Aymenn al-Tamimi Speaks to Ali Kayali and Profiles “The Syrian Resistance,” a Pro-Assad Militia Force

A Case Study of “The Syrian Resistance,” a Pro-Assad Militia Force

Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimiby Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi for Syria Comment

Much has been written of the variety of factions and fragmentation on the rebel side of the Syrian civil war, but comparatively little analysis exists of the various pro-Assad militias, commonly known as shabiha, who as Aron Lund notes can be Sunni, Alawite, Kurdish, or Christian. Here, I intend to examine one such group called al-Muqāwama as-Sūrīya (“The Syrian Resistance”—TSR), under the leadership of a Turkish-born Alawite by the name of Mihrac Ural, also known as Ali Kayali. (Previous posts on Syria Comment dealing with Ural/Kayali include those found here and here.)

TSR had prior to the uprising and civil war operated under the name of “Popular Front for the Liberation of the Sanjak of Alexandretta,” referring to the strip of land around Hatay in southern Turkey with a substantial Alawite population, the loss of which has never truly been accepted by Syria. Since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria, however, the group adopted TSR as interchangeable with its original name, and is confining operations entirely within Syria, with headquarters in Latakia.

Ostensibly, in line with many other self-declared liberation groups (e.g. the Basque Country’s ETA, and the early Kurdish PKK which established links with Hafez al-Assad through Kayali), TSR’s ideology is Marxist-Leninist, with particular reverence accorded to the symbol of communist resistance, Che Guevara.

Screenshot of a speech by Kayali on the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres

Figure 1: Screenshot of a speech by Kayali on the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacres. Note the background portrait featuring Bashar al-Assad, Che Guevara, and Kayali himself.

 

Photo of Kayali with Che Guevara in the background

Figure 2: Photo of Kayali with Che Guevara in the background.

The concept of Syrian nationalism also features heavily in TSR’s public discourse and rhetoric, tied in with the Assad regime’s promotion of ‘resistance’ to Western imperialism. Thus, in a statement to me from TSR’s press office, I was told that TSR does not get involved in “internal politics, the penal code, disputes or disagreements.” Rather, “our problem is with the foreign enemy and with the terrorists who want to destroy our nation.”

Concomitant with the Syrian nationalist image is the claim from the press office that “our members are from the various fabrics of Syria, from all the religions, sects and ethnicities. We fight together.” Similarly, in an interview with me, Kayali emphasized that TSR supposedly has supporters among “Ahl as-Sunnah” and Christians.

In the context of messaging, songs unique to TSR—with lyrics featuring distinctive Syrian dialect—have played a key role. For instance, one song recently released to the accompaniment of oud includes the lyrics: “We are the men of Muqāwama, we are not content with bartering…we want to uproot terrorism.” At the same time the group has not forgotten the aspirations for the liberation of Alexandretta, as this song also features the line: “Antioch is resting in my heart.” Here is another song released by TSR combining motifs of protecting the waṭan of Syria while referencing Alexandretta. Further, here is a TSR song entitled “We are the men of the Syrian Resistance.” Opening lyrics include, “We are the men of the sun. We are from the people….Your people, Syria, are resistance.” Many of these songs feature a familiar slogan from Kayali: “Syria will never bow.”

However, beneath this image of Syrian nationalism and leftist ideology lies a more narrow sectarian emphasis on defending the Alawite and Twelver Shi’a communities. Despite the admiration shown for the atheist Che Guevara, Kayali himself cares deeply about his religious heritage and is in this respect similar to most Turkish Alawites who have generally clung to their religious traditions in contrast to the multi-faceted nature of Alawite identity in Syria (see my articles here and here on this matter). Indeed, in his interview with me, Kayali spoke at length of Alawite reverence for the ‘Ahl al-Bayt’: that is, the household of Prophet Mohammed and his descendants.

Besides the widely circulated footage of Kayali from earlier this year in which he apparently calls for the necessity of cleansing Sunni areas on the coastline (most notably Baniyas), Kayali is also frequently shown in TSR media output appearing with Alawite sheikhs, one of whom was the well-known Muwaffaq al-Ghazal, who enjoyed close ties with Kayali and was later killed by Jabhat al-Nusra as part of the “Eye for an Eye” revenge operations announced by Sheikh Abu Mohammed al-Jowlani against Alawite villages in retaliation for the chemical weapons attacks in East Ghouta.

Kayali, an unidentified Alawite sheikh, and Ali Haider

Figure 3: From left to right in a recent meeting at TSR’s Latakia headquarters: Kayali, an unidentified Alawite sheikh, and Ali Haider, who heads the government-aligned Syrian Social Nationalist Party and current minister for National Reconciliation.

Looking at TSR’s range of operations is also relevant here. In fact, it is sometimes thought that TSR is not a meaningful military force on the ground in Syria, but this perception must be corrected. According to Kayali and one other TSR fighter, TSR has participated in operations against rebels in Latakia, the Homs area (where sectarian warfare has played a key element in the fighting), the al-Ghab plain (an area of fertile land east of Latakia and covering parts of Hama and Idlib governorates), Jisr ash-Shughur in Idlib, and the two Twelver Shi’a villages of Nubl and Zaharā in Aleppo Governorate, from which TSR has also drawn recruits.

Of these areas of operation, Latakia is of course the most relevant. Here is a video from last month of Kayali rallying TSR fighters in rural Latakia. Kayali addresses his fighters as “the true Syrians” and speaks of their opponents- from Jabhat al-Nusra and the Free Army- as “foreigners,” who have “no religion, faith, book, or Lord.” Rather, they are “these kuffar [Islamic term for disbelievers], these takfiri Salafists.” These remarks, in pronouncing takfīr on the Salafi militants, clearly frame the struggle in religious terms. Kayali also speaks of the necessity of defending the women and the elderly.

 

Ali Kayali rallies his men in rural Latakia

Figure 4: Ali Kayali rallies his men in rural Latakia last month.

As Kayali put it to me, the fighters leading the rebel offensive on Latakia in the summer were primarily from Chechnya, Afghanistan [i.e. Afghan Arab veterans and the like], the Maghreb, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf area. Kayali’s testimony is corroborated by examination of the claimed mujahideen martyrs during the Latakia offensive, whose sole aim was to score a psychological victory against the Assad regime by ethnically cleansing Alawites and capturing Assad’s ancestral village Qardaḥa by Eid (as the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham’s [ISIS] leader had hoped).

Despite the mujahideen’s initial successes in capturing numerous Alawite villages and apparently being only several miles away from Qardaḥa, pro-Assad forces ultimately pushed back and by mid-August, jihadi circles began circulating messages to pray for the mujahideen as the offensive ultimately failed, with fighting now confined to the Jabal al-Akrād area. Below is a list of claimed jihadi martyrs from the Latakia offensive (‘Liberation of the Coast’), which Kayali tells me also cost hundreds of Alawite lives (not necessarily in large-scale massacres of villages).

Abu Ashraf al-Tunisi, a Tunisian fighter for ISIS

Figure 5: Abu Ashraf al-Tunisi, a Tunisian fighter for ISIS.

 

Libyan fighter for ISISFigure 6: Abu Rahmat al-Lībī, a Libyan fighter for ISIS.

 

Abu Ayyub al-Tunisi, a Tunisian fighter for ISIS

Figure 7: Abu Ayyub al-Tunisi, a Tunisian fighter for ISIS.

 

Abd al-Hakim al-Alaiwi, a Saudi fighter for ISIS

Figure 8: Abd al-Hakim al-Alaiwi, a Saudi fighter for ISIS.

 

Abu Turab al-Lībī, a Libyan fighter for ISIS

Figure 9: Abu Turab al-Lībī, a Libyan fighter for ISIS.

 

Abdullah ash-Shishani, a Chechen fighter for ISIS

Figure 10: Abdullah ash-Shishani, a Chechen fighter for ISIS but also claimed for the ISIS front-group Jaysh al-Muhajireen wa Anṣār.

 

Abu al-Waleed al-Tunisi, Tunisian fighter for ISIS

Figure 11: Abu al-Waleed al-Tunisi, Tunisian fighter for ISIS.

 

Two Libyan fighters in the lush forests of rural Latakia

Figure 12: Two Libyan fighters in the lush forests of rural Latakia as part of the mujahideen offensive. According to Anṣār ash-Sharī’a supporters from Tripoli (Libya), the two men are from the northwestern Libyan town of Zāwīya.

 

Photo of Latakia forestry taken by the Libyan Shari’a official for the ISIS-front group Katiba al-Muhajireen

Figure 13: Photo of Latakia forestry taken by the Libyan Shari’a official for the ISIS-front group Katiba al-Muhajireen: Abu Ṭalḥa al-Lībī.

Nubl and Zaharā are also relevant in this context because both towns have come under bombardment at the hands of ISIS mujahideen. Following the ISIS-led capture of Mannagh airbase in August, a video emerged showing a large convoy of ISIS fighters preparing to head out to besiege Nubl and Zaharā.

ISIS convoy on its way to Nubl and Zaharā following the capture of Mannagh airbase

Figure 14: The ISIS convoy on its way to Nubl and Zaharā following the capture of Mannagh airbase.

This month, another video emerged showing the ISIS banner flying on a barren outpost in the Nubl area. The area itself looks deserted, and one might feel tempted to conclude that ISIS has conquered the village. However, Kayali tells me that this is not the case.

ISIS banner on an outpost in the Nubl area

Figure 15: The ISIS banner on an outpost in the Nubl area.

The claimed numbers of both TSR members as well as martyrs still need to be scrutinized. The fighter for TSR whom I interviewed claimed that the group has “thousands” of members. This figure may invite doubt, but the number of claimed martyrs—as conveyed to me by both this fighter and Kayali—seems relatively modest and reasonable: 30. In fact, Kayali sent me his database of martyrs for TSR so far. I reproduce it below:

    Name Marital Status Number of Children Parents Still Living Date of Death Location of Death
Maher Ali Zaini Married 3 1 17 September 2011 Al-Janudiya Road (Jisr ash-Shughur)
Maṭī’ Mohammed Ghandur Married 7 Deceased 23 February 2012 Jisr ash-Shughur
Thā’ir Abdullah Abd al-Man’am Married 1 2 7 July 2012 Al-Qasatil Road (Jabal al-Akrad, Latakia)
Reyhan Abdullah Abd al-Man’am Married 1 2 7 July 2012 Al-Qasatil Road
Nawar Adil Reyhan Unmarried 0 2 7 July 2012 Al-Qasatil Road
Rumayl Fu’ad Debo Married 2 1 11 August 2012 Bayt Sabera (Latakia)
Namir Aṭa Gharib Married 3 1 11 August 2012 Bayt Sabera
Hisham Adeeb Ismail Unmarried 0 2 11 August 2012 Bayt Sabera
Adnan Ibrahim Ismail Married 4 1 11 August 2012 Bayt Sabera
Sumar Izz ad-Din Hurmuz Married 0 2 11 August 2012 Bayt Sabera
Shadi Yunis Mansur Unmarried 0 1 11 August 2012 Bayt Sabera
Osama Medhat Manā’ Unmarried 0 2 3 September 2012 Al-Kandisiya (Latakia)
Haitham Mohammed Ma’ala Married 1 1 21 September 2012 Bayt Fāris (Jabal Turkoman, Latakia)
Imad Yasin Masṭo Married 4 1 24 October 2012 Jisr ash-Shughur
Ayham Mahmoud al-Bahrī Married 0 2 19 November 2012 Al-Midan (Homs)
Suhail Saleem Feham Married 2 1 19 November 2012 Al-Midan
Mohsen Saleem Feham Married 3 1 19 November 2012 Al-Midan
Kenan Ibrahim Feham Unmarried 0 2 19 November 2012 Al-Midan
Salim Ali Kusa Married 4 2 21 November 2012 Tarīq Fasṭal al-Ma’āf (Latakia)
Wael Mahmoud Ghandur Married 1 2 21 November 2012 Tarīq Fasṭal al-Ma’āf
Majid Ahmad Qarifli Married 1 2 21 November 2012 Tarīq Fasṭal al-Ma’āf
Kamal Ahmad Ghandur Unmarried 0 1 21 November 2012 Tarīq Fasṭal al-Ma’āf
Ibrahim Malik Suleiman Unmarried 0 1 21 November 2012 Tarīq Fasṭal al-Ma’āf
Milad Rajab Said Unmarried 0 1 16 December 2012 Al-Midan (Homs)
Aamer Mumtaz Zanbili Married 0 2 17 December 2012 Manṭaqa al-Tanaf (Latakia)
Man’am Mohammed Hurmuz Married 0 2 21 January 2013 Darayya (Damascus?)
Basil Salah Nasir Unmarried 0 2 30 March 2013 Bayt Yashout Road (Latakia)

The above list comprises 27 martyrs for TSR: the casualties are largely concentrated in the defense of Alawite areas of Latakia. A more recent martyrdom was announced this month for the group (see photo below with further images).

Martyr of the Homeland and the Syrian Resistance, Aamer Mahmoud Ṭaha

Figure 16: “Martyr of the Homeland and the Syrian Resistance: Aamer Mahmoud Ṭaha.” His death was announced on 9 September 2013. He was killed while fighting rebels in the Jabal Arbaeen area of Idlib. His brother Ibrahim was wounded in the same clashes and subsequently taken to a hospital in Latakia.

 

27 martyrs

Figure 17: Portraits of the 27 martyrs from the above database.

 

Basil Nasir

Figure 18: Close-up photo of Basil Nasir, from the opening of a lengthy video of his funeral that was held on 31 March, the day after his death.

 

Mourners hold Basil’s portrait and wave the flag of Syria

Figure 19: Mourners hold Basil’s portrait and wave the flag of Syria.

 

Nawar Adil Reyhan Syrian rebel

Figure 20: Close-up photo of Nawar Adil Reyhan from a video made by a TSR supporter.

As Syria continues to fragment, one can expect that a breakdown in centralized command structures will also happen on the regime side, allowing for the continued growth of groups like TSR. Indeed, anecdotal evidence already suggests the possibility that shabiha figures are managing imports through the Mediterranean coastline for distribution among the populations in pro-Assad areas. Examining in greater detail the activities of the pro-Assad militias is therefore more important than ever.

 

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum and a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University. Follow on Twitter at @ajaltamimi

Comments (197)


Dominique said:

Thank-you, Matt.

It’s become quite clear to the world, now, of US-funding of insurgent groups, whose only mission is to destabilize Syria (Iranian ally), a country that happens to occupy a stretch of land between Persian Gulf producers and European customers of natural gas.

The good news is: the US was caught trumping-up bogus charges against Assad.

The bad news is: the US empire won’t stop killing for its empire until the world says enough is enough. That day rapidly approaches–maybe.

V. Putin isn’t quite Mother Teresa, but the world should rally around his effort to halt aspirations of complete US hegemony. With his success, maybe we can all go back to the good old days of the Cold War.

Stop the nonsense and killing.

September 22nd, 2013, 5:07 pm

 

Syrian said:

It is becoming quite clear now that the Assad mafia regime is nothing but a puppet of Iran in its effort to dominate the Arab Sunni world under the guise of the “resistance” while its only months away from acquiring the nuclear bomb.
The theocratic Islamist welayat alfaqih of Iran is nothing but the flip side of Al Qeada but within the Shia sect,
Letting the most extremist of the Shia sect get the bomb is no deference than letting Al-Qaeda have a nuclear bomb, letting the Islamist Iran win in Syria is a threat to world peace, those extremist Shia fanatic are on a messianic mission to bring back their “last and hidden”Imam Almahdi.
The west should do more to help the Syrian win their freedom, and by that they can give a great blow to the Islamist theocratic on a messianic mission Iran.
A you tube clip if extremist Shia, believing that thier last ” hidden” leader has appeared in Damascus
http://youtu.be/ixDRBvydp0I

September 22nd, 2013, 6:27 pm

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

Shiite or Sunni, it is irrelevant. The rise of radical Islamist terrorism coincides tightly with the establishment of the Islamic republic of Iran. IRI is a co-founder of every single terrorist group in the region. Funny that Joshua and sidekicks never observed such or even tried to analyze it. That part is history, what they have been reporting obsessively is neither history, nor journalism. At best, it is bean counting with tyrant propaganda advocacy flavor, at worst, it may qualify for a line or two in an executive summary written by a junior intelligence official.

Really sad. I have tried to challenge them countless times. But they insist on positioning their work as a mere foot note in future academic references.

September 22nd, 2013, 6:34 pm

 

Ghassan Karam said:

The article by Ayman Al-Tamimi does present some reliable information about a small group; The Syrian Resistance; by having interviewed its leading figure and organiser but I do not find any information that goes beyond what is found on pages of FB or any in depth analusis of what is Marxist about such a small group that is ultimately guided by fighting in support of dictatorship and tyranny and furthermore in support of a sectarian belief.
This piece has actually strengthened my belief that the so called pro regime militias in Syria are not any different that the extremists group that are fighting the regime. Actually I am probably convinced that such unprincipled groups as “The Syrian resistance” are tolerated by the regime only for the fire power that they can offer in support of extending the period of tyranny by the Syrian Baath. There is no difference between them and either JAN or ISIS. Both are backward thugs that do not deserve the appelation revolutionary and in the case of The Syrian Resistance they definitely are neither Marxists nor Leninsts no matter how often Mr . Kayali is pictured with an image of Che in the background.

September 22nd, 2013, 6:38 pm

 

Syrian said:

Syrian hamster:
What you said is very true, all radical Islamist movement came after the Khomeini call to spread his Islamic revolution.
They were either inspired by it like Hamas and HA, or a reaction to it like the wahhabi Al Qaeda.

September 22nd, 2013, 6:41 pm

 

Ghufran said:

Most of the Iranians in the USA I talked to, Sunni and Shia, agree that the Iranian revolution was not a good development for Iran and the middle east. Keep in mind that the fuel for the revolution was largely young students who did not want a mullah state, but like most revolutions, religious thugs and opportunists rode on the back of clean revolutionists in a scenario that is being repeated in Syria today, the sectarian element in the conflict is a cover for the intention to develop theocracies in the middle east, that is why Iran until lately was the strongest support of Hamas and it also explains Iran’s uneasiness with the removal of Morsi in Egypt. Iran until lately enjoyed good relationship with the MB until the GCC took over and started paying Syrian Islamists , that also gives a better understanding of Iran’s strange proposal to mediate between the regime and the opposition. Rouhani supported by young Iranians has an opportunity to change much of that, this is why the man deserves support or at least a chance to prove that he is sincere. My Iranian friends believe the mullahs in Iran have no choice but to compromise, I hope they are right.

September 22nd, 2013, 7:06 pm

 

Aymenn al-Tamimi Speaks to Ali Kayali and Profi... said:

[…] A Case Study of “The Syrian Resistance,” a Pro-Assad Militia Force by Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi for Syria Comment Much has been written of the variety of factions and fragmentation on the rebel side of the Syrian civil war, but comparatively little…  […]

September 22nd, 2013, 7:26 pm

 

Tara said:

Ghufran

And my Iranian freinds firmly believe that Rohani was hand selected by the Malalis to deceive the west with a moderate facade.

September 22nd, 2013, 7:32 pm

 

Ghufran said:

Tara
Your Iranian friends know like everybody else that the mullahs will not allow an anti mullahs to become president. Rouhani was not khamenie’s man in this race but he was the right man for the job because Najad was a disaster. I remain optimistic.

Gül is in New York to represent Turkey at the 68th General Assembly meeting of the United Nations, where Syria will likely be the top item on his agenda. DAILY NEWS Photo/Selahattin Sönmez

Turkish President Abdullah Gül has said it would be “unrealistic” to have any discussion on the Syrian war without the inclusion of Iran, adding that Turkey and Iran were both directly involved in the ongoing process.

“Frankly, it’s unrealistic to talk about Syria without Iran. There has yet to be a common understanding with Iran, but you cannot exclude it,” Gül told reporters in New York, in which he highlighted “the new era” in Iranian politics with the election of President Hassan Rouhani.

September 22nd, 2013, 7:42 pm

 

mjabali said:

Radical Islam was there well before al-Khomeni. The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and Egypt were there before al-Khomeini. Wahabism and its funds were there before al-Khomeini and the Iranian Revolution of 1979. al-Khomeni was the first case of success for a religious party that was able to take over a state.

The dangerous radical Islam we see today is not the production of Iran, do not fool yourself. Read who is Qutb: did Iran play a part into his writings and ideas? Did certain banks from the Sunni Gulf countries help finance extremism? Do not fool yourself and us by blaming Iran alone into this mess. Yes: al-Khomeini was someone who was able to take over a country. Yes the Sunni extremists copied him because they have no success stories in their history.

Iran’s alliance with Sunni groups like Hamas: was because the Gulf Sunni states hated Hamas and never recognized it till after the “Arab Spring.”

The Sunni extremist, Ummah thinking zealots, are the production of the millions of petro dollars.

September 22nd, 2013, 8:00 pm

 

zoo said:

Jihadist groups turn on each other in Syria
September 23, 2013 01:25 AM

Divisions between opposition factions are multiplying in Syria’s north, further complicating an already chaotic battle ground and distracting from what rebel leaders say should be their first priority: fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Competition for territory, resources and influence, as well as ideological differences are contributing to the divisions, which FSA leaders say have reached a critical point.

In Hasakeh, in the country’s northeast, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), an Iraqi Al-Qaeda branch that has expanded into Syria, attacked the Nusra Front, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, seizing their headquarters in Shehadi.

“ISIS fighters Saturday attacked the Nusra Front regional headquarters in Shehadi, taking control of the headquarters and seizing weapons and oil production equipment,” the Britain-based Observatory said.

The Observatory said the Nusra front had relatively few fighters at the headquarters because they were currently battling Kurdish forces elsewhere in the region.

The Nusra Front has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri, but its leader rejected an ISIS merger bid.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Sep-23/232211-jihadist-groups-turn-on-each-other-in-syria.ashx#ixzz2ffb0ZqXG
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

September 22nd, 2013, 8:10 pm

 

Ghufran said:

As bad as the mullah regime is, efforts to use it as a scape goat for all of the regions’s problems are dishonest and are done to cover for the Wahhabi movement which is far worse than the mullahs. The GCC paid for Saddam’s war with Iran, the Talibans , US first war against Iraq and now the mujahideen in Syria. It is obvious that many Muslims are in denial about who is who. Most of the terrorism we see today is the product of the Wahhabi movement, the latest was the slaughter of dozens of civilians at a mall in Kenya.

September 22nd, 2013, 8:15 pm

 

Syrialover said:

Apologies if it’s already been posted, but here’s the story of Mother Agnes, the nun who the Russians are desperately relying on to challenge the videos about the CW attack.

I noticed since early in the conflict there have occasionally been nuns who came out favor of Assad.

But this one is particularly odd. A Lebanese who left home as a teenager to smoke pot and go on the hippie trail to India in the early 70s. (With a likely affect on the brain, according to scientists).

She speaks in ignorant and propagandist terms about those who oppose Assad.

She is also the subject of a book claiming that she led a French journalist to his death in a trap set by Assad forces, and there are other shadows around her pointing to her being in league with the regime.

Ironically rebels helped her escape from her monastery in Qara in the Homs district after extremists threatened to come after her.

A nasty witch with an ugly soul. Maybe a friend of Bouthaina Shaabaan ?

EXCERPT:

“Mother Agnes, who had lived in Syria for years, has no expertise or training in chemical weapons forensics or filmmaking, and although she was in Damascus at the time of the attacks, she did not visit the sites or interview victims.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/world/middleeast/seeking-credible-denial-on-poison-gas-russia-and-syria-turn-to-nun.html?src=recg

September 22nd, 2013, 8:20 pm

 

Syrialover said:

(posted in error on previous thread)

OBSERVER

Thanks for sharing your thoughts in more detail on the subject of new borders for the Middle East.( previous thread: #293)

You say:

“I want them to have the rule of law, proper education, a level playing field, an accountable government, institutions of governance, religious freedom, and freedom not be religious. I want them to stop living in fear and arbitrary rule.”

That’s my biggest dream too.

But your posts on breaking up Syria and the surrounds always leads me down the same path.

My mind is filled with questions.

First is the central debate about development in new or post-conflict countries (though the former is usually also the latter). The issue looks simple but it isn’t.

It is the question of what needs to be given top priority and immediate resources a. security and law and order, or b. infrastructure to aid economic development. It’s very hard to start making progress on one without the other being in place.

And underpinning all this is the issue of the source of revenue to achieve these two key foundation blocks.

We know from the breakup of the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia that newly created independent nations struggle to finance basic services like education, health, justice systems and defence, let alone all the other things a country needs to give its citizens the life they aspire to in the 21st century.

And where there is oil or other wealth (and sometimes even when there isn’t) these new national entities fall prey to the worst type of corruption and dictatorships, leaving the country underdeveloped with social and political unrest.

I know the human race should be able to find answers and there is a lot of thinking and things being tried and studied out there. But when and how will a workable roadmap emerge?

September 22nd, 2013, 8:26 pm

 

zoo said:

It is obvious that France , the UK and the US want to include a military threat in the UNSC resolution in order to legitimize the full military attack they have been planning for months. Without chemical weapons Syria would be an easy prey. The Islamists are rejoicing, Syria is soon theirs.

Without any doubt, Russia and China will veto the UN resolution if it include any military threats.
Then the Chemical weapons deal will fall through and there will be more staged chemical attacks by the rebels to try to force the West in a full scale military attack. Much more innocents death.

France , UK and the USA pushed by Israli lobbies and the money of Saudi Arabia and Qatar are not worried about more deaths in Syria, they are only concerned about playing hard to satisfy their ego. What good can be expected of colonialist powers? Their ancester have blood on their hands, they too.

Kremlin lashes out at U.S., says it’s trying to wreck Syria deal

September 22, 2013, 4:14 p.m.
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-kremlin-us-syria-deal-20130922,0,307065.story

MOSCOW — The Kremlin on Sunday accused Washington of trying to sabotage a U.S.-Russian agreement for Syrian leader Bashar Assad to surrender his chemical arsenal.

“Our U.S. partners are beginning to blackmail us,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday in an interview with the First Channel, a state-owned television network. He charged that the United States was threatening to “fold up the work” toward securing the chemical weapons if Russia won’t back a United Nations Security Council resolution based on Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows the use of force against nations that threaten international peace.

The United States, Britain and France have all said they favor a resolution that would put some kind of pressure on Syria, possibly military action, if it does not comply with the agreement to turn over its chemical weapons. Syria has submitted an “initial disclosure” statement of its chemical weapons to international inspectors.

“They see in the Russian-U.S. agreement not a chance to save the planet from a significant quantity of chemical arms stockpiled in Syria but an opportunity [hitherto] denied them by Russia and China, to in fact carry through a use-of-force resolution aimed against the regime and sparing the opposition, to accuse Bashar Assad of everything and thus untie their hands of power scenarios,” Lavrov said. “Our partners are now blinded by the ideological task to replace the regime because they said a couple of years back that President Assad has no place on this Earth and he must go.”

Lavrov said the Syrian government provided Russia last week with new evidence pointing to the rebels as the likely force behind chemical attacks in a Damascus suburb in August. Russia has consistently said that the rebels were probably responsible; the United States and other Western powers have said the evidence overwhelmingly points to the Syrian government.
Lavrov further charged that the United States and its allies are not seeking a peaceful solution in Syria but trying instead to sabotage the plan for Syria to abandon its chemical stockpiles because “they want to prove that they will be ordering the music in the Middle East.”

The strong language from Lavrov suggests that the Kremlin can’t hide its irritation with its Western partners, said Andrei Kortunov, a Russian political expert.

“Moscow is visibly irritated by the U.S. persistent claims that the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons against its own people is a proven fact,” said Kortunov, president of the New Eurasia Foundation, a Moscow-based think tank. “What makes the Kremlin even more edgy are [President] Obama’s and Kerry’s continuing signals that they haven’t written off a strike against Syria from their agenda.”

Also Sunday, a mortar round exploded in the morning on the grounds of the Russian Embassy in Damascus, wounding three employees, news agencies reported. The Russian Foreign Ministry described the injuries as non-life-threatening.

September 22nd, 2013, 8:26 pm

 

Tara said:

“Also Sunday, a mortar round exploded in the morning on the grounds of the Russian Embassy in Damascus, wounding three employees, news agencies reported. The Russian Foreign Ministry described the injuries as non-life-threatening.”

Time for Russia to taste some of its own poison. And Iran to follow.

Both Iran and Russia managed to make all Syrians their enemies.

September 22nd, 2013, 8:54 pm

 

Syrian said:

It is normal where is a country with a Sunni majority to have a minority group like the MBs,when there was free elections in Syria, they did not win more than 20 % of the vote mostly from the rural north, Moustafa Alsba’ai thier leader lost in Damascus to a socialist.
They are not the radical that Iran Islamic Revelution has inspired,wahabbissim while has existed for 200 yrs in the Arabian Peninsula did not start to spread world wide until Khomeini called for the spread of his Islamic Revelution. So they reacted by pushing their ideas to counter his publicly stated goal of spreading his,
Even the 80s uprising in Syria did not start by the MBs but a whole deferent group led by Adnan a’kuleh. But Hafiz took that events as way to wage a war on everything that opposes his rule from civil societies group, comminset and the MBs, after his victory he painted any Sunni with a beard or attend a masjid as an MB.
Those tactics are still employed today by many to paint all Sunnis of Syria as Islamists but they are not fooling anybody.
While I don’t support the MBs nor I would ever vote for them,I believe they are a minority of the Sunni majority that need to be represented, and fight their ideas with ideas.

September 22nd, 2013, 9:07 pm

 

zoo said:

To Shia-haters…

The Islamists terrorists, 9/11, the Talibans, Al Qaeda and all these criminals are using Sunnism as their flag. They have all been fed by ‘Wahhabis Charities’ that are attempting to spread and impose their retarded ideology on Moslems and in the world with their money. The ‘moderate” sunnis follow passively without expressing their disagreement.
When one looks back at early Islam, a religion calling for peace and progress, the landscape of Islam is now scattered with malls, banks and places where the rich sunnis play with the poor, moslems or not, like they would do on a video game.
That’s how a civilization collapses, when greed is the major motor.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar , despite they money, their malls, their banks and their “investments” are already in decay. Unless they change their course, it may take few years, but they will rot from inside as they lost the soul of Islam.

September 22nd, 2013, 9:07 pm

 

zoo said:

The war between ISIS and the FSA is expanding in Idlib province. Sunnis fighting Sunnis.

Syrian rebels kill Al-Qaeda affiliate chief: NGO

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/22/syrian-rebels-kill-al-qaeda-affiliate-chief-ngo/

AFP – A local leader of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was killed in clashes with other rebels in the Syrian province of Idlib on Sunday, a monitoring group said.

Abu Abdullah al-Libi, a local chief of the group, was killed along with 12 other fighters from the jihadist organisation, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“He was killed in clashes with a group of rebel fighters near the town of Hazano,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

He said six people from Hazano were also reported killed on Sunday, but it was unclear if they were civilians or fighters participating in the clashes.

The town lies in northwestern Idlib province, large parts of which lie under control of the Syrian opposition.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), Al-Qaeda’s Iraqi branch which has expanded into Syria, has clashed with other rebel groups elsewhere in the country in recent days.

September 22nd, 2013, 9:12 pm

 

zoo said:

The NC are puppets desperate for relevance

Rebels View Coalition Leadership Outside Syria as Detached From the Suffering

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/world/middleeast/rebels-view-coalition-leadership-outside-syria-as-detached-from-the-suffering.html?_r=0

“It’s a political game,” said Mr. Tabanja, after he was shooed away by guards surrounding Ahmad al-Jarba, the leader of the main opposition group, the Syrian National Coalition. “They are like puppets in the hands of their enemies,” he said. “They are prolonging the presence of Assad.”

Others saw a possibly desperate attempt by the coalition to be included in any negotiations before Mr. Assad made a deal with foreign powers on his own terms.

“Nothing has changed,” said Hassan Hassan, a columnist who writes about Syria for The National, an English-language newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates. “It’s a face-saving move to prove they are still relevant.”

September 22nd, 2013, 9:18 pm

 

omen said:

imagine corporate media departing from their mandated storyline of jihadist-mongering and replacing it with an examination of regime forces…

no, i can’t either.

September 22nd, 2013, 9:26 pm

 

omen said:

something else corporate media refuses to give coverage:

September 22nd, 2013, 9:30 pm

 

zoo said:

Israel sees new and dangerous threats in Syria

Through what has been coined “tactical Darwinism” – the concept that combat weeds out the less proficient fighters, and that those who survive what takes place on the battlefield are likely also the best soldiers and commanders – Assad’s forces and Hezbollah’s, as well as the groups that are fighting them, will emerge better soldiers. In the long run, this does not bode well for Israel or for its neighbors.

No matter which side ultimately triumphs in Syria, or whether the stalemate there will become a long-term status quo, Israel will be faced with a difficult new situation on its northern border, one which will likely leave it wishing for the old days of stability.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2013/Sep-23/232182-israel-sees-new-and-dangerous-threats-in-syria.ashx#ixzz2ffx5UpQA
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

September 22nd, 2013, 9:40 pm

 

Tara said:

Omen@21

If it was Alawi or Christian child , SC will feature it as a main post. I have no doubt.

The photo is of a Sunni Syrian child died of starvation in Syria al Assad whose sectarian militia erected checkpoint to confiscate bread from Sunni Syrian areas. But no one gives a damn.

And the picture will never make it to the main post.

Such a pathetic world!

September 22nd, 2013, 9:44 pm

 

Syrialover said:

The mujahedeen mix of nationalities in Syria is the same as that which poured into places such as Kosovo, Afghanistan, Somalia and more recently Mali.

They are an opportunistic, predatory breed that gathers in failed states, regardless of what the local dispute is all about. They have their own unrelated agenda.

They are attracted by the chance to play out their violent escapist fantasies and power trips under made-up “religious” rules.

It’s proof of Assad’s failure and weakness that they see him as a knockover and his territory a playground up for grabs.

Thank you GHASSAN KARAM (#4) SYRIAN (#16) for some welcome informed perspective.

September 22nd, 2013, 9:54 pm

 

Syrian said:

To the Shia propagandist….
The Shia HA is the inventor for suicide bombing. The 1st ever car suicide bombing was done by them against American marines in Lebanon that killed 256 sleeping marines that followed with a second bombing that killed 56 French, suicide booming was born and all credit goes to the Shia concept of martyrdom.
Again wahabissim did not spread until Khomeini stated publicly that his goal is to spread his Islamist revolution in the Arab world, and that was the cause for the Iraq/ Iran war and why the GCC helped Saddam for those who are trying to rewrite history.

September 22nd, 2013, 9:54 pm

 

zoo said:

The rebels: The Coalition has no base inisde and no credibility, their decisions are irrelevant

Syrian opposition group says it may attend Geneva peace talks

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-23/syrian-opposition-group-says-it-willing-to-attend-geneva-talks/4974614?section=world

Moaz al-Agha, a senior member of the Islamist al-Sahaba Brigades, said the US-Russian deal to destroy Mr Assad’s chemical weapons arsenal that reduced the likelihood of a US strike showed the SNC was powerless.

“If the coalition had any credibility it would have resigned en masse. Its priority should be to break the siege on the liberated areas and stop the indiscriminate bombardment, not to make statements that bestow legitimacy on Assad in these circumstances,” Mr Agha said.

“Negotiating with Assad would be a sellout of all the people who have sacrificed their lives. The coalition has no base inside Syria to make such a decision.”

September 22nd, 2013, 9:55 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrian

You fail to mention that this was back in 1983 and directed at an politically abusing entity in the region, the US CIA.

Since then and even until yesterday september 2013, Sunni Islamists continue diligently to kill thousands of innocents with suicide car bombs and suicide attacks all over the world, motivated by their sick ideology.

The modern terrorists are the Sunnis extremists, not Islam

September 22nd, 2013, 10:09 pm

 

Tara said:

Observer,

I agree. People can’t live together. Break it up. Syria the way we knew it is really truly dead.

September 22nd, 2013, 10:14 pm

 

Syrialover said:

OMEN and TARA

The image of a Syrian child dead from starvation (#21) goes to my deepest fears of things getting even worse and seeing masses of Syrians starving under blockade by the government.

The horrific Biafran scenario, likely to emerge as part of the Assad brother’s game plan.

ZOO

When you go on about the Syrian opposition being puppets,they seem to be freer with more autonomy than your hero Assad.

Bashar now has his regime’s foreign policy openly controlled by Russia and his military activities controlled by Iran.

News coming out of Moscow and Teheran provides clear and unashamed proof.

In contrast, the alleged outside control of the opposition is based on hearsay, speculative gossip and blanket accusations.

September 22nd, 2013, 10:22 pm

 

Sami said:

“The modern terrorists are the Sunnis extremists”

Terrorist are those that terrorize civilians be it a suicide car bomber or the person lobbing barrel bombs at civilians.

The fact you only recognize certain terrorists and not others because of creed is a clear indication of your disgustingly rabid sectarianism which you miserably fail to hide in your pseudo intellectual jargon.

Assadists hypocrisy is so twisted that they don’t even realize the irony in having a Turk lead the Syrian “resistance” to foreigners!

September 22nd, 2013, 10:41 pm

 

Syrian said:

Zoo
Well, now that the extremist Shias are in power,they don need suicide car bombing, they taught and funded Hamas to do that,sent HA to Syria to do it with machine guns and supply Assad with funds to keep killing with scuds, barrel bombs, CW.Enough to kill hundreds time more than all extremist Sunni group combined.

September 22nd, 2013, 10:47 pm

 

Syrialover said:

Anyone argue with this definition of terrorism?

“Terrorism — the deliberate use of violence against civilians to achieve political objectives”*

Anyone argue that’s what the Assad regime is doing?

(* Source: Foundation for defence of democracies – http://www.defenddemocracy.org/about-fdd)

September 22nd, 2013, 10:49 pm

 

Hopeful said:

Speaking of terrorism, I strongly condemn the insane and brutal terrorist attack in Nairobi. Interesting news about the culprit:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/white-widow-samantha-lewthwaite-feared-2294212

September 23rd, 2013, 1:03 am

 

omen said:

look, somebody did a story on dr. khayer:

Opposition activists say they believe he is still alive

another video that made the rounds showed a detainee reduced to skin and bones after only four months in prison. did dr. khayer’s prominence afford him better treatment? it would be a miracle if he were still alive. damn this wretched regime, even the truth is held hostage!

September 23rd, 2013, 5:38 am

 

Hopeful said:

#34 Omen

Great article – thanks for posting. This is the Syria I’ve known for the past decades. This is the Syria I left. This is the Syria that bred the revolution. This is the Syria that needs to change!

——————

Many prisoners are kept in a shadowy network of squalid detention centres, in which torture is routine and death commonplace, former inmates say.

Because the mukhabarat operates outside of any written laws, family members are not always notified if someone is taken into detention. Instead, informal contacts and back channels that allow family and friends to make contact with the secret police are often used to try to locate prisoners.

Bribes are frequently paid for scraps of information, which may or may not be accurate, according to Syrians who have been involved in tracking down friends and loved ones held in a labyrinthine detention system overseen by more than a dozen independent security branches.

“You make a lot of phone calls, you try to find out where people were arrested and then which security unit was working in that area at the time, and then you might be able to find some [mukhabarat] officer who’ll tell you if they are holding the person or not,” said an opposition organiser who has spent time in jail, and helped locate other political prisoners.

Sometimes, with the right connections and enough cash, bribes can be paid to lose files and release detainees.

A former inmate of the political security branch in Damascus said his family paid US$10,000 (Dh36,700) to have his case file “lost” by a senior officer, who was then able to arrange for the prisoner’s release – on condition he leave the country immediately and never come back.

September 23rd, 2013, 7:50 am

 

baymak kombi servisi said:

Speaking of terrorism, I strongly condemn the insane and brutal terrorist attack in Nairobi. Interesting news about the culprit:

September 23rd, 2013, 7:57 am

 

zoo said:

#30 SAMI

It is well established that the Sunni Islamists are the suicide car bombers who kill innocents, no one else. It is in their teachings and their traditions and they have proven that in 9/11 and many other occasions. There was not a single Shia among the 9/11 terrorists. They were all Sunni Islamists.

There is no tradition in cowardly suicide bombing innocents Arabs in Shiism or Alawism or Druze…

Your twisting around to imply that resistance to foreign occupation is terrorism shows exactly where you stand.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:17 am

 

zoo said:

@29 SL

“When you go on about the Syrian opposition being puppets,they seem to be freer with more autonomy than your hero Assad.”

Are you joking? when your salary is paid by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, how can you be free? They are arrogant and pathetic slaves.

They are so “free” that they are now begging to be included in Geneva conference after having caused 100,000 death by putting ridiculous conditions to their participation.

Not only they are puppets, but they are made of straw.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:23 am

 

Tara said:

And bombing synagogues in South America or civilian tourist bus in Bulgaria by Shiaa extremists is not terrorism? Zoo you are fooling yourself. How about smashing the brain of a 4 yo Israeli toddler by Samir Quntar, a druz from HA? That is not terrorism? was it resistance against a toddler? or it never happened?

September 23rd, 2013, 8:31 am

 

zoo said:

The Moslem Brotherhood from presidencv to underground in one year in Egypt.

Egypt bans all Muslim Brotherhood activities

CAIRO – Reuters
20, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh
An Egyptian court on Monday banned the Muslim Brotherhood from carrying out any activities in the country, widening a campaign to debilitate the Islamist movement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:32 am

 

zoo said:

#38

Join SAMI, you are made for each other.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:34 am

 

zoo said:

Miss Piggy is back with a new haircut but not enough botox

Hillary Clinton Storms Back Into the Spotlight

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/09/23/hillary-clinton-storms-back-into-the-spotlight/?mod=WSJBlog

September 23rd, 2013, 8:37 am

 

Tara said:

Sorry Zoo but terrorism applies also when people you like terrorize people you don’t like. It is a universal concept.

I admit I used not to call terrorism against civilian Israelis by its name. I used to call it resistance. What happened in Syria changed my mind.

I also invite you to see that killing civilians by your heroes is terrorism even those who are killed are your despised Sunnis. You know we are born into what you despise. We really did not have a choice.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:43 am

 

zoo said:

Turkey and Jordan U-turn

After having allowed Al Qaeda terrorists to cross freely the borders to help the desperate rebel fighters to topple Bashar Al Assad, now they are chasing them and arresting them.
Obviously they have realized that toppling Bashar al Assad will just not happen militarily.

Jordan jails five Salafists for Syria jihad attempt

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Sep-23/232270-jordan-jails-five-salafists-for-syria-jihad-attempt.ashx#ixzz2fieEkTvI
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

September 23rd, 2013, 8:44 am

 

zoo said:

@42

Keep changing your mind, that’s your problem.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:48 am

 

zoo said:

GUL: The Islamic World is immature to solve crisis

Gul says sectarianism a trap, indication of primitiveness

http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/2193111.html

President Abdullah Gul stated that the Middle East region should be careful not to be dragged into a sectarian conflict, saying that sectarianism is a trap for Muslims and an indication of being uncivilized Today`s Zaman reported.

Gul maintained that the Islamic world does not have the maturity to solve the crisis, noting that organizations in the Islamic world are ineffective and they have divisions within themselves.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:53 am

 

Tara said:

You know Zoo, addressing me as a number does not bother me anymore. I am tired of Tara too. She exhausted me. I am thinking of a Reem or a Leena. Do you like that more?

September 23rd, 2013, 8:53 am

 

Sami said:

Cowardly lobbing barrel bombs at civilians from helicopters is terrorism, cowardly shooting SCUDs at civilians is terrorism, cowardly bombing and strafing civilians from fighter jets is terrorism, cowardly making 10,000 Syrian political dissenters disappear is terrorism, cowardly bombing bread lines is terrorism, cowardly bombing a university full of students is terrorism, cowardly bombing hospitals full of patients is terrorism, and the list goes on and on.

Your pathetic attempt at absolving the regime from these crimes while screaming bloody Sunni terrorists is further proof of your rabid sectarianism.

I would ask how do you sleep at night, but from reading all your yawns it seems your conscious keeps you awake…

And the slaughter of innocent civilians by a Turk and his militiamen is terrorism whether it is done under the guise of “resistance” or not. But then again the victims of Bayda and Banyas are explained as terrorist being cleansed, so to you and your likes they not only don’t count, but is celebrated as heroism.

Assadist hypocrisy is so twisted that the use of Hizballah Lebanese, Iraqi militiamen, and Iranian soldiers in their jihad against jihadists does not even sound odd to them!

I don’t twist and spin things, I leave that to you, you are after all the spin doctor here.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:55 am

 

Syrialover said:

SAMI #47

Great points as usual. Well said.

Let ZOO give us his definition of terrorism.

It must be radically different from this one:

“Terrorism — the deliberate use of violence against civilians to achieve political objectives”

September 23rd, 2013, 9:17 am

 

Syrialover said:

ZOO #41 hates and hates Hillary Clinton. He can’t stand she’s so much better looking and smarter than his pinup girl Bouthaina Shaaban.

September 23rd, 2013, 9:22 am

 

Syrialover said:

Watch out America! Run for your life ISIS! Panic and die Israel!

Here’s the mighty fighter waiting to take you down.

https://twitter.com/TheMoeDee/status/381475020037320704/photo/1

September 23rd, 2013, 9:30 am

 

Observer said:

It is easier to dismantle than to build. When I say break it up I do mean that as a challenge to all those that continue to deny the hatred and animosity that the sects have for each other.

I will have to think of the ways that people can live together while maintaining their particulars in a political system and defuses the tensions.

Let me think this over and I will try to post it a new in a few days.

As for the origins of political Islam it was present the moment the dispute over the succession erupted 1400 years ago. There was always political Islam.

Abd el Wahab was a political muslim who advocated an interpretration of Islam to preserve it. The MB were founded in 1928 and since then have never ever been fully repressed. The Soviet Union closed houses of worship across religions and denied people their faith and after more than 70 years Islam is back and cannot be eliminated from the faithful.

As for the recent evolution of political Islam I would say that the Iranian Revolution was a new catalyst. It showed that the clergy can be independent of the state as their source of income is not from a ministry. The mullahs organized their party before launcing the revolution. The Sunnis response was government led as usual and as it failed we now have new leaders that are not beholden to the state and are rising to replace the sclerotic Sunni leaders across the board.

The true impetus for the rise of political Islam was and remains in my mind the humilitating and crushing defeat in 1967 of the Arab Nationalist Armies at the hands of the Israelis.

The impact on the psyche of the umma is felt to this day and is the main reason that we have political Islam active today from OBL to Nusra to HA to whoever.

In that the Muslim world felt the defeat across its borders and across regions and ethnicities and is more profound than the 9/11 attacks on the US in its lasting impact on this psychology.

Combined with failed states that have managed to entrench themselves behind security services and emergency laws and all in the name of this defeat has left the space wide open for the rise of a new force that is fighting back. As a microcosm of that look at the rise of Hamas in comparison to the eclipse of Fatah which became an Israeli instrument of repression and graft and corruption.

I will post again in due time.

September 23rd, 2013, 9:30 am

 

Heads-up said:

Just so you may know, our well informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up.

Our benefactors again reviewed the material presented in this latest falsification of truths and facts on this site, an ongoing process fueled by its owner and associates. they once again came to the same unavoidable conclusion as they did when reviewing the previous two posts. The material and so-called evidence of photos and videos are in total contradiction to the gist of the post seeking in essence to polish the miserable state of the regime of perverted criminals, implying a clear desperate attemp to spread propaganda on behalf of the falling and desperate regime of outcasts and outlawed criminals. Needless to say, the acts of this site’s contributors fall squarely and evenly under the definitions of aiding and abetting of criminals of the worst kind in human history.

As a result of their assessments, our benefactors decided to keep the site on the blacklist. And they would strongly urge readers to exercise extreme caution, sound judgement and critical analysis when reading anything written by the owner or associates of the this clearly suspicious and much-below standards site.

September 23rd, 2013, 9:41 am

 

Syrialover said:

Here it goes. The cycle starts all over again.

Egypt bans Muslim Brotherhood

An Egyptian court on Monday banned the Muslim Brotherhood from carrying out any activities in the country and ordered the seizure of the group’s funds, widening a campaign to debilitate the Islamist movement of deposed President Mohamed Mursi.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/23/us-egypt-brotherhood-urgent-idUSBRE98M0HL20130923

September 23rd, 2013, 9:54 am

 

Akbar Palace said:

Anybody know what happened to the following commentators:

– D-P lover Reverse?

– Majedkhaldoun?

– Dawoud?

September 23rd, 2013, 10:05 am

 

Afram said:

How did we sink so low?
King Lear is a tragedy by Shakespeare on the nature of human suffering.
No man will ever write a better tragedy than the retard arabs!
It is a shame that the intelligentsia in the Arab world is largely silent.

I am slightly confused/ what is the difference in ideology between these antagonists,is it about beard length? or the lowest IQ, number of lice per sq cm of hair, the lowdest TAKBEEEER, or what? anyway, as long as they are fighting among themselves, and sending each other to hell, or heaven, or wherever, they are saving money on the KSA treasury.the more that die, the less the payroll.

September 23rd, 2013, 10:17 am

 

ziad said:

Welcome to the New Libya, a Country ‘Liberated’ by NATO: No Oil Revenues, No Security, No Water, No Electricity…

Welcome to the new Libya, a country ‘liberated’ by NATO which now finds itself without the oil revenues which could make it rich, with no security, no stability and assassinations and corruption at unprecendented levels.

We hope that the people of other Arab countries, and particularly Syria, will learn from the Libyan example.

It is true that some suggest that this is a temporary state of affairs for Libya and that following this transitionary period, stability will reign. They advise us to be patient.

We hope their prophecy will prove to be correct but remain extremely skeptical with Iraq and Afghanistan also before our eyes.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/welcome-to-the-new-libya-a-country-liberated-by-nato-no-oil-revenues-no-security-no-water-no-electricity/5350861

September 23rd, 2013, 10:59 am

 

zoo said:

#49 SL

Miss Piggy can only be the queen of other muppets. The Americans are not.

As a secretary of States she has been a globetrotting disaster ending with the climax of the murder of the US ambassador in Libya, due to her own negligence. That will haunt her for the rest of her short political career.
Miss Piggy has zero chance of being elected. As her ego won’t bear another defeat, she simply won’t be a candidate.
The rest is media noise.

September 23rd, 2013, 11:04 am

 

zoo said:

@51 observer

“I will post again in due time.”

Please do, we are eagerly waiting to skip another of your delirium rants.

September 23rd, 2013, 11:06 am

 

Ghat Al Bird said:

ZOO@41.

According to Miss Piggy’s husband’s girl friend she is also bisexual:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2424555/Bill-Clintons-mistress-Gennifer-Flowers-Wed-today-wasnt-Chelsea.html

September 23rd, 2013, 11:22 am

 

zoo said:

Erdogan’s aggressive policy toward Syria is turning into a nightmare for Turkey

Turkey Stands With al-Qaeda Against the Kurds

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/turkey-stands-al-qaeda-against-kurds

Turkey continues to support armed Islamist groups in their campaign against Kurdish militias along Syria’s northern front. Yet the growing body count of al-Qaeda fighters in the north suggests that Turkish efforts are not entirely successful.
….

It is also not odd to see the Turkish army supervising the transfer of al-Qaeda fighters across the border region in Turkey into the Kurdish areas on the Syrian side. A few days ago, the Turkish army allowed 150 fighters from ISIS and other Islamic brigades to cross to the village of Alouk, east of Ras al-Ayn (Serekani), along with six tanks and pick-up trucks equipped with machine guns. It appears that the goal of the move was to try to block the road between the cities of Derbassiyeh and Ras al-Ayn and cut off supplies to YPG fighters.

After four days of intense fighting, the Kurdish forces were able to take control of the village. Kurdish military sources told Al-Akhbar that more than 60 Islamic fighters had been killed in the fighting, including two commanders and 13 Kurdish fighters.

September 23rd, 2013, 11:25 am

 

ziad said:

Rogue State America

Oxford Dictionaries call rogue states “nation(s) or state(s) regarded as breaking international law and posing a threat to the security of other nations.”

They’re authoritarian or despotic and ruthless. They stop at nothing to achieve aims. They spurn human and civil rights. They possess weapons of mass destruction. They sponsor state terrorism.

William Blum’s done some of the best research. His books include “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower.”

He documented how from 1945 through 2005, America tried or succeeded in toppling over 40 governments. It crushed dozens of popular movements. It slaughtered millions of people doing so.

It condemned countless others to immiseration, agony and despair. According to Blum, US policies are “worse than you imagine.”

“If you flip over the rock of American foreign policy (throughout) the past century, this is what crawls out:”

“invasions, bombings, (subversion), overthrowing governments, suppressing (popular) movements for social change, assassinating political leaders, perverting elections, manipulating labor unions, manufacturing ‘news,’ death squads, torture, (chemical), biological (and nuclear) warfare, (radiological contamination), drug trafficking, mercenaries,” police state repression, and war on humanity writ large.

“It’s not a pretty picture,” said Blum. “It is enough to give imperialism a bad name.”

Bullies make more enemies than friends. America’s the unchallenged world champion. It intimidates, threatens, and otherwise pressures other nations to comply with its will. Obey or else is policy.

It’s waging longstanding war on humanity. It risks mass annihilation. It doesn’t matter. Unchallenged global dominance alone counts. Rogue states operate that way. America’s by far the worst.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/09/21/rogue-state-america/

September 23rd, 2013, 11:29 am

 

Akbar Palace said:

Wow. I got 6 thumbs up and 7 thumbs down and all I did was ask where some participants have gone. I didn’t realize it was controversial.

September 23rd, 2013, 11:55 am

 

mjabali said:

Afram:

How are you doing?

September 23rd, 2013, 11:59 am

 

mjabali said:

Many tried to pin point what is the direct cause for the emergence of political Islam and the fighting brand of Islam.

Almost all agree upon:

1- Dictatorship everywhere…

2- Frustration with something….economical, social, political..

3- The availability of the Mosque…Political parties came and went…the mosque stayed..

4- Modernity as a failed project..

5- The availability of a fighting ideology…

6- The availability of money (Islamic banks…donors…government sponsors…)

7- A sense to belong to something….

September 23rd, 2013, 12:07 pm

 

Hopeful said:

#54 Akbar P.

They have been banned by the moderator.

September 23rd, 2013, 12:39 pm

 

Alan said:

64-
Do not be shy designated by their names
Planners have studied religion well and were able to use the potential in it to destroy it It / the Latent internal energy for self-destruction!/. And Bernard Levy, one of those planners!

September 23rd, 2013, 12:49 pm

 

ziad said:

Gas missiles ‘were not sold to Syria’

Export papers seem to back Assad’s denial over sarin attack – but Russians won’t go into detail

While the Assad regime in Damascus has denied responsibility for the sarin gas missiles that killed around 1,400 Syrians in the suburb of Ghouta on 21 August, information is now circulating in the city that Russia’s new “evidence” about the attack includes the dates of export of the specific rockets used and – more importantly – the countries to which they were originally sold. They were apparently manufactured in the Soviet Union in 1967 and sold by Moscow to three Arab countries, Yemen, Egypt and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya. These details cannot be verified in documents, and Vladimir Putin has not revealed the reasons why he told Barack Obama that he knows Assad’s army did not fire the sarin missiles; but if the information is correct – and it is believed to have come from Moscow – Russia did not sell this particular batch of chemical munitions to Syria.

Since Gaddafi’s fall in 2011, vast quantities of his abandoned Soviet-made arms have fallen into the hands of rebel groups and al-Qa’ida-affiliated insurgents. Many were later found in Mali, some in Algeria and a vast amount in Sinai. The Syrians have long claimed that a substantial amount of Soviet-made weaponry has made its way from Libya into the hands of rebels in the country’s civil war with the help of Qatar – which supported the Libyan rebels against Gaddafi and now pays for arms shipments to Syrian insurgents.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/gas-missiles-were-not-sold-to-syria-8831792.html

September 23rd, 2013, 12:50 pm

 

Heads-up said:

Just so you may know, we rely only on well informed and very reliable sources who work very hard, behind the scenes and around the clock to bring you the news before it becomes news. This very very important heads up was made available for release.

In comparison to the falsifications and fabrication that you are constantly being bombarded to on this site, an ongoing process fueled by the owner and his associates, one may choose to read one of the novels recently listed in the international list of the best 100 novels in the history of mankind, the trilogy of In Praise of Hatred for the Syrian novelist Khaled Khalifah documenting the unparalleled crimes of the regime of criminal perverts of the 1980s era in Hama and Aleppo.

The contrast between the well-documented events of the winning trilogy and the trash you read on this site is obvious to the naked eye, highlighting the fact once again that this site is only meant as a tool to polish the faces of ugly criminals, pathetic outcasts and perverted outlawed degenerates of the non-human kind.

September 23rd, 2013, 12:52 pm

 

Alan said:

56. ZIAD said:
Welcome to the New Libya, a Country ‘Liberated’ by NATO: No Oil Revenues, No Security, No Water, No Electricity…

This means that the mission successfully held.

September 23rd, 2013, 12:54 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

They have been banned by the moderator.

Hopeful,

OK. Thanks. I think we should all buy Matthew Barber a gift.

September 23rd, 2013, 1:13 pm

 

ziad said:

Questions Plague UN Report on Syria

A senior United Nations official who deals directly with Syrian affairs has told Al-Akhbar that the Syrian government had no involvement in the alleged Ghouta chemical weapons attack: “Of course not, he (President Bashar al-Assad) would be committing suicide.”

When asked who he believed was responsible for the use of chemical munitions in Ghouta, the UN official, who would not permit disclosure of his identity, said: “Saudi intelligence was behind the attacks and unfortunately nobody will dare say that.” The official claims that this information was provided by rebels in Ghouta.

A report by the UN Mission to investigate use of chemical weapons (CW) in Ghouta, Syria was released last Monday, but per its mandate, did not assign blame to either the Syrian government or opposition rebels.

Media commentators and officials from several western countries, however, have strongly suggested that the Syrian government is the likely perpetrator of CW attacks in Ghouta and other locations.

But on Sunday, veteran Mideast journalist for The Independent Robert Fisk also reported that “grave doubts are being expressed by the UN and other international organisations in Damascus that the sarin gas missiles were fired by Assad’s army.”

The UN official’s accusations mirror statements made earlier this year by another senior UN figure Carla del Ponte, who last May told Swiss TV in the aftermath of alleged CW attacks in Khan al-Asal, Sheik Maqsood and Saraqeb that there were “strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof,” that rebels had carried out the attack. Del Ponte also observed that UN inspectors had seen no evidence of the Syrian army using chemical weapons, but added that further investigation was necessary.

The UN Inquiry tasked with investigating chemical weapons use in Syria hastily dismissed del Ponte’s comments by saying it had “not reached conclusive findings” as to the use of CWs by any parties.

So why then are we getting these contradictory leaks by top UN officials?

The recently released UN Report on CW use in Syria may provide some clues. While it specifically does not assign blame for the use of CWs to either side, its disclosures and exclusions very clearly favor a rebel narrative of the Ghouta attacks. And that may be prompting these leaks from insiders who have access to a broader view of events.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/questions-plague-un-report-syria

September 23rd, 2013, 1:20 pm

 

Tara said:

Like Al Akhbar regime mouth peice will say anything other than “they did it”.

No wonder you insist on using bold. I hope it helps you psychologically.

September 23rd, 2013, 1:29 pm

 

zoo said:

64. mjabali

I would add

– Boredom of the rich
– Anger and frustration of the poor when he/she compares to the rich
– Machismo in moslem societies where women are second class
– Lack of general interest in art and culture
– Religious brainwashing

September 23rd, 2013, 1:33 pm

 

Alan said:

Some commentators here good at rinse the backside of AIPAC, Israel and generally of the Jews! They’re clumsy! Shamelessly talking about terrorism tongue more terrorist state in the world!

September 23rd, 2013, 1:37 pm

 

zoo said:

The rebels are indeed a role model for the future generation of ‘freedom and dignity’. Congratulations to the opposition who brought that on Syrian children .

Video: Syrian children play ‘Behead the Enemy’

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/23/video-syrian-children-play-behead-enemy/

Monday, September 23, 2013

A screen capture of a video posted to YouTube that appears to show a group of Syrian children playing a game called “Behead the Enemy” while chanting “Allahu Akbar,” or “Allah is greater,” is seen here.

A video posted to YouTube Sunday appears to show a group of Syrian children in northeastern al-Hasakeh province playing a game called “Behead the Enemy” while chanting “Allahu Akbar,” or “Allah is greater.”

The video was posted by a man named “Eretz Zen,” who, according to his Twitter account, is “A secular Syrian opposed to having my country turned into a Taliban-like state.”

“The macabre culture of beheadings and body mutilations that the Syrian ‘revolution’ has brought with it has rubbed off on little children, who seem to be simulating ‘rebel’ beheadings of their enemies while shouting Allahu Akbar (Allah is greater),” a description of the video reads.

In the video, the children throw a young boy into the center of the circle and begin imitating that they are severing his head and legs from his body with sticks. They continue to make sawing motions at his neck and torso while shouting “Allahu Akbar.”

The footage was reportedly taken recently in the town of Ras al-Ayn in Syria’s northeastern al-Hasakeh province, the description reads.

September 23rd, 2013, 1:41 pm

 

Alan said:

They can’t blame Assad for THESE mass murders! What are Barack, Clinton, Kerry, McCain and Graham going to do, now? Who are they going to blame?

http://www.youtube.com/user/NTVKenya?feature=share&v=vqTMstSnGxQ&t=3h43m13s

September 23rd, 2013, 1:56 pm

 

Afram said:

@ 63. mjabali

Very well, thank you, and you?

September 23rd, 2013, 2:00 pm

 

Alan said:

Saudi Arabia Threatens to “End Career” of AP Reporter Over Chemical Weapons Story
http://www.infowars.com/saudi-arabia-threatens-to-end-career-of-ap-reporter-over-chemical-weapons-story/
Associated Press reporter Dale Gavlak has been threatened over her involvement in a story which exposed how Syrian rebels were responsible for the August 21st chemical weapons attack after being handed the weapons by Saudi intelligence agents.

On August 29th, Mint Press News published an article co-authored by Gavlak which detailed how FSA militants in Ghouta admitted to reporter Yahya Ababneh that they were behind the August 21st chemical weapons incident, which the United States blamed on President Bashar Al-Assad, having mishandled chemical weapons provided to them by Saudi Arabia.

Although Gavlak did not collaborate on the story in her capacity as an AP correspondent, according to Mint Press News executive director Mnar Muhawesh, within 48 hours Gavlak received threats to “end her career” if she didn’t disassociate herself from the article.

September 23rd, 2013, 2:00 pm

 

Alan said:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again called for a political solution to the Syrian unrest, describing any possible foreign military intervention in in the country as a form of “aggression.”
The Russian president also said any foreign military intervention against Syria is against international law and would rattle the entire region.
He made the remarks during a summit of an ex-Soviet security group in the southern Russian port city of Sochi on Monday.
Putin also defended Moscow’s refusal to support strikes against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for its alleged use of chemical weapons.
“The members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are united in their view that the situation around Syria can only be resolved through political means,” AFP quoted Putin as saying at the meeting, adding, “Any outside use of force would be a grave violation of international law, which in the language of the UN Charter is referred to as aggression.”

September 23rd, 2013, 2:02 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

Alan’s View of the Werld

Some commentators here good at rinse the backside of AIPAC, Israel and generally of the Jews! They’re clumsy!

Alan,

How do you know they’re clumsy? You can’t judge a whole people by watching The Three Stooges.

September 23rd, 2013, 2:18 pm

 

Alan said:

They’re clumsy= Some commentators
A, B, C, D, reread please

September 23rd, 2013, 2:47 pm

 

habib said:

Muwaffaq Ghazal was not killed, his cousin Badr was. Why this misinformation? Confusion? How can the rest be trusted then?

September 23rd, 2013, 3:05 pm

 

habib said:

Likewise, the man captioned as “an unidentified Alawite sheikh” is the actual Muwaffaq Ghazal. Please do your homework.

September 23rd, 2013, 3:12 pm

 

William Scott Scherk said:

Christian Science Monitor features Dan Murphy’s take on the murky edges of chemotherapy conspiracy tales:

But there have been many who insist that the attack was a sort of false flag operation carried out by rebels, designed to make Assad look responsible and draw US to war. Exhibit A for those making this argument was an Aug. 29 article that appeared on the website of startup Mint Press, under the bylines of Yahya Ababneh and Dale Gavlak. Ms. Gavlak is a longtime stringer for the Associated Press, based in Jordan, and her association with the piece led to claims that an “AP reporter” had “confirmed” the attack was carried out by the rebels.

The article in its first iteration didn’t pass the smell test. It claimed that Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the country’s intelligence chief, had supplied chemical weapons to untrained rebels and that an accidental release in tunnels where the weapons were being stored led to the deaths. “They didn’t tell us what these weapons were or how to use them,” the article quotes a female fighter known only as “K” as saying. “We didn’t know they were chemical weapons.”

This claim is mindboggling: A senior Saudi official simply handing out chemical weapons – and concealing their nature from the recipients? This claim could illustrate “not credible” in the dictionary. Nevertheless, the story was tailor made to be believed by the “anti-imperial” left – with a Saudi intelligence agent known for his close ties to the US placed at the center of it.

[…]

Who is Ababneh? So far it’s unclear. He’s been identified as a Jordanian reporter by Gavlak, but the truth is certainly not yet determined. Brian Whitaker, a Guardian reporter focused on the Middle East who also maintains a blog, writes that he looked at a LinkedIn profile of Ababneh’s that asserted he had worked for Al Jazeera and al-Quds al-Arabi (a major pan-Arab newspaper) but Whitaker could not find his byline in the archives of either website or anywhere else. The LinkedIn profile was deleted on Saturday.

Whitaker also found a reader comment made on an Aug. 26 article about Syria, three days before the Mint Press story, in the UK’s Mail on Sunday by a “Yan Barakat” who told a very similar story about Prince Bandar and chemical weapons to the one that would appear three days later. “Barakat” wrote that he came by the story from “some old men” who’d “arrived in Damascus” from Russia. One of the men from Russia “told me they have evidence that they have evidence that it was the rebels who used the weapons.”

A little more internet sleuthing from Whitaker found a Facebook page for Yan Barakat and photos of the man, who described himself as a Jordanian journalist. The pictures appear to be of the same man pictured in the deleted Linkedin profile for Ababneh. There is also a profile page on the Russian social media site VK (much like Facebook) under the name “Yahya Barakat” that contains pictures of a man that looks both like the Yan Barakat and Yayheh Ababneh pictures. The profile says the man’s hometown is St. Petersburg, Russia (this story was edited after first posting; the original version incorrectly said the VK page stated he was “born” in St. Petersburg).

The Russian government has repeatedly insisted that the chemical weapons used in Syria were carried out by rebels. At the end of last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the attack was a false flag operation. “We have every reason to believe that it was a provocation, a sly and ingenious one,” he said.

What happened here? It’s all pretty much conjecture at this point, but clearly someone “got played.” Whether Ababneh was one of the victims or one of the players is hard to say.

Human Rights Watch did take up the claim in its report on chemical weapons use at Goutah, and wrote that it found no reason to give it any credibility.

“Human Rights Watch has investigated alternative claims that opposition forces themselves were responsible for the August 21 attacks, and has found such claims lacking in credibility and inconsistent with the evidence found at the scene,” the group wrote. “Claims that the August 21 deaths were caused by an accidental explosion by opposition forces mishandling chemical weapons in their possession are inconsistent with large numbers of deaths at two locations 16 kilometers apart, and documentation of rocket attacks on the sites that morning, as evidenced by witness accounts, the damage visible on the rockets themselves, and their impact craters.”

The information war, like the real war in Syria, is likely to carry on for some time. Caveat lector – Let the reader beware.

The incoherence of the many ‘rebels/Saudi/Joos’ stories and theories is apparent. More importantly, none of stories align up, and none of the strongest beer — ‘evidence’ delivered (to Russia) by the regime — has seen the light of day (much touted, much curtained). It is certain will never see the Syrian ‘evidence’ …

As for the blogger Sharmine Narwani’s Al-Akhbar piece, the number of ‘sources said’ in it is telling. A mish-mash of hearsay and speculative fingerpointing is about it from that source. The most we can say is that a comprehensible narrative of ‘rebel’ chemotherapy is yet to arrive. Misinformation seems to be the rule from the regime lapdogs.

And the war grinds on.

September 23rd, 2013, 3:18 pm

 

Alan said:

78- ALAN
It useful to think that the intention was to protect Israel’s involvement in chemical weapons by shifting the blame to Saudi Arabia, and now to protect the Israeli propaganda by putting the blame on Russia.

September 23rd, 2013, 3:21 pm

 

Hopeful said:

The regime has been saying that Syria may become another Somalia! It looks like it already is. This video is very disturbing…

http://youtu.be/NbfLFgt77cY

September 23rd, 2013, 3:34 pm

 

Hopeful said:

#42 Tara

“I admit I used not to call terrorism against civilian Israelis by its name. I used to call it resistance. What happened in Syria changed my mind.”

RESPECT!

September 23rd, 2013, 3:38 pm

 

Tara said:

Hopeful,

While Tabl al Moulem is getting fatter by the second…

September 23rd, 2013, 3:40 pm

 

Observer said:

Mjabli

Political Islam is due to the fact the dictatorships no matter how harsh could not close the mosque. They could subvert it, manipulate it, put a cleric on the pay in it, but could not stop it and could not stop people from reading the Quran.

Political Islam would not have thrived if there was debate and freedom in the society. The regimes could not close the mosque and could not abolish the Friday prayers.

These and the narrative of a golden era in the mind of the people on the one hand and the failed state in its functioning have led to the emergence of political Islam.

Political Islam failed in Iran despite all of the efforts and all of the accomplishments that the revolution did to answer people’s aspiration to live in freedom.

Political Islam has to participate in politics so that it can lose elections and get clobbered at the polls so that it can eitehr evolve or wither away.

So you and I agree on the process.

September 23rd, 2013, 3:45 pm

 

Observer said:

So the communities making up the Levant do not wish to live together.

Clearly the Christians of Lebanon would just wish that the Muslim areas would go away. They now espouse being Phoenicians and not Arabs and they hardly speak any arabic. They speak Franglais most of the time.

The Druze are wiggling a survival with accomodation wherever they are be it in Lebanon or Syria or Paletsine

The Alawis after years of marginalization and exclusion have taken the reign of power in Syria and are deathly afraid of losing for it may mean their physical annihilation.

The remaining small communities will ally themselves along other allegiances such as the Turkemen who will find Turkey helping out.

The Kurds are virtually independent without declaring a state. They will get the same in Syria.

This leaves us with the Sunnis and they are divided into many parts and are disorganized politically and religiously.

Now my view is to create a Federation of the Levant with regions that are locally admnisitered and Federal structures that are above the local issues.

First is a constitution that separates the Federal identity from the local one. A Federal passport, a single foreign ministry, a single economic ministry, and a single supreme court.

Two chamber parliament, the lower house is made up of proportional representation according to the census and an upper house that has two representatives of each region.

Then each region will have its own constitution that does not contradict the Federal one and has a one chamber representative body for the local legislation.

As a multiethnic and multsect Federation religion is out of politics at the Federal level. Each region’s constitution may have religious based constitution if it so wishes provided that these articles do not contradict the Federal one.

Free economic zone and free flow of goods and ideas and persons.

Local taxes and Federal taxes.

Local police and federal police.

Federal transportation system. Federal higher education system and local secondary education system. Federal technical college system.

Federal postal system and federal public library system

Totally independent judicial system at the Federal level with Federal district courts and local regional courts for the regional law and federal law implementation.

Voting for your local rep is on a district basis for the regional parliament and for the lower house and senate on a broader regional Federal representation.

Constitutional Kingdom or Symbolic Presidency. Federal prime minister and local regional governors.

One can choose to live in any region.

The tricky part is what to call the citizenship: how can you make every member of the various groups renounce their allegiance to their narrow group in favor of the Federal one?

Regional borders and how to draw them?

Mosul province, Basra Province, Baghada Province, Irbil Province, Sahel South province and Sahel North Province

Homs province

Damascus Province

Deraa Province

Soueida Province

Aleppo Province

Tripoli would be with Sahel South

Idlib would be with Sahel North

Raqqa would be with Aleppo

Deir would be with Mosul

Damscus and Bekaa would be together

Beirut and its North would be together

Saida and Sidon would be a province

South Lebanon would be province.

Noth jordan would be part of Deraa and South Jordan and Amman would be another Province.

Kurdish areas of Syria would join Iraq Kurdistan and they can have three to five separate provinces.

Languages taught would be Arabic in predominant areas Kurdish in predominant areas.

So we abolish the borders between Lebanon and Syria and Iraq and Jordan.

So this is a quick broad outline of how to go about it.

Now the devil is in the details but it will come to pass one way or another even if in 100 years.

Cheers.

September 23rd, 2013, 4:08 pm

 

Hopeful said:

#90 Observer

Call it the United States of the Middle East.

Why not have Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza join as provinces as well?

And everyone lives happily ever after ….

It is a nice dream.

September 23rd, 2013, 4:20 pm

 

Tara said:

Uncle Hassan is “decisively and conclusively” living in fear. That is what happen when one becomes a criminal.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah denied on Monday that his group had received chemical weapons from Syria.

Last month, members of the Syrian National Coalition opposition group accused President Bashar al-Assad of transferring chemical weapons to the Lebanese Shi’ite group to avoid inspection after agreeing to put them under international control.

“This accusation is truly laughable,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech. “We understand the dimensions and background of these accusations, and these have dangerous consequences for Lebanon.

“We decisively and conclusively deny these accusations which have absolutely no basis in truth.”

Israel’s commander on the frontier with Syria, Major-General Yair Golan, said this month that Hezbollah sought precision ground-to-ground rockets, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles from Syria in return for helping Assad, but “as far as we can tell” it did not want his chemical weapons.

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE98M10420130923?irpc=932

September 23rd, 2013, 4:52 pm

 

Observer said:

Yes Palestine can be included. If it was a dream to dismantle the Ottoman empire and to create Sykes Picot it is not too far fetched to have a Federation of the Levant of the US of the Levant.

Remember the Iranian constitution of 1906 was modeled after Belgium and worked well till the Shah destroyed it.

Call it what you will/

I would add that all mineral and natural resources are federally administered. As a matter of fact it is good that not all regions have oil and what oil there is would not be sufficient to insure complete lack of workforce and only a rentier economy as you have in Kuwait or Qatar. A mere 300 000 do not do any work they have 1.7 million that do the work for them. They do not invent anything and do not contribute anything meaningful.

Oil is a curse not a blessing. By the way the Norwegians refuse to use the oil revenues and keep it in a trust for emergencies. They insist on having a totally separate economy based on hard work and diversified talent use.

At least the Kurds are not buying F 16’s as Maliki is doing. Against whom pray tell me? The people of Iraq of course lest they revolt.

Now another scenario is massive transfer of populations to homogeneous areas and separate states.

September 23rd, 2013, 5:44 pm

 

zoo said:

Assad survives

By Gwynne Dyer

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/assad-survives.aspx?pageID=238&nid=55005&NewsCatID=418

It was already looking likely that President Bashar al-Assad’s regime would survive – it has had the upper hand militarily in the Syrian civil war for at least six months now – but the events of the past two weeks have made it virtually certain.

Syria has already complied with the two initial demands of the Russian-American deal concluded over Assad’s head last week. It has signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, and it has given a list of all Syria’s poison gas facilities and storage depots to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. That means that the United States cannot attack it for at least a year.

President Barack Obama’s ability to order such an attack was already in doubt because of opposition in Congress. Now he could not bomb without endangering UN inspectors, who will be all over the regime-controlled parts of Syria by November to take control of the estimated thousand tonnes of chemical weapons. Syria has a year to destroy them all, and until and unless it fails to meet that deadline, bombing is out of the question.

The civil war will probably continue during the coming year, and possibly for a good deal longer. Assad’s troops have been winning back territory in the centre of the country, but they have yet to make much progress in the north, the south or the east. They lack the numbers to finish the job now, but the tide is running in their direction.

Close to a thousand separate rebel units are now operating in Syria, but there is no unified rebel army. The armed groups can be roughly divided into jihadists (many of them foreign) who want to create an Islamic caliphate in Syria, and more moderate groups who originally took up arms hoping to create a democratic Syria freed from the Baath Party’s tyranny.

Most of the less radical groups want an Islamic republic too, but they are repelled by the extremism of the jihadists. They hoped that the West would destroy Assad’s forces and put them in power instead (while keeping the jihadists out), and they are now very angry at the United States for letting them down. But they are also deeply disappointed, for the realists among them can see no other way to win this fight.

Many of these fighters would now be open to a regime offer of a ceasefire, an amnesty, and a gradual transition to a less corrupt and repressive political system, and the Baathist regime is likely to make such an offer soon (whether it means it or not). It would not neutralise the jihadists and restore peace to the country, but it might seduce enough of the other rebels to shift the military balance sharply in Assad’s favour.

Much cruel fighting would remain to defeat the jihadists, but at least the country would emerge intact. Or the war may just go on and on, ending eventually in partition. But at least we have been spared the spectacle of the United States and its sidekicks attacking yet another Muslim country, only to realise in the end (as in the case of the imaginary “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq) that its excuse for doing so was false.

The pretext this time was going to be Assad’s use of poison gas against his own people. But the timing was weird. (UN inspectors had just arrived in Damascus when nerve gas was fired at the rebel-held eastern suburbs). The target was pointless. (Why civilians, not rebel fighters?) And why would Assad use a weapon that might trigger Western bombing when he was already winning the war without it?

Now the Russians are saying (off the record, so far) that the serial numbers of the rockets that delivered the nerve gas reveal that they did not belong to the Syrian army. They were made in Russia in 1967 and sold to Yemen, Egypt and Libya’ s Colonel Gaddafy – who filled some of them with nerve gas. He had about a thousand tonnes of the stuff.

A lot of Gaddafi’s arsenal went missing after he was overthrown two years ago, sold off by the victorious rebel militias. Some of the nerve gas-filled rockets could easily have ended up in Syria, in rebel hands, and the temptation to use them in order to trigger Western military intervention would have been hard to resist. If that is really the case, then President Obama should be even more grateful to Moscow for saving his bacon

September 23rd, 2013, 5:55 pm

 

Observer said:

More confabulation about the rebels using CW on their own children to bring about a strike on the regime and of course the regime will survive. Well well is this not the victory that Nour Edin Atassi told us after the defeat of 67 that the Israelis wanted the demise of the Baath and the fact that it did not fold was a victory.

The rebels are training killer bees from Africa smuggled from Libya to attack the villages in Latakia and swarm down the pants of the SAA heroic soldiers fighting a world wide conspiracy to destroy the axis of rethithanthe.

He he he he he

I listened to the Amama talking in Dahyie. What a stooge saying that he is religiously against the possession or use of CW. What a hypocrite and how he remains sectarian about Bahrain

September 23rd, 2013, 6:01 pm

 

zoo said:

Poor Erdogan…. While his country is starting to pay for his aggressive and short-sighted policy toward Syria, he is still blaming everybody else except himself

Turkey’s Erdoğan steps up criticism of UN, calls for reform

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-327216-turkeys-erdogan-steps-up-criticism-of-un-calls-for-reform.html

What is the UN for [if it can’t solve major problems the world faces]?’, Erdoğan asked, speaking at an event in İstanbul on Monday. The Turkish prime minister apparently expressed his frustration over the inaction of the UN Security Council regarding the Syrian conflict, which raises concerns of a regional conflagration amid signs of spillover of the crisis into the neighboring countries.

September 23rd, 2013, 6:02 pm

 

Syrialover said:

AKBAR PALACE,

I disagree with MAKEDKHALDOUN being banned and have protested it was an over-reaction.

He’s a long time quality contributor, and it means the loss of another authentic and thoughtful voice on this forum. He had chosen to hang on when so many have quit in disgust at what’s happened to this comments section.

I hope the moderator will make a move to bring him back and that MAJEDKHALDOUN agrees.

REVENIRE is a different thing – a shady cyber provocateur who came to occupy over 30% of this forum with his aggressive and offensive comments.

ALI was also banned at the same time.

DAWOUD I was not aware was banned. I would check that.

Again, I feel this forum is diminished by the absence of MAJEDKHALDOUN. I saw him reacting with understandable anger and hostility to the trashing of this forum by a collective campaign by Assadists. (They were accounting for a staggering 84% of the posts here thanks to REVENIRE’S efforts!).

You can read full details of moderator MATTHEW BARBER’s decision on those and others in the thread headed with the story on Maaloula on 5 September (post #880).

September 23rd, 2013, 6:08 pm

 

zoo said:

If women’s role in a society is a sign of social progress, just compare with women in Arab countries…

Iranian Women Under the Islamic Republic

http://thediplomat.com/2013/09/22/the-slow-rise-of-irans-women/

In some ways, women have enjoyed significant gains under the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nowhere is this more true than in education. In 1976, on the eve of the Revolution, the female literacy rate was a mere 35 percent. Despite the turmoil of the revolution and the imposed war with Iraq, by 1986 this rate had risen to 52 percent. Today, Iranian girls between the ages of 15 and 24 enjoy near universal literacy.

These gains are also reflected in education levels, which have greatly improved as part of the IRI’s commitment to providing universal education. For example, the female enrollment rate for primary education institutions is actually higher than it is for males. Women also graduate from their primary education programs at the same rate as their male counterparts. And despite new restrictions on what they can study, Iranian women are also strong participants in secondary education, with the female general enrollment rate in secondary education about 86 percent of the male rate.

September 23rd, 2013, 6:11 pm

 

zoo said:

Syrians are hurting, but regime stays strong against economic attacks

http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/syrians-are-hurting-but-regime-stays-strong-against-economic-attacks

BEIRUT // In the early days of the Syrian uprising, foreign leaders opposed to Bashar Al Assad’s regime sought to use economic measures to force his regime to compromise with the opposition.
…..
But two-and-a half years into what has become a full-fledged civil war, those measures have failed to significantly affect the regime’s power. The economy may be in tatters, but analysts say Mr Al Assad’s government has managed to reach a position of relative stability thanks to support from allies, monetary policy tools, smuggling and holding on to natural-gas fields, vital for generating power and keeping factories running.

In fact, the Syrian government has earmarked 50 billion Syrian pounds (Dh918 million) to be spent on reconstruction next year, the prime minister told the pro-regime Al Watan newspaper on Monday.

The economic resilience of the Syrian regime highlights just how difficult a task the opposition and their supporters face to unseat Mr Al Assad. Not only are his military resources vastly superior, but he has managed to largely shield himself and his government from economic attacks.

“Everyone was expecting that a collapse of the economy would have a big impact on the regime, but we are seeing a repeat of history,” said Jihad Yazigi, a political economist who runs the website SyriaReport.com. “If you look at Iraq or Zimbabwe, where there was a huge destruction of economic wealth and sanctions, they were able to continue operating for years without the economy becoming a critical issue.

“I think the sanctions were very important, but we are now learning that they are having few impacts on the regime.”

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/world/middle-east/syrians-are-hurting-but-regime-stays-strong-against-economic-attacks#ixzz2fl0W2RuY

September 23rd, 2013, 6:24 pm

 

Tara said:

“I am a physician and life is more important than anything even justice” said Marzouki.  
I personally do not agree.  I agree toالموت ولا المذلة.  Life under humiliation has no value and death isn’t that scary.       

http://abcnews.go.com/US/t/story/tunisia-leader-urges-iran-push-peace-syria-20347466?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsblogged.com%2Fsyria-latest-news-real-time-updates

“Backing Syria means they are losing the whole Arab world”
—-

I congratulate the Malalis for “educating their women” and losing the whole Arab world,,

September 23rd, 2013, 6:39 pm

 

ziad said:

FSA Member Forced Young Daughter Into Sex Jihad in Syria Story

September 23rd, 2013, 6:51 pm

 

Syrialover said:

OBSERVER #90

The problem I see here is too many states, many of them micro, which brings with it macro problems.

Looking for an example, there is Nigeria, which has massive tribal and regional divisions in its population of 175 million people. As civilian government replaced the military dictatorship it went from about 10 states to 36 of greatly varied size and viability.

The result is a crippling draining of the country’s resources running too many replicated bureaucracies at state level, many of which are monumentally corrupt and chaotic. There are a lot of State governors who got in through cheating at local elections to create rich personal kingdoms while locals live in terrible poverty.

The central government (a macro version of these smaller entities, with the same problems) is battling to crawl through this mess to do something about growing Islamist terrorism, significant theft from oil fields, regional insurgency, unrest at misallocation of resources and so on.

I fear there could be a similar outcome on the ground with the theoretical system you are suggesting for the Middle East.

September 23rd, 2013, 6:51 pm

 

ghufran said:

The war between ISIS and everybody else continues, today ISIS accused Liwaa Asifat Ashimal of being CIA agents:
اتهمت الدولة الإسلامية في العراق والشام في بيان صادر عن إمارة إعزاز في ولاية حلب، لواء عاصفة الشمال في مدينة عازاز بالموالاة للمخابرات الأمريكية والألمانية، حيث نص البيان على عدة نقاط في اتهامات موجهة للواء المقاتل وهي:
1- تامين هروب الجيش الأسدي المجرم والدبابات، والتي كانت تقصف المدنيين في مطار منغ.
2- الدعوة للحكم بغير ما أنزل الله عن طريق الديمقراطية، على مواقعهم الرسمية في الانترنت.
3- استقبال السيناتور الأمريكي جون ماكين في الهنغارات والاتفاق معه على حرب الإسلاميين.
4- موالاتهم للمخابرات الامريكية والألمانية حماية ودفاعاً وإيواءً لعناصرهم ومنها:
– دفاعهم وقتالهم المستميت ضد المسلمين من أجل الدفاع عن الجاسوس الألماني يوم الأربعاء الماضي الذي وجد في الكاميرا الخاصة به صوراً لمقرات الدولة الإسلامية وبيوتهم ونسائهم.
– كشف بعض الأسرى من عاصفة الشمال تعامل هذا اللواء مع شركة بلاك ووتر المعادية للإسلام.
– تم القبض على عدة جواسيس من عاصفة الشمال ثبت تعاملهم مع المخابرات الأمريكية، وهذا موثق ضمن تسجيل مصور وسيتم عرضه قريباً على الانترنت.
– سرقة ونهب أموال الإغاثة وعدم توزيعها على المسلمين وإذلال الناس رغم أن هذا حق لهم.
– تضييق الخناق على أهلنا في معبر السلامة من سلب للأموال وتحرش بالنساء وقهر للرجال.
وتابع البيان أنهم قاموا بطرد العصابة المجرمة “لواء عاصفة الشمال”، من مدينة إعزاز انتصاراً للعقيدة ولموالاة اللواء للأمريكان.

ISIS today attacked a post held by Nusra:

Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), an Iraqi Al-Qaeda branch that has expanded into Syria, attacked the headquarters of Al-Nusra Front in Shadadi, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“ISIS fighters on Saturday attacked the Nusra Front regional headquarters in Shadadi, taking control of the headquarters and seizing weapons and oil production equipment,” the group said.

September 23rd, 2013, 7:03 pm

 

Syrialover said:

ZOO #57

You have a view of Hillary Clinton which is not shared by many Americans and officials in other western countries, who know much more about her than you do.

Do a search and you will find many analysts and commentators are tipping she’ll run for President in 2016 with a good chance of winning.

All you really know about her is that she called from day 1 of the crisis for Assad to go and advocated early assistance to the rebels (which might have avoided the current Islamist mess and made things much harder for Assad).

That’s what’s made her your personal hate figure No. 1

September 23rd, 2013, 7:11 pm

 

ghufran said:

Kenya, another victim of islamist global terrorism:

A multinational collection from all over the world” has descended to bring mayhem to Nairobi, were the words of Kenya’s Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku. The head of the military, General Julius Karangi, spoke of “foreigners from so many nations” who had taken part in the elaborate attack. “We have an idea who they are, their nationalities. We are fighting global terrorism here,” he stressed.

terrorists from Somalia and elsewhere are well funded by militant Muslims and corrupt governments but others who do not pass the GCC litmus test are denied funding:
(NY Times)
Hassan Tabanja, a former electrician, needed money to provide food, weapons and ammunition for dozens of men fighting alongside him against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. But after two days of scant results at the main opposition coalition’s meeting here last weekend, Mr. Tabanja sat on the patio glaring at the men in suits all around him.
What they had provided, he said, “will barely get me back to Syria.”
For Mr. Tabanja and many other government opponents inside Syria, the leaders of the coalition who claim to represent them abroad have long seemed detached from their suffering, and frugal or mysterious with the money they have raised. As the leaders have shuttled among world capitals and bickered in fancy hotels, they have appeared increasingly powerless to affect the course of Syria’s war: more than 100,000 people have died, millions have been displaced, and extremist groups are gaining ground.

September 23rd, 2013, 7:58 pm

 

syrialover said:

So where’s loser Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah at today?

A couple of clues:

1. Nasrallah invites government forces to take back checkpoints in Beirut suburbs (Hezbollah’s supply of footsoldiers running low?)

http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2013/Sep-24/232357-hezbollah-hands-over-security-of-beirut-suburb-to-lebanese-forces.ashx#axzz2flJou2dP

2. Nasrallah denied Monday claims his group had received a large quantity of chemical weapons from Syria (with the dubious excuse it would be too hard to transport and in any case they would not receive it for religious reasons!) and urged Gulf countries not to wager on a military solution to the conflict in Syria (so what has Hezbollah been fighting and sacrificing its people for?)

http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2013/Sep-24/232358-nasrallah-denies-chemical-arms-charge.ashx#axzz2flJou2dP

September 23rd, 2013, 8:10 pm

 
 

Tara said:

“The new stance by the government in Bahrain considers [even] contacting Hezbollah as amounting to a crime,” Nasrallah said.
“This for sure is not a legal or judicial issue but a political stance of which we are not surprised,” he said.Nasrallah said the reason behind the move was Hezbollah’s support for the Bahraini uprising..”
—-
Exactly. I call on Jarba and the member of the Syrian Nationsl Coalition to lobby all Arab countries to follow suit and legislate that contacting HA does not mount to a crime.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:27 pm

 

Heads-up said:

Just so you know, we only rely on well informed and reliable sources who work very hard behind the scenes in order to bring you the news before it becomes news. The following heads is of extremely high importance to all Syrians.

Today is a very special day. It is the National Day of the Guided Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is the day when His Royal Highness the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud made the kingdom whole and set it on the right path towards becoming the envy of all its neighbors, particularly those of the mullahs to the east.

We need to extend our very heart felt congratulations to the people of the Guided Kingdom and to their Royal Highnesses especially Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan, may he be protetected so that he may complete the destruction of the Serpent-head, B. Al-Assad (pronounced Ass-head).

We also ask on this day that Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeed Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and transform it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.

September 23rd, 2013, 8:29 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

97. Syrialover said:

AKBAR PALACE,

I disagree with MAKEDKHALDOUN being banned and have protested it was an over-reaction.

SL,

Thanks for the update. I read Post #880 and I am now caught up on SC politics.

I liked Majedkhaldoun, but I think his one downfall (in my eyes) was his hate of Shia. It was a little creepy for me, but then again, I’m an outsider looking in.

He’s a long time quality contributor, and it means the loss of another authentic and thoughtful voice on this forum. He had chosen to hang on when so many have quit in disgust at what’s happened to this comments section.

Please give him my regards.

REVENIRE is a different thing – a shady cyber provocateur who came to occupy over 30% of this forum with his aggressive and offensive comments.

Another description would be “psychopath”. But he’s gone, so let’s have a toast. No need to beat a dead horse.

ALI was also banned at the same time.

Skipped his posts…

DAWOUD I was not aware was banned. I would check that.

I liked Dawoud as well. His chants of “Free Palestine” made the hair on my back stand up, otherwise he was a nice fellow.

Again, I feel this forum is diminished by the absence of MAJEDKHALDOUN.

Maybe if we do a collection, we can persuade Mr. Barber to bring Majedkhaldoun back. 😉

September 23rd, 2013, 8:37 pm

 

Syrian said:

Syria; another baby girl victim dying of starvation in Damascus suburb due to the policy of the criminal Chemical Assad of starving the population out side Damascus,
This policy being enforced by members of the terrorist group from the extremist Islamist Shia Hezb Allah of Lebanon with the supervision of the Other terrorist group the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corp, witch also another extremist Islamist Shia group.
http://youtu.be/49X0CQkEbXQ

more than 100,000 people have died, millions have been displaced, due to these Shia extremist groups are supporting the criminal chemical Assad

September 23rd, 2013, 8:47 pm

 

Ghufran said:

I think posters should stay away from personal insults and sectarian hate speech. There is plenty of materials and ideas to chew on, commentators who have nothing better than attacking people instead of ideas are not improving this site, they are only doing it to feel bigger or better.
Free Palestine

September 23rd, 2013, 9:00 pm

 

Syrian said:

An Iranian recruit took the wrong intrance to Syria and ended up in the hand of the FSA.
مقاتل إيراني ضل الطريق يصل إلى معبر حدودي خاضع لسيطرة الثوار

أعلنت إدارة معبر باب الهوى الحدودي مع تركيا عن القبض على مقاتل ايراني كان في طريقه إلى سوريا للجهاد إلى جانب “لواء أبو الفضل العباس” الشيعي لكنه ضل طريقه و توجه إلى معبر باب الهوى الخاضع لسيطرة الثوار.

و اعتقد المقاتل الايراني أنه وصل إلى معبر “كسب” عندما ألقت ادارة المعبر القبض عليه، و أوسعه العناصر ضرباً.

http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=fd084c5563ca34e56c9868b8372f4d4c&ar=817796817

September 23rd, 2013, 9:08 pm

 

Syrian said:

I also like to send my best wishes to the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia on its national day, and send the gratitude from the revolting Syrians for all the help they are sending us, with spaical thanks to his highness prince Bander for the great support.

September 23rd, 2013, 9:22 pm

 

Syrian said:

Another kankours and another tank up in flame.
http://youtu.be/vemS7stbKRY

September 23rd, 2013, 9:25 pm

 

Syrian said:

A new low for the mafia regime, who kidnaped a young girl last year because her father had revolted, last night the Mafia regime put that minor on TV to make a fake confssion that she had sex with her father and numerous FSA members,you can see that TV clip from the regime supporter ziad @101
منقول

عبد الرزاق الزعبي
‫#‏روان‬ قصة لم ولن ينساها السوريين
#روان بصمة عار في جبين كل مسلم
#روان بصمة عار في جبين كل حر
#روان بصمة عار في جبين كل انسان
#روان ان لم تحترق الارض لأجلك فعلى الدنيا السلام
عهر الاعلام الاسدي وعهر العالم الصامت
ألا تبت أياديكم ألا تبت أياديكم
….
ميلاد قداح {ابو طه }45 عام من اوائل الناس الشرفاء الذين شاركوا بالثورة .حيث زحف الى درعا مع جموع غفيرة من اهالي نوى تلبية لنداء الفزعة الذي اطلقته درعا البلد وقد ابى ان يرجع الى نوى في نفس اليوم وبات اسبوعا كاملا في المسجد العمري وعاد بعدها ليروي لنا قصصا مرعبة عن وحشية القمع الاسدي ضد الاهالي هناك وقد كان له مواقف مشرفة بعد اقتحام نوى من قبل جيش الاجرام حيث وقف امام ضابط برتبة مقدم وقال له لماذا تمنعونا من الخروج في مظاهرات هل تخافون من كلمة الله اكبر ورددها ثلاث مرات امام الضابط الاسدي ونحن نرددها ورائه وقال له هل سقط نظامك اذا رددنا هذه الكلمات وقد كان اول شخص يفتك بعنصر من عناصر الأمن الذين نكلوا باهلنا في درعا البلد ومن ثم بعد عودته الى نوى التحق بعناصر الجيش الحر ليذود عن اهالي محافظة درعا اولا ومدينته ثانيا. وكان مطلوبا للنظام بتهمة الانتماء لجبهة النصرة وتنظيم القاعدة و تعرض منزله للمداهمة اكثر من مرة من قبل عناصر الامن العسكري بقيادة ابو حيدر رئيس المفرزة ومن قبل عناصر الجيش المجرم بقيادة العقيد ابو خليف .
تعرضت ابنته روان للخطف من قبل عناصر الامن العسكري في وقت سابق من شهر 11/2012 اثناء عودتها من المدرسة . ( روان طالبة صف عاشر كانت تدرس بمدرسة ميسلون) ولم يعرف عن الفتاة اي شي بعد اعتقالها في ذلك الوقت واليوم يطل علينا نظام العهر على احدى شاشاته ليخرج لنا الفتاه على ان اباها قدمها فريسة سهلة لعناصر الجيش الحر على انه جهاد في سبيل الله.ونحن نؤكد على ان عناصر النظام هم الذين اجبروها على هذا الكلام ونؤكد ان هذه الفتاة هي حرة ابنة رجل حر وهي ليست المرة الاولى التي يخرج النظام الينا بمثل هذه الألاعيب القذرة ويحاول ان ينال من ثورتنا فقبلها الحرة زينب الحصني من حمص ويمان القادري من دمشق حاول النظام ان ينال يشوه سمعتهن ان كان بسبب وقوفهن او وقوف احد عائلتهن في مصاف الثورة..والان يحاول النظام ان ينال من سيرة اباها العطرة التي لايشوبها شائبة .ولكن نقول لابيها صبرا (ابا طه)فان ابنتك هي ابنتنا واختنا ويأبى الله الا ان يتم نوره ولو كره الكافرون..
سجل أيها التاريخ أن مر على سوريا إعلام تافه و ساقط لدرجة أن يقدم طفلة بعمر 16 سنة تدعى روان قداح على أنها تطوعت في جهاد النكاح ….. كيف استطاع الشعب السوري تحمل هذا الإعلام كل هذه الفترة إعلام وقح فاقد للتوازن ولا يرتقي لتضحيات الشعب السوري .

September 23rd, 2013, 9:42 pm

 

Syrian said:

From Al Quds Al Arabi editorial
The new accusation by Arab leftist of the false Sunnis “sex Jehad”is a revenge for the actual “pleasure Marriage” that is at the core of the Shia sect belief.
يبدو ‘جهاد النكاح’ في طبيعته التشويهية هذه رداً انتقامياً على قضية ‘زواج المتعة’ التي استخدمها اليساريون والليبراليون الايرانيون لنقد استغلال المرأة في نظام ثيوقراطي (كما كان موضوع مزاودات لسلفيين وطائفيين سنّة متطرفين لتشويه صورة الشيعة ككل) لكن طبيعة مصطلح ‘جهاد النكاح’ الاختلاقية تمثل انحطاط معارك الاعلام التشويهية الهائلة للدفاع عن الانظمة العربية ومصالحها وامتيازاتها من خلال الاستخدام الجنسي للسياسة والحط من شأن المرأة انسانياً واخلاقياً.
احدى النتائج الجانبية لهذه المعركة هي اشتداد التزمت وكره النساء وقمعهن لدى حركات الاسلام السياسي، وهو وقوع لهذه الحركات، كما العادة، في الفخّ الذي يستثمره اعداؤها خير استثمار.
قضية ‘جهاد النكاح’ دليل على فقدان المعركة السياسية الجارية على الارض العربية ميزانها الاخلاقي ولجوء اغلب اطرافها، بمن فيها شخصيات رفعتها الثورات الى مناصب القيادة والمسؤولية، الى أسوأ التكتيكات التي لا تقيم وزناً واعتباراً لكرامات شعوبها، وخصوصاً للنساء.
http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=86584

September 23rd, 2013, 10:02 pm

 

Tara said:

#101

إعلام ساقط و وقح

As much as I would like to blame Bashar al Assad for everything,  I just can’t.  I don’t think he has the time to be personally involved in such a filthy stunt.  In this case, I can only blame his supporters that can make up this piece of dirt.       شعب ساقط و وقح.       

September 23rd, 2013, 10:13 pm

 

Tara said:

I don’t believe that the so called “jihad Nikah” exists. I think the concept is faked by the regime propaganda machine to attract more press to portray the image the regime is trying to sell to the outside world of Bashar al Assad fighting jihadists. Sex sells and Islamists sell, and the harm inflicted upon Christians sell. Combine the three and voilà, you get the best coverage for free.

September 23rd, 2013, 10:25 pm

 

Syrian said:

A new FB page for our princess Rowan Kaddah, the princess of purity and honor

https://m.facebook.com/Rowan.pure.princess?__user=100003131418721

بسام الخوري
لمطالبة المجتمع الدولي بالافراج عن روان وسماع اقوالها خارج سوريا وأمام مجلس حقوق الانسان مرة أخرى

September 23rd, 2013, 10:59 pm

 

zoo said:

As expected from loud voice and impotent France, it yielded to Russia insistence not to include military threat under Chapter 7 in current UNSC resolution. Another blow to the opposition

France expects U.N. Security Council to agree Syria resolution

http://en.trend.az/news/un/2193532.html

Fabius appeared to confirm France’s willingness to accept Russia’s demand that the current draft resolution not be enforceable under Chapter 7. According to the Geneva agreement, the Security Council would have to adopt a second resolution in order to punish Syria for any non-compliance with a U.S.-Russian plan to eradicate Syria’s chemical arsenal.

September 23rd, 2013, 11:28 pm

 

zoo said:

@Headsup

Let God preserve Syria from that nightmare!

“We also ask on this day that Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeed Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and transform it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.”

September 23rd, 2013, 11:35 pm

 

zoo said:

It’s so funny to see the pro-rebels trying to distract the attention from the humiliating blows the SNC and its ‘benefactors’, KSA, Qatar and Turkey are getting on the international scene: No military threat, no weapons to the opposition, and the mandatory Geneva II that the opposition has rejected for one year.

Oh no, they prefer to ignore these important events and instead criticize HA on minor issues.

Jarba in the UN is begging to be heard, desperately offering the participation of the SNC to Geneva II to retain some relevance while the FSA on the ground keeps repeating that they don’t recognize the legitimacy of the SNC. IN addition the FSA is getting a beating from their old buddies, Al Nusra that they welcomed in Syria.

Overall the opposition is a fiasco and they have only themselves to blame.
Go on, babble about HA… Who cares?

September 23rd, 2013, 11:50 pm

 

zoo said:

I am so glad, I am getting so many thumbs down just at the moment I write my post. I get 5 Thumbs down in a matter of 2 seconds. My post obviously has a devastating impact. Truth always has on liars.

Heads up, thanks, you and your ‘Wahhabi benefactors’ are doing a good job on this Blog promoting your friends by manipulating the system. I trust you have the money to pay for good collaborators.

September 23rd, 2013, 11:54 pm

 

zoo said:

Tunisia’s Marzouki wants Iran to help stop Syria’s ‘nightmare’
Reuters
By Daniel Bases | Reuters – 4 hours ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki on Monday urged Iran to help broker a political solution to the devastating civil war in Syria that has killed more than 100,000 people.

September 23rd, 2013, 11:59 pm

 

zoo said:

Headsup

Yes, keep the depressed pro-rebels cheerful by boosting their thumbs up. You are doing a real humanitarian work

September 24th, 2013, 12:02 am

 

zoo said:

A well deserved encore

@Headsup

Let God preserve Syria from that nightmare!

“We also ask on this day that Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeed Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and transform it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.”

September 24th, 2013, 12:04 am

 

zoo said:

Syrian Rebels Are Killing Each Other for Control

http://www.vice.com/read/ar-raqqah-syria-isis


This was my third visit to the city in the four months since it had been “liberated,” as Syrians tend to refer to areas where rebels have managed to expel government troops. The battle against Bashar al-Assad’s forces in Raqqa had only lasted for about a week—a sharp contrast to the fighting in Aleppo, where gunfights and shelling have continued for over a year since the conflict began.
Once rebels take control of an area, it is now standard procedure for the regime to respond by bombarding it with indiscriminate air strikes in the hope of killing swathes of anti-Assad fighters. But back in April, just weeks after the liberation, cheerful residents seemed to greet the inevitable trail of destruction as a good thing—a sign of the progress the rebels were making.

Recently, however, the tension has risen considerably in Raqqa and the atmosphere has completely changed, as the rebel resistance continues to splinter, pitting many groups who once fought side by side against Assad against each other. The original celebration of freedom has given way to fear and uncertainty.

September 24th, 2013, 12:11 am

 

Heads-up said:

Just so you know, we only rely on well informed and reliable sources who work very hard behind the scenes in order to bring you the news before it becomes news. The following heads up is of extremely high importance to all Syrians.

Today is a very special day. It is the National Day of the Guided Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is the day when His Royal Highness the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud made the kingdom whole and set it on the right path towards becoming the envy of all its neighbors, particularly those of the mullahs to the east.

We ask on this day that Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and transform it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.

We also pray that His Royal Highness Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan be protected and given long life so that he may complete the destruction of the criminal pervert, B. Assad (pronounced Ass-head).

September 24th, 2013, 12:17 am

 

apple_mini said:

The regime needs to nudge a little in order to come out as a winner from the CW deal. Unlike the military victory of retaking Al Qusair, which sent out messages to some rebels that the armed rebellion was leading nowhere. What we saw afterwards was some rebels giving up fighting.

The victory for the rebels is delusional. The abandonment of the west serves a psychology blow to the opposition and the rebels. But the sentiment is more about resentment against the west and disappointment for their misled then busted hope.

That is not even to convince rebels to change their mindset. They regime needs to offer olive branch this time. Play politics and make political concessions. The rebels ranks and opposition are very fractured. Any halfway but sincere concession will further fracture their coalition.

September 24th, 2013, 12:40 am

 

ziad said:

SYRIAN #103 said:

“…..
ونحن نؤكد على ان عناصر النظام هم الذين اجبروها على هذا الكلام ونؤكد ان هذه الفتاة هي حرة ابنة رجل حر…..”

This story is indeed very disturbing and part of me wishes to believe that it is fabricated, because if a Syrian guy is capable of whoring his wife and daughter, then this is something that reflects badly on all Syrians which of course includes me.

I watched the video several times trying to detect any signs of coercion, like a hesitation or any abnormality in her voice. She seemed to me to talk naturally, not as if she is reciting a memorized text authored by their captors and she is just forced to tell. She told a consistent story with several details that she would not have to tell if she were coerced.

If her story is fake, that would mean that the Syrian psy-ops have reached a high degree of perfection, which is highly unlikely.

As in any other news item about this God damned revolution there are two opposite narratives one is somewhat closer to the truth, the other is a manufactured falsehood. We all tend to believe what agrees with our point of view in this conflict. I tend to believe her story. You are free to believe what you want, wallahu aalam.

September 24th, 2013, 1:14 am

 

Alan said:

Bernards analog – to the nearest psychiatric hospital

September 24th, 2013, 1:23 am

 

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

My post obviously has a devastating impact

So does SARIN, a snake bite, and countless other harmful substances and creatures including Moth.

September 24th, 2013, 2:12 am

 

don said:

Maybe the moderator in charge can explain and correct this defect

124. zoo said:
I am getting so many thumbs down just at the moment I write my post. I get 5 Thumbs down in a matter of 2 seconds.

September 24th, 2013, 5:21 am

 

don said:

AKBAR PALACE the avowed Israeli racist is allowed to call us TOWEL HEADS on Syria Comment

112. Ghufran said:
I think posters should stay away from personal insults and sectarian hate speech.

September 24th, 2013, 5:26 am

 

omen said:

this little girl died.

why did she have to die?

i don’t really understand this word beatitude or its proper usuage but this is the word this girl reminded me of.

how else to describe this child’s otherworldly grace?

maybe she find peace in the afterlife – if there is one.

the rest of us deserve to rot in hell for an eternity.

September 24th, 2013, 6:44 am

 

zoo said:

Headsup …. again

God Help Syria from such a nightmare!

“We ask on this day that Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and transform it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.”

September 24th, 2013, 7:06 am

 

zoo said:

Wow

I reached a record of 23 thumbs down. I seems Headsup and his ‘well informed benefactors team’ are in state of thumb-hysteria.

Maybe it has to to with the looming defeat at the UNSC.

September 24th, 2013, 7:11 am

 

zoo said:

The end of the Moslem Brotherhood is a victory for the Wahhabis and a failure for Qatar and Turkey.
Now the scene is in the hands of the Saudis.
If they can’t control their rival mercenaries on the ground and do not change their tune toward Syria, they will meet a similar defeat despite the only power they have, money.
As Saudi Arabia, like all the GCC countries, is a weak country militarily and depends on the USA for its protection, the King will do as he is told by the USA.
Therefore the game is now among the big military and economical powers: US, Russia and China.
The others are just nuisances.

September 24th, 2013, 7:19 am

 

zoo said:

Wow.. 12 thumbs down in 2 sec! Thanks

September 24th, 2013, 7:22 am

 

zoo said:

The pro-rebels ‘benefactors’ have no other game where they think they can win:
The Thumbs game…
Enjoy your pitiful victories. It won’t change the reality that you are loosing all the way.

September 24th, 2013, 7:29 am

 

Alan said:

Terrorism ,India ,Pakistan ,USA ,UK ,Iraq ,Afghanistan ,Kenya .. perpetrators all wahabi extremists al-qaeda financed from saudi arabia
http://youtu.be/mCZzrwI48bE?t=1s

September 24th, 2013, 7:31 am

 

Alan said:

140. ZOO said:
Wow.. 12 thumbs down in 2 sec!
Simply it is indicate the case of hysteria in the doer head !

September 24th, 2013, 7:37 am

 

Mina said:

#119
You don’t believe “sex-djihad” exists? Why then the Tunisian interior minister had to mention the case of the teenage girls brought to Syria in front of the parliament?
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/variety/2013/09/20/Tunisia-says-sexual-jihadist-girls-returned-home-from-Syria-pregnant.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO2fnsLvXmM

September 24th, 2013, 8:16 am

 

Tara said:

The Tunisian interior minister bringing it up means nothing. Politicians use distraction techniques to divert attention away from their internal problem.

The Arab dictators invented the resistance concept to distract the masses while they were not planning to lift a finger resisting. Batta invoked sectarianism day one to distract the world that this is not a revolution for freedom and dignity, he sacrificed few Palestinians to cross the borders to Israel and get shot for distraction, so on and so forth.

Sex jihadists is yet another invention for distraction. Who is not going to read a story about young women offering themselves to relieve a jihadist’ sexual pressure? It is even fit for an Oscar winning movie.

September 24th, 2013, 8:34 am

 

Syrialover said:

ZOO stop being such a baby about the spammed voting thumbs up/down system. It was originally wrecked and made irrelevant by your own allies here.

Since you are pointing a finger at your opponents, how do you explain an instant 19 thumbs down I got for something uncomplimentary on Hezbollah’s Nasrullah in #106?

September 24th, 2013, 8:37 am

 

Syrian said:

Haytham Mana’a , the regime favorite opposition member calls the Rowan Kaddah forced confession on the official mafia regime TV, a crime war and an assassination of a child on live TV.
“هاجم المعارض السوري هيثم مناع النظام السوري و وسائل إعلامه متهماً إياهم بارتكاب جريمة حرب، و ذلك بعد عرض قناة الاخبارية السورية لمقاطع مصورة لطفلة في الخامسة عشر من عمرها و هي تعترف بممارستها ” جهاد النكاح ” تحت ضغط والدها.

و قال مناع إن اعترافات الطفلة ” روان قداح ” لا تشكل دليلاً ولا وثيقة قضائية يمكن أن تؤخذ كشهادة، كما أن عرض الفتاة على شاشات التلفزة بتلك الطريق يعتبر ” جريمة حرب “.

و أكد مناع أن هذه الجريمة لن تمر بدون حساب، و أن مرتكبيها من الحكومة السورية و الإعلاميين الذين قاموا بها يتحملون مسؤولية هذه الجريمة كاملة، مطالباً بإيقاف مثل هذه الجرائم التي تنشر في الصحف و تبث على شاشات التلفزيون، بالإضافة إلى الكف عن ” احتقار ” الإنسان و تعريضه للخطر بهذه الصورة.

http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=b79f6db8170306830460afac89a86c5a&ar=817884515

A 7 minute you tube clip of Mana’a attack on the regime in the above link.

September 24th, 2013, 8:45 am

 

Syrialover said:

Wow. More reminders of what Russia is really about and where the Assads get their tactics from.

First there was the revelation that Russia used CW against civilians when invading Afghanistan.

Now we have a study confirming that the Russian authorities were behind terrorist bombings in Moscow which were blamed on Chechnyans and used as an excuse to invade Chechnya.

Significantly, it spells out Vladimir Putin’s role and the way these “terrorist attacks” helped launch his political career

“Finally, We Know About the Moscow Bombings”

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/nov/22/finally-we-know-about-moscow-bombings/?pagination=false#.UkFE2k8jnLw.twitter

September 24th, 2013, 8:57 am

 

Heads-up said:

Just so you know, we always rely on very well informed and very reliable sources who work really hard, behind the scenes and around the clock. Our mission is to bring you the news before it becomes news. The following heads up is very important but it is not of the same level importance as yesterday’s heads up with regards to the extremely important National day of the guided Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which every Syrian rejoices at every year the same day.

Today’s important heads up is brief and to the point. It falls in the same category of the continuing evolving saga of sell outs. Today’s sell out is an auction at the UNSC: Russia just sold out serpent head and agreed to Chapter IIV on the upcoming resolution of Serpent-head Destruct.

Since yesterday’s heads up is of such extereme importance, and since it will take another year for its return, then we ask from now until then that Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and in transforming it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.

We also pray that His Royal Highness Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan be protected and be given very long life so that he may complete the destruction of the criminal pervert, B. Assad (pronounced Ass-head).

September 24th, 2013, 9:01 am

 

Syrian said:

#144
Here is the reason from the Al Quds Alarabi news paper editorial yesterday,
An obvious attempt to divert attention from his failures , and a way to score cheap political points against the SalaSalafis in his own country.
الهدف الواضح للقصة هو حرف الأنظار عن الأزمة السياسية الطاحنة والتملص من هجمات المعارضة المتلاحقة على وزارة الداخلية ومنها مثلا اتهامها باتلاف وثيقة أمنية تتعلق بتحذير المخابرات الامريكية لتونس من احتمال اغتيال محمد البراهمي، الشخصية المعارضة التي اغتيلت قبل شهور، وكذلك اتهامها بأنها تدار من قبل رئيس الحكومة.
الاثارة الصحافية المتولدة من تصريح ‘جهاد النكاح’ هذا تهدف ايضاً الى مزاودة الداخلية التونسية على مناوئيها اليساريين في التشنيع على ‘السلفيين الجهاديين’ وهو أمر يزيد في رصيد المناوئين لأنه يستخدم دعايتهم نفسها وينقص من مصداقية الحكومة التونسية ككل ومن شعبيتها أمام جمهورها.
باللجوء الى هذه الحجة تجري وزارة الداخلية التونسية، وهي وزارة حكومة الثورة التونسية، مجرى زميلاتها من وزارات الداخلية في الأنظمة العربية المستبدة التي اعتادت الاستهانة بالأعراض والكرامات والشعوب، وخصوصاً احتقار المرأة واستخدامها في معارك السياسة، ومن باب ادعاء الحفاظ على حقوقها.
http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=86584

September 24th, 2013, 9:01 am

 

Syrialover said:

TARA #145 the Tunisian government has good reasons for seizing on things to discredit its local “export jihadists”, stir up public opinion against them and show they are not on side with them (as many claim they are).

September 24th, 2013, 9:06 am

 

Heads-up said:

Just to prove our commitment to keeping you informed. News at position number 149 do not get delivered properly.

149. HEADS-UP said:

Just so you know, we always rely on very well informed and very reliable sources who work really hard, behind the scenes and around the clock. Our mission is to bring you the news before it becomes news. The following heads up is very important but it is not of the same level importance as yesterday’s heads up with regards to the extremely important National day of the guided Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which every Syrian rejoices at every year the same day.

Today’s important heads up is brief and to the point. It falls in the same category of the continuing evolving saga of sell outs. Today’s sell out is an auction at the UNSC: Russia just sold out serpent head and agreed to Chapter IIV on the upcoming resolution of Serpent-head Destruct.

Since yesterday’s heads up is of such extereme importance, and since it will take another year for its return, then we ask from now until then that Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and in transforming it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.

We also pray that His Royal Highness Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan be protected and be given very long life so that he may complete the destruction of the criminal pervert, B. Assad (pronounced Ass-head).

September 24th, 2013, 9:09 am

 

Tara said:

Heads up,

I think it will be the opposite. The west appears to have sold out Syrians and will not press on chapter IIV resolution. France foreign minister has backed down.

September 24th, 2013, 9:47 am

 

Heads-up said:

Just so you know, our sources are very reliable, very well informed and work hard behind the scenes and around the clock. They always provide accurate news before they become news.

Firs we’d like to like to apologize for the typo in the previous heads up. It is Chapter VII and not IIV.

Secondly, our sources confirm Russia agreed to mention Chapter VII in the resolution with the condition that it will apply only in the case when Serpent-head plays with its tail and tries to deceive.

As long as the article is mentioned there will be mountains of interpretations to enforce it when the need arises.

We also learnt that the Russians faced the dilemma of choosing either to be actors or reactors. In the first case they would agree to the article and appear to be in control of events. In the latter case they would continue to object and obstruct, but in the end of the day if a strike is to happen with or without their agreement then it will happen under the stated conditions.

September 24th, 2013, 10:01 am

 

Hopeful said:

#147 Syrian

Can anyone explain to me why Mr. Haytham Mana’a has such a bad reputation among the Syrian opposition activists?

I have listened and watched tens of his interviews and never figured out why he is so misunderstood. Yes he has always been consistent with his principles (peaceful rebelious, no to foreign intervention, no to accepting funds from GCC, no to foreign jihadis), but doesn’t he have the right to express his opinion on how to fight dictatorship? I may not agree with everything he says, but I have always found him to be intelligent, patriotic, and generally a decent individual.

Why is he so disliked?

Why doesn’t the opposition leverage people like him instead of fighting him and constantly bad-mouthing him?

September 24th, 2013, 10:02 am

 

Tara said:

Hopeful,

In regard to Haytham Manaa

I think part of the problem is that we have a “trust crisis”. We were lied to and spied on all our lives. The sheeps among us turned out to be wolves in disguise. Everyone and his brother took advantage of us. We hosted many refugees from Shiaa HA, Iraqis, Armenians, etc but we were always betrayed. We always thought that Syrians are valued in the ME and look how regugees are being treated in Lebanon, Jordan, or Iraq. Our own fellow citizens cheered our children slaughter while Assad militia killed, raped, and displaced us with impunity.

And I too do not trust him. I do not trust Jarba, or Idriss, or.. Or. It is becoming a mental problem.

September 24th, 2013, 10:19 am

 

Syrialover said:

Not everybody thinks Bashar has earned points for pretending to play along with the CW handover.

“But we can hardly be satisfied with destroying chemical weapons while the wider war is still destroying Syria.” Ban-Ki Moon in an address to the UN today

(http://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/68/SG_en.pdf)

AND

Turkish President Abdullah Gül has reiterated that the U.S.-Russia agreement over Syrian chemical weapons is not the ultimate solution to the ongoing crisis and President Bashar al-Assad must go.

When asked if Bashar al-Assad was left in power by the chemical agreement, Gül said, “That’s not something we can live with. We have to remember that when these events broke out, there was a lot of hope given to the Syrian people. The rhetoric was high, but the actions did not match the rhetoric. So far more than 100,000 people have been killed, and almost half of the population is in a refugee status. If today we say this is not our job, it is people fighting in that country among themselves, then we have to question the rhetoric at the beginning. If we leave things on their own, there is a danger that what is happening in Afghanistan will happen on the shores of the Mediterranean, and no one can tolerate that,” the president said.

“How could one contemplate him staying against the backdrop of such a bloodbath?” Gül asked concerning the fate of the embattled Syrian president.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-chemical-deal-not-ultimate-solution-to-crisis-says-turkish-president-gul.aspx?pageID=238&nid=55048

September 24th, 2013, 10:22 am

 

zoo said:

Let God protect Syria from this catastrophe!

The Wahhabi parrot:..

” Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and in transforming it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south. Syria be soon blessed with a personality exactly like the late King Abdu Al-Azeez Ibn Saud who will succeed in liberating Syria from the Criminal Perverts of the Serpent Head and in transforming it into an exact copy of the great Kingdom to the south.

September 24th, 2013, 11:40 am

 

ziad said:

في زمن المحن الكبرى، لا تظهر “معادن الرجال”، بل تظهر عقول الناس على حقيقتها العارية،
تنكشف عقول فارغة لا محل فيها لأي نشاط،
وتنكشف عقول محنطة لم يعد فيها أي حياة،
وتنكشف عقول منحطة تحولت إلى ماكينة إرهاب وإجرام،
وتنكشف عقول مسطحة تحولت إلى ماكينة تبرير وتضليل،
وتنكشف عقول جبارة تستنفر كل طاقاتها من أجل فهم المحن وأسبابها وتغيراتها وما يحتاجون للخروج منها..

في زمن المحن الكبرى، لا يلعب “قدر” الناس بمعادنهم أي دور،
بل فقط اختيارهم التام والعاقل هو الأول والأخير، الأساس والرأس فيما يكونون عليه..

فصباح الخير لمن اختار/ت عقله سيدا أعلى، ومرجعا وحيدا، وأساسا ورأسا،
وصباح الخير والمجد لمن اختار/ت وطنه انتماء وحيدا، وهوية وحيدة.

بسام القاضي

September 24th, 2013, 12:12 pm

 

Heads-up said:

Just so you know, our sources are very reliable, very well informed and work hard behind the scenes and around the clock. They always provide you with accurate news before they become news. Our sources just provided us with the following very very important heads up worthy of your full attention.

Our sources have learnt that Serpent-head and its proxies are in a state of total panic, disarray and despair following the latest developments of impending sell-out by their most important deceptive partner in its eternal quest to murder mankind wholesale and retail. We can see it clearly happening on this site by the obvious disorientation of its widget mouthpieces.

However, our benefactors tell us that this state of affairs is usually the forerunner for new schemes of deception and contrivance characteristic of the well known behaviour of the Serpent, arch-enemy of mankind since time immemorial.

At the same time, our benefactors assure us that His Royal Highness, Prince Bandar Ibn Sultan, may he be protected and given long long life, is more resourceful and has tremendous capabilities and determination than the pathetic Serpent, and that the Prince will eventually complete the destruction of the Serpent-head once and for all, and rid the humanity of its evil, following which Syria will be blessed with an era of success preceded only by the success of the Guided Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in which case Syria will also become the envy of its neighbors, particularly those to the east, the mullahs of the mullahcracy of Iran, from which we ask that Syrians and mankind in general be protected of their evil designs, insatiable envy and limitless backwardness.

September 24th, 2013, 12:25 pm

 

syrian said:

Future Syria TV channel on its Syria today program at 8PM Damsucsus time,will make an intrview with the mother of the minor Rowan Kaddah live on the Air to tell the true story of her daughter with live call form her family and eye witnesses,titled
“Rowan Kaddah,on the air assassination of a child by regime’s media’
برنامج سوريا اليوم ..
يستضيف والدة الطفلة روان قداح لتروي القصة الحقيقية للطفلة روان قداح في حوار ساخن على الهواء باتصالات مباشرة مع ذويها والشهود العيان .
روان قداح جريمة اعدام على الهواء قام بها اعلام النظام بحق طفلة . سوريا اليوم يأتيكم الثامنة مساء بتوقيت دمشق على قناة سوريا الغد نايل سات 11555 عامودي

September 24th, 2013, 12:49 pm

 

zoo said:

Headsup the Wahhabi parrot

zzzz …. zzzz…

September 24th, 2013, 12:56 pm

 

William Scott Scherk said:

Those who are following the saga of Bandar/Joo/Muppet responsibility for the chemical attack on August 21st will have read the Narwani and Mortada article in Al-Akhbar, “Questions Plague UN Report on Syria.”

The article’s most important point came in examination of the UN Report’s annexes, which (in #7) contained a table of findings related to environmental samples.

These are the “money quotes” from the Al-Akhbar piece:

The most stunning example of the UN’s misrepresentation of facts inside Ghouta is displayed in its findings on environmental samples tested for traces of Sarin nerve gas.

On page 4 of the Report, the UN clearly states that environmental “samples were taken from impact sites and surrounding areas” and that “according to the reports received from the OPCW-designated laboratories, the presence of Sarin, its degradation and/or production by-products were observed in a majority of the samples.”

[…]

But in Appendix 7, an entirely different story emerges about the results of environmental testing in Ghouta. This section of the Report is filled with charts that do not specify the towns where environmental samples were collected – just dates, codes assigned to the samples, description of the samples and then the CW testing results from two separate laboratories.

Instead, a closer look at the charts shows a massive discrepancy in lab results from east and west Ghouta. There is not a single environmental sample in Moadamiyah that tested positive for Sarin. [emphasis in original]

This is a critical piece of information.

In a series of exchanges on Twitter between Narwani and her new nemesis Brown Moses, a subtle misdirection in reporting becomes apparent. As our old friend Qifa Nabki writes:

I have no way to verify this claim, but it has the virtue of sounding reasonable. On the other hand, when we look closely at the Appendix they are drawing this conclusion from, it turns out that while none of the 13 Moadamiyah environmental samples tested positive for sarin, five of them did test positive for either isopropyl methylphosphonate (IPMPA) or diisopropyl methylphosphonate (DIMP), the chemical substances that sarin degrades into.

So here’s a question: does anything else degrade into IPMPA or DIMP?

So, the interpretation given by Narwani and Mortada of the lack of ‘environmental traces’ of Sarin is sneaky (or principled, depending on your perspective): their article failed to note the decomposition by-products of Sarin in the same tables they cited.

Bottom line: at least on of the questions “plaguing” the UN Report is based on sloppy, amateur cherry-picking of data in service of a ‘rebels-did-it’ counter-narrative. A nasty regimist confection, snide and self-important, not truth-seeking.

Of note in the QN comments is this puckish summary by someone called AIG:

Oh great, political journalists trying to be scientists & ballistics experts. What an insult. If anyone wants to denigrate the integrity of a UN report by arguing against the scientific investigation written by real experts, that person should be an expert too, not someone who has heard of IMPA for the first time this week…

September 24th, 2013, 1:04 pm

 

zoo said:

“The threat of US intervention against Syria has opened deep divisions among rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime. ”

http://socialistworker.co.uk/art/34473/Rebels+take+on+the+regime+-+and+its+fifth+column+in+Syria

The threat of US intervention is opening up divisions in the opposition even as the regime admits it has reached stalemate, warns Simon Assaf

The threat of US intervention against Syria has opened deep divisions among rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

The Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS), an organisation allied to al-Qaida, has used the threat of intervention to declare war on rebels.

And those inside the mainstream opposition who welcomed Western intervention have become widely discredited among those fighting on the ground.

There is mounting disillusionment with the Syria National Coalition’s (SNC) strategy of courting outside help. Rebels fear that Western military posturing, and a deal struck with Russia over chemical weapons, is part of a renewed drive for a “Yemen-style solution” in Syria.

That means a negotiated settlement that would end the fighting but keep the regime intact.

The SNC has backed talks sponsored by Russia and the West in Geneva. The “Geneva initiative” came as Syria’s deputy prime minister admitted the regime can’t win.

He confirmed that its summer offensive has run out of steam and the civil war has reached a bloody stalemate. The war has now become a three-way battle, with increasingly desperate rebels fighting both regime forces and ISIS militants.

For most rebels, ISIS was welcome at first. Its members had proved effective in fighting US occupation in Iraq. But the organisation has little popular support, and faces an increasingly hostile population in liberated areas.

Negotiate

Senior rebel commanders now complain that they often have to negotiate with Iraqi, Kuwaiti and other foreign Islamists who control the organisation.

In the week following a gas attack on eastern Damascus, ISIS militants abandoned the frontlines. They believed that the US military strike would target them alongside regime forces.

As the threat of intervention subsided, its militants have not returned to the battle. Instead they are trying to take control over rebel areas. ISIS militants are slipping into towns and villages after local fighters moved out to join battles against the regime.

The organisation has declared its opposition to revolution, targeting leading rebel commanders and activists. This has earned it a reputation as a “fifth column” inside liberated areas.

ISIS has also been heavily criticised for striking deals with the regime—often trading oil with Assad’s forces—and laying claim to property against locals’ will.

It is now at war with Kurdish rebels in the north, free army brigades (FSA), and mainstream Syrian Islamist organisations

September 24th, 2013, 1:05 pm

 

Alan said:

The United States is behaving like an insane power, like the threat of the Nazis back in the 1930s and 40s. It’s out of control, and it’s engaging in war after war, violating international law and considers itself to be above the law. It is also the richest country in the world but it’s having trouble feeding its own citizens while preparing for yet another war. Dr. Edward Herman spoke to the Voice of Russia stating that and more, he also said it is time that the international community rose up and brought the US under control and has to take much more vigorous, hostile actions against the US war threats. He also called the Secretary General of NATO and NATO a menace and part of a US program for global domination. The world has to wake up and stop it!
http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_09_24/The-US-is-an-insane-power-like-the-Nazis-Dr-Edward-Herman-7741/

September 24th, 2013, 2:30 pm

 

Alan said:

It should be remembered
Israel, attacked Iraq in 1981, bombing the power station at Osirik, claiming it was a clandestine weapons factory. Subsequent examination of the ruins following the 2003 invasion proved Israel had lied. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. This led to the Massacres at Sabra and Shatilla. In February 2003 Israel staged incursions into Gaza and Nablus. In September 2007 Israel bombed Syria, again insisting they were destroying a clandestine weapons laboratory. Again there was no evidence to support Israel’s claims. In 2006, Israel attacked Lebanon, killing 1200, mostly civilians, several UN observers, and littering the landscape with land mines on their way out. In February 2008 Israel again raided Gaza, killing over 100. HAMAS agreed to a cease fire and kept it for 6 months until November 4, when Israel again attacked without warning, killing 6 HAMAS members, and launching operation CAST LEAD. 1300 Gazans, mostly civilians, were killed. Israel lost 13 soldiers. Violations of international law included the use of White Phosphorus incendiary bombs against civilians and non-military targets. The United Nations investigated, but Israel refused to cooperate. In May 2010, Israel attacked an international aid flotilla bringing food and medical supplies to Gaza in international waters. 9 people were murdered including an American from New York.

The United States, attacked El Salvador (1980), Libya (1981), Sinai (1982), Lebanon (1982 1983), Egypt (1983), Grenada (1983), Honduras (1983), Chad (1983), Persian Gulf (1984), Libya (1986) , Bolivia (1986), Iran (1987), Persian Gulf (1987), Kuwait (1987), Iran (1988), Honduras (1988), Panama (1988), Libya (1989), Panama (1989), Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru (1989), Philippines (1989), Panama (1989-1990), Liberia (1990), Saudi Arabia (1990), Iraq (1991), Zaire (1991), Sierra Leone (1992), Somalia (1992), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1993 to present), Macedonia (1993), Haiti (1994), Macedonia (1994), Bosnia (1995), Liberia (1996), Central African Republic (1996), Albania (1997), Congo/Gabon (1997), Sierra Leon (1997), Cambodia (1997), Iraq (1998), Guinea/Bissau (1998), Kenya/Tanzania (1998 to 1999), Afghanistan/Sudan (1998), Liberia (1998), East Timor (1999), Serbia (1999), Sierra Leon (2000), Yemen (2000), East Timor (2000), Afghanistan (2001 to present), Yemen (2002), Philippines (2002) , Cote d’Ivoire (2002), Iraq (2003 to present), Liberia (2003), Georgia/Djibouti (2003), Haiti (2004), Georgia/Djibouti/Kenya/Ethiopia/Yemen/Eritrea War on Terror (2004), Pakistan drone attacks (2004 to present), Somalia (2007), South Ossetia/Georgia (2008), Syria (2008), Yemen (2009), Haiti (2010), etc.

September 24th, 2013, 2:44 pm

 

Akbar Palace said:

The United States is behaving like an insane power, like the threat of the Nazis back in the 1930s and 40s.

Alan,

I think you’re confusing the US with Syria.

BTW – in which free country do you live?

September 24th, 2013, 2:53 pm

 

Alan said:

AP
Will never surprised your return to the country in which your parents lived by before 1948!

September 24th, 2013, 3:10 pm

 

Alan said:

Obama, Kerry, Al Qaeda, and Al Shabaab: One big happy family
The attack by a cadre of Islamist Al Shabaab gunmen on the Israeli-owned Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi has focused attention, once again, on American and British links to Muslim terrorist groups, from Al Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists fighting the Bashar al Assad government in Syria to the Somali government of Hussein Sheik Mohamed, a Muslim Brotherhood sympathizer in a country where Al Shabaab has its political and religious roots…
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2013/09/24/obama-kerry-al-qaeda-and-al-shabaab-one-big-happy-family.html

September 24th, 2013, 3:42 pm

 
 

Alan said:

http://youtu.be/UdZqolxoBHo
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, Barack Obama has defended America’s foreign military interventions, and stressed that Washington must remain heavily engaged in the Middle East. That’s after his Brazilian counterpart took the chance to criticise the US for the recent global spy scandal.

September 24th, 2013, 4:13 pm

 

ziad said:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad working as professor again

A situation where the highest state official and a man who wielded enormous power subsequently returns to his humble position as a university professor job is hard to imagine.

However, the former Iranian president now takes the a bus to work every day and, judging by the photo, looks content.

http://inserbia.info/news/2013/09/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-working-as-professor-again/

September 24th, 2013, 4:37 pm

 

Alan said:

Damascus is Burning

September 24th, 2013, 4:46 pm

 

ziad said:


“I had five sons, now I have four”: Syria’s senior cleric pardons the rebels who killed his son

The Grand Mufti of Syria preaches a message of forgiveness

‘I met those men who assassinated my own son – and they told me they didn’t even know whom they were killing.” Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, the Grand Mufti of Syria, sits in a straightbacked chair, his immaculate white turban atop a narrow, intelligent and very troubled face. His son Sania was a second-grade student at Aleppo University when he was shot dead getting into his car. “I went to see the two men in the court and they said they’d just been given the number of the car’s registration plate, that they didn’t know whom they had killed until they went home and watched the news on television.”

“All the men involved were Syrians, from the countryside of Aleppo. They said they received their command from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, that they were each paid 50,000 Syrian pounds. This shows that my son’s killing was not out of doctrine or belief. The two men were 18 or 19 only.”

So each man was paid the equivalent of £350; Saria Hassoun’s life was worth a total of just £700. “I had five sons,” the Mufti says. “Now I have four.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/i-had-five-sons-now-i-have-four-syrias-senior-cleric-pardons-the-rebels-who-killed-his-son-8835441.html

September 24th, 2013, 4:49 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

Lurking with intent…

September 24th, 2013, 5:06 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

#174 Ziad

I read a thread earlier on Deenport on the Fisk article. It is entitled ‘Fisk at it again’. Of course some on there disagree and counter. However I’m with Faisal Raja:

Why would Turkey and Saudi target Hassoun’s son and not Hassoun himself? What could they possibly gain out of such a futile operation?

Has Fisk gone completely mad when he says “The Grand Mufti of Syria preaches a message of forgiveness” when it was Hassoun who went to Qusayr and welcomed Hizbollah (something that Fisk was opposed to)? Or what about this for a message of forgiveness:

And:

I can’t decisively say they {the alleged killers on Saudi/Turkish payroll who allegedly confessed) were lying, but there is a pattern in Fisk’s writings which have led most Syrians to question the credibility of his reporting in Syria, particularly when he is very close to the regime, and its spokespersons (Hassoun included).

Under ‘messages’ click on the thread and read it on the right hand side column.

http://www.deenport.com/#Rise&Shine

September 24th, 2013, 5:14 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

Posted on Yalla Souriya over 3 hours ago:

#Syria, #Hama: FSA targets electricity tower inside Hamamyat barraks that led to electricity blockout inside, along with fierce shelling targeting the barraks surrounding villages from Hamamyat checkpoint

September 24th, 2013, 5:18 pm

 

Uzair8 said:

Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi ‏@Shaykhabulhuda 15 Sep
The harm of the Syrian regime is far more than the harm of removing him; therefore, we still insist that he be removed by any means.

September 24th, 2013, 5:21 pm

 

Syrialover said:

The guy in charge of Iran’s global terrorist activities. Lives at home like a normal bureaucrat.

Article: The Shadow Commander

Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he’s directing Assad’s war in Syria.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/09/30/130930fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=all

September 24th, 2013, 5:33 pm

 

ziad said:

Myths About the Syrian “Revolution”

There was a violent plan for Syria long before the Syrian uprising began. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel all had their favorites and their agents inside Syria and were ready to strike. It is to be remembered that all three states have a heavy presence in Lebanon and would have had an easy time (especially through the sinister Intelligence branch of Lebanon, which answers to Saudi and American intelligence services) to fund and smuggle fighters into Syria.

No, the Syrian uprising did not start peacefully and then suddenly degenerate into one of the most violent and vicious and sectarian conflicts. It is demeaning to the Syrian people and to the motives of the early demonstrators to believe that. There was an armed rebellion or movement that started very early on and which ran parallel, or in opposition to the peaceful protest movement. The armed rebellion basically gradually and steadily hijacked the Syrian uprising and diverted it according to the wishes of foreign intelligence services. This scenario is more plausible than the fictional story peddled, almost word for word, in all Western media accounts.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/myths-about-syrian-%E2%80%9Crevolution%E2%80%9D

September 24th, 2013, 5:37 pm

 

Syrialover said:

ZIAD #180

Cling to all the conspiracy theories you like.

But you should try to present some that are better than this one.

The joke is that the article is claiming to dispute “myths about the Syrian revolution” by pushing a monster paranoid myth itself.

It makes the alleged “myth” it’s attacking look all the more sane and credible.

September 24th, 2013, 6:28 pm

 

Syrialover said:

People here commenting on the US’s attitude to Syria should be reading and responding to this – instead of pushing junk hearsay and conspiracy theories.

It’s a transcript of Obama’s speech to the UN yesterday. Do a search to get to the bit on Syria.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-president-obamas-speech-at-the-un-general-assembly/2013/09/24/64d5b386-2522-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_print.html

COMMENT: Especially good for pro-Assad people living in the US. It alerts you to how far off the planet you are with your fantasies about Obama giving in to Assad and being indifferent to Syrians situation.

It also gives you a clue about what the modern world now expects in standards of speeches and ideas from political representatives, and what lowgrade rubbish Iran and Russia are delivering by comparison.

September 24th, 2013, 6:43 pm

 

Syrialover said:

WSS #163

The witty AIG you quote used to contribute a lot to this forum.

Yet another one in the long list of quality long-term contributors who’ve quit Syria Comment.

They can’t be bothered with a forum that’s become clogged with mountains of trash from Team Assad.

September 24th, 2013, 7:06 pm

 

Syrialover said:

Sounds like Obama has been reading this forum.

From his UN speech yesterday:

“…the situation in Syria mirrors the contradiction that has persisted in the region for decades. The United States is chastised for meddling in the region, accused of having a hand in all manner of conspiracy, at the same time the United States is blamed for failing to do enough to solve the region’s problems and for showing indifference towards suffering Muslim populations.

“I realize some of this is inevitable, giving — given America’s role in the world. But these contradictory attitudes have a practical impact on the American people’s support for our involvement in the region and allow leaders in the region, as well as the international community sometimes, to avoid addressing difficult problems themselves.

“So let me take this opportunity to outline what has been U.S. policy toward the Middle East and North Africa and what will be my policy during the remainder of my presidents….”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-president-obamas-speech-at-the-un-general-assembly/2013/09/24/64d5b386-2522-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_print.html

September 24th, 2013, 8:01 pm

 

omen said:

163. William Scott Scherk said: Those who are following the saga of Bandar/Joo/Muppet responsibility for the chemical attack on August 21st will have read the Narwani and Mortada article in Al-Akhbar, “Questions Plague UN Report on Syria.”

figured out some of the continuing skepticism isn’t driven just by regime supporters but also racists eager to finger islamists for chemical attacks.

September 24th, 2013, 8:12 pm

 

omen said:

184. Syrialover:

i do not understand this blind spot you continue to hold for obama. from his speech:

the world is more stable than it was five years ago.

!

I do not believe that military action by those within Syria or by external powers can achieve a lasting peace.

September 24th, 2013, 8:30 pm

 

Ghufran said:

Rebels in Aleppo refuse to recognize the NC and its new PM:
دعت القوى والفصائل العسكرية المقاتلة بحلب اليوم جميع الجهات إلى التوحد ضمن إطار إسلامي واضح، ينطلق من سعة الإسلام ويقوم على أساس تحكيم الشريعة وجعلها المصدر الوحيد للتشريع.
وجاء في البيان الذي وقّع عليه كبرى الفصائل والألوية أن كل ما يتم من التشكيلات في الخارج دون الرجوع إلى الداخل, لا يمثلها ولا تعترف به ، وبالتالي فإن الائتلاف والحكومة المفترضة برئاسة أحمد طعمة لا تمثلها ولا تعترف بها.
ودعا البيان ” جميع الجهات العسكرية و المدنية الى وحدة الصف ووحدة الكلمة ونبذ التفرقة و الاختلاف وتغليب مصلحة الأمة على مصلحة الجماعة “.
الموقعون على البيان :
جبهة الـنـصرة ، وحركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية، ولواء التوحـيد، ولواء الإســلام، وألوية صقور الشام ط8،  وحركة فجر الشام الإسلامية، وحركة النور الاسـلامـية،  وكـتـائـب نور الدين الزنـكي، ولـواء الــحـــق في حــمــص،  وألـويـة الـفرقان في القنيطرة،  وتجمع فاستقم كما أمرت في حلب، والفرقة التاسعة عشر لـواء الأنـصـار.
(source: aksalser)

September 24th, 2013, 9:02 pm

 

apple_mini said:

Tony Blair warns: Don’t let Assad off the hook on chemical weapons.

The man looks very righteous and determined, a typical look of a westerner who defends human rights and democracy.

Whether Assad is guilty for the CW attack, I am not sure. But when we hear it from Tony, a notorious hypocrite who has committed war crimes resulting tens of thousands of human death, I can’t help rushing to toilet to throw up what I have had since this morning.

September 25th, 2013, 3:23 am

 

zoo said:

After Morsi’s mafia, the collapse of another Turkey-Qatar sponsored political group is imminent

Syria crisis: Coalition of powerful rebel groups reject Western-backed opposition

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syria-crisis-coalition-of-powerful-rebel-groups-reject-westernbacked-opposition-8839113.html

Blow for Syrian National Coalition which is recognised by more than 100 countries as a legitimate representative of forces fighting Assad regime


A statement signed by thirteen rebel groups based largely in the north of the country – among them the al-Qa’ida-linked Jabhat al-Nusra – denounced the “unrepresentative” Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and called for the opposition to reorganise under “an Islamic framework based on sharia [Islamic law]”.

It insisted that forces fighting on the ground should be represented by “those who suffered and took part in the sacrifices.”

In what may prove to be a fatal blow for the Istanbul-based National Coalition – which already beset with infighting and allegations of corruption – the new coalition includes a number of rebel groups with which it was previously associated, meaning a depletion of its military as well as political strength.

September 25th, 2013, 8:58 am

 

zoo said:

Loud voice of bellicose France becomes dimmer when it has to do with sharing the burden that its mischievous politic toward Syria has created. No surprise coming from an ex-coloniser

France drags feet on accepting Syrian refugees

http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20130925-syrian-refugees-france

An estimated two million people have fled Syria since the start of the country’s bitter conflict. In early September the United Nations called on European countries to open their doors. France has said it will do its part but the lack of action up until now has humanitarian groups asking questions.

September 25th, 2013, 9:03 am

 

zoo said:

Khan al Assal that France and the UK apparently did not want the UN inspectors to visit is now on the spot.

U.N. Weapons Inspectors Return to Syria

Published: September 25, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/world/middleeast/syria-crisis.html?_r=0
….
The inspectors arrived in the Syrian capital, Damascus, after first landing in Beirut, the capital of neighboring Lebanon, news reports and officials said.

United Nations officials said the inspectors’ second mission to Syria would complete their investigation into “pending credible allegations” of chemical weapons use, The Associated Press reported. In a statement on Tuesday, the United Nations said the inspectors would focus on an attack on March 19 on the village of Khan al Assal outside the northern city of Aleppo, which the rebels captured in July, The A.P. said.

September 25th, 2013, 9:11 am

 

zoo said:

The SNC has been submitted to a blackmail from the West: Either you join the Geneva Conference or we withdraw the recognition of your legitimacy. Ahmad Jarba hastily accepted officilally to join Geneva II without conditions. It was a question of political relevance.

The reaction was quick. The forces on the ground, FSA, Al Nusra and company, openly opposed to the West, withdrew their recognition of the SNC as their legitimate representant. (In fact they never realy gave it) .
Now it is clear. For them the SNC is a just puppet of the West and its ‘benefactors’ and it has no legitimacy. The rebels are declaring openly that they are the legitimate representant of the Syrian people and they are opposed to any political settlement of the crisis.
Bashar al Assad has clearly declared that he will not negotiate with armed rebels. He has also expressed that this war is against Islamist terrorists.
Obviously that’s the situation the West will need to deal with: Islamists terrorists using local fighters calling themselves rebels are now trying to take over Syria just like the Talibans in Afghanistan 20 years ago.
What can the West do now if they don’t want to intervene?

They don’t have much choice: They must weaken the rebels and the Islamists as much as they can and re-enforce the Syrian army. As the SNC is dead, they must keep Bashar al Assad in power.
What an irony after 100,000 dead and three years of destruction.

September 25th, 2013, 9:31 am

 

zoo said:

When will the secular FSA fighters and the Kurds join the Syrian Army to fight together against the common enemy of Syria: The Islamists?

Syria’s secular rebels in fierce fights with Islamists

Free Syrian Army was bringing in reinforcements

Reuters
Published: 17:03 September 25, 2013
Gulf News

New York: Moderate Syrian rebels are engaged in their fiercest fighting to date with Al Qaida-affiliated fighters on Syria’s northern and eastern borders, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday.

“There is a real firefight,” the official said of battles between Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Free Syrian Army led by Salim Idriss, a more moderate group of rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

The official said the Free Syrian Army, which receives non-lethal US support, was bringing in reinforcements and he said the State Department was looking at what more it might do to help the group, although he gave no details.

Clashes pitting the Al Qaida-linked ISIL and Nusra Front brigades against less effective but more moderate rebel forces have been intensifying recently, especially in opposition-held territory along Syria’s northern and eastern borders.

September 25th, 2013, 9:53 am

 

zoo said:

Significant headline on CNN
Syrian rebels reject interim government, embrace Sharia
By Ivan Watson, CNN

September 25, 2013 — Updated 1340 GMT (2140 HKT)

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/25/world/meast/syria-rebels/index.html

September 25th, 2013, 10:06 am

 

zoo said:

Sex-jihad with Aids

Pregnant with AIDS: Tunisian Girl Recounts Her Sex Jihad in Syria
http://pjmedia.com/tatler/2013/09/25/pregnant-with-aids-tunisian-girl-recounts-her-sex-jihad-in-syria/

According to Al Sharouk reporters, who went to interview Lamia at her home, the young woman began her story by saying that in 2011 she became religious, after watching an Islamic program; among other things, she took to wearing the hijab and came to believe that going out in public was a sin.

Then, “Lamia became convinced that a woman may participate in the jihad to eliminate the enemies of Islam by making her body recreational for the men after each and every raid, so that her body became their possession.”

Finally, released back to Tunisia, Lamia has been to a doctor finding that she is five months pregnant. Both she and her unborn are carrying the AIDS virus.

September 25th, 2013, 10:09 am