch of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union to be a terrorist organization.
…
The same strategy also impelled Assad’s decision, in July of last year, to withdraw his forces from large swaths of Syrian Kurdistan, knowing that the inheritors of the resulting security vacuum would be yet another former handmaid: the PYD. Now these ex-friends are enemies. Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the Syrian Army and Revolutionary Guard’s Shia militias burn through and ethnically cleanse Homs.

Zoo that’s pretty funny about Weiss – the last paragraph especially. I can’t stand that Israeli mouthpiece.

What is so funny about this?

One really does have to hand it to the human ferret this time. A central pillar of Assad’s strategy has been to cultivate so many competing nemeses within Syrian society that a united national opposition to destroy him could never emerge. He released al-Qaeda jihadists from Syrian prisons in 2011 because he knew that the very agents his military intelligence apparatus once dispatched into Iraq to blow up American soldiers would soon conduct suicide bombings and play at takfiri unpleasantness inside Syria – a kind of willed “blowback.” This would then give the impression that he was engaged in the very same global war on terror as the superpower he once helped terrorize. (As far as propagandistic jujitsu is concerned, this performance has lately had the sought-after discombobulating effect on U.S. policymaking toward Syria, which wasn’t all that coherent to begin with). The same strategy also impelled Assad’s decision, in July of last year, to withdraw his forces from large swaths of Syrian Kurdistan, knowing that the inheritors of the resulting security vacuum would be yet another former handmaid: the PYD. Now these ex-friends are enemies. Meanwhile, Hezbollah, the Syrian Army and Revolutionary Guard’s Shia militias burn through and ethnically cleanse Homs.

Is the Assad regime releasing Al-Qaeda dirt from jail funny or the whole ethnically cleanse Homs funnier?

This pathetic adulation for murder is disgusting, not to mention hyena like laughs at Syria being destroyed.

#92 Revenire

Accusing Hezbollah of ‘cleansing’ Homs is really comical coming from an fierce Israel supporter.
I see it as a furious display of his frustration as things in Syria are going in the opposite way of his predictions.

Egyptian Tamarod call to expel US ambassador

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/77348/Egypt/Politics-/Rebel-endorses-ElSisis-call-for-Friday-demos.aspx

At a press conference for revolutionary forces Thursday, Tamarod, a grassroots campaign that gathered 22 million signatures demanding that Mohamed Morsi resign, said that it supports the military in its “war against terrorism.”

The campaign also called for protests aimed at expelling US Ambassador Anne Patterson from Egypt, to signal rejection of the policies of the United States towards Egypt after 30 June and the ouster of Morsi.

Zionist Sources still being Used by Muqawamistas

Zoo that’s pretty funny about Weiss – the last paragraph especially. I can’t stand that Israeli mouthpiece.

Reverse,

Isn’t it typical that you say all “Zionists are liers”, yet you and your cohorts use their writings and articles when it fits your agenda. Are you still using your favorite Palestinian source Ha’aretz?

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/author/michaelweiss/

“Michael Weiss is the Research Director of The Henry Jackson Society, a foreign policy think tank, as well as the co-chair of its Russia Studies Centre. A native New Yorker, he has written widely on English and Russian literature, American culture, Soviet history and the Middle East.”

BTW – did Syria win the war yet?

France working on humanitarian access in Syria, pushing for UN resolution despite veto risk

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/cms/binary/8702214.jpg?size=640×420

Members of the Syria National Coalition, from left, Farouk Tayfour, Michel Kilo, Salem Idriss, Suheir Atassi, and Burhan Ghalioun wait for the meeting of France’s president Francois Hollande and Syria National Coallition president Ahmed al-Jarba at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, Wednesday, July 24, 2013.

Car bomb kills 7, wounds 62 in Syrian capital ( Jaramana)

By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press | July 25, 2013 | Updated: July 25, 2013 8:46am

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s state-run news agency says seven people have been killed and 62 wounded in a powerful car bomb explosion near Damascus.

SANA says the car bomb exploded Thursday in the suburb of Jaramana, just few kilometers (miles) southeast of Damascus.

Jaramana is an overwhelmingly pro-regime area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-government activist organization, has confirmed the explosion and the death toll. It says the blast caused heavy material damage and started a fire.

Zoo
Is PKK is designated as a terrorist group just like HA?

The goverment in Syria is trying hard to lower the dollar, it was 185 lira for a dollar ,but today it rose again to 225

Any word on the fate of the Israeli ambassador and the Israeli embassy in Cairo? Thanks

95. zoo said:
Egyptian Tamarod call to expel US ambassador

Anyone know if this is a true report?

The head of the Egyptian armed forces, General Abdel Fattah El-Sis, is quoted as saying if the US tries to intervene in Egypt “Israel will be wiped of the map in four minutes.”

http://www.egy-press.com/storydetails.aspx?storyid=30834#.UfEpNGT09e5

#99 Majed

Yes, just like Hamas and al Nusra.

Turkish journalist Yavuz Baydar fired from Sabah daily

Turkish veteran journalist Yavuz Baydar was fired from the Sabah daily where he had been working for a long time, after the editorial board of the newspaper imposed cencorship on his two columns over Gezi Park protests and media-government relations APA reports quoting Todays Zaman.

Baydar, who is also a columnist for the Today’s Zaman daily, first faced cencorship when he vehemently critized government’s handling of the Gezi protests.

Upon the cencorship and mounting pressure he faces, Baydar went on a vacation. He wrote a critical piece on New York Times, revealing the deepening ties between media owners and the government at the expense of freedom of expression and editorial freedom.

Baydar argued in his op-ed article on New York Times that Turkish media owners are clearly undermining the basic principles of democracy in the country in an apparent manner. The major reason, Baydar cites, is the fact that media bosses have fears of losing lucrative business deals with the government.

Illuminating on business ties with media owners and the Turkish government from a critical perspective, Baydar asserted that this kind of relationship has negative reflections on democracy and media.

When he returned from his vacation to Turkey, Baydar sent another piece to the Sabah daily to be published. This time he reportedly wrote on how relationship between editor-in-chief and the readers’ editor should be formulated and on the significance of editorial freedom against possible external interventions.

He suggested that there should be no hierarchical relation between an editor-in-chief and a readers’ editor, in an apparent reference to Şafak’s open criticism and intervention in his column when the daily refused to publish his earlier piece.

Turkish media reported that the Sabah daily also declined to publish Baydar’s latest piece.

The newspaper finally dismissed Baydar on Tuesday.

http://en.apa.az/xeber_turkish_journalist_yavuz_baydar_fired_fr_196668.html

الحلويات السورية.. تقليد وكرنفال

Zoo
Yes Al Nusra and HA are terrorist organizations, we dont hear much from the leader of Nusra but HA leader Hassan Nasrallah the head of HA the terrorist organization is on the news daily, and makes speeches almost weekly to remind the world with him as a terrorist and HA as terrorist organization.
Zoo you are member of HA, and as terrorist you need to watch for the FBI, they may get after you,you may have to change your name,

Majed

You seem to spend 90% of your time in SC trying to find out who is who. Are you a petty spy or a inquisitor ?
In any case, as all your predictions your wild guessing are always wrong
Yet, as you have openly admitted that you are an active supporter of Al Nusra and you also said you live in the USA.
I think you should watch your cell phone, it is probably already under surveillance.
The US government is without pity for Moslems americans who support Al Qaeda terrorists.

Zoo
You are lying
\you said
as you have openly admitted that you are an active supporter of Al Nusra
I am against alnusra, and denounced al Qaida, show me that I have been supporter of al Nusra, the point I made that when my enemies fight I feel good, that is not supportive of Nusra, I condemn Nusra. I am also against HA since they support Assad against Syrians,and glad now that they are designated as a terrorist organization, and you support HA and their terrorism, like killing Hariri and 27 other Lebanese

Majed

I hope you continue to find reasons to feel good and happy. Damascus is almost totally back under the control of the SAA that has regained the upper hand and Bashar al Assad is apparently going to stay in power at least until 2014.

Majed I wouldn’t be surprised if you have your own FBI agent assigned to your case. LOL

I am getting the feeling Assad will be around far into the next decade. He’s young and has real staying power.

Ra
FBI has followed me several time in the last 20 years and found nothing against me,my patients told me that, and I saw their cars watching me.
As for assad will be in Syria for long time, you can dream of everything, there is no limit to one’s dream

Zoo
I love it when my enemies fight like Nusra and Assad or Israel and Assad,just like you like it when Kurds and FSA fight
The fact that I criticize Shiaa a lot because they violate Quraan a lot
I accept Quraan and verified Hadith and 100% consensus among Ulamaa, 100% is not 99.9%, I am against Fatwa by one sheikh or few,I dont believe in Qyas analogous fatwa,ijtihad, Ijtihad and Qyas are not part of Islam religion, socially accepted ideas are not part of religion

Ibn Hazm and Zahiri Mazhab is not perfect but close to what I believe, But Shiaa, no way it is Kufr

I blame the lax security for today’s explosion in Jaramana.

I recently visited the town and something strikes me. Although I admire the spirit of relaxing atmosphere there, those checkpoints lack sense of professionism.

Those terrorists have been trying to deliver all kind of havoc using all kinds of weapons in their arsenal. It has been clear every military advance by SAA trigger more desperate response from the rebels.

There are two fronts for the conflict: Protecting civilians from those gangs is one of them. Someone will be disciplined for what happened today in Jaramana.

All civilians and military should be well aware of the reality that those terrorist attack will stay long with us even fighting on battlefield is winning.

Majed

You said: “Shia is Kufr”
You have repeated that more than a thousand times.
We know how much you hate Shia and want them destroyed, no need to rub it on forever…

Lebanese security forces have arrested a bodyguard of the hardline Salafist Skeikh Ahmad al-Assir at Beirut airport, according to Lebanese security sources.

Ali Abdel Wahad, 30, a Palestinian national who worked as al-Assir’s personal bodyguard was detained at Rafik Hariri’s International Airport at 4:00 a.m. when he was trying to escape security guards by shaving his beard and cutting his hair.

He had booked a flight with Egypt Air to Nigeria, with a transit stop in Cairo.

His arrest comes as military Judge Saqr Saqr earlier this month ordered the arrest of dozens of suspects who were involved in clashes between supporters of Assir and Lebanese army.

Lebanese court charged 37 people including Assir with murder, illegal arms possession and other crimes.

– See more at: http://en.alalam.ir/news/1498455#sthash.UdW3xD1M.dpuf

The “sectarian” conflict is reaching football. Watch out!

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/6/51/77315/Sports/Egyptian-Football/Zamaleks-coach-refuses-to-talk-with-AlJazeera-for-.aspx

“Despite being the exclusive broadcaster of the CAF Champions League, Zamalek ‘s manger Helmi Toulan refused to talk with Al-Jazeera following Wednesday’s clash against Ahly.

The 59-year-old attributed his refusal to cooperate with the Qatari channel due to their coverage of the current situation in Egypt.
(…)”

America’s “Imperial-Left” and the Proxy War Against Syria

The Numbers Game: Myth and Reality

The CPD argues that although “the rebels have also committed atrocities”, that the “Assad regime” has been “the greatest perpetrator of violent outrages” even going so far as to imply that the “90,000 deaths and the displacement of some four million Syrians” is almost entirely the fault of the Syrian government. Did it ever occur to the CPD that in war, total casualties include civilians and combatants?
Here’s the breakdown of war casualties provided by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) (2) which cannot be accused of pro-government bias, as they are a pro-rebel and pro-NATO mouthpiece:

Syrian Arab Army (SAA): 24,617 (25.53%)
Pro Government Militias (NDF): 17,031 (17.66%)
Hezbollah Soldiers: 145 (0.15%)
Opposition Fighters: 16,699 (17.32%)
Civilian Non Combatants: 35,479 (36.79%)
Unaccounted Deaths: 2460 (2.55%)
Total Casualties: 96,431 (100%)

The CPD should ask itself, if the relatively more mechanised government army holds the military advantage against irregular guerrilla forces, why according to the SOHR have more soldiers on the government’s side (SAA & NDF) been killed than opposition fighters? There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, as the footage taken in the aftermath of the Hatlah massacre (7) indicates, there’s a tendency for rebel fighters to refer to the civilians they’ve massacred as “shabiha” (a pejorative term widely used by rebels to refer to pro-government militias), as such it’s quite possible that rebel fighters would report to the SOHR that the civilians they’ve massacred were “pro-government militia”. Secondly, as journalist Nir Rosen points out, when rebel fighters are killed they’re often listed as civilians:

“Every day the opposition gives a death toll, usually without any explanation of the cause of the deaths. Many of those reported killed are in fact dead opposition fighters, but the cause of their death is hidden and they are described in reports as innocent civilians killed by security forces, as if they were all merely protesting or sitting in their homes.” (3)

This ‘accounting trick’ has also been noted by Musa al-Gharbi:

“For instance, when it is stated that the majority of the victims of the conflict have been civilians, this number is achieved
by conflating the dead non-military rebel fighters with non-combatants. While militiamen technically are civilians (simply by virtue of being non-military), the connotation of civilian is “non-combatant;” i.e., a victim of the conflict who was not actively taking part in it. In fact, this connotation is cynically exploited in delivering the statistic to people in order to make the regime seem as though they are “indiscriminately slaughtering their own people.” (4)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/americas-imperial-left-and-the-proxy-war-against-syria/5343850

Why Syria Is Being Targeted

Although Syria is not a major oil producer, one explanation in particular that deserves careful consideration as to why Syria is being targeted relates to the discovery in 2007 of the world’s largest known natural gas reserves in the Persian Gulf, which was subsequently shared between Iran and Qatar. Iran then launched the PARS Pipeline project, which involved building a pipeline from the Persian Gulf, through Iraq, and ending on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.

So far the pipeline has reached the outskirts of Damascus and is expected to be completed by next year. Meanwhile over the past few years the EU has been anxious to diversify its energy sources, and to this end started the Nambucco pipeline project in 2009, which would have sourced natural gas from the Caspian Sea through the Caucuses, Turkey, and the Balkans thereby reducing the EU’s dependence on Russian gas. However the Nambucco project fell through a month ago owing to various disputes, while the rival Russian South-Stream pipeline that traverses the Black Sea on its route to Europe has been a success (24).

Once both these projects are fully operational it will mean that the EU, which at present receives a quarter of its natural gas from Russia, will in the foreseeable future depend on Iran and Russia for up to 50 percent of its natural gas supplies. As a result Qatar, with its portion of the Persian Gulf’s natural gas, finds itself losing the competition for directly supplying the EU. This constitutes a major motivation explaining Qatar’s specific interest in overthrowing the Syrian government as a means of sabotaging the PARS pipeline.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/americas-imperial-left-and-the-proxy-war-against-syria/5343850

d-p athad is thtrong

If you haven’t heard it yet

!اسْمعوا..وعوا

صالح القلاب

إن هذا النظام ليس نظام الطوائف . . . إنه نظام طائفة مصالحه وبقائه في الحكم إذْ أنَّ شبلي العيسمي أحد كبار الرموز التاريخية لحزب البعث هو آخر ضحاياه من الطائفة الدرزية وأن عبد العزيز الخيَّر هو آخر ضحاياه من الطائفة العلوية وأن مصطفى رستم آخر من إعتقلهم من الطائفة الإسماعيلية فهذا النظام لا يحرم ولا يحلل ومصلحته هي التي تملي عليه أن يقترب أو يبتعد
. من أيٍّ من هذه الطوائف
إن القول إنَّ أمن المسيحيين السوريين وأن بقاءهم في بلدهم سوريا متوقف على بقاء هذا النظام وإستمراره ليس هو مجرد كذبة وقحة فقط بل هو مؤامرة على هذه الطائفة الكريمة التي بقيت تشكل في هذا البلد العريق بتسامحه الإجتماعي والديني مكوناً سياسياً رئيسياً وهي لم تكن أقلية على الإطلاق ولم يُشَر إليها بهذه الصفة إلاَّ في هذه المرحلة حيث تقتضي مصلحة بشار الأسد ومجموعته الحاكمة التلاعب بهذه المسألة الحساسة وتصوير أنَّ كل ما يعتبرها أقليات مذهبية غدت مستهدفة وأنه لا بقاء لها إلاَّ بالإنضمام إليه
. ضد «الأكثرية» من أبناء الشعب السوري
صحيح أنَّ هناك بعض التنظيمات الإرهابية التي لابد من تكاتف كل القوى السورية المعارضة وفي مقدمتها الجيش الحر وأيضاً كل دول المنطقة للتخلص منها وحقيقة أن هذا النظام ومعه الأجهزة الأمنية الإيرانية هو المسؤول عن هذه الظاهرة وهو الذي دأب على الترويج لها لإقناع السوريين وإقناع الغرب والعرب والعالم كله أنه لا يواجه ثورة شعبية إصلاحية وإنما يواجه عصابات قتل وإرهاب وهنا فإنَّ ما بات معروفاً ومؤكداً هو أن غالبية قوى المعارضة ومن بينها «الإخوان المسلمون» ضد هذه المجموعات الوافدة من الخارج التي لا يمكن أن يكون لها أي دور ولو ثانوي في مستقبل هذا البلد المعروف
. بتسامحه وبمدنيته وحتى بعلمانيته

Daily star said that designating HA as terrorist organization constitute “fertile ground for launching terrorist acts against Western diplomatic centers or patrols of the U.N. peacekeeping forces,

Is Tunisia next after Egypt?!!

BREAKING: Protesters torched al-Nahda HQs in Sidi Bouzid Governorate the cradle of the Tunisian revolution Tunisia – Reuters

Zaid Benjamin 7h

Who’s the terrorist?
http://rt.com/shows/crosstalk/terrorism-war-intervention-security-513/

Turkish soldier may face 25 years in jail for leaking ‘Reyhanlı bombing files’
A military prosecutor has demanded 25 years imprisonment for the gendarme accused of leaking secret documents on the Reyhanlı bombings-linked terrorist activities in the southern province of Hatay, bordering Syria.

Suspected gendarmerie officer Utku Kalı is being accused of “exposing and providing the state’s secret documents,” in the indictment.

Kalı was arrested on May 24 for leaking the documents, belonging to the Gendarmerie Intelligence Department, claimed that an anti-government group in Syria, al-Nusra Front, with links to al-Qaeda, was planning a car bomb attack that might occur in Turkey.

Some 53 civilians were killed in Reyhanlı on May 11.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-soldier-may-face-25-years-in-jail-for-leaking-reyhanli-bombing-files.aspx?pageID=238&nID=51238&NewsCatID=341
the truth is starting to come out who is behind all these barbaric actions,you cant hide the truth!!!

The West should prepare for Assad’s victory in Syria
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/concoughlin/100227893/the-west-should-prepare-for-assads-victory-in-syria/

This morning’s report that hundreds of former Syrian rebels are laying down their arms and taking up the government’s offer of an amnesty is further evidence of what I have been saying (and writing) for months: President Bashar al-Assad is winning Syria’s brutal civil war.

Ever since Assad’s forces turned the tide of the conflict by retaking the strategically important town of Qusayr on the Lebanese border earlier in the summer, there has been an almost immutable momentum building in favour of the regime gaining the upper hand in the conflict.

A combination of the deep divisions with the rebel ranks, with the Syrian Free Forces declaring war on their al-Qaeda allies (a civil war within a civil war), together with the tangible support Assad has received from his Iranian and Russian allies, means that the rebel cause is now all but lost. No wonder some of the rebels have decided they are fighting for a lost cause, and have decided it is no longer worth risking their lives.
…

Consequently I believe the time has now come for Western leaders to get their collective heads around the idea that Assad is going to emerge victorious from his brutal assault on his own people, with all the implications that will have for the future.

Such an outcome would weaken the global standing of Mr Cameron and President Barack Obama, who have consistently called for regime change in Damascus. And it will strengthen the influence of Iran and Russia, which have refused to bow to international pressure to abandon their support for the Assad clan. On this assessment, it is not only the rebels who are going to lose in Syria.

http://m.guardiannews.com/world/2013/jul/24/syria-refugee-crisis-zaatari-camp

Almost 2m people have fled the country; perhaps twice that number are uprooted and homeless within Syria itself. In total at least a quarter of the country’s people have been driven from their homes.

Every day the camp costs $500,000 to run and relies on 350 tankers trucking in water and 300 removing sewage. It is already Jordan’s fourth largest city, with bakers, dressmakers, maternity clinics and classrooms, shops and stalls. And its own shortcomings. There are many of those. Abu Alla and his four children crossed the Jordanian border with just the clothes they stood up in and now live in an empty caravan, idle and helpless. “The kitchens are six or seven kilometres away from my tent and when I get there I can hardly get enough food. I always end with few pieces of bread. We have to buy food too otherwise we will die but the problem is where do you get the money? I have not seen anyone coming here to help us,” he said.
….

Remarkably, there are people – tens of thousands of them – who have decided that Iraq represents a safer option than Syria. Here, the complaints that echo around the camps are the same: food is scarce, the heat unbearable, the prospects dim to non-existent.

“Our financial status is horrible since we arrived in Iraq,” said Hadiyia Ali, who lives in a camp with her four children in al-Qaim, near the Syrian border. “My husband has never been able to find a job. We can buy meat or chicken only every few months. Our daily meals are tinned cheese or tinned cream, which cost 500 Iraqi dinar [28p]. We have potato with rice for lunch or beans with rice. Dinner is tomato and cucumber. My children want better food but we can’t get it. All we have is donated to us by the clerics in the mosques and tribal leaders.”
…
The tales from Syria bespeak unimaginable brutality, the senseless destruction of what was, until recently, a relatively comfortable place to live, work and raise a family. Now children are butchered, or left to fester with post-traumatic stress disorder in foreign countries that do not want them. Women sit through the days with listless offspring and absent menfolk, trying to blot out the violence – often sexual – that they have left behind. Authorities complain about the enormous cost, still woefully underfunded, of looking after millions of people who suddenly have nothing.

Tara I hope all those suffering find peace. My heart goes out to all those caught up in this Hellish war.

have not seen fatwa so far banning eating human flesh hmm…
The new Fatwa forbidding the eating of croissants by #Aleppo Sharia council. #FSAcrimes #Syria #Islamism #Wahhabism
https://twitter.com/ProSyriana/status/360524221752954880/photo/1
https://twitter.com/ProSyriana/status/360546948064882688/photo/1

The West is abandoning the rebels:

Syrian rebels get ‘the jilt’ from Washington
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-syrian-rebels-get-the-jilt-from-washington/2013/07/17/e6a2d2f2-ee74-11e2-bed3-b9b6fe264871_story.html

What happened in Egypt is an eye opener. The same people who voted Morsi in forced him out. If elections are held today in Egypt, Morsi’s MB party may get 20-30% of the votes, mostly from rural areas. Ironically , the same is true in Syria, that is why I believe it is better to let moderate Islamist parties enter politics instead of pushing them to work underground, however you need real checks and balances before you can get to this stage. Morsi took full advantage of the lack of those checks and balances and acted as a baathist , people did not like that and they pressured the army to take over. Syria needs a long time before real elections are held and effective institutions are built, and both Islamists and Baathists know this, and that is why Islamists in particular believe that they need to capture power now before a constitutional opposition takes hold. Syria’s near term chances for a political revival are very slim, we are at a stage where only one side can dominate or the country may need to be partitioned in a way or the other, I see no hope for a democratic power sharing arrangement for the foreseeable future.
One funny thing that keeps popping up is this claim by rebels that they need to ” change the balance of power” before they will go to Geneva 2, only few months ago the same people who are advocating this approach were bragging about how they control 70% of Syria, that seems good enough for me as a ” balance”, but the truth is that those people are not about changing the balance, they are only interested in wiping the other side out.

I would argue that the militia-like aspect of the regime is not new but was actually built a long time ago by the father of the current militia leader.

It was clear that the creation of 17 security branches competing with each other, spying on each other, and checking each other is exactly similar to the mafia rule with capos of various districts.

It was clear that the creation of various pseudo state structures only meant to buttress the rule of one man and his clan was also an undermining of any civil society emerging and that is why Haitham Maleh was in prison for so long as he insisted on the rule of law.

Decades of emergency rule, a constitution whereby the three branches of government are in the hands of one person, the absence of free press and the subservience of every institution to the promotion of a security state is actually a creation of a clan based militia ruled country.

The trappings of a flag and embassies was nothing more than an attempt to confer legitimacy on the illegitimate and the abhorrent and despicable.

Moreover, the speeches and actions of the regime leader have actually corrupted people, with million or more civil servants paid poverty wages and forced to bribery to the point that the army vehicles became a source of illicit trade in tires and spare parts to the point that it was no longer a functional army as evidenced by the troops in Lebanon especially when they withdrew filled to the brim with bathroom fixtures and rail guards stolen from the houses they occupied.

As for this so called army, it cannot function without the help of HA and Iranian troops and Russian advisors. The Russians must be exhausted trying to make the thugs a semi professional institution. As for the so called lax security, what do you expect as you have unpaid guards living off stealing and asked to spend hours on end in boring and relentless duties while their masters plot dollar exchange and buying Moscow property.

Athad will stay over a rump garbage dump and he will never again have the ability to control anything but a few streets here and there.

Aleppo is out, Idlib province is out, most of Raqqa and Hasaka are out, part of Latakia is out, Daraa is out, Damascus suburbs are out, airports are closed, money is printed in Russia, oil is from Iran. But there is an iPad on which shopping virtual or real is still ongoing.

I wonder, how come shopping is possible on this meager salary? Oh I forgot, it is a militia rule with a warlord in place and lickers and worshipers in tow.

By the way, does anyone know what is the App Store Credit Card is for the retard iPad inferiority complexed pseudo modern Ray Ban wearing spouse shopping backward barbarian has?

Update available for your Apps.

Long live Dubai where my thithter can shop.

Sounds familiar, still think this is a Shia-Sunni war?
Do you agree that most of the posts written about the Syrian war were superficial and misleading?

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and KAREEM FAHIM

CAIRO — The mass shooting of Islamist protesters by security forces on Monday at a sit-in for Mohamed Morsi, the ousted president, injected new outrage into the standoff over his removal by Egypt’s top generals, darkening hopes that they might reconcile the polarizing forces that have torn at the fabric of the country.
It was by far the deadliest day of violence since the revolt that overthrew former President Hosni Mubarak in early 2011. Within a few hours around dawn, advancing soldiers and police officers killed at least 51 civilians and wounded more than 400, almost all hit by gunfire, health officials said.
Army and police spokesmen said that one soldier and two policemen had also been killed. But according to witnesses and video footage, one of the policemen appeared to have been shot by soldiers, and the military provided little evidence to back its claim that the fighting had been instigated by the Islamists.

The Resistance Always Comes Out on Top

The danger Hezbollah poses above all resides in its demonstration beyond a doubt that the Arabs need not bend to Israel’s will and that ridding the region of this colonial menace is possible. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi)

Hezbollah’s actions do not warrant their inclusion on the EU list of terrorist organizations, even according to a large number of European politicians and human rights activists.

The European states are bothered by the resistance movement’s wide popular support and are hoping to find some way – aside from military means, which have failed – to bring Hezbollah to its knees.

They first resorted to a systematic media campaign to undermine the Resistance’s reputation, then turned to encouraging blatant sectarian incitement to demonize it and drown it in blood, only to end up criminalizing the party in the name of “international law.”

The European “democracies” have been loyal supporters of Israeli occupation and apartheid since the racist nation’s birth from the womb of Britain’s Balfour Declaration. Their blind support for Zionism is firmly rooted in their guilt over the barbaric way they treated Jews during World War II.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/resistance-always-comes-out-top

Israel, Saudi Arabia ink deal to arm Syria militants

Israeli regime has concluded an agreement with Saudi Arabia to pave the ground to supply required weapons to foreign backed militant groups in Syria, Israeli Radio reports.

According to report, Saudi Arabia has already accepted to provide financial resources required to purchase Israeli army old weaponries to be delivered to the militant groups fighting against Syria government.
According to the agreement, it was decided that Saudi Arabia covers a fund of at least 50 million USD to enter negotiations with Israeli army over the immediate delivery of weapons.

The report cited unnamed Israeli regime security sources as saying that Israel has accepted to deliver weapons including tanks and heavy artillery, machine guns, anti-tank missiles, ammunitions, communication devices as well as light war vehicles.

The sources also added that the delivery of such equipment to the militant groups will pose no risk to Israel as all the weaponries are belonging to old generation.

According to repot, Turkey and Jordan have already announced their acceptance to transfer the weapons through their border lines to Syria.

http://en.alalam.ir/news/1498344#

In my humble opinion ibn hazm and zahirites philosophy is shallow and limited but that is what many people want and understand. The problem in using the term ” Kauffar” in Islam is that it justified violence and discrimination against people who have different beliefs, that is why I am against using it in any shape or form:

Ibn Hazm, Abu Muhammad ‘Ali (994-1063)
Ibn Hazm was the originator of a school of interpretation which based its understanding of religious texts on the apparent meaning of scriptural concepts as opposed to their hidden meaning. He argued that there is a place for reason in the understanding of scripture, but that it has to be used within the context of revelation and is severely limited in terms of what it can demonstrate. His approach is based on the idea that the language and context of religious texts are sufficient for their readers to understand them, and that there is no need to use concepts such as analogy.
Abu Muhammad ‘Ali ibn Hazm was born into an important Andalusian family and went on to have a rather tumultuous political career, being imprisoned three times and banished from Cordoba on several occasions. He is best known for his writings on jurisprudence, and also for his charming Tawq al-hamama (The Dove’s Neck Ring), which deals with the concept of love. In it he analyses the concept and differentiates between divine love, which is placed at the highest level, and affection, which is the lowest. Clearly influenced by Plato’s Phaedrus and Symposium, he regards love as the coming together of otherwise incomplete beings (see Plato). Genuine love occurs when the lover sees beneath the surface of the appearance something which presents an idea of his own nature, and thus becomes strongly attracted by it. Weaker forms of affection result when the individual is limited to the form of the appearance, but perceives nothing deeper beyond it (see Love).
Ibn Hazm is the leading exponent of the Zahirite school of jurisprudence. This school adheres to the exoteric or apparent (zahir) meaning of the religious text, in accordance with the principles of grammar, the hadith (traditions) of the Prophet and the consensus (ijma’) of the community. The main opponents of this view are those Muslims who appeal to the esoteric meaning – such as the Isma’ilis, for example – because they think that one needs to look beyond the surface of the text to discover what it really means, and also the philosophers, who insist that reason is a vital means of gaining access to the meaning of scripture. This is more than a dispute about jurisprudence; it affects the understanding of the way in which texts are to be interpreted. Ibn Hazm attacks the notion that one can understand the meaning of a text by using principles such as analogy, as the Mu’tazilites do, to acquire some grasp of the nature of God. The latter argue that we can understand the sifat, the names or qualities of God, by analogy from our understanding of our own characteristics; so, for example, we can grasp what it means for God to be just if we understand what human justice is (see Ash’ariyya and Mu’tazila). According to Ibn Hazm, however, God is a unique being whose qualities cannot be grasped rationally but have to be accepted through faith. There is no objective standard of justice with which God has to concur. He could have obliged us to act in impossible ways, and set out to punish angels and reward the evil. To deny this is to anthropomorphize the concept of God, which is going beyond the nature of the language in Islam about God. The Zahirite uses reason to get an accurate view of the language of the relevant texts and the supplementary hermeneutical material, and stops there (see God, concepts of; Islamic theology).
What role does reason play, then, in Ibn Hazm’s understanding of the meaning of important concepts? Reason is important, and essential in any understanding of the facts. We have to use reason to work out what the facts of a particular situation are, but we cannot use it to identify its ethical or religious character. Within the context of revelation, reason has a role to play, but it is an essentially subsidiary role. In comprehending religious language we have to use reason to interpret the text, but we must be aware of the dangers of overelaborating and departing from the apparent meaning. Sometimes people are impressed with the ability of reason to delve into the mysteries of reality, yet all that emerges are disputes about what texts mean and what the nature of the law is. We can avoid this, according to Ibn Hazm, if we stick to the apparent meaning of the text and maintain the autonomy of God. God can do anything at all, he is absolutely free, and we are very limited in our ability to use reason to encompass him. We can use the laws of logic, Arabic grammar and the evidence of our senses, but that is all.
By the time of his death, Ibn Hazm had succeeded in establishing the Zahiri school of interpretation, which followed his particular approach to hermeneutics and which was solidly within the Asha’rite and Sunni tradition. The most distinguished follower of this form of thought was al-Ghazali, who was clearly heavily influenced by Ibn Hazm.

For those who blame the SAA for shooting at mosques

Al Qaeda Levant aka Free Syrian Army FSA Use A Mosque To Launch

Ghufran
Now that I got you to read about Ibn Hazm.
There are many things about ibn Hazm that you ought to know
He lived in the 11th century in Andalucia, he believed that Quraan tells us that earth is a globe,at his time people believed the earth is flat,based on a statement in Quraan,,يكور الليل و النهار
and the words مد و بسط mean stretch they don’t mean the earth is flat,this idea was long before anyone in europe knew that

He believe Hijab is recommended but not obligatory in Islam.He believed that many Sheikhs interpreted Quraan based on speculations,they deviated from what the words apparantly say

He believed and I agree with him that Qiyas and Ijtihad and socially accepted ideas are only apply to social decisions not part of religion,religion is Quraan and Hadith(verified)

His ancestors were christians converted to Islam, there is a street in Aleppo named after ibn Hazm

You are wrong in saying Ibn Hazm was shallow in his belief, I don’t agree with some of his statements but many people never heared of his ideas that we ought to revisit his books again.

Wow reading the link posted by Ziad @134 takes the lead for today’s unadulterated load of BS of the day.

Get this according to this mysterious Israeli Radio report (I looked for the mysterious report, it must be only visible to those that can read invisible Zionist conspiracy against the rethithtath ink) not only is Saudi Arabia part of the European Union but we are lead to believe $50 Million USD can buy you tanks and heavy artillery, machine guns, anti-tank missiles, ammunitions, communication devices as well as light war vehicles.

As if Saudi Arabia would ever under pay for anything, especially weapons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Yamamah_arms_deal

I am not a religious scholar and I will never be, my main objection to zahirites is their inflexibility and their refusal to adapt. I only endorse religion when it helps to lift the poor, educate the ignorants and free the oppressed. Most zahirites used religion to keep people hostage to beliefs that may not serve the noble goals of freedom, literacy and economic prosperity. Takfiri thinking and blind adherence to fatwas issued by militant sheikhs is a sure way to keep Muslim countries illiterate, oppressed and poor. It also occurred to me that many people like zahirites because they oppose Shia and Ismailis, in that sense zahirites are closer to the Wahhabis than Al-Azhar, and that says a lot.
The best thing the west did was to put religion in its rightful place, Islamists are political animals who never believed in democracy and freedom, that is why they bring failure and destruction to every area they control, the proof is all over the place.
Like most philosophies , zahirism is not pure evil, it is just dead wrong.

Asking for weapons, the SNC gets a pressure to move to Geneva II

Syrian opposition urges US to supply promised weapons quickly

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/07/26/syrian-opposition-urges-us-to-supply-promised-weapons-quickly/

Kerry stressed earlier Thursday that “there is no military solution” to the 2 1/2-year-old civil war.

“There is only a political solution, and that will require leadership in order to bring people to the table,” he said.
….
He said the opposition agreed to work over the next few weeks to pinpoint the conditions under which a new Geneva conference can work.

They believe Geneva “is very important, and we are going to work it out,” Kerry said.

Al-Jarba said he told Kerry “that the coalition fully understands American concerns about extremism and the possible diversion of military assistance.”

“We absolutely condemn all terrorism and all attempts to turn Syria into what it is not, a monotheistic or totalitarian state,” he said. “But we need American direct support to save democracy in Syria and to lead the world to force Assad at last to stand down.”

The coalition delegation is expected to meet informally Friday with the U.N. Security Council.

No more thpathe, need a bigger thafe”

the despicable honoring the honorless

Or as OBSERVER noted, it is all mafia.

May its dreams become reality

dog poop athad’s staying power

Hanging together Soon to be literally.

In conclusion, fea4thonm, dog-poop athad, with its thtaying power, is a butt of jokes for the world. So are its lickers including those double licking nus-lira agents.

Lol, who even reads what Akbar Palace and the other Zionazis write here? Go home, no one gives a damn.

32. Akbar Palace

Freedom of speech? Lol, that’s why you bomb Hamas affiliated press offices and journalists? And call everyone who criticises Israel an “anti-Semite?

Mursi is accused by communicating with Hamas, So Mursi called Hamas leader he committed treason, how absurd such accusation?

To demonstrate peacefully in Egypt is a crime according to Sisi

It is clear the SAA are confident and determined to clear those rebels from every places in Damascus.

Right now is much better time and higher chance to get those places liberated.

The regime let the rebels take over Yarmouk camp last year even though it would pose a serious threat to Damascus for concerns about the support from the refugees and lack of manpower to stop the rebels operations.

Now the SAA are able and ready to take the camp back. But it is still a sensitive issue considering those are Palestinian refugees. It is wise to let PFLP to clean the mess inside the camp, assuming they will be well supported and equipped.

We are witnessing the complete rebel free Damascus probably not long away from now.

Regime Supporters Don’t Like Zionists but They Love Assad NewZ

Wow reading the link posted by Ziad @134 takes the lead for today’s unadulterated load of BS of the day.

Sami,

That’s about all the regime supporters can do is post conspiracy theory from the most unreliable websites. Pretty pathetic.

Hamster,

Keep up the good work. How do you make a text statement also a link??

Lol, who even reads what Akbar Palace and the other Zionazis write here? Go home, no one gives a damn.

Habibi,

Thanks for reading my post. Hopefully you gave me the red thumbs down “badge of courage”! I get MANY of those!

… that’s why you bomb Hamas affiliated press offices …

Let us know when Israel is permitted to defend herself from a foreign country that launches missiles into population centers as much as Assad can defend himself from his own people.

An anti-semite is very easy to spot. This is when people expect MORE from Jews than anyone else. Like self-determination, self-defence, human rights, and other little things like that.

Perhaps if the Syrian people suffered as little as the Palestinians, perhaps, perhaps we’d ALL be praising the worst leader known to Man.

Anyway, let’s see how the peace process works out this time. Maybe Assad will watch the news reports on TV and learn how to lead.

Majedkhaldoun,

How do you think Egypt can get out of this crisis??

Rebel momentum update:

From AJE blog about an hour ago:

Video footage uploaded on Youtube reportedly shows a number of regime troops killed in the western Aleppo district of Khan al-Asal after rebels seized the neighbourhood.

[Video]

**************

From AJE blog about 4 hours ago:

Video uploaded claims to show more tanks and weapons captured by rebels from government ftroops in Aleppo, where opposition forces have reportedly made recent advances.

[Video]

“Sisi fighting terrorists. Assad fighting terrorists. Hell, even Nasrallah is fighting terrorists. Go home, America. We got this.”

Tweet from https://twitter.com/MadeInPali

Akbar Palace
Unfortunately there will be blood spilled

Uzair8
I saw those videos, close to 90 Assad soldiers are dead, I wished they surrendered peacefully, I believe Halab ,possibly,will be completely under rebels control in less than three months,with thousand soldier from SAA will die, I feel bad for their mothers in Qurdaha.

Aleppo, the forgotten city. The people, the heritage. Powerful images of its cruel destruction by Bashar Assad.

Syrian govt. troops gain ground in Homs clashes
July 26, 2013 – 16:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Syrian government troops gained ground in clashes Friday, July 26 in two rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs, edging closer to a historic mosque and closing in on opposition fighters in the area, state TV and activists said, according to The Associated Press.

The advance came amid a wide offensive by President Bashar Assad’s forces, launched in late June, to try to recapture rebel areas in Homs, Syria’s third largest city.

In recent weeks, Assad’s troops have captured several nearby rebel-held areas, including the towns of Qusair and Talkalkh near the border with Lebanon.

State TV said Friday that troops advanced in Homs’ northern neighborhoods of Khaldiyeh and Jouret el-Shayah.

The report said the government forces were getting close to Khaldiyeh’s 13th-century mosque of Khalid Ibn al-Walid, famous for its nine domes and two minarets.

In Damascus, officials said pro-government troops were advancing in battles with rebel forces in the now mostly empty Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp. Clashes in the camp, which has mostly been under rebel control since last year, broke out earlier this week.

Thank you Syrialover, Assad is destroying Syria, it is hard to believe those aircrafts that Syrians paid for by their work are used to kill Syrians and destroy Syria

With hopes of a military reversal dimming away , the opposition urges for a political settlement

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/26/19693438-syrian-opposition-leader-to-kerry-were-desperate-send-arms-quickly?lite

NEW YORK – The head of Syria’s opposition told Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday the country’s situation was “desperate” and called for the United States to arm the rebels quickly and to push harder for a political settlement.
…
“The situation in Syria is desperate. We urgently need American action to push the international community to demand a political transition,” he added. “American leadership and drive is essential to end this war and bring the democracy that the large majority of the Syrian people want.

Face the truth about President Bashar al-Assad: he’s not going

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10202544/Face-the-truth-about-President-Bashar-al-Assad-hes-not-going.html

Regime change in Syria looks very unlikely despite the lengthy civil war. It’s bad news for the region, and for the West
By Con Coughlin

25 Jul 2013

With bitter fighting continuing to afflict large tracts of Syria and an estimated 5,000 people losing their lives each month, predicting the outcome of the country’s brutal civil war might appear somewhat premature. And yet, for all the sacrifices made by rebel fighters during the past two years, the likelihood that the conflict will end with President Bashar al-Assad still clinging to power in Damascus grows stronger by the day.

The resilience of the Assad clan in withstanding the rebels’ desperate attempts to end its 50-year domination of Syria’s political landscape has taken most Western leaders by surprise. This time last year the White House confidently predicted that the regime could only survive for a few more weeks after the president’s brother-in-law and the Syrian defence minister were killed in a bomb attack against the country’s national security headquarters.

Assad’s strength sends waves of fear down his enemies spines.

Erdogan says Turkey will warn Syrian Kurds against ‘wrong steps’
July 26, 2013 – 17:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Turkey’s intelligence agency will warn the head of a Syrian Kurdish group that has seized control of areas of northern Syria near the Turkish border that it is taking “wrong and dangerous” steps, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, July 26, according to Reuters.

“Necessary warnings will be made to them that these steps they are taking are wrong and dangerous,” Erdogan told reporters, as intelligence agents met with the head of Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Istanbul.

Al Nusra and their allies don’t keep prisoners, they execute them and throw them in mass graves

150 Syrian regime forces killed in Khan al-Assal battle: NGO

http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-111153-150-Syrian-regime-forces-killed-in-Khan-al-Assal-battle:-NGO–

More than 50 of those killed were executed by rebels after the fall of Khan al-Assal on Monday, while the rest died fighting for the regime’s last bastion in the west of Aleppo province, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Thirty of those killed in both the executions and fighting were officers, the Observatory said.

Rebels had for months tried to take Khan al-Assal, a strategically located town in the west of Aleppo province.

It finally fell into rebel hands on Monday but fighting continued on its edges the next day, said the Observatory.

Amateur video filmed by rebels and distributed by the Observatory showed the bodies of dozens of regime forces in a building that had been the site of a battle.

“Mass graves for Bashar (al-Assad’s) army,” says one unidentified fighter, referring to the Syrian president, as a cameraman walks through the complex filming the corpses. “These are Assad’s dogs,” the unidentified cameraman adds.
…
“Mass graves for Bashar (al-Assad’s) army,” says one unidentified fighter, referring to the Syrian president, as a cameraman walks through the complex filming the corpses. “These are Assad’s dogs,” the unidentified cameraman adds.

The mainstream rebel Ninth Division claimed responsibility for taking Khan al-Assal in a video statement distributed on Monday.

But footage distributed on Friday by the Observatory said jihadists including Al-Nusra Front were behind the takeover.

Observer may be right about Russia being exhausted from making the regime military look a professional outfit.

Russia (and Iran/Hezbo) are on a losing wicket/pitch here. Only an unlikely Geneva style deal can save them from ending up on the defeated side and the resultant loss of face/reputation. This is gonna go to the bitter end…

SAA
should adapt rebels tactics take no prisoners,whoever captured is executed on spot these animals don’t deserve second chance.
eye for eye its only fair to treat enemies same way they treat you.
Rebels clearly not looking for piece,they just want to wipe out other side completely no wonder losing support of minorities,who want to be ruled by people who issuing stupid fatwas not improving quality of everyday lives
Why is it so important to ban croissants,lipsticks,how women dress.
How about issuing fatwas prohibiting beheading and rapes and suicide bombing,protecting rights of minorities.
Rebels stupidity is mind boggling the minute they win they will be labeled as terrorists by west lol …

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/77451/Egypt/Politics-/UN-decries-growing-antiSyrian-hostility-in-Egypt.aspx

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/77419/Egypt/Politics-/BREAKING-Egypt-court-orders-Morsi-detention-over-H.aspx

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/77421/Egypt/Politics-/Official-sources-Qandil’s-initiative-a-nonstarter-.aspx

Rebel Ramadan momentum update.
If true, the following indicates growing rebel momentum.
A longer version of a tweet retweeted by Amjad of Arabia:

Mark @markito0171
24th July 2013 from TwitLonger

#Syria Numbers of #Assad’s losses since Ramadan starts:

90+ tanks & armoured carrier
3 MIG aircrafts
5 helicopters
~1000 killed regime-forces & mercenaries
~300 captured regime-forces & mercenaries
15 high rank officers killed

Liberalization of more than 7 cities & villages by rebel-forces

The destruction of more than 18 barriers & checkpoints

The first bombing of the barrier at the People’s Palace in #Damascus

The cut of supply lines for the Army in #Idlib, #Homs, #Aleppo

Seized weapons and ammunition in very large quantities

Letter to another dishonest “peace” broker

The heroic ‘partners for peace’

Now let’s meet the lovely people you’re bringing together for these historic ‘negotiations’.

In the Israeli corner we have the thug regime’s pin-up, Tzipi Livni. Her parents were both members of the Irgun, the notorious Jewish terror group. Her father, Eitan, was its chief operations officer. In 1946 the Irgun blew up the King David Hotel, Jerusalem, which housed the British mandate administration, murdering 91. She served in a Mossad unit and became a member of the Knesset in 1999. As Israeli foreign minister she was responsible for the slaughter and maiming of thousands, including women and children, when she launched Operation Cast Lead against the overcrowded civilians of the tiny sealed-off enclave of Gaza. Tzipi Livni is up to her pretty neck in Palestinian blood and shredded body-parts.

In the Palestinian corner we have one of President Abbas’s closest aides, Saeb Erekat. He’s their chief negotiator and has occupied that vitally important position for 20 years, during which he has achieved… well, what? He must be the most unsuccessful negotiator on the planet. Why is he still there? We know perfectly well why. He’s a loser and can be relied on to fail.

In the background is the Israeli prime minister Netanyahu, a menace to his own nation and the whole civilized world. The best place for him is a padded cell.

Facing him, but quite possibly skipping around hand-in-hand with enemy when off-camera, is the obnoxious quisling Abbas. As everyone knows, this ‘grey suit’ is living a privileged life on borrowed time. His term as Palestinian President officially expired in January 2009, but the western-backed parasite has clung like dried excrement to power.

http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2013/07/24/225177-letter-to-another-dishonest-peace-broker/

#153 Uzair8

I am sick and tired of watching videos of dead bodies, on both sides, with the camera men rejoicing and celebrating. A day or two later, the bodies of these dead men will be carried in boxes and celebrated as “martyrs” by their families and supporters. What a vicious cycle Syria finds itself in.

If you are a regime supporter, your side’s victims are martyrs and the others are terrorists. If you are a revolution supporter, victims on your side are martyrs and the others are thugs and murderers. Have we forgotten that all of theses victims, at the end of the day, are Syrians and human beings?

Two generations of the Syrian society have grown up under the corrupt sectarian Baathist regime, which planted the seeds of disaster we are witnessing today. The sharp division and hatred, on both sides, can only be blamed on failed policies over the past 50 years at all levels: political, economical, educational, etc. Unfortunately, the next generation is now growing up in an environment of war, feat, hatred, and revenge seeking. Another lost generation.

The result is that Syria has lost a century in its evolution as a nation. And we live in a time when every day matters. It is a tragedy. We may soon realize that North Korea is faring better than Syria.

Hopeful I don’t consider people who blow up civilians in suicide bombing attacks human beings. They’re animals. All the emotional speeches in the world won’t change that.

Uzair if only Twitter was the real world instead of an online fantasy world filled with dreamers and frauds.

This Muslim Brotherhood stooge was going to get rid of Assad? LOL

Mursi accused of murder, kidnapping before rival rallies
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/26/Egypt-s-prosecutor-orders-Mursi-be-held-over-Hamas-ties-MENA-reports.html

The Egyptian state prosecutor ordered that ousted Islamist President Mohammad Mursi be detained for 15 days for questioning on charges of collaborating with Palestinian militant group Hamas, official MENA news agency reported on Friday.

Mursi will be asked on whether he worked with Hamas in attacks on police stations and prison breaks in early 2011, during which the Islamist and other political inmates escaped during the revolt against strongman Hosni Mubarak, it added.

The rebels are crumbling in central and south. And they are ferociously trying to establish their “kingdom” around Aleppo. SAA in the north need to further contract their ground force. Meanwhile, to launch more air strikes. I think the loss of Khan al-Asal is a mistake.

SAA need to preserve forces in the north. Let the rebels make their “gains” over there while continue their infighting and clash with Kurds. SAA can also adapt guerrilla tactics to disrupt their strategic goals.

After secure Homs, SAA can steadily advance to the north and sandwich the rebels in the southern part of Aleppo with the remaining force.

On the south, Deraa must stay as an open field for SAA to prevent attempts from the rebels to set up supply lines or bases while Damascus is undergoing house clean operations.

Revenir=RA
Are you supporter of Mubarak?

Some great stuff from Ziad:
http://syrianperspective.blogspot.com/2013/07/first-post-july-26-2013-john-mccain.html

FIRST POST – JULY 26, 2013 – JOHN MCCAIN EXPOSED AS LIAR AND AGENT OF ZIONISM BY VETERANS; SYRIAN ARMY GORES OBAMA’S CANNIBALS IN ALEPPO; COUNTER-OFFENSIVE IN KHAN AL-ASAL; HOMS IS SCENE OF MASS SURRENDER TO SYRIAN ARMY; YARMOUK CAMP IS OBAMA’S LAST HURRAH IN DAMASCUS; NEWS AND CLIPS AND PROPAGANDA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA VETERANS: JOHN MCCAIN IS EXPOSED AS A LIAR, FABRICATOR AND STOOGE OF ZIONISM. READ THIS ARTICLE AND KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS FILTHY DEGENERATE:

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/07/26/israeli-hoax-on-gen-dempsey-unmasked/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=israeli-hoax-on-gen-dempsey-unmasked

No oilfields, no farming, no industry, no tourism, huge military spending, and responsibility to pay everyone salary with crumbling reserve.

Even if Damacus suburbs are totally controlled by the regime, Let’s see how long the regime can survive on charity.

Al-Qaeda hosts a family fair in Syria, complete with ice cream and jihad

The event was hosted by two al-Qaeda-allied groups: Jabhat al-Nusra, an extremist Syrian rebel group, and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which is based in Iraq and claimed responsibility for a recent jailbreak that freed hundreds of insurgents there. The groups have earned a reputation for fearsome fighting against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, but also for their severe rule over areas under their control. According to Syrian rights groups, Jabhat al-Nusra recently executed a 14-year-old boy in Aleppo for referencing the prophet Muhammad in a manner they deemed disrespectful.

The groups appear to be hoping that they can clean up their image and make friends with regular Syrians by, for example, hosting this Ramadan family fair. It’s a way to build support — regular Syrians are suffering terribly in the fighting, with food scarce and work virtually nonexistent — and to show that the groups can do things with young people other than shoot them. According to the Independent’s story on the Aleppo fair, here a few of the very creepy-sounding events:

• An ice-cream-eating contest for boys. A video of the contest, since deleted, showed Islamic State jihadist flags hanging in the background.

• A Koran recitation contest for girls.

• A tug of war between Jabhat al-Nusra and Islamic State members, video of which has also since been removed from YouTube

• Distribution of pamphlets, flags and “other propaganda-type products” meant to promote jihadism, according to a terrorism analyst who spoke to the Independent.

• Distribution of food, most importantly bread.

And you can bet there was some preaching as well.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/07/25/al-qaeda-hosts-a-family-fair-in-syria-complete-with-ice-cream-and-jihad/

أعلن في هذا البيان انشقاقي عن العائلة الحاكمة ودعمي لكل التيارات الإصلاحية وعلى رأسها حركة الإصلاح

khaled Farhan AlSaud

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: A one-man propaganda cell for FSA-Nusra terrorists

http://lubpak.com/archives/276933#

My guess is Assad can survive forever with things like this. Life goes on in Syria. People marry, the have children, go to uni, divorce, etc. etc. etc.

There is a war but that won’t last forever either.

Syrians have no taste for the rebels. They hate them.

Do as I say, not as I do NewZ

Does anybody know why pro-regime gunmen are going into Palestinian refugee camps?

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/77456/World/Region/Fighting-in-Palestinian-refugee-camp-in-Syria.aspx

There is a war but that won’t last forever either.

Reverse,

I thought you said Assad won the war. I must have misinterpreted what you said. About how much longer do you suppose this war will last considering the military superiority of the heroic Syrian Army?

Turkey’s Options in Syria: Stable Kurdish Self-Rule or Jihadist cannibals Enclave?

Turkey’a unease over armed Kurdish fighters just across the border in Syria has been turning into alarm, especially after the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) recently routed the radical Islamic Jabhat al-Nusrah in Serekaniye, and recaptured the Kurdish border town.

Hours after the fierce fighting for Serekaniye (also known as Ras al-Ayn), YPG fighters showed reporters passports seized from Islamist guerrillas, noting they had traveled through Turkish airports on different passports, including American and of several Arab countries.

It goes without saying that, from the beginning of the Syrian uprising more than two years ago, Turkey’s Islamist government — the Justice and Development Party (AKP) — has facilitated the arrival of jihadist fighters from across the Muslim world, and supplied them with weapons and field hospitals.

Turkey’s unease turned to alarm on July 19, when officials of the dominant but controversial Democratic Union Party (PYD) announced their intention of declaring autonomy.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmed Davutoglu immediately reacted, saying: “It’s not possible to accept any de facto declaration of an autonomous entity in Syria, and that could only lead to further crisis.”

On the other hand, since the Kurdish fighters have been gaining strength in Syria in the face of Arab rebels, the Turkish army has been building up its presence with heavy weaponry at the border. Its unmanned drones scan the area.

This is not the first time Turkey reacts to events in the PYD-controlled areas of Syria.

Ankara is deeply suspicious over the PYD’s close ties to the militant and outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. The PYD is accused of surreptitious ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and holds sway over most of Syria’s Kurdish regions.

Turkey has already warned that, although it did not react when Iraqi Kurds declared autonomy, Ankara would not just stand by if Syrian Kurds made a similar bid.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists in December that, “Should a similar development take place (in Syria), we would react differently than how we did in the case of Iraq.”

Though the Turkish military has beefed up border forces and gone on alert in response to Kurdish developments in Syria, it did not react similarly when fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Al-Qaeda affiliates controlled the area until several weeks ago.

It is important to ask if Turkey’s fears of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syria are really justified. Is it foreign Islamist fighters that pose a threat to Syrian stability, or is it a Kurdish free enclave that threatens the region?

http://rudaw.net/english/opinion/250720131

Akbar,Dawoud,Majed
did you wonder why
Do you know why Arab world treats Sunni Palestinians as shet,as second class citizens there?Oppressing them denying simple human rights/and citizenship. Why are they living in refugee camps in Jordan many other countries?
As second class citizens in all their countries don’t want to help their brothers? They are being persecuted as if they were Lepers, by their Muslim brothers ?
For 60 years you guys crying don’t move finger to help them what kind of BS hypocrisy is that?
Most likely they being used in Arab world as political cards by politicians in their own interests
Are we here to believe that foreign jihad-is coming to help oppressed people ,when for 60 years they don’t thing for Sunni Palestinians?
Are they like subhumans or something Syrians Sunni other around the world somehow better ?

169. Hopeful said:

We may soon realize that North Korea is faring better than Syria.

North Korea doesn’t have the apartheid Israeli regime on it’s border, funding, plotting, arming and supporting mercenary islamist death squads, crossing it’s borders daily from countries run by war criminal regimes, supported by the wealthiest western and Arab slaves of Israel.

You are an Israeli HOPEFUL, you should understand what I’m talking about

183. ilya said:

Good point ILYA. How come those brave Arabs, Turks and their Western backers never ask for a NO FLY ZONE over PALESTINE?!

I say it’s their cowardly nature if you ask me.

Speaking of NO FLY ZONES. How’s your NO FLY ZONE coming MAJEDKHALDOUN?!

151. Akbar Palace said:

That’s about all the regime supporters can do is post conspiracy theory from the most unreliable websites. Pretty pathetic.

You are the PATHETIC paid representative of the Israeli apartheid regime here. Syria’s government is not a REGIME, and honest Syrians are exposing your Israeli regime AGENDA in Syria not conspiracy therories. Any website that reports the truth and doesn’t fall under Israeli control is a RELIABLE website.

_________

Thanks for reading my post. Hopefully you gave me the red thumbs down “badge of courage”! I get MANY of those!

A “badge of courage”!!! for your information thumbs down by the readers of this blog is a badge of mediocerty. Too bad I’m not your boss, I would’ve fired you long time ago.

An Israeli dispensing advice to Syrians and collecting Badges Of Courage 😀 😀

L’achaim

167. Uzair8 said:

Rebel Ramadan momentum update. If true,

IF TRUE, a BIG “IF” if you ask me, but you post it anyway!!!

________

retweeted by Amjad of Arabia.

Tweeter and Amjad of Arabia are your reliable sources!!!

If true, then how come your reliable Israeli controled Western media is not reporting it?!!!

________

The truth is, UZAIR8 from Israel, your death squads are loosing big in Syria

You can tweet and retweet like a tweety bird but you’ll not succeed at changing the hearts and minds of brave Syrians fighting this modern day Mongol invasion.

Ilya said,

Do you know why Arab world treats Sunni Palestinians as shet,as second class citizens there?

Ilya,

There are a number of reasons why the arab world treat sunni Palestinians as Shiite, second class citizens.

1.) Arab despot leaders want to keep the arab-israeli conflict festering so they can use these hate-filled and brainwashed victims as walking timebombs or soldiers in terrorist organizations. A quiet and peaceful palestinian refugee is of no use to a professional muqawamista.

2.) Even though arab-israelis have more rights than arabs anywhere else in the ME (like Syria), uneducated arabs need to feel that Israel is an Apartheid State.

Basically, the Palestinians fill a void so that arabs can blame someone else for their failures. Can you imagine a settlement of the arab-israeli conflict? I can’t. Too many people would be out of a job like Nus-lira and Norman Finkelstein.

Hopeful tells it like it is! He must be a Zionist;-)

#170 Rev, I am not talking about the suiside bomb murderers either. I am talking about the majority of fighters, on both sides, who believe they are fighting for a just cause. They are all victims of the failed policies of the corrupt, unethical, brutal, and sectarian regime that ruled Syria in the past 50 years.

#184 Amal, so typical of regime supporters to blame others for everything they are doing wrong. You think I am an Israeli because I dare to speak my mind? BTW, Israel is surrounded by enemies who want its destruction and keep plotting against it. How come it has a flourishing economy, a successful democracy, and its army is not bombing its cities? Perhaps the Syrian regime can learn a lesson or two from its supposed enemy across the boarder? Or is it a disgrace to learn from your enemies in the Baathists’ book of goverment?

From AJE blog about an hour ago:

At least 150 Syrian regime forces have been killed in Khan al-Assal, a town in Aleppo province at the centre of an alleged chemical weapons strike, monitors said.

[…]

********

Can the regime sustain such losses on a regular basis?

Imagine if these were Hezbo casualties confirmed on video? Imagine the shockwave amongst Hezbo ranks and in Lebanon? Hezbo families would call for withdrawal. Hezbo couldn’t sustain such losses.

People like this makes one wonders about his own selfish life..

http://www.channel4.com/news/syria-rebels-jihad-british-foreign-assad

Relations with Turkey must be improving. Israel has finally been cleared of spying – with a bird.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/turkey/10203935/Turkey-clears-bird-of-spying-for-Israel.html

Pressure is building on the Syrian opposition to drop their conditions and accept to participate in Geneva II. After Hollande, the UNSC gave them the same message: Forget about a military solution in your favor. You better accept Geneva II before it’s too late.

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/world/Syria-coalition-meets-UN-Security-Council/-/1068/1927774/-/ng9087/-/index.html

Leaders of the Syrian National Coalition on Friday held informal talks with the UN Security Council about their political and military objectives.

A delegation led by new coalition president Ahmad Jarba met ambassadors from the 15-nation council, including envoys from Russia, the main backer of President Bashar al-Assad, and from the United States, Britain and France, which are considering arming the rebels.
Western nations are pressing the opposition delegation to be more open to political talks on settling the war, which the UN says has left more than 100,000 dead.

“The council’s message is simple, there is no military solution,” said France’s UN ambassador Gerard Araud as he went into the meeting.

Syria rebels meet U.N. Security Council, urge Russia to end Assad support

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/26/us-syria-crisis-un-idUSBRE96P11220130726

“We asked them (Russia) to stop providing the political and military support for this criminal regime to continue its crimes against the Syrian people,” senior Syrian National Coalition member Najib Ghadbian told reporters after the meeting.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin described the meeting in New York as “useful” and said it was up to the international community to bring both sides together to “stop this nonsense of endless bloodshed.”
..
The opposition delegation, which included Burhan Ghalioun and Michel Kilo, appealed to the Security Council to pressure Assad to commit to the creation of a transitional government with full executive powers that would not include him.

Jarba said that once Assad “makes this commitment we (the opposition) are ready to go to Geneva” for the peace conference.

The opposition also appealed for government forces to at least stop using heavy weapons ahead of any Geneva conference. “It does not mean to stop the war because we know that Bashar al-Assad will not agree to a ceasefire,” Ghalioun said.
..
British U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said Jarba made “a very strong statement of commitment of the unity of Syria, to democracy and to plurality” and condemned extremism and rejected terrorism.

“I think members of the Security Council will have been encouraged by the commitment shown by the opposition. It remains to be seen whether the regime is equally committed,” he said.

That’s laughable. Which party is the one that has refused to come to negotiations? ?

Syria coalition demands UN step up pressure on Assad
27 Jul 2013 5:52 AM

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/syria-coalition-demands/757848.html

The main Syrian opposition on Friday called on the UN Security Council to put greater “international pressure” on President Bashar al-Assad to come to negotiations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqYBSwzrSr8&feature=share&list=UUPc81ZlrBtR6OYJBlsscJZQ

http://www.youtube.com/user/salimmhannachannel

http://moderntokyotimes.com/2013/07/26/egypt-tunisia-and-syria-muslim-brotherhood-politician-killed-in-tunisia-and-danger-of-ghannouchi/

The opposition has not yet understood that they have become beggars and beggars can’t be choosers. By putting pre-conditions on attending Geneva II conference that would bring a ceasefire, they bear the responsibility for the all the death and suffering of the Syrians.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/26/syrian-troops-advance-in-central-city/2591003/

In New York, the Western-backed Syrian National Coalition told the U.N. Security Council it is ready to attend a peace conference if the Syrian government commits to having Assad hand over power to a transitional government.

The United States, which supports the opposition, and Russia, which supports the Assad government, are trying to convene a new conference in Geneva to try to get both sides to implement a plan adopted in the Swiss city a year ago. It calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body vested with full executive powers.

However, the demand that Assad relinquish power has halted the talks. Ahmed al-Jarba, president of the Syrian National Coalition, later said that if Assad doesn’t hand over power, “the regime will never step down, and its violent repression will continue.”

Territorial divisions are deepening, regardless of regime and rebel advances

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21582319-territorial-divisions-are-deepening-regardless-regime-and-rebel-advances

..
Syria as a country has ceased to exist. Different parts of it apply different legal systems, ranging from old national laws to sharia or no law at all. Economies are localised and reliant on new business linked to the war. Different flags fly over administrative buildings—where they still exist.

Jarba’s naive fantasies on display at the UNSC

Syrian opposition ready for peace talks if Assad gives up power
27 July 2013, 00:07 (GMT+05:00)
http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/2174593.html

Syrian opposition groups stand ready for peace talks with Damascus if President Bashar al-Assad would transfer all executive power to a transitional body, their leader said Friday, dpa reported.

Ahmad al-Jabar, president of the Syrian National Coalition, said in New York that the United Nations Security Council should demand all Syrian parties accept a national transitional government with full executive authorty including military and security matters.

“The Security (Council) must explicitly require this of all participants,” al-Jabar said.

He said the 15-nation council should impose targeted sanctions against Damascus if it rejects a transition.

Al-Jabar said he would take part in peace talks in Geneva if Damascus “explicitly” would transfer all authority to the transitional body. A conference last year in Geneva called for a political and democratic transition to end the conflict, which arose after a bloody regime crackdown on pro-reform demonstrations in early 2011.

“The situation in Syria is desperate,” al-Jabar said. “The Syrian people are calling for peace and democracy. We need more international pressure to force the Assad regime to accept a transition regime.”

U.S. testing rebel supply lines ahead of sending arms

WASHINGTON: The United States has quietly been testing the Syrian opposition’s ability to deliver food rations, medical kits and money to rebel-held areas as Washington prepares to send arms to the rebel fighters. U.S. officials meet weekly in Turkey with Syrian opposition leaders to work out how best to keep supply lines open to rebel fighters and war-ravaged towns and districts.

One of the Syrian opposition’s best-known female leaders, Suhair al-Atassi, attends the meetings as coordinator of the “nonlethal” aid that includes equipment for rebel fighters and local councils, as opposed to humanitarian aid for the displaced.

Supplies are handed to officers of the moderate Free Syrian Army at clandestine locations that cannot be divulged for security reasons.

“I sign the paperwork, and shake the hands of the FSA official,” said a U.S. State Department official involved in the effort. “I wish them well and walk away.”
#

The United States has committed $250 million in nonlethal aid to Syria in addition to the $815 million in humanitarian assistance in support of the rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s forces.

Recently, Washington began scaling up its assistance to bigger items like trucks, radios, large generators and sophisticated medical equipment.
~

France also sends supplies to the rebels, including envelopes stuffed with money handed over at the border.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jul-27/225223-us-testing-rebel-supply-lines-ahead-of-sending-arms.ashx

“Jihadi groups now recruit for Syrian Islamist armed groups in many countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as shown by pictures of passports from Islamist insurgents found in Syria”

Al-Qaeda’s Iraqi jailbreak may have Syrian consequences

Syria is the obvious destination for the hundreds of jihadis now on the run

The escape of dozens of high-level al-Qaeda members from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq last Sunday may have far-reaching consequences in next-door Syria, say analysts.

Responsibility for the attack on the infamous prison, which left 10 policemen dead, was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda affiliate in the country.

Iraqi officials said about 800 inmates escaped from Abu Ghraib but 400 have been captured or killed. Among them are hundreds of al-Qaeda fighters, including numerous leading members of the Islamic State in Iraq still thought to be on the run in one of the most daring assaults on Iraqi security since the 2003 invasion.

In Syria, the al-Qaeda-linked Isis has bloomed in recent months. It has taken over partial leadership of the most successful Syrian jihadi group, Jabhat al-Nusra, and has been fighting Kurdish militant groups for more than a week.

All of which means that for the hundreds of jihadis now on the run since Sunday Syria is the obvious destination.

The growth of jihadi activity has also emboldened the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, which claimed from the beginning of protests in March 2011 to be fighting back against extremists and “terrorists”.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an analyst with the Washington DC-based Jamestown Foundation, said Syria would increasingly become a fertile ground for al-Qaeda activity due to the breakdown of the central state in Syria and the ongoing civil war.

“Jihadi groups now recruit for Syrian Islamist armed groups in many countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as shown by pictures of passports from Islamist insurgents found in Syria,” he said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/al-qaeda-s-iraqi-jailbreak-may-have-syrian-consequences-1.1476331

187. Amal

You may have a point..I guess.

I suppose it’s a bit like citing Syrian Perspective.

I may look into it and see what I can do to avoid such occurrence.

Syrian troops target terrorist dens in Aleppo, Damascus

DAMASCUS Syrian army continued its operations in Aleppo on Friday and units of the armed forces targeted dens for terrorist groups linked to Al Nusra in several neighbourhoods in the city and towns and villages in the countryside.

The army units continued chasing terrorists in Al Rashidin neighbourhood in the city and killed many of them, Sana said.

Other army units foiled attempts by armed terrorist groups to infiltrate into safe areas in Al Lairamoun, Al Khalidiyeh, Salah Eddin and Al Amiriyeh. The terrorists’ weapons were destroyed.

The army also destroyed gatherings for Al Nusra terrorists, along with their weapons and equipment, in Kafr Dael and the surrounding of Aleppo Central Prison in the northern countryside.

All members of armed terrorist groups were killed and injured in Einjareh area in the western countryside of Aleppo. In the southwestern countryside, army units eliminated terrorists who were stationed at al-Asfari building and the Journalists Association’s building in Khan Al Assal area.

A terrorists’ den in Al Sheikh Saeed area in the southern countryside was also destroyed.

In Aleppo city, a unit of the armed forces destroyed a den for Al Nusra-linked terrorist groups’ leaders in the Industrial City in Al Sheikh Najjar neighbourhood. All terrorists inside the den were killed, and others were injured.

Units of the armed forces carried out operations against terrorists’ dens and gatherings in Damascus and its Countryside, inflicting heavy losses upon them.

The army units destroyed a terrorists’ den to the south of Publications Department Building in Barzeh neighborhood in Damascus and killed all terrorists inside it, while another army unit killed 3 other terrorists to the southeast of Tishrin Hospital, Sana said.

Foreign and Expatriates Ministry on Thursday sent two identical letters to the UN Secretary General and President of the Security Council on the terrorist explosion which took place in Jaramana, Damascus countryside on Wednesday.

http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=149201&heading=Other%20Top%20Stories

Syrian troops advance in central city

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian government troops gained ground in clashes Friday in two rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs, edging closer to a historic mosque and closing in on opposition fighters in the area, state television and activists said.

State TV said Friday that troops advanced in Homs’ northern neighborhoods of Khaldiyeh and Jouret el-Shayah.

The report said the government forces were getting close to Khaldiyeh’s 13th-century mosque of Khalid Ibn al-Walid, famous for its nine domes and two minarets. On Monday, government troops shelled the mosque, damaging the tomb of Ibn al-Walid, a revered figure in Islam.

An activist in the city who only identified himself as Abu Bilal for fear of government reprisals said the troops were now about 50 meters (yards) from the mosque. “Resistance cannot stand up to tanks, warplanes and mortars,” Abu Bilal said, speaking from the city via Skype.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Syrian-troops-advance-in-central-city-4688303.php

30 minutes of recorded phone calls were used to justify the arrest of Morsi and other MB leaders:
أمر النائب العام المستشار هشام بركات بحبس الرئيس السابق محمد مرسي15 يوما علي ذمة التحقيق في عدة اتهامات يأتي في مقدمتها التخابر والتحريض علي العنف وإشاعة الفوضي. وكان النائب العام قد استمع أمس الأول إلي تسجيلات لأربع مكالمات هاتفية أجراها الرئيس السابق مع كل من الإدارة الأمريكية ممثلة في الرئاسة, والمرشد العام لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين الدكتور محمد بديع, ونجل الرئيس’ أحمد’ الذي كان موجودا في تركيا, وحركة حماس, وجميعها كانت بإذن من النيابة.
وقد جاءت هذه الاتصالات قبل ساعات قليلة من قيام الفريق أول عبدالفتاح السيسي وزير الدفاع بإعلان خارطة المستقبل في الساعة التاسعة من مساء يوم الأربعاء7/3 بحضور كل من الدكتور أحمد الطيب شيخ الأزهر, والبابا تواضروس الثاني بابا الإسكندرية, والدكتور محمد البرادعي.
وقد طلب الرئيس السابق خلال اتصاله مع الإدارة الأمريكية تدخلا عسكريا لحماية نظام حكمه, كما طلب من المرشد العام إصدار توجيهات بإشاعة العنف والفوضي, بينما طلب من حركة حماس دعم العنف في سيناء.
وفي ختام المكالمات التي استغرقت نحو30 دقيقة, وهي الفترة التي طلبها الرئيس كي يجري اتصالاته, دخل الفريق أول السيسي, وأخبر الرئيس أن هذه الاتصالات تم تسجيلها بأمر من النيابة, وأنها أربعة اتصالات محورها التخابر والدعوة إلي العنف, وتم وضع الرئيس تحت التحفظ, بدءا من هذه اللحظة, واستعاد الفريق أول السيسي هاتفه الذي كان قد منحه للرئيس لإجراء اتصالاته, حيث كانت الاتصالات قد منعت عنه منذ اللحظة التي عرض عليه فيها الفريق أول السيسي التنحي أو الإقالة, إلي أن تم وضعه وزوجته واثنين من أبنائه تحت الإقامة الجبرية بأحد المواقع التابعة للقوات المسلحة.
I wonder if the recordings will be made public, particularly the part involving US officials.
If the US changes its ambassador to Egypt, people will conclude that the lady in charge of USA embassy in Cairo goofed up.

Soldiers’ Mass Execution Reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Islamist extremists in Syria’s insurgency killed 150 soldiers in a battle for control of an Aleppo suburb this week, including 51 who were executed after they had surrendered, according to a Syrian monitoring group that has been chronicling casualties and evidence of atrocities.

The group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which sympathizes with the opposition and reports daily tallies of combat and violence from a network of contacts on the ground in Syria, corroborated its assertion on Friday with a video posted on the Internet.

The video, dated Wednesday,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uybCuEJgMbE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUe8Oq8zs3vcIJPbxOEARkMw

showed what appeared to be an execution ground, with dozens of lifeless bodies clumped against a wall pockmarked with bullet holes. The video’s authenticity could not be independently confirmed, but Rami Abdulrahman, the Syrian Observatory founder, quoted witnesses as saying 51 soldiers taken prisoner were later shot. Among the total who had surrendered, he said, “very few were taken hostage.”

Mr. Abdulrahman said the killers were members of the Nusra Front and Ansar al-Khalafa al-Islamiya Brigade, among the many jihadist groups, some affiliated with Al Qaeda and populated with foreign fighters, that have entered Syria to join the insurgency battling the forces of President Bashar al-Assad in the conflict, now in its third year.

If his assertions are confirmed, the killings would rank among the worst mass executions carried out by the rebel side and could aggravate the image problems for the coalition of insurgent forces, which are already riven by internal conflict and have been losing territory to Mr. Assad’s side in recent weeks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/27/world/middleeast/soldiers-mass-execution-reported-by-syria-group.html?_r=0

ابو عثمان العراقي أمير جبهة النصرة في مدينة السخنة بمحافظة حمص

تعذيب مواطن على يد كتيبة صدام حسين في حي طريق الباب بحلب

Ameera

Have you watchedحريم السلطان ? 

The actions of islamist rebels in khan al-Asal is the latest reminder of why those groups can not be part of any negotiated settlement in the future, notice the lack of any condemnation of the war crime in that area by the same people and governments who have been lecturing us about the ” ethics of war” and respect of human rights.
The likely response of the army will be a violent campaign to retaliate, when that happens we are sure to start hearing voices of condemnation.
It is a vicious cycle that does not have an end in sight, too much for achieving a “balance” on the ground !!
One of the soldiers in that execution field was pictured making a victory sign, the sad truth is that there will be no victors in Syria, only losers and victims.
The loss of khan alasal is not a good start for a new military ” leadership” in Aleppo, it is also likely to increase resentment among army families. The list of victims is available on the net, half of the officers killed were from coastal areas, but the list included people from all over Syria.

The end of Morsi as Egypt ‘president’ and the Moslem Brotherhood as a political force seems confirmed by millions of people in the street.

Egypt sees massive pro-military rallies, Islamists remain defiant

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/77438/Egypt/Politics-/UPDATE–Egypt-sees-massive-promilitary-rallies,-Is.aspx

Millions mobilised across Egypt in response to calls by military; hundreds of thousands keep voicing support for ousted president Morsi; seven killed mainly in clashes; President Mansour calls on Morsi’s loyalists to end sit-ins

“It’s a wonderful day. We lost a year of Egypt under Mohamed Morsi who only brought us injustice; he destroyed tourism, the media, and the economy,” protester Khaled Mostafa, an employee in the justice ministry, told Ahram Online.

“We were pleased with the announcement this morning that Morsi was being detained. We believe all the Muslim Brotherhood cronies should be locked up forever including [Mohamed] El-Beltagy, Essam El-Erian, Hafez, all of them,” he added.

In a largerly festive atmosphere, flag-waving Egyptians chanted pro-army slogans and car drivers honked their horns in many parts of Cairo, including the upscale districts of Mohandessin and Zamalek.

Tahrir and Ittihadeya palace, which is located in Cairo’s Heliopolis district, were filled with enthusiastic demonstrators who aimed to support the army in its tug-of-war with the faltering Brotherhood.

Palestinians are joining the SAA in “cleansing” Yarmouk from the “terrorists gangs”

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/77456/World/Region/Fighting-in-Palestinian-refugee-camp-in-Syria.aspx

Officials say pro-government gunmen are advancing in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus.

Fighting in the camp broke out earlier this week. It has been mostly under rebel control since late last year.

Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said Friday the Palestinian Popular Committees want to “cleanse” the camp of “terrorist gangs.”

The PFLP-GC is close the Syrian government.

Khaled Abdul-Majid of the Popular Struggle Front, another pro-government faction, said Popular Committees have captured nearly a third of the mostly empty camp. Thousands of refugees have fled.

Since the start of the unrest, Syria’s half-million Palestinians have struggled to remain on the sidelines.

Still, some young Palestinian refugees have joined the rebels in the fight against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

I see massive demonstrations with Morsi and I also see massive demonstration against him. I do not know what to believe. Is the majority of Egyptians with or against?

Analysis: Setbacks to bring quieter Qatar foreign policy but no U-turn

Under Tamim’s father Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Qatar lent Egypt more than $7 billion during Mursi’s year in power, which ended when the army detained the president.

Doha had placed a bet on the Muslim Brotherhood, said Nuseibeh, and for the Qatari state “it is very difficult to go back now, even if some of their advisers would like them to”.

“Dropping the Muslim Brotherhood would obliterate their popularity with the pro-Brotherhood camp in the Arab world. They have taken a gamble and they hope that it might pay off at some point in the future,” he said.

Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal analyst at Maplecroft, a political risk consultancy based in London, said Qatar “will likely scale back its adventurous foreign policy, but I wouldn’t expect them to abandon it altogether”.

“It will still be important for them to maintain an independent policy, to distinguish themselves from Saudi Arabia,” he said.

He emphasized that shipments of any weapons to the Syrian people ought to be coordinated with the international community.

The idea that Qatar might scale back its alliance with Islamists gained further ground after Sheikh Tamim’s June 26 accession speech. Although he said the country would not “take direction” from anyone, his 15-minute address focused on domestic issues and made no mention of the Syrian conflict.

Gauging opinion in a conservative society that guards it privacy is not easy, but there are signs that Qataris would not be disappointed by a less activist foreign policy.

A source close to the ruling family said many of Qatar’s citizens expected it would eventually play a quieter role in foreign affairs. “The average person just wants to lead a quiet life. Qatar is a small country and we had no business getting ourselves roped into all of this outside activity,” the source said.

http://news.terra.com/analysis-setbacks-to-bring-quieter-qatar-foreign-policy-but-no-u-turn,fc4c0c67e8610410VgnCLD2000000ec6eb0aRCRD.html

Syrian Opposition in Closed-Door, For-Pay Briefing with UNCA: Questions of Legitimacy

Q: Do you feel you’re any closer after these meetings to Geneva 2? What are the obstacles?

Burhan Ghalioun: We believe that this meeting gave a momentum to Geneva again.

And we are very happy to hear that our allies are in fact committed — that they are committed for in fact supporting us.

We see the obstacles is the regime’s commitment, in fact, to Geneva 1, so if they’re willing to implement Geneva 1 literally, there is a prospect for a negotiation.

Q: Russia says government is ready to go to Geneva and the problem lies with opposition. Are you ready? What was the response of Sec Kerry to your request for weapons quickly?

Ahmad al-Jarba: The first question about Russia when they said the regime is ready to go to Geneva, so the regime made a lot of statements that he’s saying there is no transitional government with full executive authority and even we have some information that even the Russians, they are involved in this to keep the military and intelligence outside of any negotiations and as I mentioned it was from the body of the Geneva 1 with the government with full authority when they cleared these points and they make this commitment we are ready to go to Geneva.

So we think that the American administration actually the way that they look to the Syrian revolution it’s better to the Syrian crisis. Maybe they are moving slowly but they still good and as you all know that General Dempsey and so the congress member that they had that they had a new position from the arm– arm the Free Syrian Army. And we think it’s very important point and we talk about all these cases with Secretary Kerry. And we agreed that there’s another meetings will be in future to talk about all the cases again.

WOW!

Assad opponents see U.S. distancing itself from their goals in Syria

WASHINGTON — Syrian opposition leaders say there’s just one way to interpret the U.S. stalling on promised military aid at a time when rebels are losing ground to forces loyal to President Bashar Assad: Goodbye, and good luck.

“The longer the international community takes to do something, the crisis and the extremism and the chaos on the ground intensifies,” said Mariam Jalabi, a spokeswoman for the visiting Syrian leaders. “We feel the international community pulling its hand out says, ‘You’re on your own.’”

Senior leaders of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, the group the United States has recognized as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, traveled to New York for meetings Thursday with United Nations officials.

But they won’t be stopping in Washington; they weren’t invited to meet with Obama administration officials here. They finagled a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry only because he was in New York on other business.

Idriss, the U.S.-backed rebel leader who now refers snidely to his “American friends,” chose to skip the visit to New York, in large part because he predicted it would be a waste of time.

“He doesn’t feel like the Americans are as willing to fully support the opposition in ways that would make that trip worth it to him,” said Elizabeth O’Bagy, a researcher of Syrian rebel groups who’s in daily contact with Idriss and who does contract work on State Department programs for Syria.

The State Department release on the meeting made no mention of weapons, saying only that “they agreed that a political solution is the best path forward.”

There is little appetite among Americans for greater U.S. entanglement in Syria. A Gallup Poll last month showed 54 percent of Americans opposed to the Obama administration’s plan to provide aid to the rebels. U.S. diplomats fume about the inability of opposition figures to agree on anything. Earlier this week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told Congress in a letter that U.S. military intervention would be costly, might not end the violence and might even install a government that’s hostile to U.S. interests.

State Department officials lament that their policy options are “bad and worse.” They’re not keen on sending U.S. assistance to either the jihadist-infiltrated rebel forces or the notoriously fractious exiles of the political opposition, with whom frustration runs high.

The Syrian Opposition Coalition’s internal bickering and repeated failures to cobble together a cohesive interim authority has cost it credibility in the State Department, which has been reluctant to give the group any direct funding from U.S. aid pots. While publicly cheering on a recent change of coalition leadership as a step toward breaking the political impasse, American officials are privately fed up with the perpetual infighting.

Idriss isn’t the only one upset at the U.S. foot-dragging on the arms issue. At a meeting with U.S. officials this week at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, Saudi officials demanded to know why the U.S. was holding a new shipment of heavy weapons destined for Syrian rebel militias.

U.S. officials told the Saudis to hold on for a few weeks, according to a participant in the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions involve sensitive diplomacy. When the Saudis asked what would change in a few weeks, there was no clear answer.

LAUGH MORE HERE

http://www.thestate.com/2013/07/26/2882847/assad-opponents-see-us-distancing.html

Arrests in attacks on Hezbollah suggest Lebanon closing in on Syrian rebel group

BEIRUT — Lebanese military intelligence officers arrested a Syrian man Thursday and accused him of participating in a roadside bombing July 9 that targeted a convoy of the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah as it traveled near the Syrian border, Lebanon’s government-owned National News Agency reported.

The man was the second Syrian to be charged in the assault, one of a string of attacks that many here suspect were retaliation by Syrian rebels for Hezbollah’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Neither suspect has been identified, but the arrests suggest that Lebanese authorities are closing in on a mysterious group that’s claimed responsibility for the attacks and may be able to link the group to larger Syrian rebel organizations.

While the man arrested Thursday has been accused publicly only of the July 9 attack, the other suspect has been tied to several, all of which were claimed by an outfit that identifies itself as Liwa 313. Analysts think that Liwa 313 was founded by the Supreme Military Council, the rebel umbrella group through which the United States has pledged to provide military assistance to anti-Assad forces. But analysts are divided about whether the group takes direction from the military council or is affiliated now with other, more radical groups, such as the al Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/07/25/2599749/arrests-in-attacks-on-hezbollah.html

Paolo Dall’Oglio
أصدقائي الأعزّاء
جئت اليوم إلى مدينة الرقة وأنا أشعر بالسعادة لسببين
أولهما أنني على أرض سوريا الوطن وفي مدينة محررة
والسبب الثاني الإستقبال الرائع من قبل هذه المدينة الجميلة
عشتُ أمسية رمضانية من أحلى ما يكون والناس في الشوارع بحريّة ووئام
إنها صورة للوطن الذي نريده لكل السوريين. . .
طبعا” لا يوجد شيئ كامل
لكن الإنطلاق جيد
أدعو لي بالتوفيق من أجل المهمة التي جئت من أجلها. . .
إن الثورة ليست توقّعات بل إلتزام!
السلام عليكم وشهر رمضان كريم علينا أجمعين.

Ghufran said he wishes the phone conversation between Mursi and US official will be made public.
I agree but I doubt they will make it public, the whole thing ,I believe is american plan,
demonstrations today proved that Mursi crowds were larger than Sisi crowd, where are the 30 million that Sisi and Baradei talked about, I did not see anywhere close to one million, while Mursi crowds were more than a million.the picture I saw in Tahrir square, I doubt there was hundred thousand, Sisi lost , Egyptians found out that Sisi is lier and not to be trusted.

Tara I noticed that your language is different nowaday

I guess father Paolo was not invited to witness the beautiful execution of pro regime people in the streets or the hospitable treatment of Christians in the east by the open minded Nusra ” freedom fighters”, let us hope that father Paolo manages to keep his head attached to his body since the beheading of kuffars is now a national sport in Syria.
Every time I think there will be an end to nauseating Nusra- beautifying statements on this blog I get reminded that I am just a wishful thinker.
Father Paolo may mean well and he is right in his criticism of the regime but when it comes to his view of Islamists he proves to be another naive observer.
Majed, do you think the USA set a trap for Morsi ? It seems to me that Egyptians on both sides are more anti American than before, Morsi’s supporters think they were betrayed by Obama while Morsi’s opponents believe Obama is working against them !!

It is either that father Paolo is a Nusra agent or all what siad is only in your head

It is comic to think that a thoughtful priest will find a town occupied by Takfiri Nusra thugs as an oasis for love and tolerance, I appreciate hearing a counter argument but not when the subject is Nusra, Islamists,not Russia or Iran, are the reason why the regime is still having support among Syrians.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/77503/Egypt/Politics-/Egypt-military-builds-case-on-ousted-president-Mor.aspx

#221 Ghufran

Father Paolo has become a lunatic a long time ago. He thinks himself as the new Joan of Ark. He just forgot that the main vow of a priest is humility and obedience.

Seeing that the opposition is still not “ripe” enough to accept the humiliation of going to Geneva without any pre-conditions, the US, France and the UK are playing with time. They make promises with strings attached then they find good reasons to delay when they see that the opposition refuses to bow.
They do not support Saudi Arabia and Qatar initiatives, as they do not want US weapons to end up in elements that may use them against Israel.
The only serious commitment the USA has made is the Geneva II conference. The rest is just hot air.
Therefore they seeem to wait until the FSA is totally crushed and internationnaly discredited so the Kerry-Lavrow’s conference can take place.
The SNC can agitate as much as it wants, making requests to the USA , to the UNSC, to France. It is just a waste of time.
It is clear that the West trusts only the SAA to eliminate the Islamists terrorists and ensure Israel is not harmed.
The FSA and the SNC are in a dead end. It is time they recognize it and before loosing everything, accept to go to Geneva II.

Mursi and the Moslem Brotherhood have become the scape goats of the economical and social disaster on Egypt after the fall of Mobarak.
Qatar is also pointed as a evil while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE are now seen as the saviors..
The challenge for the new government is to restore legitimacy, security and the economy fast enough so the average Egyptian become convinced that the Moslem Brotherhood episode was just a terrible mistake.
Even with the money pouring from the allies, is this possible?

215. don

Qatar is hated all over the Arab World, now that its game of supporting the Moslem Brotherhood and aligning with a non-Arab neighbor Turkey have become exposed.
I guess that’s not what they really want.
That’s why HBJ is taking all the blame and has been demoted and exiled.
I am sure Qatar will change its policy to align with the GCC, slowly but drastically.
It may discreetly financed its allies but will play low key in the political arenas: No more Arab league intervention, no more resolutions to the UN assemblies against Syria…
Yet, because of its rivalities with Saudi Arabia, it may still try to undermine KSA’s policy in Syria. It does not want it to succeed where Qaytar failed.

The West “ever promising and under delivering”

After the blood began to flow, American, European and other officials predicted that Bashar Al Assad would be gone in months. Instead, as the former French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, pointed out yesterday: “Bashar is now winning.”

The West’s slump from activism to shoulder shrug over the past year has been astonishing.
…
It is common for senior officers to be more reluctant than politicians to go to war, particularly when their armies have been sent abroad almost non-stop since the end of the Cold War in 1989. But Gen Dempsey went further. He came within a whisker of admitting the unsayable: from the point of view of America’s interests, the stability of the Assad regime is better than the uncertainty of a rebel victory.

Perhaps the general should get a medal for the clarity of his statement, in a letter to the hawkish Senator John McCain: “Should the [Assad] regime’s institutions collapse in the absence of a viable opposition, we could inadvertently empower extremists or unleash the very chemical weapons we seek to control.” There we have the military truth, stripped of blather about humanitarian intervention and the need to remove a dictator.

In his determination to protect the Assad regime, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has had a clear goal which he has pursued with conviction, in alliance with Iran. The western camp has so far run on wishful thinking.

Reality intruded when it became clear that outside attempts to magic into existence a Washington-friendly rebel leadership had failed. The external leadership has no credibility inside the country, leaving the rebel groups on the ground to battle for supremacy, with Islamist groups in the ascendant.

A peace conference – the so-called Geneva II – which was supposed to be held this month after a big push by John Kerry, the US secretary of state, looks as if it will not be held until next year, if at all.
…
The western powers, having failed to put together a winning rebel team, may have to wait until a national rebel leadership appears on the ground.

The Syrian Islamic Front, spearheaded by the Ahrar Al Sham (the Free Men of the Levant), appears to be one the biggest and most successful rebel groups. Its leader, Hassan Aboud Al Hamawi, has shed his anonymity to emerge in Cairo as a spokesman for the Islamist current of the rebels. Is he a man the Americans could collaborate with? Or will he and his group be a flash in the pan like the previously headline-grabbing Al Nusra Front, now engaged in internecine battles with the Iraq-based Al Qaeda franchise?

These are the questions that will have to be resolved before America and its allies can develop a strategy to replace the discredited one – much used in Iraq and Afghanistan – of over-promise and under-delivery.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/west-dithers-as-syrian-rebels-lack-moderate-leadership#ixzz2aF68VtR3
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

Pak urges Syrian National Coalition to join political process
(without pre-conditions)
Saturday, 27 July 2013 15:44

http://www.brecorder.com/pakistan/general-news/129281.html

NEW YORK: Pakistan Saturday strongly urged Syrian National Coalition (SNC)’s engagement in a political process beginning with participation in Geneva-II Conference. Pakistan’s envoy Masood Khan said during UN Security Council’s Formula meeting with the Syrian National Coalition that delaying dialogue would prolong the suffering of Syrian people. SNC, as well as the Syrian Government, should be ready with empowered interlocutors to enter into dialogue without preconditions.

I still believe if those rebels who summarily executed over 50 SAA army members had been all Syrian, some of them would have flinched and the atrocity could have been avoided.

Those foreign Jihadists came to Syria to kill Syrians. It would be monumentally stupid to believe they are here for democracy or justice.

Majority of those terrorists freely went through Turkish airports and borders. There is Syrian blood on Erdogan’s hands.

We have some Syrian expats hailing the “sacrifice” from those foreign Jihadists. Those are just sicko and weirdo.

Saudi Arabia reportedly reaches a deal with Israeli army to buy Israeli weapons for militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Israeli Radio reported that Saudi Arabia signed a 50-million-dollar deal with Israeli army to supply the foreign-backed militants with old Israeli military equipment and arms.

The reports added that the weapons include different kinds of anti-tank missiles, military vehicles, artillery equipment, and night vision devices.

Other sources have quoted Takfiri sources as saying that the Israeli weapons will be used to maintain control over Aleppo and its surrounding areas in northern Syria.

The report came as The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported last month that Saudi Arabia has provided the Takfiri militants with Russian-made Konkurs anti-tank missiles.

It quoted militant sources as saying that they had received the first batch of the heavy weaponry from Saudi Arabia in northern city of Aleppo.

On June 14, US President Barack Obama ordered his administration to provide the militants with weapons, claiming that the Syrian government had used “chemical weapons” against the militants and thus crossed Washington’s “red line.” Damascus has rejected the allegation as “lies.”……………
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2013/07/saudi-arabia-signs-deal-with-israeli-army-to-buy-weapons-for-militants-fighting-syria-govt/

As has been mentioned, what’s happening in Egypt now is identical, if not worse,than what happened in Syria in 2011. Back then, everyone blamed Alawite sectarianism. What now?

I condemn in the strongest terms the brutal execution of the SAA fighters by opposition fighters, as I have condemned before, in the strongest terms, the atrocities and massacres committed by the Assad thugs against rebels and civilians.

The fabric of our society in disintegrating under the watchful eyes of a brutal, incompetent and corrupt regime that has sunk Syria into the misery of one of the worst civil wars in recent memory.

# 233 Habib

There is no comparison. The conflict in Egypt today is between liberal democratic forces, backed by the Army, and conservative Islamist voices who have legitimate public support. Egypt today does no have a dictator, a mafia regime, Alqaeda, or sectarianism.

Things are tuning ugly in Egypt, but I am hopeful that it will eventually turn out well and that Egypt will lead the Arab world into a 21st century style of government.

So what nationality were the Assadists that committed the “Hardly a Massacre” in Banyas and Bayda? Or was that just “house cleaning” by the “SAA”?

US government! would you going to risk war with Russia?

Such a war could escalate to a nuclear world war in a heartbeat. And unless you have Chernobyl sunblock, it’s going to be a really bad day for every human being on planet earth if that happens.

This war escalation could lead to Israeli involvement and a dangerous escalation of the war.

The Obama Administration has announced plans to arm Syrian rebels (which is already being done), and it has Green Berets training some rebel troops in Jordan. Meanwhile, the Russians have military officers on the ground in Syria and plans to ship 24 ballistic missiles to the country. These missiles will apparently be pointed at Turkey and Jordan, where U.S. troops are stationed.

It is known how the Russian people would respond if Russian military personnel were killed in Syria. It is doubtful that there’s any support in Russia for an adventure in Syria. The last thing Russia wants is to hand his opponents a popular cause, such as an unpopular war, to undermine his shaky rule.

Russia is serious about supporting and arming Syria. It seems to think it is a point of national honor to stand by allies no matter how questionable. It willing to go far in this situation to the end !!!

Ghufran,

People in Raqqah are genuinely dissatisfied with JN/ISIS and are doing everything they can to counter the extremists that have taken over their city. I have linked on here the continuous struggle that Syrians are facing there. There is always two sides to the same coin one being the ugly sectarian takfiris and the other Syrians struggling for a better tomorrow without Assad and religious fanatics.

In the Syrian province of Aleppo in Khan al-Asal armed terrorist groups have carried out the massacre of soldiers and civilians.

As reported on Saturday, July 27, militants of the so-called terrorist group “Brigade Ansar al-Hilafa” admitted to committing heinous crimes.

The terrorists desecrated the bodies of the dead – killed thrown into the crater on the outskirts of the city and some of them on fire.

235. Hopeful

Egypt does not have a dictator/junta? What does it have then?

The Egyptian military is pro-democracy now?

Who is fooled by this rhetoric?

If you are not fooled by this rhetoric why are you so easily fooled by the Assadists rhetoric?
Sectarian blinders perhaps?

It’s getting “sectarian” in Libya too
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/77530/World/Region/Libyans-attack-offices-of-Muslim-Brotherhood-after.aspx

When I talk with Egyptians who support either the MB or the Salafis I always get stuck with the same irrational answers:

Me- There can be no progress in a society that does not separate religion and civic duties.

The Islamist- Yes, the proof is that Germany and the US have religion inscribed in the constitution.

Me- Really? Can you explain me where or how?

The Islamist- The proof is that in Germany there is a “Christian democrat party”… and even in advanced countries like Israel religion is supported by the state.

Me- ??????????? (and I guess for the US it is the motto on dollar bills… or simply that one should be guaranteed his “right to belief”….which leads Islamists to their very personal conclusion: I am the MAN and I decide that my right to believe implies control of the public space and of the women therein…)

What kind of governement can emerge from that kind of twisted logic?

“Abul-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade”

The name “Abul-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade” is so musical and so appealing that I can’t stop saying it.   It is likeمن درعا قدح شرر وبحرستا المهدي ظهر song.  It took me a while to stop playing it in my brain.  If I to have another child to play with Yaya, I’d consider calling him Abul Fadl Al Abbas so I can say the name all day long.

Is the Mahdi still in Harasta?  Is he considering moving to the Malki?  It is safer there..  

# 240 Habib

You are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine.

I do not like what the Egyptian military is doing either, but there is slimply no comparison to Assad and his thugs. I am now watching what is happening in Cairo on TV screens all around the world, thanks to free press access. I am hearing everyone in the army and Egyptian government talk every day about civil liberties and inclusion of all Egyptians. Compare that to Assad talking about foreign conspiracies and germs a month after his forces killed thousands of peaceful demonstrators while preventing any journalist from entering the country. There is simply no comparison, and any attempt to make one is a hypocrite attempt to rewrite history.

Another Muslim Brotherhood bites the dust hehehehehehe!

Tunisia killing spells the end of the islamist Ennahda government

Thousands chant in protest at slain Tunisian’s funeral

TUNIS (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of Tunisians turned out for the funeral of assassinated secular politician Mohamed Brahmi on Saturday, and called for the Islamist-led government to be toppled.

Military helicopters hovered overhead and hundreds of troops and police lined the route of a procession attended by Brahmi’s widow and son and several prominent politicians.

“The people want to topple the regime!” and “With our blood and with our souls we will sacrifice ourselves for the martyr!” people in the crowd shouted.

“Ghannouchi, assassin, criminal,” others chanted, referring to Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the ruling Islamist Ennahda party that Brahmi’s family says was behind the killing.

http://news.yahoo.com/protests-hit-tunisia-second-day-assassination-032221540.html

our accountant ceiling is higher than that one in the photo! 🙂
http://www.flickr.com/photos/statephotos/9367786183/in/photostream/

244. Hopeful

I am asking specific questions so you can elaborate on your opinion. But you don’t seem to disagree what I actually wrote? I’m not asking you to compare anything to Assad.

# 247 Habib

Your opinion, as I understand it, is that what is happening in Egypt today is like what happened in Syria in 2011. My personal opinion is that there is no comparison. I think these are pretty straightforward assessments. I disagree with your assessment, and I do not mind if you disagree with mine.

You wrote: “As has been mentioned, what’s happening in Egypt now is identical, if not worse,than what happened in Syria in 2011.”

I wrote: “I do not like what the Egyptian military is doing either, but there is simply no comparison to Assad and his thugs. I am now watching what is happening in Cairo on TV screens all around the world, thanks to free press access. I am hearing everyone in the army and Egyptian government talk every day about civil liberties and inclusion of all Egyptians. Compare that to Assad talking about foreign conspiracies and germs a month after his forces killed thousands of peaceful demonstrators while preventing any journalist from entering the country. There is simply no comparison, and any attempt to make one is a hypocrite attempt to rewrite history.”

Ramadan in Tunisia

“THE EGYPTIAN SOLUTION” hahahahahaha!

Two Ennahda offices were set on fire Thursday night.

Demonstrators waved Egyptian flags as a sign of solidarity with the protests that prompted Egypt’s military to oust Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi earlier this month.

Protesters in Tunis say they want the same result. One said “the Egyptian solution” is a possible outcome for Tunisia, too.

“Secular Tunisians feel very empowered by what happened in Egypt,” she said. “There is a growing movement of rebellion – [like Egypt’s] Tamarod – in Tunisia. They are out in the street calling for the toppling of the Ennahda regime. But we don’t know what they want. We don’t know how they want to implement this change. There are no direct calls for the military to take control of the situation.”

Tunisia’s Ennahda party has lost an important Islamist ally in Egypt, she said.

“They are definitely very weakened. They are very nervous. They are fearing to see the same scenario, the same Egyptian scenario repeated in Tunisia,” El-Issawi said.

Hopeful
. Egypt today does no have a dictator, a mafia regime,
Removing democratically elected president and dissolving the parliament ,and using the army and security forces to kill peaceful protestors is dictatorship, yes you are entitled to your opinion but the facts on the ground prove that this opinion is wrong

Archbishop Hanna: Those who bear arms against Syria serve Israel

Occupied Jerusalem, (SANA) – Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, affirmed that those who bear arms against the Syrian people and the Syrian Army – regardless of their names and affiliations – are mere pawns that serve Israel and its project to divide and control the Arab region.

In an interview broadcast on al-Mayadeen TV on Friday, Archbishop Hanna said that the people who abduct, murder and slaughter in Syria are the enemies of the Arab nation, just like Israel with which they share goals and criminal nature.

He stressed that the violence and murder against the people and state in Syria has nothing to do with any just demands; rather it merely seeks to destroy the Syrian state.

Archbishop Hanna warned any attack on Syria is an attack on the Arab nation, and that the true national opposition is the one that commits to its country’s principles and flies its flag, not the flag of the French mandate, and that doesn’t receive orders from abroad.

He warned that some western countries’ granting of visas to displaced Syrian Christians in Lebanon under humanitarian pretexts is part of an Israeli plan to drive Christians out of the Arab region, calling on Arab Christians – whether in Syria or in other Arab countries – to remain in their countries and defend them alongside their Muslim brethren.

http://sana.sy/eng/22/2013/07/27/494375.htm

I wonder of Morsi is in the same prison as Mubarak?

Ramadan in Libya hahahahahahahaha!

Libya protesters attack Muslim Brotherhood offices

Protesters in Libya have attacked offices linked to the Muslim Brotherhood following the assassination of a prominent political activist.

Abdelsalam al-Mismari was shot dead as he left a mosque in Benghazi in eastern Libya after Friday prayers.

Demonstrators blaming the Brotherhood have taken to the streets.

They stormed offices of the Justice and Construction Party, the Brotherhood’s political wing, in Benghazi and the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

A retired air force colonel and a senior police officer were also shot dead on Friday in Benghazi in the latest in a series of targeted killings of security personnel.

There has been growing opposition to the increasing influence of the Justice and Construction Party (JCP) in the country’s parliament.

Mr Mismari, a lawyer, was a vocal critic of the Brotherhood’s presence in Libya.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-23477992

With Arab streets on fire in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. Obama/Israel better think twice now before invading Syria.

Ramadan Mubarak

# 250 Majed

Last month, Syrian regime supporters tried to make an analogy between what Assad did in Syria, and what Erdogan did in Takseem square. At the time, I thought the comparison is ridiculous. I think today’s comparison between Syria and Egypt is ridiculous as well, and only serves to justify the Syrian regime’s actions of the past two years.

Did I manage to get the regime’s supporters and opponents unified against my opinion now? Boy that is a break-through!

Egypt got rid of the dictatorship two years ago and is now dealing with the division in its society between people who want a civil state, and people who want an Islamic-leaning government. A division that was swept under the rug for 50 years because of the brutal corrupt dictatorship regime. Syria will have to deal with similar issues once its dictatorial regime is removed. I reject the notion that Arabs need dictators to help prevent these divisions from explosing into civil wars. I have faith that Arabs will work through these issues in the months and years to come, and will never go back to the dark days of Qaddafi, Saddam, Mubarak, and Assad!

You may say I am a dreamer, but I am not the only one!

Israeli ambassador calls Al-Sisi a “national hero for all Jews” – See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/6617-israeli-ambassador-calls-al-sisi-a-qnational-hero-for-all-jewsq-#sthash.w0Yszyok.dpuf

عرب الفضل هم من سلالة الفضل ابن العباس عم الرسول, الفضل عين قاضيا في اليمن في زمن عثمان ابن عفان و اولاده هم عرب الفضل , كثير منهم هاجر شمالا الى سويداء وهؤلاء انتقل بعضهم الى جرمانا,و كثيرا ممن انتقل الى السويداء ,معظمهم,انتقلوا الى الهامة غرب دمشق, حيث اتاهم سوء الحظ صحيا,فتركوها الى منطقة المالكي في دمشق,يقدر عددهم في سورية باكثر من ١٥ الف

Israel Angered by U.S. Leaks of Submarine Missile Attack on Syria
http://freebeacon.com/israel-angered-by-u-s-leaks-of-submarine-missile-attack-on-syria/

Juergen!
Aren’t they by being Angered admitting responsibility?
Compared to the endless Nuclear Ambiguity?
And “that her subs are now ‘ready to rumble’ ”
It is wonderfull if the German Government protected itself and Germany with a Passive hidden build in receiver, no signal received, sink sub.

It’s sickening when U.S. officials speak 100% lies, deception and deceit! The American people is silent like a sheep! It’s an unfortunate thing
http://youtu.be/hltNOSB_d6s?t=1s

To end Syria civil war, West must guarantee minorities’ safety with peacekeeping force

Minorities in Syria support the Assad regime because they fear the alternative. To erode Bashar al-Assad’s base of support, Western leaders should offer meaningful security reassurances to Syria’s minorities, including the promise of an international peacekeeping force.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2013/0725/To-end-Syria-civil-war-West-must-guarantee-minorities-safety-with-peacekeeping-force

To end Syria civil war, West must guarantee minorities’ safety with peacekeeping force

I said that a year ago

After France and UK, the USA to the opposition: “Goodbye and Goodluck” or admit defeat and move on to Geneva.
Idriss is sulking and Al Jabra desperate

Assad Opponents See US Distancing Itself from their Goals in Syria
Saturday, 27 July 2013 10:27
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/17816-assad-opponents-see-us-distancing-itself-from-their-goals-in-syria

Washington, DC — Syrian opposition leaders say there’s just one way to interpret the U.S. stalling on promised military aid at a time when rebels are losing ground to forces loyal to President Bashar Assad: Goodbye, and good luck.
…

Idriss, the U.S.-backed rebel leader who now refers snidely to his “American friends,” chose to skip the visit to New York, in large part because he predicted it would be a waste of time.

“He doesn’t feel like the Americans are as willing to fully support the opposition in ways that would make that trip worth it to him,” said Elizabeth O’Bagy, a researcher of Syrian rebel groups who’s in daily contact with Idriss and who does contract work on State Department programs for Syria.
….

“To deny us the right to self-defense is to risk that the regime will survive,” Al-Jarba told reporters in New York. “Thousands will be executed, the repression will continue without end.”

The State Department release on the meeting made no mention of weapons, saying only that “they agreed that a political solution is the best path forward.”

According to what is known and repeatedly and pro experience, there are no peace forces in Western countries ! they have the forces of war!
http://youtu.be/nntB872pJ20?t=2s

West is no guarantee of co-existence between sects and religions in Syria, on the contrary, the West needs to raise the dirty hands of Syria and stop playing a game of sects and religions and stop interfering in the affairs of nations!!Then will inevitably be the end of wars

http://youtu.be/5-lbyxHD9cs?t=11s

Majed I hope your medical advice is better than your political advice.

Turkey target of Al Qaeda abroad, how will Erdobatman retaliate?

Car bomb hits Turkish staff building in Somali capital, two dead
27 July 2013
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/ocountries/2174753.html

A car loaded with explosives rammed into the gates of an office housing Turkish embassy staff in the Somali capital, killing two people, witnesses and police said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

“A suicide car bomb targeted a building housing Turkish embassy workers near k4 (Kilometer Four). So far two people dead,” Ahmed Mohamud, police officer told Reuters from the scene of the blast.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the bombing, but in the past, al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels have claimed responsibility for attacks, including one in-mid July that killed eight civilians.

#261 Majed

The West cannot guarantee anything as long as the opposition and the armed rebels are dominated by Sunni Islamist extremists.

The minorities are defending themselves very well, they don’t need the hypocritical and coward West.

This is one massacre you won’t hear the ‘revolution generation’ crying about:

Syria says rebels killed 123 people in north, majority civilians
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/27/us-syria-crisis-killings-idUSBRE96Q08O20130727

قال رسول الله لايزال المرء في فسحة من دينه حتى يسفك الدماء
In Egypt today Sisi killed several hundred egyptians

268. REVE.
It reminded me the photos and videos of 90s, made by the same Wahhabies, only instead of Syrian soldiers were Russian. I’m afraid that when sorted out with Syria, all this trash again will rush to the Caucasus.

This is a partial list of those who were slaughtered by islamist rebels in khan al-asal, read and reflect, I did.
اﻟﻌﻤﻴﺪ ﺣﺴﺎﻥ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻓﻨﺪﻱ .. ﺍﻟﻼﺫﻗﻴﺔ ﺟﺒﻠﺔ
ﺍﻟﻌﻘﻴﺪ ﺣﺴﻦ ﻳﻮﺳﻒ ﺣﺴﻦ .. ﺍﻟﻼﺫﻗﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﺤﻔﺔ
ﺍﻟﻌﻘﻴﺪ ﺭﻣﻀﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﺨﻠﻴﻞ
ﺍﻟﺮﺍﺋﺪ ﻃﻼﻝ ﻋﻴﺴﻰ ﺣﺴﻦ .. ﻃﺮﻃﻮﺱ
ﺍﻟﻨﻘﻴﺐ ﺭﻭﺑﻴﺮ ﻣﻄﺎﻧﻴﻮﺱ .. ﺍﻟﺤﺴﻜﺔ
ﺍﻟﻤﻼﺯﻡ ﺍﻭﻝ ﻃﻼﻝ ﻋﺒﺪ ﺍﻟﻬﺎﺩﻱ .. ﺣﻤﺺ
ﺍﻟﻤﻼﺯﻡ ﺍﻭﻝ ﺣﺴﻦ ﺧﺎﺯﻡ .. ﺧﺮﻳﻤﺎ ﺍﻟﻼﺫﻗﻴﺔ
ﺍﻟﻤﻼﺯﻡ ﺍﻭﻝ ﻋﻤﺮﻭ ﻣﺎﻥ ﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ .. ﺍﻟﺴﻮﻳﺪﺍﺀ
ﺍﻟﻤﻼﺯﻡ ﺍﺣﻤﺪ ﺑﺮﻛﺎﺕ .. ﺣﻠﺐ
ﺍﻟﻤﻼﺯﻡ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﻋﻠﻲ ﻧﺼﺎﺭ .. ﺍﻟﺮﻗﺔ
ﺍﻟﺮﻗﻴﺐ ﺃﻭﻝ ﻳﻮﺳﻒ ﻃﻼﻝ ﺣﺰﻳﻦ .. ﺣﻤﺺ
ﺍﻟﺮﻗﻴﺐ ﺍﻭﻝ ﻋﺒﺪ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ ﺍﻟﺸﻬﺎﻝ .. ﺣﻠﺐ
ﺍﻟﺮﻗﻴﺐ ﺍﻭﻝ ﻣﺮﺍﺩ ﺻﻘﺮ ﺭﺳﺘﻢ .. ﺍﻟﻼﺫﻗﻴﺔ .. ﺟﺒﻠﺔ
ﺍﻟﺮﻗﻴﺐ ﻣﻤﺪﻭﺡ ﺗﺎﻣﺮ .. ﺍﻟﺴﻮﻳﺪﺍﺀ
ﺍﻟﺮﻗﻴﺐ ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﺩﺍﻭﻭﺩ ﺃﺳﻌﺪ .. ﺍﻟﻼﺫﻗﻴﺔ .. ﺟﺒﻠﺔ
الرقيب خليل طاهر العبدو . اللاذقية
الرقيب طارق خضرة .. اللاذقية
الرقيب محمد هايل مصطفى .. حمص
الرقيب علي عمران سبيتي .. طرطوس
المجند عمر سعيد خولاني ريف دمشق
المجند خالد يحي مسلاتي .. دمشق
المجند علي يوسف نبيعة .. اللاذقية
المجند أحمد طارق محمد اللاذقية .. جبلة
المجند جعفر هيثم صبيرة .. اللاذقية .. جبلة
المجند كاسر صقر عيسى .. طرطوس بانياس
المجند يوسف خاطر علي .. حماه الغاب
المجند زيدان عبد الحق .. حلب
المجند جهاد تركي العلبي .. حلب
المجند سامر ضرار الزيد .. دير الزور
المجند خلق محمد عقيدي .. الرقة
المجند علي زين ابراهيم .. طرطوس
المجند الشهيد ذو الفقار خازم عيسى اللادقية – جبلة – حرس جمهوري
المجند الشهيد علاء الدين بكاتي حلب – أكاديمية الأسد
المجند عيسى محمد شعبان – قوات خاصة
المجند الشهيد محمد صالح – اللادقية
المجند الشهيد حسين محمد كادو – ريف حلب – حرس جمهوري
المجند الشهيد باسل محمد الصالح – دير الزور – قوات خاصة
المجند الشهيد عمر بكداش – دمشق – حرس جمهوري
المجند الشهيد نبيل عويد – الرقة – قوات خاصة
المجند الشهيد وائل حاج علي – درعا – قوات خاصة
المجند الشهيد جهاد محمد اللحام – دمشق – قوات خاصة
المجند الشهيد محمد شوفان – ريف دمشق – قوات خاصة
المجند الشهيد رائد زهر الدين – السويداء – قوات خاصة
The office that keeps track of soldiers and officers killed has 60,000 names plus 5,000 MIA and presumed dead. Anybody who tells you this is simply a war where alawites are killing sunnis or sunnis killing alawites is a liar and a fraud. This war is about Syrians killing Syrians and Islamists fighting Assadists for domination, the sectarian dimension does exist but it only tells half of the story.
what did Syrians do to deserve this ugly fate?
Most of you have not visited Syria in 3 years and are unable to send money to families and poor people even if you try, half of the country lives in poverty and a quarter of Syrian population is displaced, I do not know what it will take for fighting factions to understand that enough is enough.

Erdogan called for it, he is getting it and more is coming

Turkish guards fire back at 15 armed Syrians approaching Turkey, disobeying ‘stop’ alert

27 July 2013 20:10 (Last updated 27 July 2013 20:1
http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/209005–c
…
Disregarding the “stop” alert by the Turkish guards, the 15 civilians continued to approach Turkey which was followed by a warning shot of the Turkish guards into the air.

However, Syrian civilians fired 5 times at the Turkish guards and answered by the guards by a backfire, as the statement said.

In another incident, two shells fell on Friday into the Turkish side of the Syrian border during the ongoing clashes in Ras Al Ayn town of Syria’s Hasakah city between the Syrian opposition and Kurdish terrorist organization PKK’s militia in Syria (PYD).

Turkish General Staff also issuing a statement on its official website regarding the incident, said “two artillery shells fell 1 kilometer inside the Turkish border in Ceylanpinar town of the Turkish border city Sanliurfa amid the clashes in Syria’s Ras Al Ayn at around 19:50 local time on Friday.”

The statement went on to say that the shells left 1 Turkish citizen dead, Sukru Kahraman, 43, injuring his two sons Mehmet, 23, and Ahmet Kahraman, 12.

Syrian Troops Capture Historic Mosque in Homs

By ALBERT AJI and BASSEM MROUE Associated Press
DAMASCUS, Syria July 26, 2013 (AP)

Syrian government forces captured a historic mosque in the central city of Homs on Saturday, expelling rebel forces who had been in control of the 13th century landmark for more than a year and dealing a symbolic blow to opposition forces, state media said.

State-run news agency SANA quoted an unnamed military official as saying that troops took control of the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque in the heavily disputed northern neighborhood of Khaldiyeh.

After capturing the strategic town of Qusair near the Lebanon border last month, government troops launched an offensive on rebel-held areas in Homs, Syria’s third largest city, late in June. They have been pushing into Khaldiyeh and other neighborhoods in the Old City that have been under opposition control since 2011.

The mosque, famous for its nine domes and two minarets, has been a symbol for rebels in the city that is known as “the capital of the revolution.” On Monday, government troops shelled the mosque, damaging the tomb of Ibn al-Walid, a revered figure in Islam. Five days later, they took the mosque.

“Units of our brave army have fully controlled the area of Khalid Ibn al-Walid mosque in the city of Homs,” SANA quoted the military official saying.

A Homs-based activist who identified himself only by his nickname, Abu Bilal, for fear of government reprisals, said troops entered the mosque area from the eastern side. He said regime forces now control more than 60 percent of Khaldiyeh.

Al-Manar Exclusive Photos for Bombing on Nobbol Town of Aleppo

Armed opposition groups in Syria launched heavy bombings on the Syrian town of Nobbol in Aleppo province, leaving dozens of civilians killed and wounded including children.

http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=103706&cid=23&fromval=1&frid=23&seccatid=20&s1=1

There are differences between the situation in Syria and Egypt but there is a lot of similarities too. Few valuable lessons can be learned:
1. Islamists can not be trusted not because they are “bad” but because the mix of religion and politics is poisonous.
2. The sectarian component of Arab Springs is overblown, in most cases it is sunnis killing sunnis. Sectarian differences helped aggravate an already flammable situation but were not at the core of the unrest.
3. The two models (islamist versus secular dictatorship) have failed.
4. You can always rely on western governments to speak from both sides of their mouth and make a bad situation worse.
5. the same violence committed by different parties (Syrian security forces versus Egyptian) can draw entirely different responses. The reason: Egypt has a peace agreement with Israel and is not an ally of Iran. Hypocrisy shines when the issue is how to deal with human rights abuses around the world.

Majed,

My language has changed ? In what way?

Ghufran,

I love father Paolo. He embodies my views of Jesus which is in extreme contrast to some (or most) Arab Christians.

Mercy and eternity in paradise to the martyrs of the brave Syrian Arab army!

Sunni killing Shia in Syria and Pakistan. Sunni killing Sunni in Egypt – and all during Ramadan. What a mess this Ummah is in.
@georgegalloway

Majed!
SECULAR INDEPENDENT SYRIA NEEDS A HELP NOW! SAY NO TO FOREIGN INTERVENTION AND TERRORISM IN SYRIA
To:
TO THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS MR.SERGEI LAVROV, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION(ministry@mid.ru)
MR.SERGEI LAVROV

THANK YOU FOR YOUR MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

PLEASE CALL FOR AN EMERGENCY CESSATION OF FOREIGN
INTERVENTION OF ANY KIND TO WHAT IS CALLED THE SYRIAN OPPOSITION.
SINCERELY,
T.J. Gilbert.
PEOPLE OF SECULAR SYRIA.

Sincerely,
[Your name]
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/secular-independent-syria-needs-a-help-now-say-no-to-foreign-intervention-and-terrorism-in-syria?utm_campaign=twitter_link_action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=share_petition

US Talks About “Political Solution” while Continuing War Effort against Syria. USA Accountable for Full Responsibility for Syria…
http://www.globalresearch.ca/america-super-bully-nation/5344086

271. GHUFRAN
especially forgive you to add to the list the most distinguishing brave soldier,the hero of Syria Zu Al-Fikar Issa. Name, will reminded in history …
http://anna-news.info/sites/default/files/2011/u511/khan%20al-asal.png
http://anna-news.info/sites/default/files/2011/u511/Khan%20Al-Asal2.jpg

What is the size of Israeli losses today? any numbers?

Have we not understood no as no? Or have the revolution been given mixed messages all the way through?

Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the talk of a peace conference hid “overt” and “covert” policies by western nations.
“Overtly we do not provide lethal assistance,” said Tabler. “But covertly we do and that is currently being considered.”
“We are going through the motions on the Geneva stuff because officially our policy is to support Geneva, but nobody thinks that it will work any time soon,” he said.

Burhan Ghalioun, a senior national coalition member who took part in the talks with Hollande and Kerry, said the tour has boosted the image of the opposition.
“With this tour we are making a comeback and the international community now understands the gravity of the situation,” he told AFP.
Before the international community “was afraid of the risks” of deeper involvement. “Now they know that if they don’t intervene there are multiple risks.”
Ghalioun said it was wrong to believe that the opposition is against a peace conference and only wants Western arms.
“The opposition is for a political solution on the condition that it is an opportunity to bring real results,” he said.
He also said the coalition wants the international community and United Nations to give assurances that a conference will lead to a transition “and not sterile negotiations that go nowhere and that allow the Syrian regime to continue killing.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/27/syria-peace-hopes-fade-after-rebels-talks-with-west/#ixzz2aHmiSjv4

“The Return of Hammo The Lost Son”
(coming to a movie theatre near you)
Hamas is making a U-turn
صرح قيادي في حركة المقاومة الإسلامية حماس، أن لقاءات “هامة” عقدت بين قيادة حماس والمسؤولين الإيرانيين و”حزب الله” اللبناني، بهدف “تسوية الخلافات” التي نشأت إثر الموقف من الأوضاع في سورية، وإعادة العلاقات إلى سابق عهدها، من دون تحديد الموعد الدقيق لهذه اللقاءات.
وقال القيادي في حماس أحمد يوسف، لوكالة فرانس برس إن “لقاءً هاماً عقد خلال هذا الشهر بين قياديين اثنين بارزين في حماس، والمسؤوليين الإيرانيين وبمشاركة قادة من حزب الله، تم خلالها بحث العلاقات المشتركة الاستراتيجية بين الحركة وإيران”.
وأضاف يوسف، إن “الجانبين شددا على حرصهما ورغبتهما في مواصلة العلاقة الطيبة والتنسيق المشترك، وتم التأكيد على أن حماس شريك استراتيجي لإيران، وأن العدو المشترك هو الاحتلال الإسرائيلي
المصدر : وكالة أوقات الشام الإعلامية حماس وإيران وحزب الله يسوّون الخلافات إثر الموقف من الأزمة السورية
I maintain my belief that nations and governments involved in this war will only change their position if their interests or their security are threatened, forget about ethics and morals, this war is dirty and both parties ,and their backers, have sinned.

Libya is heating up!

Massive jailbreak near Benghazi, Libya, lets more than 1,000 inmates free

In Tripoli, protesters appeared to be inspired by events in neighboring Egypt, where millions took to the streets Friday to answer a call from the army chief, who said he wanted a mandate to stop “potential terrorism” by supporters of the country’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood.

“We don’t want the Brotherhood, we want the army and the police,” Libyan protesters chanted, repeating a slogan also used in Egypt. Libya’s nascent security forces are struggling to control the country’s militias, most of whom have roots in the rebel groups that overthrew Qaddafi in 2011.

Al-Musmari, who used to publicly criticize the Brotherhood, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Benghazi.

Some protesters stormed the headquarters of a Brotherhood-affiliated political party and another Islamist-allied party in the capital, destroying furniture. Witnesses say a Brotherhood party office was also stormed in Benghazi.

Protesters angry with the Libya’s weak central government also targeted the liberal National Forces Alliance (NFA), ransacking its headquarters. The party came on top in Libya’s first free parliamentary elections last year.

Security forces in Libya have been unable to impose their authority on the country since Qaddafi’s ouster. Militias, many made up of former rebels who fought in the civil war that toppled Qaddafi, have grown in strength and in many areas rival the security forces in their firepower and reach. The armed forces also rely on militias for help securing the country in some cases.

On Saturday, a colonel was killed by gunmen in Benghazi. Another three security members were killed a day earlier when gunmen opened fire on them.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57595817/massive-jailbreak-near-benghazi-libya-lets-more-than-1000-inmates-free/

Syrian Government Blamed for Ballistic Missile Attack

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A missile attack by government forces on the city of Aleppo in northern Syria killed at least 29 people, including 19 children, Syrian monitors said Saturday

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/world/middleeast/syria-updates.html?ref=global-home

Pay back time

Libya on edge after UAE embassy attack

The Emirati embassy was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade Thursday. No injuries were reported in the attack though the embassy building in western Tripoli suffered minor damage.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2013/07/26/Libya-on-edge-after-UAE-embassy-attack/UPI-55381374857102/

War in Syria inspires Kurdish unity
Northern Syria sees battles between Kurds and al-Qaeda-inspired groups, as Kurds prepare for election and autonomy.
A new front is opening in Syria’s devastating civil war as Kurds and al-Qaeda-inspired fighters take advantage of a power vacuum to fight for control of key northern towns.

Self-ruling in most of the north-east, the Kurdish autonomy project has been dealt a blow, as Islamists have emerged as a powerful group, attempting to establish a religious state in the north.

Clashes have engulfed two strategic towns on the Turkish border after Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad withdrew his forces to let both sides battle it out while he confronts the Free Syrian Army in other regions.

Battles for the two towns between Kurds and Islamist fighters are bringing rare unity to the fractious Kurds as they prepare for elections that will establish the basis of self-rule.

“This unity is crucial to the success of the implementation of an autonomous administration and proposed elections,” said Christian Sinclair, a Syria expert and president of the Kurdish Studies Association at the university of Arizona.

Divided between Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran, Kurds form the largest ethnic group without a state in the world and in Syria number nearly three million people.

Syria’s Kurds took the first step towards full autonomy in July 2012, when Assad withdrew his army and bureaucrats from Kurdish territories in the north-east in a bid to bolster support as the uprising against him unfolded.

After decades of oppression, lack of recognition and assimilation, the Kurds hoisted the flag of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) – the most powerful Kurdish party in Syria and the only one with an armed wing.

A year on Kurdish regions including Ayn al-Arab (Kobane in Kurdish) and Afrin in the west are now being administered by PYD committees, and the party’s leader Salih Muslim has announced elections for an interim local parliament, raising the stakes in the pursuit of self-rule.

Muslim told Al Jazeera that whatever the outcome of Syria’s civil war, the Kurds will retain their objective of autonomy and have no separatist ambitions.

“Autonomy was always our project and is now accepted by our people. Our measures taken now will always be valid,” he said.

“But we have never had a project to split from Syria for a separate state, we will always be under Syrian state authority. After the war, we will reach an agreement with all the parties in Syria for the future of our territory.
read more here
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/07/2013727161533579785.html

Posted on Yalla Souriya about an hour ago:

#Syria, formation of Division 10th at Lattakia

[Video]

*******

Posted on Yalla Souriya about an hour ago:

#Syria, Homs Rebels use small drone- shows pictures of Assad-forces

[Video]

Another monster bites the dust

Pittsburgh man reportedly dead in Syria

http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/pittsburgh-man-reportedly-dead-syria/nY4rk/

Family members said he traveled to Turkey in February or March and later crossed into Syria.

Ibrahim’s U.S. and Egyptian passports — and passports of 14 other men from several Middle Eastern countries — were recovered in northeast Syria after a battle between Syrian Kurdish militiamen and militants from al-Sham and the Islamic State of Iraq, a terrorist group formerly known as al-Qaida in Iraq.

not sure. i think this confirms dr. al khayer is dead.

https://twitter.com/AuraSalix/status/361232839234158593

i didn’t know him but if this is indication of what kind of person he was, he must have been a remarkable man.

While in Assad’s dungeons, Dr. al Khayer was able to convince his jailers to convert a cell to a clinic so he could treat his fellow prisoners.

my condolences to friends & family. may he rest in peace.

248. Hopeful

92 protesters killed in Egypt yesterday is worse than anything that happened in the early Syrian uprising.

The parallels are obvious and my point is that it undermines the “sectarianism of the regime” narrative completely.

And please stop wasting time and space, “Akbar Palace”, no one on either side cares about your rants. Or well, maybe Tara does.

The Opposition lives in a total illusion to the point of being absurd and ridicule. Why the hell Bashar al Assad would relinquish power when he is winning?

We’re ready to talk, Syrian opposition tells Security Council
if….
Taimur Khan
Jul 28, 2013

New York // Syria’s western-backed rebel leaders met the United Nations Security Council for the first time on Friday and said they were prepared to attend peace talks if the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad, relinquished power.
Topic

They also called on Russia to end its political and military support for Damascus.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/were-ready-to-talk-syrian-opposition-tells-security-council#ixzz2aIZgYBGz
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

Egyptians Accuse Syrian “Refugees” of Aiding the Muslim Brotherhood

Considering that most of the refugees from the Syrian Civil War are either Sunni Islamists fleeing Assad’s army or Christians fleeing the Sunni Islamists rebels, that’s not terribly surprising. The Christians aren’t likely to be aiding the Brotherhood, but they’re also not heading to Egypt, for the most part.

And the Syrian Sunni Islamists are often Brotherhood members or Brotherhood allies. So naturally they’re causing trouble in Egypt.

350,000 refugees in a country even as large as Egypt are a problem. The media is naturally taking the Brotherhood side and claiming the refugees are innocent.

And the UN and Human Rights Watch are already jumping on it.

http://frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/egyptians-accuse-syrian-refugees-of-aiding-the-muslim-brotherhood/

A voice for Arab Christians in Germany

A new central council of oriental Christians has been formed in Germany to raise public awareness of the problems Arab Christians are facing in conflict-ridden countries like Syria, Egypt and Iraq.

Around 200,000 oriental Christians live in Germany – many of them already in the second or third generation. The newly founded Central Council of Oriental Christians in Germany, known by its German acronym, ZOCD, is meant to give them a voice and put the spotlight on the difficult situation of Christians in the Arab world.

Members of oriental Christian churches feel they are well integrated into German society, says ZOCD chairman Simon Jacob. That is why, in the past, there was little need to set up an organization like the new council. But developments in the Middle East and North Africa have changed that. “It was necessary that we come together in order to have a political voice,” Jacob told Deutsche Welle.

The ZOCD consists of representatives from the Coptic Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox and Eastern Apostolic churches. In the past week, the Council made its first public appearance in Munich.

“The trend in the home countries of oriental Christians is clearly towards Islamization,” says Steinberg. The number of Christians in Iraq has dropped by half since 2003 because many have fled due to the Islamist’s repressive tactics, notes Steinberg. In Syria, Christians were long protected by the Assad regime, which looked for support from anyone it could win over; in particular minorities, like the Alawites, Christians and Druze, he says.

http://www.dw.de/a-voice-for-arab-christians-in-germany/a-16979955

#282 Ghufran

Hamas has been weakened by its betrayal of Syria followed by his alliance with Egypt and Turkey under the Moslem Brotherhood umbrella.
Now Egypt is accusing Hamas of having helped Morsi in a jail break and Hamas are persona non grata in Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Therefore Hamas is going back to its ex-allies (Syria, Hezbollah and Iran) who seem to have forgiven them their disloyalty.
In the meantime, taking advantage of Hamas weakness and the chaos in the Syria and Egypt, Kerry has rushed to Abbas to organize the ‘ Israeli peace talks’ for fear the Egypt-Israel accord collapses.
Iran, Syria and Hamas are opposed to these talks they see as forced in the throat of the Palestinians at a time where the Arab world is in a turmoil and weakened.
Like most of the previous talks that do not involve Hamas, they will fail.

Syrian, Egyptian Christians seek refuge in Caucasus, but not all plan to stay

TBILISI, Georgia

“In Egypt, it’s difficult to get visas to the U.S. or Europe,” 50-year-old Adel says. “We didn’t chose Georgia, Georgia is choosing us.”

He’s not alone. Christian minorities from both Egypt and Syria are starting to look to the South Caucasus countries of Georgia and Armenia as a refuge from violence and uncertainly.

Georgia has issued nearly 2,000 visas to Egyptians this year — almost all to Coptic Christians — after giving out just 222 last year, according to government figures cited by Eurasianet. The country of 4.5 million now estimates about 2,500 Egyptians live there.

Armenia has gone as far as announcing the creation of “New Aleppo” — a housing development outside the capital Yerevan that has reportedly drawn interest from 600 Syrian Armenian families.

More than 7,000 Syrian Armenians have already expressed the desire to relocate to Armenia, according to the Armenian government, which sees the possible immigrants as a potential boost to a stagnant economy and population fall.

The situation is similar in Armenia. Like the Copts in Egypt, Syrian Armenians have long been supporters of the secular government of President Bashar al-Assad. Many fear retribution from rebels should the civil war drag on or if Assad falls.

Yerevan has gone as far as to offer passports to Syrians with Armenian heritage at its consulates in Syria. But Richard Giragosian, director of the Yerevan-based Regional Security Center, says that Armenia’s sluggish economy and endemic corruption make it an unattractive destination for its worldwide diaspora — even for those fleeing war.

“Despite the apparent urgency of the crisis for Armenians in Syria, Armenia remains a remote and distant focus,” Giragosian wrote in Oxford Analytica in December. “Even some of those now coming to Yerevan may be only treating it as a temporary refuge.”

Georgia’s secessionist province of Abkhazia has also sought to attract immigrants fleeing strife in the Middle East. Abkhazia has been free from Georgian control since forcing out government troops in a 1993-1994 conflict and has been recognized as independent by Russia and a few of its allies.

Largely depopulated after forcing out more than 200,000 ethnic Georgians following the war, it has now invited Syrian Circassians to settle there. Circassians are ethnically linked to the Abkhaz: they were expelled from the Caucasus in the late 19th century by the Russian Empire and many ended up scattered throughout the Middle East.

Abkhazia claims it has welcomed and housed about 400 refugee families from Syria.

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/20130727/syrian-egyptian-christians-seek-refuge-caucasus-not-all-plan-stay

Sunni killing Shia in Syria and Pakistan. Sunni killing Sunni in Egypt – and all during Ramadan. What a mess this Ummah is in.

George Galloway

123 killed by Syrian rebels in Aleppo province

Most of those killed in Khan al-Asal were unarmed civilians, the state-run SANA news agency said, adding that medical examination identified six of the dead bodies.

Quoting an official source, SANA said the perpetrators would pay a steep price for their crime, adding that the Syrian army is always on standby.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Foreign Ministry condemned the massacre, holding regional countries which support the insurgency in Syria responsible for the mass killing.

What happened in Khan al-Asal over the past few days revealed the role of some regional countries that provide military, financial and logistical support to the armed terrorist groups, the ministry said in a letter of complaint to the UN.

It charged that those countries have given the go-ahead to the rebels to commit their massacre, accusing some permanent members of the UN of supporting the rebels in Syria, in reference to the United States and some pro-opposition European countries.

http://www.china.org.cn/world/2013-07/28/content_29550232.htm

Katy Burns: On Syria, a sober answer to McCain’s question

Oh, yes, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told us what further intervention – the use of American military force – in the ongoing civil war in Syria could cost this country in both dollars and in the blood of our troops.

Dempsey – a highly decorated career soldier who doesn’t buy bluster – had been challenged by Sen. John McCain, who with his Senate pal Lindsay Graham (and occasionally our own Kelly Ayotte) is seemingly hell-bent on getting this nation more involved in the Syrian quagmire. McCain informed the world that he would put a hold – a particularly odious gimmick employed by senators who want to bring proceedings in that once august body to a screeching halt – on the appointment of Dempsey for a second term unless Dempsey gave him really good reasons why the U.S. shouldn’t charge into Syria.

So Dempsey did. And he made it plain, in a simple three-page letter to the Senate, that it would cost a bundle to intervene – up to several billion a month, depending on what options are chosen.

It could entail the commitment of “hundreds of aircraft, ships, submarines and other enablers” and require troops ranging “from several hundred to thousands” with serious risks of loss of American planes and lives.

We could provoke retaliatory strikes by Syria’s well-equipped military – including wider use of chemical weapons – and cause more inadvertent civilian casualties

The use of force would be, he said bluntly and without equivocation, “no less than an act of war.”

We need to know the consequences. Our political leaders need to know them. Our armchair generals need to know them. Because we sure didn’t know them the last time we blithely went to war. Or at least no one told us beforehand.

Consider. Before we invaded Iraq, the Bush administration told the Congress and the nation that the likely price tag of the quickie excursion would be a paltry $50 billion to $60 billion. And we would, for that price tag, be out of that country, with a new, democratic government installed, within a handful of months. When Bush’s first economic advisor, Lawrence Lindsay, said the war would more likely cost in the neighborhood of perhaps $100 or even $200 billion, he was ousted from his job.

In fact, the price for our Iraq misadventure is more likely to be upwards of $3 trillion – yep, trillion, an amount one can’t really fully grasp – when all the costs, including lifetime care for grievously wounded troops, are included.

Once we kicked out Saddam Hussein and set up a government, we were told, we could vamoose. When then-Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinseki candidly told Congress that we really would need more like “several hundred thousand” soldiers to keep order, he was rebuked by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, he was iced out of the inner circle, and his estimate was called “wildly off the mark” by Paul Wolfowitz, one of the administration’s more enthusiastic war hawks.

In the end, of course, many hundreds of thousands of American troops rotated in and out of that wretched country for almost a decade. And what we ultimately left is something less than a grand democracy.

This time, Dempsey made clear, lessons have been learned.

“We have learned from the last 10 years . . . that it is not enough to simply alter the balance of military power without careful consideration of what is necessary in order to preserve a functioning state. We must anticipate and be prepared for the unintended consequences of our action. Should the regime’s institutions collapse in the absence of a viable opposition, we could inadvertently empower extremists or unleash the very chemical weapons we seek to control,” he wrote.

http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/7816301-95/katy-burns-on-syria-a-sober-answer-to-mccains-question

https://twitter.com/LebCommandette/status/347030767865577472/photo/1
https://twitter.com/LebCommandette/status/339969896618283009/photo/1
https://twitter.com/LebCommandette/status/343467774171033600/photo/1
https://twitter.com/LebCommandette/status/337495784981417984/photo/1
https://twitter.com/LebCommandette/status/296921540778397697
just wanted to share few photos they are kinda funny

An article on Fadl Shaker was posted at NY Times, here is a piece:

“God willing, we’ll take what we deserve with our own hands, because there is no state, there are no judges, there is nothing,” he threatened in a live television interview shortly before his disappearance. “We’re living in the jungle.”
Mr. Shaker’s early life in many ways resembled the script of an Arab television melodrama. Born to a Lebanese father and a Palestinian mother, he grew up in a poor neighborhood adjacent to the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon. He never finished high school, but his neighbors discovered his musical talent early and booked him to sing at weddings.
As his fame spread, he gave larger concerts in Lebanon and abroad, releasing albums and music videos that made him a household name throughout the Arab world. His hits included romantic ballads like “O Absent One,” “I Forgot to Forget You” and “Come, My Love.”
His former chauffeur, Hani al-Sin, said that Mr. Shaker had been religious but not zealous. He prayed, but his restaurant served alcohol, and Mr. Shaker liked to play cards, which some strict Muslims consider sinful.
The first changes came gradually. A few years ago, he informed the restaurant staff without explanation that alcohol would no longer be sold there. Some of his friends attributed the decision to family pressure. His mother was devout, and his older brother, Abdel-Rahman, had joined the Sunni militant group Jund Al-Sham.
In 2010, Mr. Shaker took the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. He accepted fewer performances after his return and announced last year that he would sing pop music no more.
Other signs of religiosity followed. He let his beard grow and performed religious ballads at mass rallies held by Sunni groups in support of the Syrian rebels.
He also took up with a local firebrand sheik, Ahmad al-Assir, who had gained notoriety for calling for the disarming of Hezbollah and orchestrating media stunts to draw attention to his cause. Sheik Assir also spoke in support of Syria’s rebels, once traveling to Syria, where he was filmed firing a machine gun from a rooftop.
Mr. Shaker became a regular at Sheik Assir’s mosque and appeared with him in public and on television talk shows. During one interview, Mr. Shaker sang a jihadist anthem, declaring, “Do not cry for me if I fall, for death does not scare me and I intend to die a martyr.”

هيفاء بيطار

لا يخلو بيت سوري من مأساة، أو مشروع مأساة، وقد تشكلت لدي قناعة بأنني كل يوم على موعد مع سوريين طفح بهم الكيل من الصبر والقهر لكن لا يملكون حلاً لمصابهم. والتقيت رجلاً في الخمسين من عمره يشع وجهه وداعة الهزيمة، صرتُ أميز تلك الملامح المرتسمة على وجوه السوريين: هدوء أقرب إلى الذهول، نظرة سارحة في المجهول المُخيف، كما لو أن السوري صار يشك في أنه على قيد الحياة. التقيت أبو هيثم، رجل وديع من الغنيمية (قرية على طريق حلب) كان يعيش في بيت جميل وبسيط ولديه ثلاثة أولاد أكبرهم هيثم-19 سنة- الذي كان يخدم في الجندية، ومنذ الأشهر الأولى للثورة استشهد هيثم في جبل الزاوية، وتحول إلى «الشهيد البطل» ووالده إلى «والد الشهيد»، وأمه إلى «أم الشهيد»، وإخوته إلى «إخوة الشهيد»، حكى لي أبو هيثم أن الدولة دفعت له حوالى مليون ليرة سورية كتعويض عن استشهاد ابنه، غص وهو يتكلم ولم يستطع أن يواجه نظرتي.
قال كأنه يحدث نفسه : كأن للإنسان ثمناً والله مال الدنيا لا يعوضني عن حبيب قلبي، ولأنه رجل بسيط فقد ذل لسانه وقال للمقربين إنه خبأ المليون ليرة تحت بلاطة في المطبخ، وبعد أيام اكتشف أن ثمن الشهيد، أي المليون ليرة قد سُرقت، في تلك الفترة كانت المعارك محتدمة في محيط قرية الغنيمية، بل أصابتها قذائف كثيرة وصواريخ وهرب العديد من أسرها، واحترق البستان الذي كان أبو هيثم يزرع فيه الخضار والفاكهة ويعيش من بيع محصوله. حزر أبو هيثم من سرقه ولحسن حظه فإن السارق اعترف أنه سرق المليون ليرة، وبما أن الفوضى في عصرها الذهبي في سوريا، والمواطن يشعر أنه مُهمل ولا أحد يبالي به فالكل مشغول بمعركة الحسم، فقد نصح البعض أبو هيثم أن يلجأ إلى محكمة دينية شرعية يترأسها أمير –ليس سورياً– بل على الأغلب مغربي، كما خمن أبو هيثم، وعُقدت المحكمة الشرعية وتواجه المسروق مع السارق منتظرين حكم الأمير الذي قضى –ويا للتشويق الدرامي!- بأن على اللص أن يُعيد فقط ربع المبلغ إلى أبو هيثم، لأن المال الذي دُفع للأب المفجوع هو مال الدولة!
ووفق المحكمة الخُلبية إياها هو مال حرام !كنت أصغي مذهولة لقصة أبو هيثم وأنا أكرر كببغاء بيني وبين نفسي: هذا ما يحصل في سورية، وسألت أبو هيثم : هل رضيت بالحكم؟ فابتسم بمرارة وقال: شو طالع بيدي! عبارة تلخص حال المواطن السوري الذي لا يشعر بمواطنته أبداً والذي يستسلم لكل ما يصيبه لأنه عارف سلفاً أن لا أحد يبالي به، قال لي: صدقيني لم أحزن كثيراً لخسارة المال، بل على العكس أحياناً، أشعر أن روح هيثم ستتألم حين يعرف أنه يساوي كذا ليرة، ابن التسعة عشر عاماً مات! كان يهز رأسه مُروعاً من مصابه الذي تكلل بتهدم بيته ونزوحه إلى اللاذقية وانتظاره المعونات الإنسانية، وأظن أن كلمة إنسانية صار لها معنى آخر في سوريا، إذ تعني أن لا أحد يأنس للآخر، كان رجلاً مُحطماً كملايين السوريين، مات ابنه ودُمر بيته واحترق بستانه مصدر رزقه ولا يزال قادراً على المشي!
وحين سألته لِمَ لم يلجأ إلى المحكمة ليشكو الأمير إياه والمحكمة الشرعية التي… شهق ولم يتركني أكمل، وقال بما يُشبه الصراخ: ماذا تقولين، «ولك أنا بخاف من النظام ومن المعارضة، من المحكمة الشرعية وغير الشرعية»، ولم أفهم تماماً ما أراد أن يقول، لكن عبارته التي انفلتت منه بعفوية آسرة -أنا بخاف من النظام ومن المعارضة– انحفرت في ذهني، وأشعرتني بانقشاع غلالة عن عقلي، إذ إن الحقيقة كل الحقيقة، هي في تلك العبارة البسيطة البليغة والمُذهلة بصدقها التي قالها أبو هيثم.

cspan this am:

9:15am (ET): War in Syria

Michael Doran talks about the Obama administration’s plan to provide military assistance to rebel forces in Syria.

call in questions:

Democrats: (202) 585-3880
Republicans: (202) 585-3881
Independents: (202) 585-3882
Outside U.S.: (202) 585-3883

http://youtu.be/EkrjviC6H2w?t=3s

is this what i think it is? are the two sides…chatting??

https://twitter.com/ElSkalla/status/361420900425408512

@296 Ziad

We don’t hear about Shias killing Shias…

It seems the Sunnis are in a serious crisis of identity, lost between Al Qaeda, Moslem Brotherhood, salafism, takfirism and ‘moderates’ and between Saudi Arabia and Qatar funded breeding nests of terrorism and Turkey’s illusion of being a secular country and influencing the Arabs.
No wonder poorer Arab Sunni countries are in a mess.

After the victory in Khalidieh , the largest district in Homs, the totality of Homs is about to be liberated from the Islamists terrorists and their servile allies.

Congratulations to the heroic and ‘militiaficated’ Syrian Army!

Column: The West loves democracy, in theory

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/Column+West+loves+democracy+theory/8713357/story.html

In Africa, the U.S and other Western countries have come a long way from the time they backed military despots such as the Zaire’s (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) Mobutu Sese Seko, but their attitude to the Middle East has remained the same.
Experts say that because of oil and protection of Israel, dictators have often been given a pass because they are allies. These leaders may be harsh and murderous, but because they are the West’s thugs, and that’s fine. And where democratic governments strayed from the Western line, it was okay to procure their removal. Iran is now Public Enemy No. 1 in the West, but few remember that the seeds of the religious autocracy that rules the country today were sown when the U.S. and U.K. authored a 1953 coup that removed democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, paving the way for the rule of the Shah of Iran. We know how that story ended, and the West is now reaping the whirlwind.

The handling of Morsi’s removal shows the West has still not learned the lesson.

Omen you changed your Twitter name to “Free Homs”? The army is about to do just that. Weird coincidence or are you a secret agent? Ha ha.

More achievements of the heroic and ‘militiaficated’ Syrian Army

Syrian Army Destroys Al-Qaeda Military Bases in Idlib, Hama

TEHRAN (FNA)- The Syrian army demolished seven Al-Qaeda bases in the Northwestern and Central parts of the country.

In the Central province of Hama, the army units targeted and destroyed bases of Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist groups in al-Kamb, Zizoun, Harz al-Qazaiyeh and Mazra’eh al-Jaydat regions killing tens of militants and injuring dozens more in heavy clashes, FNA dispatches said Saturday.

In Reef (outskirts of) Idlib in Northwestern Syria, government troops demolished the bases of insurgents in Saraqeb, Marata and al-Moghareh regions.

Meantime, the army repelled the armed rebels’ attacks on Idlib city killing tens of militants and injuring dozens more

It appear that until now the ‘militiaficated’ Syrian Army is more effective than the “alnusraficated” FSA.

Tunisia watching what happens in Egypt, is acting quickly to save its Islamist government from the same fate

Tunisia leaders aim for new power-sharing deal ‘in coming hours’

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/77611/World/Region/Tunisia-leaders-aim-for-new-powersharing-deal-in-c.aspx

As tensions have skyrocketed in Tunisia since the assassination Brahmi, secular opposition groups begin organising protests and demand the dissolution of the Islamist-led government
Reuters , Sunday 28 Jul 2013

Hope it isn’t anyone from the forum?!?!

Pittsburgh man reportedly dead in Syria
http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/local/pittsburgh-man-reportedly-dead-syria/nY4rk/

CAIRO — An American-Egyptian man born in Pittsburgh is missing in Syria and reported dead in fighting between Islamic militants and Kurdish militia.

“It appear that until now the ‘militiaficated’ Syrian Army is more effective than the ‘alnusraficated’ FSA.”

Ha ha very clever.

look at how the tone and content of Egyptian media on Syria are changing:

(posted FYI, not as an endorsement of the message in the video)

According to pro regime media, alkhalidya is under the control of the Syrian army:
قال مصدر عسكري أن الجيش السوري سيطر بالكامل على حي الخالدية بحمص.
وكان مصدر سوري قال اليوم أن منطقة الخالدية في حمص ستعلن آمنة خلال ساعات قليلة مؤكدا أن الجيش بسط كامل سيطرته على المنطقة المذكورة، فيما لا يزال بعض القناصة التابعون للمعارضة المسلحة يتمركزون في أطرافها.
المصدر قال أن الجيش يلاحق فلول المسلحين في أطراف المنطقة بقصد تصفية من تبقى وخصوصا القناصة على أن يتم إعلان الخالدية منطقة آمنة في وقت قريب لن يتجاوز الساعات.

الائتلاف الوطني المعارض وقيادة اركان الجيش الحر يدينون “المجزرة”
التي وقعت بحق جنود النظام في منطقة خان العسل بحلب
وأكد الائتلاف الوطني السوري وقيادة أركان الجيش السوري الحر في بيان “إدانتهما المطلقة لكل خرق يطال ميثاق جنيف، بغض النظر عن الجهة التي تقف وراءه”.
وأوضح البيان أنه “فيما يتعلق بالحادثة الأخيرة، التي كشفت بعض مقاطع الفيديو المسربة من حلب، وقوع ما يبدو أنه إعدام جماعي لعدد كبير من الجنود، فإن الائتلاف يجدد إدانته لهذا الفعل، ويعلن عن تشكيل لجنة تحقيق في الحادثة”.
وشدد البيان “على ضرورة ملاحقة كل من يثبت ضلوعه في ارتكاب أي جريمة”، مشيراً إلى أن “المستفيد الوحيد من مثل هذه الخروقات، هو نظام الأسد والعصابات والميليشيات الموالية والداعمة له”.
The NC’s condemnation of the massacre in khan al-asal was not received well by many on the opposition side including sites like aks alser (one of the most visited internet pro opposition news sites).
This is Muhammad Habash take on Bashar and the massacre:
قال البرلماني السوري السابق محمد حبش على صفحته في موقع التواصل الاجتماعي فيسبوك رسالة لبشار الأسد أكد فيها أن الأخير تحول إلى طاغية دموي بسبب الكرسي.
و كتب حبش ” أما انا فكنت أتوقع أنه عندما يبلغ عدد الشهداء في سوريا عشرة فستقف أمام الشعب وتقول لهم لا استطيع ان اتحمل اكثر من ذلك ساستقيل واختاروا لانفسكم ايها الناس.. هكذا كان رهاني، وللاسف خسرت الرهان وثبت أنني لا أفقه شيئاً في السياسة ولا في نوازع السياسيين
و تابع ” لم أكن أتخيل أن سحر الكرسي سيحولك إلى طاغية دموي، لا يهزك جوع الملايين ولا شرادهم ولا مئات الآلاف من القتلى، اليوم .. إذا كان لا يعنيك موت الملايين من شعبك ، ففكر على الأقل في موت الآلاف من أنصارك .. يموتون في المكان الخطأ “.
و أضاف : ” مثلما أبكاني جرائم صواريخ سكود تنزل على رؤوس الآمنين في حلب أبكاني أيضاً مشهد المجندين في خان العسل وهم يصارعون الموت لأسباب لا علاقة لها على الإطلاق بأي هدف نبيل .. إنها لعبة الموت في عالم لا مكان فيه للعدالة والمنطق .. كان يمكن أن يستشهدوا في المكان الصحيح وحينذاك سيمجدهم الموالي والمعارض وينحنون إجلالاً لشهادتهم ونبلهم وإخلاصهم .. هل ستتصرف يوماً واحداً كإنسان؟؟؟ وتفعلها؟؟؟ وما ذلك على الله بعزيز “.

Another incident that received a lot of attention is this video
(an officer in the Syrian army talking to rebels in Mlayha):

اذاعة شام اف ام الموالية للنظام تقول ان الضابط الذي كان يحاور المسلحين وهو العقيد مصطفى شدود استشهد في وقت لاحق بمنطقة المليحة في الغوطة الشرقية بريف دمشق
(aks alser used the term Istush’hed for the first time when describing fallen Syrian army soldiers)

Congratulations to the heroic “hezballized” Syrian army for its heroic black history. 

Syria missile strike kills 19 children
At least 29 people, mostly children, died in a regime missile strike on the Syrian city of Aleppo, a watchdog said, as Hizbollah-backed regime forces advanced in flashpoint Homs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10206588/Syria-missile-strike-kills-19-children.html

#314:

السياسي المصري مرتضى منصور : جزمة بشـار الأسـد أشرف واطهر من اوباما .

It seems the Syrian Army have chosen a better and united ‘terrorist’ military organization as partner than the FSA with its 1,200 Islamists militias allies that Selim Idriss has been trying desperately to unite.

Syrians, Hezbollah set to retake key Homs rebel area

http://www.brecorder.com/world/middle-east/129424.html

The complete fall of Homs, dubbed by rebels “the capital of the revolution” against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, would be a major coup for the government as the city straddles a key route linking Damascus to the Mediterranean coast.

State television said the army now controlled most of the Khaldiyeh district and broadcast footage of the destruction, including rubble-strewn streets and bodies it reported were of fighters.

An officer told the channel: “Only the northern sector is left (under rebel control), and that will be liberated within 24 hours.”

Some seven neighbourhoods in the Old City also remain in rebel hands, but troops appear determined to dislodge them as they did in the Homs province town of Qusayr, which they seized in June with help from Lebanon’s Hezbollah militiamen.

On Sunday afternoon, regime forces also shelled rebel strongholds in the Old City, the Britain-based Observatory said.

“The army and Hezbollah control a major part of Khaldiyeh after having gained ground (over the past 24 hours) and fighting is now concentrated on the northern and southern outskirts of the district,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

But the opposition National Coalition dismissed the army’s reported advances in Khaldiyeh as “fictitious victories” and accused the regime of having dumped “tonnes of bombs” on the area.

Christians Flock to Syria to Defend Assad and Holy Sites

Posted on July 27, 2013 by Womens Rights Advocate Obama Wages Holy War on Syria Using Terrorists To Destroy Holy Sites

Christians and other groups will not sit back any longer and watch as Obama backed terrorist destroy ancient monuments in Syria. Hezbollah are in Syria to protect the mosques and now Iraqi Shiites are heading for Syria to protect their holy shrines.

Obama has ignored a petition sent by Bishops from central and north America for the release of two Catholic Bishops who have been kidnapped by the Obama funded FSA.

Churches and mosques are being systematically destroyed and desecrated, statues destroyed. History in Syria, which belongs to everyone in this world, being destroyed, by the USA, who have no regard for history as they have none of their own.

http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/christians-flock-to-syria-to-defend-assad-and-holy-sites/

Wahabism on the road to Pakistan

Saudi Arabia to send Imams to Pakistan
25/07/2013

ISLAMABAD, July 25, (KUNA) — Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony, Sardar Mohammed Yousaf met in Saudi Arabia the head of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, who announced that two imams from the Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madina will be sent to Pakistan every year.
The Pakistani minister said that King Abdullah attached great importance to Pakistan and its people, indicating that such acts are aimed at promoting ties between the two countries.
Sheikh Al-Sudais said that relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were based on great understanding and reverence. He also prayed for the Muslim Ummah and progress and prosperity of Pakistan.

Post-revolution happy days in Libya continue. The new target is the Moslem Brotherhood once branded as the hope for a ‘moderate’ political Sunni Islam in the Arab world

Libya: Security and political situations deteriorate
http://www.aawsat.net/2013/07/article55311470

Parliamentary blocs continue to threaten withdrawal from political processes as foreign embassies close due to increasing violence

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—The funeral of the well-known Libyan activist and lawyer, Abd Al-Salam Al-Mismary, was held on Saturday. He was shot dead by unknown assailants while exiting a mosque in Benghazi after Friday prayers. The shooting came as part of a series of assassinations that have swept the country in recent months.

In response to the assassination, angry demonstrators attacked the headquarters of the Justice and Construction Party—the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood—in Benghazi. National Forces Alliance offices were also attacked. Together the two blocs dominate Libya’s parliament, the General National Congress.

Opinion: Egypt’s Fatwa War

http://www.aawsat.net/2013/07/article55311420

The fugitive general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood shocked everybody when in his latest weekly message he wrote that the Egyptian army chief’s ouster of Mohamed Mursi was akin to destroying the Ka’aba. Badie said: “I swear by God almighty that what Sisi has done in Egypt is more criminal then if he had . . . demolished the holy Ka’aba stone by stone.” Perhaps one should excuse Badie, for he is clearly suffering a nervous breakdown following the collapse of Muslim Brotherhood rule.

As for the most famous Brotherhood jurist, Sheikh Youssef Al-Qaradawi, he also did not hold back from what he excels in: issuing fatwas and inciting the public. On his official website, Qaradawi claimed that the Egyptian army chief’s call for demonstrations to support the military were nothing more than incitement to murder, saying that it would be religiously impermissible to respond to this.
….

U.S. Desperation Leading to New Petrodollar Wars in Syria, Iran

U.S. Middle East Policy: Divide and Conquer

How many countries has Iran invaded or even sabotaged in the last 60 years?

Zero.

On the contrary, how many countries has the U.S. invaded and/or sabotaged over the last 60 years?
Too many to count on this show.

Friends, it is all about controlling the access to oil. We all know that by now, right?

Well, I don’t think so. Many in America seem intent on waging perpetual war in the region.

War will never permanently cease until Christ returns. It just simply won’t happen…

What about Saudi Arabia?

Doesn’t the Washington elites know that “we the people” know that Saudi Arabia poses the greatest threat in the Middle East?

– 15 of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were from Saudi Arabia.

– A secret cable from Wikileaks showed that the Saudis provide “the world’s largest source of funds for Islamist militant groups.”

– The Saudis have some of worst religious freedom violations. The Christian persecution ministry, Open Doors, has rated Saudi Arabia as one of the most repressive regimes in the world against Christians along with North Korea.

– The Saudis are vehemently anti-Semitic, restricting all other religions outside of Islam. Not even a Bible or a crucifix is allowed inside the country and Christians are publicly flogged and executed for their faith.

And despite all of these facts, the U.S. — the so-called “Christian nation” — considers Saudi Arabia one of their closest allies in the region. However, if the Saudis ever decide to move away from the petrodollar system (pricing their oil in U.S. dollars), expect the warmongering neocons to demonize the Saudis and beat their war drums.

A secret U.S. State Department cable released by Wikileaks showed that the U.S. has been attempting to overthrow Syria for years.

The U.S. and Britain are financing terrorists of the worst kind in Syria. Al Qaeda, and the Al Nursa Front, which is linked to Al Qaeda. There are also sketchy reports of Taliban in the region.

For goodness sakes, Syria was a French colony until 1946.

Al Qaeda is growing in dominance throughout Syria. They will not go quietly once Assad is finally ousted from power. We simply cannot afford this. I believe, to be quite frank with you, that our current policy in Syria is absolutely appalling and I do not think sending in the U.S. military is going to make the situation any better.

http://ftmdaily.com/ftm-radio-show/petrodollar-wars/

I think Washington Post got it right. The West strategy for the revolution was “seduction and abandonment”. The west does bear responsibility in the killing in my opinion.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE96Q02Q20130727?irpc=932

Insight – Obama and Syria: a trail of half-steps, mixed messages

By Matt Spetalnick and Warren Strobel
WASHINGTON | Sat Jul 27, 2013 1:08am EDT

War In Syria: Why The West Is Losing (April 2013) Part 1.

Looking for a well-paid job? Try Libya

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/77617/Business/Economy/Want-to-run-the-Libyan-central-bank-Click-here.aspx

#Syria’s Information Minister: Terrorists who committed Khan al-Assal massacre and their supporters will pay dearly
#Syria: Units of the armed forces on Sunday seized control of the villages of Mas’hareh and Tall Mas’hareh in #Quneitra
#Syria: 40 persons who were misled and got involved in the recent events turned themselves and weapons to the competent authorities in #Homs
#Syria: Army units advance further in al-Khalidiyeh neighbourhood in #Homs. Chechen, Jordanian and Saudi terrorists killed in #Latakia

Thousands of Syrian police who joined the rebels are on U.S. payroll

The United States has been paying thousands of Syrian police officers who deserted the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has approved tens of millions of dollars to pay the salaries of police officers who joined the rebels. They said the officers were working to maintain order in rebel-controlled territory, mostly in northern Syria.

http://www.worldtribune.com/2013/07/25/thousands-of-syrian-police-who-joined-the-rebels-are-on-u-s-payroll/

https://twitter.com/Eljarh/status/361555404691480578/photo/1
happy post revolution days in Libya continues

The desperate SNC ranting again..

http://www.voanews.com/content/report-says-syrian-troops-hezbollah-consolidate-gains-in-homs/1711770.html

The SNC said what it called a “tactical withdrawal” by Free Syrian Army fighters is “not indicative of [President Bashar] al-Assad’s ability to maintain control over the area.”
….
Syrian activists say rebels killed 150 government soldiers, some after they surrendered, last week in the village of Khan al-Assal, outside Aleppo, the country’s largest city.
..
The SNC said initial reports showed “armed groups” not affiliated with the main rebel coalition were involved. It did not elaborate, but the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front says its fighters participated in the battle.

305. zoo said: We don’t hear about Shias killing Shias…

such a lie. (why does this board let zoo get away with bigotry?)

you don’t see the daily announcements i see of iran hanging dissidents.

also ignores regime record of colluding with alqaeda & other radicals.

you keep pitting shia v sunni when the real fight is between the rich vs the poor, elites vs the disempowered.

saudi sheiks & iranian mullahs have more in common with one another than the population they are supposed to represent.

can we stop with the pretense the west supports the opposition?

By Hannah Allam| McClatchy Washington Bureau

Idriss isn’t the only one upset at the U.S. foot-dragging on the arms issue. At a meeting with U.S. officials this week at the Saudi Embassy in Washington, Saudi officials demanded to know why the U.S. was holding a new shipment of heavy weapons destined for Syrian rebel militias.

Syrian Regime Change A-La-Carte
http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/syrian-regime-change-a-la-carte/
After committing a half dozen acts of war across the Middle East in recent years, we’re now treated to the absurd spectacle of an American general warning us of the dangers of committing an act of war. On Monday, U.S. General Martin Dempsey starkly outlined options for military action in Syria in a letter to the Senate, ruefully adding a few caveats about costs and collateral damage that triggered some chest-thumping histrionics in the Senate. Dempsey’s menu of warmongering druthers included training and advising the opposition (the term ‘nonlethal’ is always excitedly appended to advisory activities); conducting limited missile strikes; establishing a no-fly zone; creating buffer zones; and controlling chemical weapons. These additional options come even as Congress approves arms shipments to Syrian ‘rebels’……

Soon, no more obstacles to the new Sykes-Picot
http://www.voltairenet.org/article179521.html

Analysis: Who’s backing who as Syria’s civil war threatens to spread
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/28/19679903-analysis-whos-backing-who-as-syrias-civil-war-threatens-to-spread

327. ziad said: Thousands of Syrian police who joined the rebels are on U.S. payroll

fiction spouted by the same establishment that spread iraq-has-wmd lies.

Hassan Hassan حسن ‏@hhassan140
Two people who know first-hand information about defected police officers dispute the veracity of the article about they’re on US payroll.

see the rest of his timeline.

can we stop with the pretense the west supports the opposition?

John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina want a no fly zone over egypt

http://jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4777:mccain-and-graham-cut-off-aid-to-egypt&catid=110:national&Itemid=293

ليفنى: مرسى و أردوغان سيدفعان ثمن خروجهما عن مسارنا و طموحهم لبلادهم
http://youtu.be/iOUdYjEM_qc?t=44s

330. omen said:

also ignores regime record of colluding with alqaeda & other radicals.

Congratulations Omen_99. You have now tweeted 34,012 times. CNN’s main account has 33,683 tweets. You alone managed to win a large professional media with your “information feed”. Well done.

How on earth a californian.noSyrian.nonMuslim can have so exact knowledge of how many dissidents Iran is hanging daily. To what announcements do you refer? Can you understand Persian language? Or is your knowledge based on propaganda in English floating around internet. Omen’s incoming network. Hmmmm …

Iran colluding with Al Qaida and other Sunni extremists? Really – you obviously get your detailed knowledge and records through your wide “well informed” twitter network. So in Syria Iran is actually fighting with itself (Assad against Al Qaida you know). Tomorrow you will probably claim, that the Zionist state is in reality a Iranian diversion in order to get USA under their control. Or what?

Omen aside from you, and a very few others, who would listen to Hassan Hassan? He has been bleating away in the UAE for years. One of your problems is you listen to Hassan’s sort of babble.

How on earth a californian.noSyrian.nonMuslim can have so exact knowledge of how many dissidents Iran is hanging daily. To what announcements do you refer? Can you understand Persian language?

suuuuuuch a puzzling mystery.

only a super hybrid jewish-mossad saudi-wahhabi american-cia secret agent like myself is capable of comprehending top-secret classified material!

can we stop with the pretense the west supports the opposition?

UK sold components of chemical weapons to Assad in past two years while Cameron talked about arming rebels:

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2013/07/18/01003-20130718ARTFIG00482-londres-vend-des-armes-a-la-syrie.php

wow, that brave soul who dared a truce between both sides was killed?

omen
are you surprised
JBN AL Qaeda thugs will kill anyone who wants peace,even their own people, don’t you get it they want to kill people its in their blood,its lie they came to protect Syrians these evils just want to kill
I cant understand people who want to negotiate with them,because JBN will kill as soon as they turn their back and stab them from behind
are you so naive ?

habib on July 27, 2013 at 9:09 pm248.

Hopeful92 protesters killed in Egypt yesterday is worse than anything that happened in the early Syrian uprising.The parallels are obvious and my point is that it undermines the “sectarianism of the regime” narrative completely.And please stop wasting time and space, “Akbar Palace”, no one on either side cares about your rants. Or well, maybe Tara does.

Habibi,

Thank you for reading my posts. I didn’t expect that.

No one I am familiar with on this website I would consider to be Zionist or even pro-Israel. But I have noticed that if someone doesn’t agree with you or someone else, then they get labeled as a “Zionist”. This is a “cop out”.

I have great respect for anyone who has the audacity to speak about human rights for everyone including arabs, and there are many on this website. Tara is just one such example. I am very impressed by anyone, Islamist or secular, who speaks about freedom, human rights, and rule of law. That is why I am eager to read posts from Omen, Dr. Majedkhaldoun, Syrialover, Observer, Tara, Syrian Hamster, Sandro Loewe, Sami, etc.

More like the ‘Shabeehafication’ of the regime army.

A couple of Rebel momentum updates:

Posted on Yalla Souria about 5 hours ago:

#Syria, Aleppo, FFs {Freedom Fighters} sneak into regime enclaves at Al Rashideen

[Video]

********

[WARNING – Questionable source]

edward dark ‏@edwardedark 42m
fierce clashes on the outskirts of West Aleppo tonight as rebels mount an assault on regime positions there. a very violent day #Syria

ilya, it’s not clear yet how that man died.

Omen,
The army officer you mentioned is referenced in my post # 315, he spoke for most Syrians and was honored by many posters from both sides, people like him provide a glimpse of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation, he lost his life later, may be he was too good to stay alive.

Ameera,

Where are you?

Having a nervous breakdown, or being shown Iran by Zoo?

Come fast. I miss you.

Omen

“U.S. was holding a new shipment of heavy weapons destined for Syrian rebel militias.”

Simply because these weapons are US made and they may be used to kill indiscriminately civilians and minorities. By supplying heavy weapons the USA becomes accomplice to war crimes.
Saudi Arabia’s surprise is naive or part of a scenario to force the opposition to Geneva giving them the illusion that the weapons will frighten and mellow the Syrian Government.

The opposition stupidity and naivety are responsible for the Syrian tragedy.

More than 9,000 people have signed a petition asking Obama to declare the MB as a terrorist organization, however, 90,000 more signatures are needed by August 6th for the petition to move forward. I do not support the initiative.
WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:
Declare Muslim Brotherhood organization as a terrorist group
Muslim Brotherhood has a long history of violent killings & terrorizing opponents. Also MB has direct ties with most terrorist groups like Hamas.
A book by one of their prominent figures, Sayyid Qutb, called Ma’alim fi-l-Tariq is the bible for many terrorist groups.
The Muslim Brotherhood has shown in the past few days that it is willing to engage in violence and killing of innocent civilians in order to invoke fear in the hearts of its opponents. This is terrorism.
We ask the US government to declare MB as a terrorist group for a safer future for all of us.
Created: Jul 07, 2013

Hurray! The embattled opposition is finally dropping its “written in stone” pre-conditions for Geneva II after allowing thousands of more death since they were asked to a few months ago

Syrian Opposition Leader Says He Would Meet Assad Officials

Published: July 28, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/29/world/middleeast/syrian-opposition-leader-says-he-would-meet-assad-officials.html?_r=0

The new head of the main Syrian exile opposition group says he is prepared to attend a peace conference in Geneva with representatives of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria without preconditions.

But the group’s new president, Ahmad al-Jarba, said in an interview in New York on Saturday that he wanted assurances from the United States that there would be a deadline for making progress.

“We believe there should be a precise time frame,” Mr. Jarba said. “The regime is used to manipulating the process and wasting time.”

Mr. Jarba, who met last week with Secretary of State John Kerry, said that he would not propose a specific deadline until the talks are closer at hand. But Burhan Ghalioun, a Syrian opposition member who participated in the meeting with Mr. Kerry, said that the opposition believes “Geneva must accomplish something in the first six months.”
..
Many experts have argued that if the talks are ever convened they are unlikely to make headway in the near term, as Mr. Assad, drawing on arms from Russia and Iran, appears to have the upper hand in the fighting and no interest in yielding power.

Still, American officials have argued that it is important for the opposition to attend the conference to maintain Western support, and because they hope the forum might eventually provide a framework for an agreement to establish a post-Assad transitional government, although it could take months — and perhaps years. Sitting down with representatives of the Assad government, however, remains a delicate issue for the group, which understands that its cooperation on the political front strengthens its appeals for Western military support, but which is also striving to build up its credibility within Syria.

Post-revolution happy days continue in Tunisia

Tunisia’s opposition wants to set up alternative government

Reuters
Jul 29, 2013

TUNIS // Tunisia’s secular opposition, angered by two assassinations in its ranks and emboldened by the overthrow of Egypt’s president, said on Sunday it was considering setting up an alternative “salvation government” to challenge the Islamist-led leadership.
If agreed, the move would mark a significant escalation by the country’s opposition groups, who say they have no interest in reconciliation with the ruling Ennahda party.

“We will meet this evening to discuss creating a new salvation government and will study the possibility of nominating a new prime minister to replace this failed government,” said Jilani Hammami, a leader of the Salvation Front coalition and Tunisian Workers’ Party.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/africa/tunisias-opposition-wants-to-set-up-alternative-government#ixzz2aOW25aX8
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

Zoo,
Is it really possible to establish a transitional government in Syria with Assad remaining president for an unknown period and the security chiefs staying in their positions?
Assad does not want to step down and his family and close associates are in no mood to compromise because they do not want to lose their privileges and they also fear prosecution. Another obsticle is jihadists who could not care less about what jarba, Kerry and Assad want.
A more realistic plan is to impose a cease fire and find a way to administer areas under opposition control and reach an agreement on what to do with Islamist rebels. A divided country can not form a united government. Assad should have resigned in March of 2011, now he is refusing to say that he will not run in 2014 !!

there should be more calls for a peacekeeping force.
russia has voiced support for the idea.

In Sierra Leone, one battalion of British paratroopers – about 700 men – saved a capital city with a population of almost one million.

a former diplomat suggested installing turkish forces.

350. zoo said: “U.S. was holding a new shipment of heavy weapons destined for Syrian rebel militias.”

Simply because these weapons are US made and they may be used to kill indiscriminately civilians and minorities. By supplying heavy weapons the USA becomes accomplice to war crimes.

when are you going to call assad, russia, iran & china war criminals?

In a thoughtful essay عسكرة أم مقاومة؟, Michel Kilo distinguishes between militarization and resistance, and laments that the revolution has been marred by militarism.

American Policy in Tatters as Egypt’s Morsi is Charged

Rumors are circulating in Cairo that Egypt’s generals are preparing to use public support to go beyond the arrest of top Morsi allies; that is, to shut down the Muslim Brotherhood entirely.

That would deny the majority of Egypt’s Islamist high office and effectively prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from playing a meaningful role in the political process going forward.

With inclusion and unity government being the two principles that the United States have advocated throughout Egypt’s most recent turmoil, that might force the hands of an administration that desperately wants to continue business as usual.

http://atlanticsentinel.com/2013/07/american-policy-in-tatters-as-egypts-morsi-is-charged/

Morsi backers defiant in face of Egypt govt threat

The islamist Muslim Brotherhood issues a final SOS to their handlers in the West:

“We urge the United Nations, the international human community … to come down and rescue the hundreds of thousands from the massacre by the live ammunition in the hands of the criminals,” senior Brotherhood leader Mohammed el-Beltagi shouted from the stage at the larger of the two Cairo sit-ins.

“We want intervention by the international organizations … to rescue the people. We urge the Egyptian people to come to our rescue. … The people are slaughtered like sheep”,” declared el-Beltagi, who has an arrest warrant issued against him for inciting violence.

Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood’s supreme leader, launched a stinging attack on el-Sissi over the latest violence, saying the military chief was leading a “bloody regime” and urging his followers to stand fast.

“Don’t be sad and don’t despair,” he said in a message that heavily quoted from the Quran, Islam’s holy book. Posted on the Brotherhood’s website, Badie said those killed in the latest violence were martyrs who will be rewarded with a place in heaven.

The usual suspects scrambling to rescue and support the islamist Muslim Brotherhood:

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a strongly worded statement telling Egyptian authorities it was “essential” they respect the right to peaceful protest and calling on all sides to enter a “meaningful political dialogue.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also asked security forces to “act with full respect for human rights” and demonstrators to “exercise restraint.”

Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign policy chief, arrived in Cairo on Sunday for her second visit to Egypt this month, a sign of the alarm felt in the West over the continuing bloodshed. She was to meet Egyptian leaders on Monday.

The U.N.’s human rights chief, Navi Pillay, also condemned the violence and called for a “credible, independent investigation” into the killings.

“I fear for the future of Egypt if the military and other security forces, as well as some demonstrators, continue to take such a confrontational and aggressive approach. Supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have the right to protest peacefully like anyone else,” Pillay said.

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/22949677/egypt-death-toll-in-cairo-clashes-rises-to-72

A “tactical withdrawal” does wonders to the moral of those mercenary destroyers hahahahahahaha!

Syrian troops consolidate gains in Homs city

Government troops have made headway in Homs in recent days, capturing a 13th century landmark mosque in the contested Khaldiyeh neighborhood that had been in rebel hands for more than a year. Homs holds immense symbolic and strategic importance to both sides, and the ferocity of the fighting for control of it has left much of the city in ruins.

On Sunday, Syrian state TV had live coverage from Khaldiyeh, which is located on the northern edge of the Old City, broadcasting footage that showed gaping holes in apartment blocks, shattered buildings with collapsed floors and blackened facades. Soldiers and reporters walked through rubble-strewn streets. The military took TV crews working for pro-regime media outlets deep into the neighborhood, suggesting the army was confident it had secured the area.

An unidentified Syrian army commander standing before a destroyed building in Khaldiyeh told an embedded state TV reporter that the military expected to “liberate” the last part of the district within the next two days.

Syrian government forces captured the ancient Khalid Ibn al-Walid Mosque in Khaldiyeh on Saturday. Syrian TV aired a report with video from inside the mosque, showing heavy damage. The video showed debris littering the floor and a portion of the mosque appeared to have been burned.

Syria’s main exiled opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition, acknowledged that rebels had retreated from parts of Khaldiyeh, calling it a “tactical withdrawal.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/07/28/3527123/syrian-opposition-condemns-soldier.html

Israeli-Palestinian talks a cover for US aggression in Middle East

The talks offer nothing to the Palestinian working class except more suffering and misery, even as they give Israel everything it wants. So blatant is the cynicism and bullying on the part of both the US and its European allies that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat had said that he would not attend. Erekat, a professional windbag, will naturally attend—on the basis of having secured a measly promise that 104 Palestinian prisoners will be released.

He will be joined by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, confirmation that the PLO and Fatah, its dominant faction, function as little more than clients of US.

The Palestinians are not attending because there is anything on the table or because the talks will lead to an end to the occupation and settlements, much less an independent Palestinian state. They fear the consequences if they do not go. Kerry had made it clear that US aid worth $500 million a year would end if they do not attend. This is under conditions where the PA is unable to pay its monthly wage bill or subsidise rising fuel costs, a key element in the soaring cost of living.

The US House of Representatives has introduced measures in the US foreign operations appropriations bill that would terminate all aid to the PA should it obtain full UN membership or UN agencies without Israel’s agreement. The bill allocates $3.1 billion aid to Israel and $1.3 billion to Egypt.

The Arab League has endorsed the talks. Ziad Abu Zayyad, a former PA minister and negotiator, told Israel’s Army Radio Sunday that Abbas came under pressure from both America and the Arab League. “The Arab League is telling him, ‘You can’t be seen as responsible for Kerry’s failure’.”

Asked about reports that Abbas faced US threats to withdraw aid if he did not enter talks, Abu Zayyad said, “Of course there was a threat of economic sanctions, as much as $500 million per year. There was pressure related to the end of aid.”

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/07/29/isra-j29.html

The 99 names of d-p athad

1. Despicable
حقير
مهين
خسيس
جدير بالإزدراء

The 99 names of d-p athad*

1. Despicable
حقير
مهين
خسيس
جدير بالإزدراء

*Note: Names also apply freely to d-p sniffers.

the 99 names of d-p athad*
2. Foolish
أحمق
سخيف
مغفل
تافه

*Note: names also apply “freely” to d-p sniffers

Hamas welcomes Iran’s approach to restore ties: official

Salah al-Bardaweel, an official from the Islamic movement that controls the Gaza Strip, said his group “welcomes all forms of dialogue with Iran to boost the strong relations between the two sides.”

“Our ties with Iran were never cut, but they have recently been cold over the crisis in Syria.”

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/798980.shtml#.UfTWbKwlEjc

The 99 names of d-p athad*
3. Evil

شرير
رديء
خبيث
رجيم
ملعون
لعين
لئيم

*Note: Names also apply “freely” to d-p sniffers

Hamas Closes News Media Outlets

GAZA — Hamas, the Islamist militant group controlling the Gaza Strip, closed news media offices and a television production company on Thursday for what it called the spreading of false reports and working for Israeli television.

The offices belonged to the Al Arabiya news channel, which is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and to Maan, a Palestinian news agency based in Bethlehem, West Bank.

Hamas also shut down a local production company called Lens because it had provided broadcast services to I24 News, a new channel based in Israel that broadcasts in Arabic, English and French.

Ismail Jaber, Hamas’s attorney general, said his office had received complaints that Al Arabiya and Maan had “spread rumors and fabricated news” and had provided information that “threaten the social peace and harm the Palestinian people and their resistance.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/world/middleeast/hamas-closes-news-media-outlets.html?ref=middleeast&_r=1&

Fancy the thumb down impotent rage display. It only signifies acceptance and recognition of who the name Dog-Poop refers to. (here you go, capitalized especially for D-P Sniffers infesting this blog)

We now continue the athad religion lesson after the comic releif provided at the expense of DONANN.

The 99 names of d-p athad*
pusillanimous (aka coward)
جبان
رعديد

Note: name also apply “freely” to d-p sniffers

Legal group to Kerry: Pre-1967 lines as basis for talks contravenes US commitments

Legal Forum for Israel says any US guarantee over borders violates US promise given to then-prime minister Ariel Sharon.

Any US guarantee to the Palestinians that the upcoming negotiations with Israel will be based on the pre-1967 lines would be a violation of written US commitments given to then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, former Foreign Ministry legal adviser Alan Baker wrote in a letter sent this week to Secretary of State John Kerry.

Baker wrote the letter on behalf of the Legal Forum for Israel, along with another attorney with the group, Yossi Fuchs. The forum, formerly called the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, was set up in the wake of the Gaza withdrawal to promote the rights of the evacuees.

The group quotes from US president George W. Bush’s letter to Sharon on April 4, 2004, which it said was given as a political quid pro quo, in return for Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza.

According to that letter, “As part of a final peace settlement, Israel must have secure and recognized borders, which should emerge from negotiations between the parties in accordance with UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338. In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of the final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-state solution have reached the same conclusion.”

These commitments were later affirmed by a large majority of the US House of Representatives, and – as Baker and Fuchs wrote to Kerry – was “also given legal affirmation as part of an Israeli governmental decision and attached to the disengagement implementation law of October 27, 2004.”

http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Alan-Baker-to-Kerry-Pre-1967-lines-as-basis-for-talks-contravenes-US-commitments-321128

Senior Iranian Advisor: Turmoil in Egypt, Tunisia Result of US-Israeli Plot

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13920506000907

Report: Israel Bombs Another Syrian Weapons Convoy

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/170350

The SAA colonel seen yesterday in a vid laying down his weapon & talking to the FSA in Maliha has mysteriously died in a military hospital.

Colonel Engineer Moustafa Abdul Karim Shdood murdered by the regime for saying we were all brothers. RIP. pic.twitter.com/NLOhw093Xq

Beyond civil war

Anthony H. Cordeman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies said the civil conflict in Syria threatens to fuel a major conflict between Sunnis and Shiites throughout the Muslim world, with each side backed by different groups of countries.

The CIA assists Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who directly support and supply the rebels, in arming the rebels. Heavy weapons provided by the Saudis and Qatar for the Free Syrian Army include M-79 anti-tank weapons and M-60 recoilless rifles, shipped across the Jordanian border. The M-79 anti-tank weapons in particular give the rebels new confidence in attacking government positions. Supplies may also have come from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The Western “Friends of Syria” are actually “Enemies of Syria” or “Friends of Jihad.” The European Union has lifted its arms embargo on Syria, which was the brainchild of France and Britain, the former imperial powers that controlled the area.

They clamor for a “no-fly zone.” But, according to Anthony H. Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, no one is advocating a serious U.S. air campaign, which would involve a substantial financial commitment and likely result in significant U.S. air casualties as Russian S-300 missile systems are coming to Damascus.

Former Russian Air Force General Anatoly Komukov told Interfax-AVN online that Damascus would need at least ten battalions of S-300 air defense missile systems to fully protect its territory from a possible NATO attack.

To the chagrin of the Western powers, the rebel camp seems to be in disarray. Fierce fighting broke out in Aleppo after a jihadist group assassinated a senior Free Syrian Army (FSA) commander.

After the jail break in Iraq many of the five hundred escaped prisoners are believed to have come to Syria to fight alongside the jihadists.

With many foreign elements drawn into the fight, the conflict in Syria is far from a simple civil war. It is dividing Lebanon. It is also creating problems in Jordan and Turkey, pushing Iraq towards civil war and enhancing the influence of Iran.

http://www.china.org.cn/opinion/2013-07/29/content_29556949.htm

Israel, allies trying to hold onto Aleppo by arming militants: Redwan Rizk

Press TV has conducted an interview with Redwan Rizk, political commentator in Beirut, about a report in Israeli media that says Israel has made a 50 million dollar arms deal to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons and equipment for the insurgency in Syria.

Watch the video interview here

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/28/316060/israel-allies-want-to-hold-onto-aleppo/

Ramadan Kareem

Activists: 75 Syria rebels die in Damascus battles

Syrian activists say government troops have killed at least 75 rebels over 24 hours in battles for control of the capital, Damascus.

The death toll reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Monday included 49 rebels killed in an ambush in Damascus’ northeastern suburb of Adra early Sunday. The group says an elite unit loyal to President Bashar Assad ambushed the rebels as they were trying to push into the city.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/jul/29/ml-syria/

How did I miss this one?!

The unlikely bipartisan coalition

Republicans and Democrats in the United States House of Representatives united last week to oppose Obama administration policies on meddling in the Syrian conflict and violating the privacy of citizens through pervasive collection of telephone records.

A vote on lethal aid to Syrian rebels and broader United States military intervention resulted in a slow down of lethal aid to Syrian rebels and restrictions on any use of U.S. troops in that nation’s civil war. The limiting amendment was attached to a Defense Department appropriations bill and passed by voice votes “with only scant dissent.”

The adoption of this amendment represents the first real shift away from the imperial presidency allowed by Congress since the War Powers Resolution of 1973. President Obama lost the free hand he expected to continue the assault on a sovereign state, Syria, that never attacked or posed a threat to the U.S.

How could such a radical shift take place, one supported by House members from both parties?

In the case of Syria, members needed to do little more than read public opinion polls. Over 60% of those polled in March 2012 opposed any U.S. military involvement in Syria. Only 45% of those polled in April 2013 supported involvement even if the Syrian government used chemical weapons!

House members run for election every two years and are are reluctant to seem obvious in thwarting the public will.. However, presidents do what they want overseas again and again.

The broad consensus in the voice vote may have reflected a wariness of yet another failed military involvement in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis. The presence of Al Qaeda fighters (the bad rebels) fighting with the Free Syrian Army (the good rebels) was a factor. And, hopefully, many members are paying attention to the indiscriminate murder of Syrian Christians by Al Qaeda fighters (which includes beheading, an Al Qaeda best practices method of murder).

http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2013/07/28/the-unlikely-bipartisan-coalition

The Arabs rebelled against the Muslim Brotherhood

Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya: The Arabs rebelled against the Muslim Brotherhood

From Syria to Egypt via Tunisia and Libya, the Arab people rise up against the terror of the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist extremist movements who stole their revolutions with the support of the West and Israel and trying to stifle their aspirations through massacres, political assassinations, physical violence and intellectual terrorism.

In Syria, the mask of pseudo-resolution, sponsored by the Gulfs reactionary monarchies -where Constitutions and elections have never existed and where women are deprived of their most basic rights (such as driving a car in Saudi Arabia, for example)- have fallen long ago. The Takfirist groups formed mainly of foreign extremists massacred all those who do not think like them: Sunnis, Alawites, Shiites, Druze and Christians. One of these groups, “Soldiers of the Islamic Caliphate,” committed the latest atrocities in the town of Khan al-Assal, west of the city of Homs. They massacred some 150 regular soldiers and civilians and dumped their bodies in a mass grave after being mutilated. Extremists have massed 10,000 men to take the city, where they had used chemical weapons in February.

The exceptional effort they have made to take over Khan al-Assal coincides with the arrival in Damascus of UN experts to investigate the use of chemical weapons and the signing of an agreement to that effect with the Syrian state. It is clear that the purpose of taking Khan al-Assal is to disappear the clues and evidence incriminating not only extremists but also, and especially, their regional support, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

But despite the terror, the Syrian people have decided to raised against these groups. Across Syria, terrorists are now hated by the people who closed ranks behind the president, Bashar al-Assad, its national army and state. This determination and willingness to make sacrifices are probably expressed by the image of this young Syrian soldier, making the “V” for victory, a few minutes before being executed with dozens of his comrades in Khan al-Assal.
This determination is also reflected in the progress made on the ground by the army and the popular committees, the latest being the conquest, Saturday, of the HQ of the extremists in Homs, the Khaled Ibn al-Walid mosque, and neighborhood Khalidiyé. The army is poised to take the whole city in a few hours.

http://www.voltairenet.org/article179650.html

The opposition and its mouthpieces are all losers. If engineer Moustafa Abdul Karim Shdood had been murdered by the regime for saying the Syrian rebels and SAA were all brothers, then the whole SAA would have defected and turned their guns against the regime.

Not only the opposition do not respect the honor of Shdood, but also they try to use his death as a big fat lying propaganda.

It is simply egregious and despicable.

DONANN seems to tell us that d-p athad has rented its mafia army as practice target to the israeli airforce. And d-p and its sniffers reserve the right to rethpond at moment of its choosing…..

Colonel Mostafa was wounded in the leg then he was taken to the #Regime military hospital where was liquidated according 2 his family #Syria

Heaven knows at what cost (losses) the regime allegedly took control of al-Khalidiya (Homs).

Heaven knows how costly holding the area will be for the regime.

Can the Sword of Allah ever be defeated?

#357 Omen

Russia and Iran are legally supplying weapons to a state part of the UN under official agreements, while the USA will be illegally smuggling weapons to outlaws fighting against a internationally recognized government. That’s the difference.

Israel’s made weapons may go unnoticed and anyway Israel does not care of being accused of war crimes, it does it everyday, but the USA public opinion won’t accept that from the USA.

This is why after the Croatian weapons, now Saudi Arabia is trying to get weapons from Israel, as US is reluctant.
The USA does not want to provide US made weapons before ensuring they will not be used against civilians and until now they have no such guarantees. That’s why they are finding all kind of excuses not to deliver heavy weapons.

I though that was obvious for most people who read about politics.

#383 Uzair8

I won’t shed any tears for the criminals who have terrorized Homs for more than a year. I just hope that the ones who have made a ‘tactical retreat’ get the same fate.
Refugees will start to come back in a city where rule of law and security has been restored.
Countries hosting refugees are longing for more ‘cleanups’ like this one.

there is nothing legal about genocide, zoo. hitler tried to hide beyond laws too. that didn’t absolve him of his crimes.

i thought that was obvious for anyone with a conscience!

Are we entering in resolution phase of the conflict?

After months of insisting on pre-conditions, the opposition has finally been forced to accept to go the Geneva without any pre-conditions.

This is a clear admittance that it has lost the military war and now want to save what is left of its political credibility. While they did not get enough military help from the West, they now expect heavy support form its allies during political negotiations.
Yet as long as Bashar al Assad is winning back the country, the position of the opposition is weaker than ever and they may get nothing significant during negotiations, yet if there is a concerted decision to destroy the Islamist fighters, that’s a first step to reconciliation.
Geneva II will be a long process.

A ‘genocide’ is the planned elimination of a ‘genos,’ i. e. ‘race.’
What exactly do you mean?

#386 Omen

Genocide is when the killing is based on ethnicity or religion.
The Syrian army soldiers are a mix of the religion and ethnicity available in Syria. They are united and they fight 1200 Sunni extremists militias who are trying to impose their religious rule on the country and are practicing genocide against religious minorities.

The devil’s fighters were seen fleeing Homs – the “capital of the revolution” (my cousin tells me many were dressed as women and were weeping as they fled). Syrian army tanks rolled into the center of Homs and hoisted images of President Bashar Assad (video forthcoming).

What a glorious day this is.

“This regime in Saudi Arabia does not stand by God’s rules or even [the country’s] established rules and its policies, decisions and actions are totally based on [the] personal will of its leaders,”

Saudi prince defects from royal family: Report
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/saudi-prince-defects-from-royal-family-report.aspx?PageID=238&NID=51544&NewsCatID=352

Saudi Prince Khalid Bin Farhan al-Saud has announced his defection from the royal family, referring to his “suffering” under reign of al-Saud and called on other princes to break their silence.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah Iftar Speech at the Annual Women’s Commission 2013

Away from the five star hotels when they continuously meet, are these “freedom and dignity” promised by the opposition?

In Lebanon, Syrian Refugees Resort to ‘Survival Sex’
http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-refugees-resort-to-survival-sex-in-lebanon/1711943.html

BEIRUT — Three-quarters of the Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon, because of the continuing fighting in their home country, are women and children. They make up a highly vulnerable population that’s easy prey as economic distress is forcing more and more Syrian women and girls to consider prostitution.

They are turning to prostitution in order to secure money and food for their families, say aid workers, who argue the women have little choice but to resort to what they describe as “survival sex”.

Genocide is when the killing is based on ethnicity or religion.

you know damn well sunnis are being exterminated. the regime is waging sectarian cleansing.

the makeup of the rank & file soldiers doesn’t spare the regime from being charged with genocide. the inner circle giving the orders are not sunni.

this must be the double talk you give yourself so you can sleep at night. it’s not even passably convincing.

the only reason radicals are running around is because 1. the regime released them out of jail early or 2. are groups the regime has colluded with before from the days of iraq. the regime is responsible for their being unleashed.

mina, i don’t want to argue with you but no amount of clever semantics is going to whitewash this regime.

The Syrian Kurds supported by Russia are becoming independent from the FSA and increasingly instrumental for the future of Syria

Russia-US rivalry in Syria and Kurdish autonomy
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/7/syriakurd827.htm
..
The past week witnessed, and continues to see more, intensified fighting between JN/ISIS on the one hand and the YPG and the Jabhat Akrad one the other.
Jabhat Akrad was part of the FSA but defected to fight on the YPG side against the JN/ISIS after the Kurds reported attacks by the JB/ISIS on the Kurdish residents.
…
Alan Semo, a PYD member has told al-Monitor that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has promised them that “without you [the Kurds], there will not be any meeting in Geneva,”

Acording to Ahmed Suleiman, a spokesman of the Supreme Kurdish Council, “Russia respects the Kurdish people in Syria and recognizes that the Kurds are following a legitimate struggle. The existence of the Kurdish people is denied and in the new Syrian constitution, the rights of Kurds must be recognized.”

The United States, Turkey’s long time ally on the other hand does not support a Kurdish autonomy in Syria and is not happy about Kurdish control in northeast of Syria along the Turkish border and YPG gains on the JN/ISIS despite their knowledge of al-Qaeda fighters being among the ranks of the Jihadi Islamist groups. Al-Nusra and ISIS are publicly affiliated with the al-Qaeda.
..

According to Zamani, Syria has long been the ground for Russian-US rivalry. Russia is represented by the Bashar Assad regime, and the United States is represented by the rebel groups. But why has the United States not taken military action to resolve the issue? Is it because it fears that Russia will back Mr Assad even in a US-Syria conflict? Koshan Zamani says “no”

“The thing is United States is not sure about the future of Syria. Chances are the Islamists will accede to power and the US is not ready to leave Syria for Islamists… if the US wants to remove Assad militarily, they can do it easily and Russia will hand it over to them. But the change in regime will not benefit the US and Israel”

#394 Omen

I know ‘damn well’ that the Sunnis extremists that make the bulk of the rebels have been desecrating churches, eating human flesh, cutting heads, killing priests and executing prisoners.

Even the Kurds are now dissociating themselves from this bunch or criminals and helping the Syrian government to get rid of them.
By the way as many alawites have been killed during your “genocide” as sunnis and alawites make only a small percentage of the population.
Genocide you said? on who?
No wonder you use absurd ‘cliches’; as your hopes for a victory of the sunni islamist terrorists over the regular SAA army are falling apart

test

Rev said:

‘Syrian army tanks rolled into the center of Homs and hoisted images of President Bashar Assad (video forthcoming).’

How embarrassing!

Facepalm moment if ever there was one.

I think another important achievement after taking back Khalidiya is that a large number of foreign fighters got eliminated.

Those religious crackheads with their moronic backwards medieval zeal got swept into cesspools.

We have people here praying Allah for peace and redemption for human suffering. We also got foreigners here praying Allah for more blood and violence.

May Allah punish them!

In Egypt, who is funding the anti-Syria propaganda channel “Syria tomorrow”. Will the new Egytian rulers tolerate it?

Syrian Rebels Flock to Cairo
July 29, 2013
http://themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=38176

In a suburb of Cairo, a group of producers from the Syria Tomorrow channel are having their daily programming meeting. Syria Tomorrow seeks to counter Syrian state television, which broadcasts a steady stream of propaganda calling the rebels “terrorists” funded by the United States, Israel and Persian Gulf countries.
…

SyriaTomorrow’s programs highlight the regime’s shelling of civilian areas. It interviews refugees displaced from their homes in camps along the Jordanian and Turkish borders. Syria Tomorrow also features interviews with rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

In a spacious office off of Tahrir Square where millions gathered to call for the fall of the Egyptian regime in 2011, an Egyptian trainer is lecturing Syrian activists, instructing them in the art of social media.

“We want to reach the young population and get them into the streets,” Faris, one of the Syria activists trying to grasp the outreach techniques tells The Media Line. “It is the youth who are the key to this revolution.”
…

Umar’s organization records the arrival of Syrian refugees in Egypt. According to the latest United Nations statistics, there are 99,167 Syrians in Egypt. “At the beginning they went to Turkey and Jordan,” he explains to The Media Line. But many did not want to live in humiliating conditions in camps.” His organization circulates messages via Facebook and sends out text messages to refugees. Once in Cairo, wealthy Egyptian businessmen put them up in apartments on the outskirts of Cairo.

Capt. Omen: “you know damn well Sunnis are being exterminated.”

Yes, brave captain, they are being exterminated by the FSA cannibals.

Maybe less time on Twitter?

a large number of foreign fighters got eliminated.

Those religious crackheads with their moronic backwards medieval zeal got swept into cesspools.

finally, agreement. no, i don’t like hezbollah either.

Using the names of dog-poop athad

What the Despicable dog-poop athad is doing to Homs . Anyone who tries to find an excuse for this crime would be as despicable as the despicable dog-poop athad.

dog-poop sniffers will soon start the race to inform the humans which one of them is more despicable than its pack-buddies

The 99 names of d-p athad*

5. Vulgar

مبتذل
سوقي
بذيء
فاحش

*Note: names apply “freely” to d-p sniffers.

The 99 names of d-p athad*

6. Filthy

قذر
وسخ
فاحش
بذيء

*Note: Names apply “freely” to d-p sniffers.

Never negotiate with islamist terrorists

Assyria: Two Syrian Arc Bishops Kidnapped

The state of Syria’s Christian population remains in danger as two Arc Bishops were kidnapped my armed militants. While meeting with the Syrian Opposition Forces, Assyrians urge the UN to address the violence against Syria’s Christians.

Below is an article published by aua.net:

The Indigenous Christian Communities of Syria, with more than 6000 years history, have faced conditions that are considered genocidal. Churches have been destroyed and people have been killed and kidnapped because of their Christian belief. Three months ago two Christian Arc bishops – Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo Boulos Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo Yuhanna Ibrahim -were kidnapped near Aleppo in a violent raid by militants of armed Syrian opposition. The two men were on a noble humanitarian mission in the vicinity of the village of Kafr Dael, located near the Syrian-Turkish border.

The primary responsibility of the Syrian Indigenous Christians is in the hands of the Syrian government, the opposition organizations and the international community. The lives of the two arc bishops lie in the hands of the Syrian opposition group, who has claimed that this territory lies under its military and civilian control. Therefore, it is of high importance that the Syrian opposition group should pay close attention to this matter.

http://www.unpo.org/article/16221

Omen,
You don’t even believe in what you write.
Radicals have been freed from jails also in Egypt and Libya, and the Pakistani Taliban made a lot of PR to announce they were sending guys to Syria, just recently.
You know as well that the governement you accuse of carrying a ‘genocide’ is composed by many Sunnis, and by many people who do not put religion as an identity and are married or related to Sunnis.
I talk to a friend in Syria every week, who happens to be from a Sunni family, and she does not sound like she is afraid of some sort of genocide.
I wonder if you know people inside Syria. Reality is not exactly like what one reads on FB and Twitter.

Oklahoma: Unified Opposition to US War in Syria

http://warisacrime.org/content/unified-opposition-us-war-syria

#406 Thyrian Hamsther

…Yawn… at your infantile and boring h-p’s

looks like zouzou is starting the race!

And we continue the rosary prayer (d-p athad prayer mathbaha) with

the 99 names of d-p athad*

7. fake
زائف
دجال
شىء مزيف
ملفق
كاذب
مستعار
مستعار مزور

*Note: names also apply “freely” to d-p sniffers.

The 99 names of d-p athad*

8. Malignant
خبيث
ضار
غلول
حقود

*Note: names apply “freely” to d-p sniffers.

the 99 names of d-p athad*

9. villainous

خسيس
نذل
دنيء
رديء
بغيض
حقير

*note: names also apply “freely” to d-p sniffers

If Assad was to win or remain in power it would be a travesty of justice. All our* hopes and dreams would be destroyed. All the courageous sacrifices and struggle will have been for nothing.

* The Syrian people and their sympathizers.

The Syrian Revolution…

Fighting & struggling on to keep the hopes and dreams alive.

Chechen Wahhabis aid militants in Syria

An international terrorist organization is emerging in the north of the country.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has formally recognized the presence of Chechen warlords in the war in Syria. The ministry said in a statement that one of the Islamist groups fighting against Bashar al-Assad is headed by Chechen native Abu Musab. Kommersant has ascertained that more than 100 Chechen militants are fighting in Syria.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that Chechen natives are fighting on the side of radical groups in Syria. The statement was issued after Islamists active in the north of the country staged a massacre of local Kurds in retaliation for the capture of Abu Musab (their commander who identifies as a Chechen).

Having demanded Musab’s release, Islamists massacred civilians, beheaded innocent bystanders and took some 500 Kurds hostage — most of them women, elders and children. Abu Musab has since been released, but Islamists are still holding nearly 200 Kurdish hostages and using them as human shields.

“Moscow resolutely condemns the atrocities of the terrorist international in the northeast of Syria,” reads the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement. It describes the events as “a bloody provocation aimed at destroying the country, and the establishment of a jumping-off point for international terrorism.”

Chechen warlord Abu Musab’s real name is unknown, as militants who have following the Wahhabi path traditionally use aliases. In the past, top terrorist Shamil Basayev called himself Abu Idris. Tamerlan Tsarnayev, who carried out the April 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, was known in his circle of associates as Muaz Seyfullah, or “Allah’s sword,” in Arabic.

Chechen separatist Usman Ferzauli, who lives in a Western European country and presents himself as the foreign minister of Ichkeria, has confirmed to Kommersant that Chechen militants are among the ranks of the Syrian opposition.

“It is hard to say exactly how many Chechens are fighting there, but I think there are certainly more than a hundred,” Ferzauli said. Most of the Chechens fighting in Syria, he claims, hail from the North Caucasus, although there are also some “European Chechens” — the children of those who to fled Europe during the First and Second Chechen Wars. Ferzauli believes they all reach Syria via Turkey.

http://rbth.ru/international/2013/07/29/chechen_wahhabis_aid_militants_in_syria_28475.html

Syrian Hamster,

Would that make D-P’s theme song this: “I got 99 names but a legitamite President ain’t one”?

Uzair

“All the courageous sacrifices and struggle will have been for nothing.”

Yes, they will have to face that reality. They have contributed to the destruction of the country and sending millions out of their homes for nothing.

Uzair it isn’t courageous to murder women and children or shoot unarmed soldiers – like the FSA cannibals have done.

Some of Assad and Assad supporters names
وغد ,ابليس, شيطان, زنيم ,عتل ,مهين, رجز

From AJE blog about 6 hours ago:

In the northern city of Aleppo, several rebel factions including the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or Nusra Front, attacked army posts in two neighborhoods in a an offensive titled “amputating infidels” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

The London-based observatory said rebels captured several buildings in the neighborhoods of Dahret Abed Rabbo and Lairamoun, and that eight government soldiers were killed.

[..]

418/419 Zoo/Rev

Ghiath Matar, Hamza al-Khatib and millions of other Syrians are indeed courageous.

Posted on Yalla Souriya about 4 hours ago:

#Syria #Aleppo –

@farGar

Rebels arrest a big time assad shabihah in khan al assal #Syria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iEncg1E2YZM#at=27

[Khan Asal is about 12kms west of central Aleppo and was liberated a few days ago]

[Video]

LEADER OF “DAMASCUS LIBERATION BRIGADE” KILLED LIBERATING A STOLEN TRACTOR. The pathetic end to Jabhat Al-Nusra thief, scoundrel and highwayman, IYAAD IBRAAHEEM GHAAZI, could not have been more felicitous than his miserable death yesterday while doing what his family taught him best: stealing. This segment of simian DNA could have done wonders in Brooklyn or South Chicago collecting hubcaps or old women’s food coupons. No, he had to opt for the “Liberation of Damascus”.

http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow/images/a07/ot/gi/rid-smell-dead-rodents-800×800.jpg

The Liberator of Damascus is seen above right after the SAA sprung the trap that sent him to Hell.

When reading Jabra, one feels we have already won,,,  Syria’s seat at the UN in September, Western weapons within one month, no safe exit to Batta and his family, Kurds under the flag of the revolution…and more.

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/07/28/Al-Arabiya-Exclusive-SNC-leader-says-Geneva-II-may-end-Syria-war-.html
 
When asked if the SNC would accept a safe exit for Assad, his family and advisers, he answered that this would be very difficult to do.
Meanwhile, Jarba confirmed that after taking the Syria seat in the Arab League, the SNC will go after Syria’s seat at the United Nations most likely this September.
… 

He however added that France and Britain were still planning on providing the Syrian rebels with weapons despite reports that the West has taken a step back from arming the opposition.
Jarba hinted that a source of the arms for SNC might be a Western source, and promised that their arms situation will improve in one month.
..
On the Kurdish front, Jarba said that he is working closely with the Kurdish opposition in Syria and that they contacted him and are likely ready to join the SNC.
….

أخي خلدون شكرا للمساهمه .. المشروع مفتوح للجميع الشرفاء (مو للحيسه ) ..بس والله حرام الشيطان إبليس .. بيطلع مسكين قدام غائط الكلب أثد

SAMI
You got it smack on, i have been humming that song for hours now. But my real intention was a rosary prayer for d-p athad.

Sunday I watched the entire interview with Jabra. I didn’t want to say anything because, frankly, he seems like a liar and what is the point? Each new person is treated the “The One” and then they aren’t and we never hear much about them again.

Uzair there isn’t one courageous man, one ever one man, among them.

From the Army’s elite, Fourth Armored Division:
We swear we will take the revenge for Khan Alasal martyrs.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/p480x480/971145_398256566942201_520208536_n.jpg

From Missiles Force troops: Will take revenge for the blood of the martyrs in Khan_Alasal.
Our sacrifices will burn the immorality of your “revolution”.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/p480x480/16578_398281083606416_403355568_n.jpg

WE SWEAR WE WILL TAKE REVENGE FOR THE MARTYRS IN KHAN ALASAL”
Air Defense Autocannons troops in the Air Defense Forces.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/p480x480/972231_398334293601095_1239007827_n.jpg

“It is not enough to be appalled”….     

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45519 

29 July 2013 – As “crimes that shock the conscience” continue in Syria, the head of a United Nations-appointed human rights probe today implored Member States to act decisively and put an end to the violence and carnage that has gripped the nation for more than two years.

“We cannot continue to recite a litany of violations and abuses to little effect either on the warring parties inside Syria or those walking along the corridors of power. It is not enough to be appalled,” Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, said in his briefing to the General Assembly.

“There is an obligation to do what you must to bring this war to a close. This will require the international community not only to recognize, but also to demand, a diplomatic solution,” he added. “It is time to do what you must to bring Syria to a just and lasting peace.”
….
“That civilians should come under such sustained unlawful attacks should shock your conscience and spur you to action. But it has not,” he told delegates. “As the conflict drags on, you – and the world – have become accustomed to levels of violence that were previously unthinkable. The absence of decisive action, by the community of States as a whole, has nourished the culture of impunity that has developed inside Syria today.

الله لا يعطيهوم العافية على عالعملة بعد كل يلي ماتو و البلد يلي ادمرت وافقو على شروط النظام و ماعاد في لا اسقاط نظام و لا تطيير بشار كلو طلع كزب و ضراط على بلاط

الله يلعنوا هالبدوي الشاذ بياع الخواريف عالسريع قبض و باع ما طول بنوب

( الجربا : مستعدون للمشاركة في ” جنيف 2 ” دون شروط )
“علن الرئيس الجديد للائتلاف الوطني السوري المعارض أحمد الجربا “إستعداده لحضور مؤتمر جنيف 2 مع ممثلي الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد من دون شروط مسبقة”.

وفي تصريحات صحافية نشرت اليوم، أكد “عدم وجود شروط مسبقة من قبل المعارضة للمشاركة في المؤتمر”، قائلاً: “ان المعارضة تطلب من حكومة الأسد إتخاذ خطوات إيجابية بينها إطلاق سراح سجناء، كي يقدمها الائتلاف للجمهور السوري للإظهار بأن المشاركة في المحادثات أمر مفيد”، بحسب النشرة اللبنانية.”

http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_news&id=a7f63bbe7202dcf68e7f4d2352c09145&ar=792318251

I pray with the great victory in Homs we are one step closer to peace. There has been enough killing. The opposition needs to put down the weapons and come to the table and do their fighting at the ballot box.

فضحوا و جننوا ربو للشيخ معاذ لما قال خلينا نتحاور و له بس لانو شامي كل كلاب الزمان اشتغلو فيو.

ازا هيك الحكي عينك كنت عينك ضد الشوام معناها خلينا مع بشار احسن ما يحطو واحد معفن ديري بياع خواريف و بيلحق ولاد معلم على اهل الشام. لك ما فشروا لك كتير عليهوم هالنور يكونو غبرة على صباط الشامي. قال ديري قال بكره بيجيبوا شاوي كمان

431. AMEERA said:

الله يلعنوا هالبدوي الشاذ بياع الخواريف عالسريع قبض و باع ما طول بنوب

Ameera hadol alkhawareef mo lal bai3. hada mjawaz la hadol alkhawareef 😀 fee kteer thawrajieh hon byhsdooh 😀

Syria 2013: What Happened to the Foreign Weapons?http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=l1JX71QvnnQ

The “revolution generation” at work eating its own:

“Clarissa Ward ‏@clarissaward 2m
This makes me sick- AQ-linked fighters in Raqqa abducted Father Paolo, a prominent Italian priest who championed the uprising against Assad”
https://twitter.com/clarissaward/status/361961317982146561

Shame on you supporters of these animals. Shame on you.

417. Sami said:

Syrian Hamster,

Would that make D-P’s theme song this: “I got 99 names but a legitamite President ain’t one”?

426. SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

SAMI
You got it smack on, i have been humming that song for hours now. But my real intention was a rosary prayer for d-p athad.

Poor poor SAMI aka SYRIAN HAMSTER, is talking to, and answering himself!!!

SO SAD!!!

قال نشطاء سوريون في محافظة الرقة أن “الدولة الاسلامية في العراق و الشام”، المرتبطة بتنظيم القاعدة أختطفت الأب باولو دالوليو في مدينة الرقة يوم الأثنين.
I posted a piece on father paolo 2 days ago, I hope he gets out safe.

So let’s review what we have so far:

The little boy who never was
The little boy who cried wolf
The little boy who couldn’t shoot straight
The little boy from Damascus
The little boy no longer in Damascus
Sami
Syrian Hamster

Feel free to add more of his aliasses

438. Ghufran said:

I posted a piece on father paolo 2 days ago, I hope he gets out safe.

Ghufran, I have a feeling father Paolo is no one other than Haytham Khoury 😀

Nonsense!

Only the regime has a motive to abduct father Paolo to frame the opposition. The regime and its stooges hate him. He unraveled their minority “being hurt” by the revolution as nonsense. Only animals are capable of hurting him. This sickens me. I pray for his safety

Someone is abducting Christians in Syria. Someone is destroying churches.

I doubt this Paolo is on a mission from the Vatican either way.

“The 47th ‏@THE_47th 2h
#PRT: Local Riqqa Council confirm through spox: Father Paolo was kidnapped on his way bk after mtg JAN leaders in the liberated city. #Syria”
https://twitter.com/THE_47th/status/361934222191108097

Archbishop Atallah Hanna: Those who bear arms against Syria serve Israel

Jul 27, 2013 – Occupied Jerusalem, (SANA-H. Sabbagh) – Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, affirmed that those who bear arms against the Syrian people and the Syrian Army – regardless of their names and affiliations – are mere pawns that serve Israel and its project to divide and control the Arab region.

In an interview broadcast on al-Mayadeen TV on Friday, Archbishop Hanna said that the people who abduct, murder and slaughter in Syria are the enemies of the Arab nation, just like Israel with which they share goals and criminal nature.

Al-Qaeda Militants Travel To Syria Via Turkey

During the 2½ years of clashes in Syria, there has been constant debate about how Turkey’s borders were crossed. There were reports that Islamic groups going to fight regime of President Bashar al-Assad — first and foremost al-Qaeda, which has supporters in Turkey — were crossing over the Turkish border.

Interesting claims

To find out more, we met with people close to al-Qaeda in Istanbul. These people are shopkeepers who live in the Fatih district of Istanbul, but who won’t give their names. They have interesting things to say about the Syrian war. These sources told us that following the eruption of war in Syria, al-Qaeda elements from Europe, the Caucasus, Afghanistan and North Africa began crossing into Syria via Turkey. These sources also had interesting things to say about the clashes with the Kurdish PYD and how the border is crossed.

Met by intelligence officials

O.E., one of our sources, said he crossed the border and went to Syria before the Jabhat al-Nusra-PYD clashes. He crossed from an unsupervised area on the Turkish side to the Syrian side controlled by the PYD. O.E. said, “We told the PYD we were there for Jabhat al-Nusra and they let us pass.” O.E. said many people cross the same way: “Fighters coming via Chechnya and Afghanistan are met at the Syrian border. There are intelligence officials there. Those crossing the border inform the intelligence people of their affiliation and under whose command they will be. Then, they cross the border and report to their units.”

Treated in Turkey

O.E. said those heavily wounded in clashes are brought to Turkish hospitals. He added, “Some return to their countries by the same route. There are al-Qaeda mujahedeen from Afghanistan and the Caucasus fronts who come with their families. Most of them settle in Syria. There are hundreds of militants who come the same way from Northern Africa, the Caucasus, Europe and Afghanistan. They simply cross the Turkish border and join the fight.”

1,000 Chechens to Syria

O.E. said Chechens are now one of the strongest groups in Syria. “Under their commander Abu Omar, about 1,000 Chechens came to Syria. First they were with Jabhat al-Nusra, but now they have moved over to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS),” he said.

There are also Turks

O.E. said many Turks had gone to Syria to fight. “Some were martyred. Some stayed for a while and returned. Some couldn’t resist going back to Syria. A retired policeman who is a friend of mine went to Syria to fight. He trained fighters in weapons. Several of us went to Syria before the fighting between the PYD and Jabhat al-Nusra broke out. Without being asked anything on the Turkish side, we just crossed to an area of Syria controlled by the PYD. We told them we came to [fight with] Jabhat al-Nusra and they let us enter,” O.E. said.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2013/07/al-qaeda-militants-syria-turkey-border.html

video of Father Paolo in Al Raqa, shortly before he was abducted

https://www.facebook.com/ramijarah/posts/10151862948712873

2011 لا حوار مع الاسد
2012 حوار من دون الاسد
2013 حوار مع الاسد بشروط
2013 حوار مع الاسد بدون شروط
2014 مشان الله حاورونا

لك الله يلعنكم يا ولادين الحرام يلي ضحكتوا على ولادنا و رميتوا دمن بالبلوعة الهي بجاه هالليلة الفضيلة احشرهم مع عباد الفرج بجهنم بدون رجعة

Al-Qaeda Syrian Recruits:
The Case of ‘Abu Majed’
Author: Edward Dark

A suicide bomb goes off in a crowded street, targeting an army checkpoint or perhaps a government building. Several soldiers die, a building or two is defaced, but also, almost as an afterthought, a dozen or more innocent passersby are killed or maimed. What kind of people are behind this sort of assault and, more importantly, what kind of rationale do they employ?
More worrisome, perhaps, we should be asking how they continue to draw recruits and expand. Al-Qaeda, and to varying extents all other jihadi Islamist groups, adhere to a culture of death, although they prefer to call it a culture of martyrdom. It is a form of religious nihilism, where this mortal, worldly life is seen as futile and meaningless, and the goal should be to get to the afterlife as quickly as possible.
The quickest route, the shortcut if you like, is to die fighting for your righteously divine cause, preferably taking as many enemy lives with you as you go. In simple terms, it means sacrifice for the greater cause. That’s all fine and well, until you realize that “sacrifice” according to them, extends beyond the fighters themselves and includes anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle of their struggle.
When asked about the indiscriminate innocent victims of their suicide bombings or shelling, your typical Islamist will generally shrug and say, “If they were true Muslims, they are now in heaven,” as if they’re performing an actual favor for the victims. They should be thankful, I suppose. So what happens if the victims aren’t “true” Muslims, or members of another religion, i.e., “infidels” in jihadi-speak, a description which in most cases means “anyone who is not one of us”? Well, “Then they go to hell” is the macabre, simple answer you’ll likely get.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/07/syria-aleppo-alqaeda.html#ixzz2aTrt9geE

Syrian Electronic Army Hacks Reuters Twitter Account (+Photos)

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2013/07/thom2-512×450.jpg
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2013/07/thom4-453×450.jpg
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2013/07/thom5-489×450.jpg
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/eet-content/uploads/2013/07/thom31.jpg

The Syrian Electronic Army, notorious for hacking into media outlet’s Twitter accounts, appears to have hacked Thompson Reuters Twitter account.

The army has previously hacked into the Associated Press account, BBC Weather, and the Financial Times, among others.

Six pictures showing pro-Bashar al-Assad messages were tweeted from the Reuters account in rapid succession beginning at 6:33 p.m. EDT.

The sixth was accompanied by several comments: “Why is dialog treason? This is why #Syria” it said.

The army has not yet taken credit for the hack.

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/215411-syrian-electronic-army-hacks-reuters-twitter-account-photos/

Syrian Hamster I thought you would enjoy this from Ali Farzat.

http://all4syria.info/Archive/91068

The slippers took Khaldieh, more like they managed to level it completely and then claim they took it. I would say it reminds me of the Nazis “liberating” the Warsaw ghetto or Putin leveling Grozny and claiming victory.

The Chechens have been and will remain a thorn in the side of Russia for generations as they have done sone since Catherine the Great. But again Russia killed more Muslims that any other nation.

Again it will take 200 years of daily mine sweeping to free Afghanistan of the scourge of Russian land mines.

In the meantime, d-p is getting licked daily in all parts of the country. Once again I start my day reading pro regime sites like liberating six villages in Aleppo or bringing peace to Latakia or destroying nests of foreign jihadists in Qaboon all are indications of ongoing fighting that he cannot hope to win in any way shape or form.

I do not know that d-p knows what winning means. But again he and his elk and his clan and his mafia have been quite happy to preside over a garbage dump of their own creation called Thouria Alathad.

Funny how no matter what how the riffraff will always remain riffraff even when they marry a shoe shopcoholic

Syrian Hamster he is riffraff just like his father and his brothers and his sister and his cousins and his garbage of a mafia clan.

You must read this great article

Arabs, Beware the “Small States” Option

“Seeding” Sectarianism to Break Up States

If ever a conspiracy had legs, this one is it. Stirring Iranian-Arab and Sunni-Shiite strife to its advantage has been a major US policy objective since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.

Wikileaks helped shed light on some of Washington’s machinations just as Arab uprisings started to hit our TV screens.

A 2006 State Department cable that bemoans Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s strengthened position in Syria outlines actionable plans to sow discord within the state, with the goal of disrupting Syrian ties with Iran. The theme? “Exploiting” all “vulnerabilities”:

“PLAY ON SUNNI FEARS OF IRANIAN INFLUENCE: There are fears in Syria that the Iranians are active in both Shia proselytizing and conversion of, mostly poor, Sunnis. Though often exaggerated, such fears reflect an element of the Sunni community in Syria that is increasingly upset by and focused on the spread of Iranian influence in their country through activities ranging from mosque construction to business. Both the local Egyptian and Saudi missions here, (as well as prominent Syrian Sunni religious leaders), are giving increasing attention to the matter and we should coordinate more closely with their governments on ways to better publicize and focus regional attention on the issue.”

Makes one question whether similar accusations about the “spread of Shiism” in Egypt held any truth whatsoever, other than to sow anti-Shia and anti-Iran sentiment in a country until this month led by the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood.

A 2009 cable from the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia continues this theme. Mohammad
 Naji al-Shaif, a tribal leader with close personal ties to then-Yemeni President Ali Abdallah 
Saleh and his inner circle says that key figures “are privately very skeptical of Saleh’s
 claims regarding Iranian assistance for the Houthi rebels”:

Shaif told
 EconOff on December 14 that (Saudi Government’s Special Office for
 Yemen Affairs) committee members privately shared his view that Saleh was providing false or exaggerated
 information on Iranian assistance to the Houthis in order to
 enlist direct Saudi involvement and regionalize the conflict. Shaif said that one committee member told him that “we know
 Saleh is lying about Iran, but there’s nothing we can do 
about it now.”

That didn’t stop Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lying through her teeth to a Senate Committee a few short years later: “We know that they – the Iranians are very much involved in the opposition movements in Yemen.”

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/arabs-beware-small-states-option

It’s all over the news now. These “revolution” animals even kidnap their own supporters. I hope they don’t behead, or worse, eat this confused priest. A little more Jesus and a little less terrorism is the best advice I can give the father.

===

Al Qaeda group kidnaps Italian priest in Syria – activists

(Reuters) – Al Qaeda-linked fighters in a rebel-held eastern Syrian city on Monday abducted a prominent Italian Jesuit priest who championed the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, activists said.

Members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant kidnapped father Paolo Dall’Oglio while he was walking in Raqqa, which fell to militant Islamist brigades in March, the sources in Raqqa province told Reuters.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/07/29/syria-crisis-priest-idINDEE96S0GQ20130729

Ziad the excellent article you posted @ 451 echoes what our esteemed host Dr. Landis, and others, talked of in TIME magazine in 2006.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1571751,00.html

I don’t know why Prof. Landis no longer discusses his 2006 opinions – maybe someone got to him?

Thank you.

The new normal

Territorial divisions are deepening, regardless of regime and rebel advances

..ZIAD, Ammar and Zakaria are all Syrian, but 29 months into a civil war their once-similar home towns now look as if they belong to three different countries. Ziad is from Tartus, a north-western port city covered in posters showing President Bashar Assad. Ammar’s home town in the eastern province of Deir ez-Zor is run by rebels. In Zakaria’s birthplace in the north-east, schoolchildren learn Kurdish, banned until recently, rather than Arabic, the national language.

Syria is gradually breaking into three. The forces of Mr Assad recently seized the initiative but they cannot defeat the opposition and instead are consolidating their grip on the western spine of the country. From Damascus and Homs to Hama and Latakia, the regime is carving out a coastal state. Meanwhile, the rebels are doing the same in the Euphrates valley stretching from Turkey to Iraq through open desert. On July 22nd they took over Khan al-Asal, a town close to Aleppo, a divided northern city. As extreme Islamists among the rebels gain in strength, rumours abound that al-Qaeda-related groups will declare a religious state. Already, they fly black flags above mini-emirates.

Further east, long-persecuted Kurdish groups are using the chaos of the civil war to create an autonomous region. Last week the Democratic Union Party, the Syrian branch of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), announced a constitution and a plan to elect a council to administer the area known as Rojava or west Kurdistan. Exactly a year ago they took over policing the area and in early July they kicked out jihadists from the border town of Ras al-Ain.

http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21582319-territorial-divisions-are-deepening-regardless-regime-and-rebel-advances

Appalling Israeli Gulag Prison Conditions

Israel’s gulag is one of the world’s worst. On July 9, 16 human rights organizations headlined ”RE: European Parliament Fact-Finding Mission on Palestinian Political Prisoners.” They include:

Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association

Aldameer Association for Human Rights

Al Haq

Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

Arab Association for Human Rights

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minorities in Israel

Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights

Defence for Children International – Palestine Section

Ensan Center for Human Rights and Democracy

Hurryyat – Centre for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights

Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights

Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies

Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling

Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club

Physicians for Human Rights Israel

The Public Committee Against Torture in Israel

The way Israel treats detained children explains its contempt for human rights. Previous articles explained. Israel’s secret prisoner policy tells more.

A previous article discussed Ben Zygier. He was called Prisoner X. Disappearing him says much about Israel’s dark side.

He was denied all rights. Israel imprisoned him secretly with no name or identity. He was completely isolated from the outside world.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/appalling-israeli-gulag-prison-conditions/5343737?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=appalling-israeli-gulag-prison-conditions

Assad’s Forces Kill 12 Rebels Taking Flour From Mill – Activist

At least 12 rebel fighters were killed on Monday as they were taking flour from a mill on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, opposition activists said, in their latest setback at the hands of forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

The rebels had only just captured the mill on the Damascus Airport road following a battle that lasted several hours, in the hope that they could relieve a food shortage caused by a siege of the area by loyalist forces for the last two months.

“The Free Syrian Army took over the flour mill after a battle that lasted several hours, but the regime’s forces shelled the area and hit it from the air as the fighters were transporting the flour out of the mill,” activist Abu Kassem al-Shabawi said from the area.

Video footage showed rebels shooting automatic rifles and mounted machineguns as they fought into the large state-owned complex in the Hteitet al-Turkman area on the airport road, 20 kms (12 miles) southeast of Damascus, and combing the site for loyalist forces.

Footage taken later purportedly showed a large explosion, while the sound of a fighter jet could be heard overhead.

The bodies of several fighters with missing heads and limbs were shown lying on tables at a makeshift hospital in the Ghouta district.

http://www.carbonated.tv/news/assads-forces-kill-12-rebels-taking-flour-from-mill-activist

REVENIRE #453 said:

”I don’t know why Prof. Landis no longer discusses his 2006 opinions – maybe someone got to him?”

My best guess is that Prof. Landis is worried about Campus Watch and about his academic career.

Posted on Yalla Souriya about 11 hours ago:

#Syria #Hezbollah #London –

British Syrians & Friends in Solidarity with the Syrian Revolution ·

This page https://www.facebook.com/Boycott.Hasan is meant to show everybody, especially those located in London or in the Gulf countries the restaurants and service centres that are owned by Hizbulla thugs. These centres are used to support the party of Hassan Nassaralla financially.

We ask everybody to take a quick look, and boycott these places that help in killing our people in Syria and Lebanon.

قاطع حسن – Boycott Hasan
أنشأت هذه الصفحة من أجل التعريف والحث على مقاطعة المصالح التجارية لحزب الله اللبناني الذي يساند نظام الأسد في قتل الشعب السوري. نرجو من كل الشرفاء في العالم التعاون معنا بتعريف الناس بهذه المصالح التجارية ومقاطعتها وعدم التعامل معها حتى لا نكون شركاء في قتل أخوتنا السوريين. هذه ليست

The Syrian Crisis – A Psychological Analysis

Without the reassuring presence of the former leader’s statues the regimists, perhaps unknown to themselves, feel a subconcious insecurity which is reflected in their expressions/positions on the crisis.

This is something we Syrians are very fameliar with

Altered Images: Egypt’s disinformation war

So many faked images are circulating in Egypt that Facebook sites have been set up with the goal of separating fact from fiction, writes BBC Monitoring’s Dina Aboughazala.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-23469516

Rebel momentum update.

Posted on Yalla Souriya (YS) about 1.5 hours ago. The YS adds a comment in square brackets. If true it could be very significant:

#Syria #Aleppo –

X ‏@TaziMorocco 9m

Incredible FSA Advances tonight in northwestern front of #Aleppo. They are taking over the Air Force Intelligence Building! #Syria #Assad

http://wikimapia.org/#lang=en&lat=36.228952&lon=37.107965&z=17&m=b&search=aleppo

[I would really like to see video confirmation of this. It would represent a very important rebel gain, and a significant crumbling of the regime defences in the western part of Aleppo city]

Tara
spot on comment on prediction who kidnapped father Paolo !!!
Observer
Reality check would not hurt.
Humility and reality check would not hurt you thanks for laugh
Ottoman empire killed over 3 million Christian people during their Islamic rule. Did you forget Armenian genocide? Assyrian genocide,Greek genocide,Kurds genocide of their Muslim brothers,awful history of oppression on Balkans by these savages?
Do you forget how Arabs invaded north Africa killed,enslaved local population displaced them ?
You got nerve complaining about Russia killing Muslims,that’s gotta be pathetic joke, do you realize that Russia had 10 wars against Turkey won them all fair and square.
Most Muslims are being killed by their fellow Muslims btw
Or you only worried when Muslims are killed by non Muslims, what a twisted logic!!!