Syria Newsfeed (Here comes Syria)

[Os Cangaceiros]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/syria-revolution-revolt-against-bashar-al--assads-regime/2011/03/15/ABrwNEX_blog.html

Pretty small now, but might be something to watch in the future.

[Dimmu]

Well.. Assad will not step down like Mubarak, thats for sure.. So it might turn bloody..

[Sentinel]

So far the relative calm in Syria has been explained with Bashar Al-Assad being relatively 'popular'; that people tend to blame other members of the regime for the injustices, lack of democracy etc in the country. On the other hand I've heard that he is quite authoritarian..

So it's hard to say, but like Dimmu I have a feeling he'll be more of a Gaddafi than a Mubarak if the shit really hits the fan.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

IMO one of the reasons Mubarak and Ben ali didn't "Go Gaddafi" was because their military wouldn't follow the orders.

Syria is an authoritarian state like the other three, it's hard to see whether the military would follow orders to gun down protesters or not there.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

My understanding is that the Syrian military is structured like the Libyan. Its essentially been hollowed out and is designed to fracture in case of an insurrection.The security forces, organized around Assad's Alawi tribe/community are the first and last means of defense of the regime and are fiercely loyal to Assad. The police/security state is much more efficient in Syria than in Egypt.

[Os Cangaceiros]

You've got to show some spine in order to go out and protest against a regime that has ordered massacres against political prisoners it has had locked up in the past.

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

[Mather]

You've got to show some spine in order to go out and protest against a regime that has ordered massacres against political prisoners it has had locked up in the past.

Here is another regime massacre:

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

[Os Cangaceiros]

More Syria info:

http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2011/03/syria-uprising-protest-in-front-of.html

[Os Cangaceiros]

More protests today, in multiple Syrian cities (http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/03/protests-in-syria.html)

[Sasha]

dutch news is reporting thousands took to the streets in an funeral/protest in Daraa shouting slogans for freedom and against the regime

[Sasha]

Syria deploys troops after protests
Forces gather at entrances to the southern city of Daraa, a day after a protester was killed during a demonstration.

Last Modified: 21 Mar 2011 14:49

http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2011/3/19/201131911101444112_20.jpg Protesters have been demanding an end to corruption and 48 years of emergency rule [AFP] Syrian troops have been deployed in the southern city of Daraa a day after an anti-government protester was killed when forces reportedly fired on a demonstration.
News agencies, citing residents, said that thousands of Syrians marched on Monday in the town following the funeral of Raed Akrad, the killed protester.

A resident told the AFP news agency that "mass of demonstrators started to march from the cemetery towards al-Omari mosque after the burial".

"Just God, Syria and Freedom," and "Revolution, revolution" demonstrators chanted, the resident said.
Another witness said security forces had been deployed to block protests, but people had gathered regardless.
However Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Daraa, said the situation on Monday was "very tense but it is quiet".

"There are a lot of security, the army as well as police, there are a lot of checkpoints. But we didn't see any protests, people told us there was a funeral this morning but it ended with no clashes," she said.

Protesters have been demonstrating in Syria since last week, calling for an end to corruption and 48 years of emergency law. They have also been protesting against the killing of five civilians in a similar demonstration three days ago.

On Sunday crowds set fire to the courthouse and other buildings, including the headquarters of the ruling Baath party.

The protests are becoming a major challenge for Bashar Assad, Syria's president, as activists inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt call for action.

Daraa is primarily an agricultural community, and its economy has been hurt by falling water levels in recent years.

The region also houses thousands of people who left their homes in eastern Syria because of an ongoing water crisis.

source :http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201132112130110767.html

[danyboy27]

i remember not so long ago, a guy i knew who was trying to get out of syria explained me how corrupt and inefficient the regular army was compared to the republican guard.

Basicly you could skip training by bribing the officers, and if you wanted more equipement you had to bribe your officier has well.

there is no comparaison when you compare them to the republican guards who have the biggest toys and a fucking share on the oil revenues.

[daleckian]

Why am I not surprised a whole bunch of so-called "leftists" are hinting at their desire for another imperialist "rebellion" (read: NATO-backed takeover) of yet another middle eastern (read: brown) country? That's the problem with alot of american and western leftists they all seem to have no problem meddling in other nation's affairs, it's the same anywhere there are westerners.

[Sasha]

Maybe you should read your marx, the overtrow of (fuedal) dictatorships, even if the revolution ends up hijacked by the petit bourgeois, is an necessary step to communism.

[daleckian]

Maybe you should read your marx, the overtrow of (fuedal) dictatorships, even if the revolution ends up hijacked by the petit bourgeois, is an necessary step to communism.

Marx advocated the overthrow of "feudal dictatorships" by means of imperialist intervention from capitalist nations? really? I guess I should read a little more close next time, or get the special edition of the Communist Manifesto that you're reading!

[Sasha]

No, but he supported, as people here, the uprising of the people against dictatorships.

[daleckian]

No, but he supported, as people here, the uprising of the people against dictatorships.

That's assuming that these rebellions really are by "the people". From what we have seen so far in Libya, the rebels aka what you call "the people" have been little more than western (as in NATO) backed/funded monarchists and opportunists and lumpenproletariat, not exactly what Marx would call "the people". The motive is to get rid of Gaddafi because he's a thorn in their side, not because of any real altruistic care of the common "people" or to improve the living standards of the proletarians.

Afterall...how did the western-backed "people's rebellion" in the 1950s turn out for Iran? The Shah sure was a good replacement over socialist leader Mohammad Mossadgh, wasn't he? :rolleyes:

Besides, I imagine you're a westerner by the way you talk about this subject, do you advocate the overthrowing of your country by mass insurrection of monarchists or republican federalists or whatever?

[Rafiq]

The Syrian economy, like Libya's is not as bad as the countries surrounding it. However, to make people here have a better understanding of the mideast situation, let me break it down.

The Assad's in Syria are a Alawi (Shi'ite) familly, who have been in power for a long time, but the problem is that Syria is about 90% Sunni, so most of the population doesn't like the Syrian regime.

Class Warfare in Syria is not very big, the workers are divided by religion.

[khad]

I would also like to point out that those massacres carried out by the Syrian government occurred at a time when the government was fighting a full-scale war against Islamic militants. It was so brutal then that even Islamic clerics who denounced the campaign of terrorism were slain in their mosques. Not sure what the situation is there now, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that, historically, armed radical Islam has been the most potent force against the Assad government.

[danyboy27]

I fail to see how it mean we cant support the Syrian working class in all this mess.

[khad]

I fail to see how it mean we cant support the Syrian working class in all this mess.
The working class isn't some omni-present ahistorical phenomenon. Just because objective conditions exist doesn't mean that subjectively there is a working class that is ready to agitate as a class. To use extreme examples, the Nazis, Taliban, and Southern Fundamentalists are all objectively working class by virtue of their membership, but you would hesitate to really call them any sort of leftist working class movement.

[danyboy27]

The working class isn't some omni-present ahistorical phenomenon. Just because objective conditions exist doesn't mean that subjectively there is a working class that is ready to agitate as a class.

so what you are saying is that, those guy in the street, working class folks, protesting for a more open form of governement dosnt really know what they want and are not ready for a new system yet?

[daleckian]

so what you are saying is that, those guy in the street, working class folks, protesting for a more open form of governement dosnt really know what they want and are not ready for a new system yet?


So tell me how you know they're working class? because from what I see, they're waiving royalist flags and beating and murdering black youth for being black...seems more a bunch of lumpenproletariat to me.

[khad]

so what you are saying is that, those guy in the street, working class folks, protesting for a more open form of governement dosnt really know what they want and are not ready for a new system yet?
I would never say that. I think even reactionary movements do understand fully exactly what they want.

I am just waiting to see the class character of this movement. Just because there is working class participation does not automatically mean that the movement is leftist. One has to observe the formation of leadership as well as the dominant groups involved in that.

[danyboy27]

So tell me how you know they're working class? because from what I see, they're waiving royalist flags and beating and murdering black youth for being black...seems more a bunch of lumpenproletariat to me.

We are current talking about syria.

and if you think the working class is never reactionary in its actions, well think again.

you can support the working class and comdemn reactionaries action comitted by it.

[daleckian]

you can support the working class and comdemn reactionaries action comitted by it.

So...how do you support the working class, exclude it's reactionary elements, and do this all in an objective realistic manner in the middle of a religious context? I mean, what do you want us to do to "support the working class", go to the streets, wave placards, hold banners, and chant songs while dressed in costume? I'm sure that'll have the American and Syrian governments terrified of what's next to come :laugh:

[danyboy27]

So...how do you support the working class, exclude it's reactionary elements, and do this all in an objective realistic manner in the middle of a religious context? I mean, what do you want us to do to "support the working class", go to the streets, wave placards, hold banners, and chant songs while dressed in costume? I'm sure that'll have the American and Syrian governments terrified of what's next to come :laugh:
By supporting their progressive action.

[daleckian]

By supporting their progressive action.

and uh, again...how do you do that? waving placards, chanting, street antics etc. because that seems to be the usual pathetic response to this scenario.

[danyboy27]

and uh, again...how do you do that? waving placards, chanting, etc. because that seems to be the usual pathetic response to this scenario.

by forming a revolutionary group of armed people and storming the nearest Syrian embassy.

[daleckian]

by forming a revolutionary group of armed people and storming the nearest Syrian embassy.

...and that's just so easy to do! that's why it's been done before! And that's something that all of the armchair leftists in Western Europe and North America would be prepared to participate in, and give their lives for, since it's so easy to accomplish, right?


...right? :rolleyes:

I don't know if you're a troll or just really thick in the skull.

[danyboy27]

...and that's just so easy to do! that's why it's been done before! And that's something that all of the armchair leftists in Western Europe and North America would be prepared to participate in, and give their lives for, since it's so easy to accomplish, right?


...right? :rolleyes:

I don't know if you're a troll or just really thick in the skull.

lol, i was just joking a bit. Protesting is fine tho.
You can also support an idea or a group by spreading the word about their action. Fighting generalisation is extremely important, especially with all the bullshit coming on radio and tv.

[Sasha]

Not to mention the bulshit coming from supposed leftist cheerleading brutal dictatorships and military juntas because to them their actions don't count just the fact they are not born within certain nationstate borders. Because its such an difference if the soldier shooting the workers is born on this side of the border or the other, such a difference whether they are being exploited by multinational CEO's or by statecapitalist corrupt regime croneys.

What was it again? "freedom without socialism is privilege, socialism without freedom is dictatorship" or something along those lines right....

[Enragé]

^
"Freedom without equality is privilege - Equality without freedom is a barracks"

at least thats how i always saw it.


I am just waiting to see the class character of this movement. Just because there is working class participation does not automatically mean that the movement is leftist. One has to observe the formation of leadership as well as the dominant groups involved in that.

but just because a movement isnt leftist doesnt mean you cant support it. Look, bourgeois democracy in Syria, with its opening up of the right to organise and free speech, will create possibilities for leftists and workers in Syria to organise to spread propaganda and fight for better working conditions through strikes. And we all know the dynamic which can flow from succesful strikes.

[Die Rote Fahne]

I wonder, will the NATO forces want to bomb Syria and arm it's rebels?

Maybe the Nepalese maoists?

Nah.

[Sasha]

Syria's coming revolution?
By taking to the streets, even in fairly small numbers, Syrians have crossed a 'red line' with their regime.

M Yaser Tabbara (http://english.aljazeera.net/profile/m-yaser-tabbara.html) Last Modified: 22 Mar 2011 13:20


http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images/2011/3/21/2011321145625236436_20.jpg
Funerals have been held for protesters killed in the southwestern city of Dara'a [Reuters]

The revolution that was sparked in Tunisia has given birth to a new pan Arab-movement, a "neo-Arabism", which privileges freedom and democratic participation of the people over ideology, sectarianism and the interest of dictators.
As we witness a rebirth of a revolutionary neo-Arabism that has infected millions from Morocco to Bahrain, we cannot ignore the birth-place of the original pan Arab movement of the past century – Syria.
Much has been written about Syria and why it cannot be next in line of the modern day Grand Arab Revolution. Very few have asked the question: "Why not?"

On March 15, the Syrian Day of Rage, as its Facebook group put it, hundreds were reported to have taken to the streets of Damascus, the capital.
On March 17th, "The Friday of Dignity", the momentum picked up. Hundreds of Syrians protested in Homs, Aleppo, Dara'a and the coastal city of Banias. In Dara'a, a southwestern city on the Jordanian border, protests have turned deadly and the regime has sealed off the city in a hurried attempt to quell the spreading unrest.
Challenging the regime

Compared to footage of thousands, and sometimes millions, of protesters on the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Manama, Sana'a and Tripoli, the numbers in Syria might seem low. It should be noted, however, that what has taken place in Syria over the past few days is simply unprecedented. The only mass public expressions that Damascus has seen in the past few decades have been demonstrations co-opted by pro-regime supporters.

For anyone, let alone thousands of Syrians to call out in the open for freedom and dignity is simply unheard of: It is understood by every Syrian to mean a challenge to a once set-in-stone status quo.
A forty year old red line has been crossed and there is no turning back.
Some have made the argument that Syria is immune to unrest because the country has a popular president, who is generally considered to be in-tune with the sentiments of the Arab street on foreign policy and who is a young idealist that has introduced a "reform" agenda. Some others claim that Syria will side-step revolution because the social and economic conditions in the country are more tolerable than those of Tunisia or Egypt.

While these explanations may have some merit, they assume a false frame. Tunisians, Egyptians, and now Libyans, have demonstrated to the Arab world, and Syrians in particular, that people cannot be placated with hand-me-downs per the discretion, or the timeline, of the regime. It is about proactively taking what is rightfully theirs – from holding their government accountable to having a real choice in who governs them in the first place.
Freedom, dignity and democracy can be trickle down from dictators, they are the inheritance of the people.
Culture of dissent

The revolutionary rumbles that can be heard in Syria today, indicate that revolution is not only possible, but is inevitable because Syrians have learned from neighboring uprisings that freedom is attained through exercising one's inalienable human right to self-determination and self-dignity.
Like their Arab counterparts, Syrian youth have similar grievances: unemployment, lack of government accountability and rampant corruption that forecast a bleak future. Like other Arab revolutionaries, they are neither dominated by an Islamist ideology nor a foreign agenda. They are Syrians who comprise the rich diversity of Syria – whether Christian or Muslim, Druz or Alawi, Kurd or Assyrian. The recent protests in the country have shown that these young protesters are united in purpose, and peaceful in their means.
Syrians have embarked on an irreversible path of collective political self-awareness. The slogans of March 15th, "God, Freedom and Syria, period!" cannot be unuttered. They have challenged a culture of complacency, fear and silence.

No one will be able to tell with any degree of certainty what will happen in the next few days or weeks in Syria. Will the momentum continue to snowball and bring more Syrians to the streets? Will the regime make an example of Dara'a and show the populace the price one pays for dissent? Or will a critical mass of Syrians decide the time is now for Syria to join its free brethren in Egypt, and Tunisia?

One thing, however, is for certain: If Syria does not see a full-blown uprising soon, a culture of dissent has nonetheless commenced. The fear barrier has been broken irreversibly.

People are finally realising that they are entitled to what is fundamentally theirs, and like their Tunisian and Egyptian sisters and brothers, they will know what do with it. They will organise and come together and they will learn to build a revolution and a more prosperous Syria.
M. Yaser Tabbara is a Syrian American civil rights lawyer and activist. He is currently the president of Project Mobilise, a Chicago based political action organisation.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Why am I not surprised a whole bunch of so-called "leftists" are hinting at their desire for another imperialist "rebellion" (read: NATO-backed takeover) of yet another middle eastern (read: brown) country? That's the problem with alot of american and western leftists they all seem to have no problem meddling in other nation's affairs, it's the same anywhere there are westerners.

What's happening in Syria is an imperialist backed take-over?

[Os Cangaceiros]

I mean, the Syrian government has done a pretty good job of reining in Hezbollah...you'd think that'd count for something!

[Os Cangaceiros]

isVuusJFlLU

[Os Cangaceiros]

more violence (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/20113231127592364.html)

[Os Cangaceiros]

The president of Syria has announced that he'll "look into" ending the emergency laws that have governed Syria for decades.

Somehow I doubt that'll satisfy people.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Wow. 20,000 people in the streets of Daraa today. That's very significant in a city with only 100,000 residents.

This thing really exploded in a short time...it seems like just recently the protests only numbered in the hundreds. 100+ dead so far.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201132475046579830.html

[Palestine]

AJ: Syrian security forces are dispersing crowds in Damascus, and Homs after they chanted for freedom

[Os Cangaceiros]

Rights activists described Wednesday's shootings in the southern city of Daraa as a massacre, claiming that more than 100 people may have been killed when troops fired on a mosque in the early hours and throughout the day.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/24/syria-shootings-daraa-government

[Palestine]

Unconfirmed: Rumors that a massacre is taking place in Dar'a in Syria, bodies fill the place, but again unconfirmed.

[Dimmu]

Dimmu[/LEFT];2048958]Well.. Assad will not step down like Mubarak,
thats
for sure.. So it might turn bloody..

Looks like i was correct. Dont be suprised if you see Iranians in Damascus soon.

[Os Cangaceiros]

9flGn0y2_d0

[Palestine]

Syria Just lifted the state of emergency law that has been working for the past 48 years - Confirmed

[Palestine]

Okay after that the Syrian state TV confirmed it, the Syrian government spokesperson denied it. So the state of emergency law is still active.

[Chimurenga.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XVGLEkV9Uc

[Os Cangaceiros]

Protestor shot:

ObnoixJQXt8

Dude gets beaten down in the street + gunfire:

y2lsq6uZak0

a bunch more from Friday's protests here (http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2011/4/1/latest-syria-video-the-friday-protests.html)

[Sasha]

A 3 day general strike is called for the the town of daraa to protest the killings of protesters. First day today and already about 80% of the town closed down.

[Sasha]

70.000 (!) People demonstrated in homs and occupied an central square they renamed tahir.
Also in other towns, even including damascus, demonstrations took place. Intelligence is estimating the regime lost control of almost every place outside damascus. This is unbelievable for an country that until last week was the worst policestate in the midle east.

[ComradeOm]

Dozens dead (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201142212452973755.html) in Syria as security forces open fire on protesting crowds across the country. No doubt the drugged-up US-directed jihadists deserved it :glare:

[Os Cangaceiros]

From a comment on libcom:


Every uprising the US doesn't like is a communist plot/Islamist conspiracy, every uprising the "Anti-Imperialists" don't like is an American plot. This is the creationism of political theory.

[tachosomoza]

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/23/security-forces-open-fire-at-funeral-near-syrias-capital/?icid=maing-grid7|babylon|dl1|sec3_lnk2|57933

Death toll up to 120.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Man! Firing at funeral processions...ruthless!

[Qayin]

Assad is toast after this.

[Palestine]

The Syrian army sends tanks and armored vehicles to Daraa, and news of a massacre taking place many deaths and injuries.

Snipers taking cover and hiding behind the tank.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7e4fsf-_CY

The entrance of Daraa from the radio station's side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGYEwhI8FiE

Snipers shooting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jvLvBDHQzI

[Devrim]

Assad is toast after this.

I don't think so. I think Assad will manage to ride it out, most likely across rivers of blood. I think it is quite clear that the state still has the support of the majority, and that it will have no hesitation in massacring tens of thousands of people to ensure its survival, which they have, after all, done before.

Devrim

[Dimmu]

I don't think so. I think Assad will manage to ride it out, most likely across rivers of blood. I think it is quite clear that the state still has the support of the majority, and that it will have no hesitation in massacring tens of thousands of people to ensure its survival, which they have, after all, done before.

Devrim


Well, lets see.. There are reports of soldiers defecting and joining the protestors.


12:31am

An eyewitness told Al Jazeera about officers and soldiers in Deraa defecting from the Syrian army and now battling that army along with the residents.

[Qayin]

I don't think so. I think Assad will manage to ride it out, most likely across rivers of blood. I think it is quite clear that the state still has the support of the majority, and that it will have no hesitation in massacring tens of thousands of people to ensure its survival, which they have, after all, done before.
I doubt it, people said the same about Libya. Syria cascaded quickly.

[tachosomoza]

The thing that worries me is that radical Islamicists very possibly might fill the power vacuums in these Arab nations and we end up with a dozen little Iranian clones.

[Devrim]

Well, lets see.. There are reports of soldiers defecting and joining the protestors.


I doubt it, people said the same about Libya. Syria cascaded quickly.

We will see, and I suspect very quickly. What people were actually saying about Libya was that Gadafhi would be quickly overthrown. What we said was that it would almost certainly develop into a long civil war.

This is what we said about Syria a month ago:


Syria will probably manage to ride out the protests even if it takes a few more massacres. After all those who remember the tens of thousands of civilians murdered in the city of Hama at the start of the 1980s know that the Assad regime isn’t adverse to a bit of blood.

http://en.internationalism.org/icconline/2011/04/middle-east-libya-egypt-class-struggle-and-civil-war

Time will show us.

Devrim

[t.shonku]

So when is the oil mafia invading Syria ??????????

[Sasha]

As soon as the anti-imps declare their unconditional support to assads policestate..

On a slightly less ridiculelizing note, you do know that while having an geo-political relevant location not every middle eastern country sits on top of an oil wealth right?
If not you can take your stupidity back to Wikipedia and read up a bit first...

[tachosomoza]

They're already there. The Syrians started accepting international bids from global petroleum corporations around 2000 or 2001. Shell Oil has exploration rights around Damascus, and an Indian company has exploration rights in another presumably rich area of the country. They've got the most oil in the E. Mediterranean region.

[Sword and Shield]

As soon as the anti-imps declare their unconditional support to assads policestate..

It isn't a police state. As an anti-imperialist I don't support it unconditionally. However, as long as the alternative is neoliberal Western puppets, I fully support the Assad government.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Interesting bit about Christians in Syria and the (favorable) treatment they've received under the Assad government:

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/24/135687107/grim-easter-syrian-christians-caught-in-conflict

[Sword and Shield]

"Syria enforces a strictly secular government, in order to keep sectarianism in check. Assad has brought members of minority groups into the fold, visited Christian communities and delivers a special Christmas message to them each year.
...
The president, like his father [Hafez Assad] has reached out to all of Syria's minority communities,"

This is what those neoliberals want to destroy.

[Dimmu]

"Syria enforces a strictly secular government, in order to keep sectarianism in check. Assad has brought members of minority groups into the fold, visited Christian communities and delivers a special Christmas message to them each year.
...
The president, like his father [Hafez Assad] has reached out to all of Syria's minority communities,"

This is what those neoliberals want to destroy.


Who are those neo-liberals? The people on the streets demanding change?

[Devrim]

It isn't a police state. As an anti-imperialist I don't support it unconditionally. However, as long as the alternative is neoliberal Western puppets, I fully support the Assad government.

I don't like the term police-state. It implies that there are non-police states, where the ruling class is not ultimately backed up by coercive force.

As the standard definition goes though, it pretty much fits.


"Syria enforces a strictly secular government, in order to keep sectarianism in check. Assad has brought members of minority groups into the fold, visited Christian communities and delivers a special Christmas message to them each year.
...
The president, like his father [Hafez Assad] has reached out to all of Syria's minority communities,"

This is what those neoliberals want to destroy.

There is, of course, a very clear reason why the al-Assad's have a strong interest in keeping sectarianism in check. I wouldn't put it down to enlightened benevolence.

Devrim

[Palestine]

It isn't a police state. As an anti-imperialist I don't support it unconditionally. However, as long as the alternative is neoliberal Western puppets, I fully support the Assad government.

How easy for you to say that when you're living under a liberal regime. Let's see you go living in a place where you can't think straight and if you do, you get your ass busted and you simply disappear as if you have never been born. Talk is easy and cheap!

[Qayin]

How easy for you to say that when you're living under a liberal regime. Let's see you go living in a place where you can't think straight and if you do, you get your ass busted and you simply disappear as if you have never been born. Talk is easy and cheap!
Yeah but Assad is a socialist just like Gaddafi! ANTI-IMPERIALISM!!!

[Bright Banana Beard]

nobody are saying they are socialist, but they aren't racist to other group and hell doesn't accept neo-liberal treatment on the people. Do you seriously think this protest will bring positive change?

Anti-imperialism doesn't mean socialist. so cut out with the logical fallacy.

[Qayin]

nobody are saying they are socialist, but they aren't racist to other group and hell doesn't accept neo-liberal treatment on the people. Do you seriously think this protest will bring positive change?
Then why support them. Gaddafi and Baathists both use third positionist quasi-fascist bullshit and oppress there peoples. Go back to worshipping the state that has done nothing for its people but shed blood based on some bullshit claim of anti-imperialism.


Do you seriously think this protest will bring positive change?
If it means protesters wont be slaughtered in masses, yes.

[Sword and Shield]

How easy for you to say that when you're living under a liberal regime. Let's see you go living in a place where you can't think straight and if you do, you get your ass busted and you simply disappear as if you have never been born. Talk is easy and cheap!

:laugh: Oh please. I've been to liberal puppet countries. Sure, you might be able to talk against the government, if you manage not to starve to death first.

Anyways, I'm sorry you have to suffer under that non-liberal totalitarian dictatorship in Jerusalem.

[Sasha]

Dozens arrested in Syrian town
Residents say security forces raid homes in the mountain town Madaya, amid reports of soldiers switching allegiances.

Last Modified: 28 Apr 2011 11:51


video @
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011428103427307165.html



Al Jazeera has obtained footage allegedly showing wounded soldiers being treated by protesters in the city of Deraa


Dozens of people have reportedly been arrested in the town of Madaya outside the Syrian capital, Damascus.
Residents said tanks rolled into the mountain town early on Thursday morning and that checkpoints had been set up at all entrances into the town.

(http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/middle-east/syria-live-blog-april-28) "We are terrified here and don't understand why this is happening," an eyewitness told Al Jazeera. "There were no plans for protests today and neither had any protests been held in the city in the past two days."
Madaya has seen only limited anti-government rallies since the nationwide protests began last month.
The eyewitness said he saw tanks and armoured personnel carriers surrounding the town and closing off all exits at 4am. Mobile and landline communications and electricity were cut from 4am until 9am, he said.
An activist said five people had been killed when security services raided homes at dawn.
Activists are calling for big rallies to be held on Friday, dubbed 'Azadi Friday', using the Kurdish word for freedom as a gesture of national unity.

International pressure
Meanwhile, international leaders continued to exert pressure on Bashar al-Assad, Syria's president, to end the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Russia, an ally of Damascus, called on authorities to punish those behind the crackdown which rights groups say has left about 500 people dead.

(http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/syria/) "We are counting on Damascus to hold an effective and transparent investigation into all the incidents leading to the deaths of people, and that the guilty parties will be brought to justice," Itar-TASS news agency quoted Alexei Sazonov, a foreign ministry spokesman, as saying.
Resistance from Russia, China and Lebanon has helped to block a European push to secure a UN Security Council statement (http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/201142723514236533.html) condemning Syria's crackdown.
Assad is facing international condemnation as his leadership is using troops and tanks to put down protests, and some European powers threaten sanctions if the bloody crackdown does not ease.
Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's special envoys were expected to meet Assad in Syria on Thursday to convey Turkey's worries. Turkey has close ties with Assad and is hoping to convince the Syrian leader to show restraint.
The southern city of Daraa is under military siege (http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/04/2011427215943692865.html), with reports of food and water shortages.
A similar situation was reported in the Damascus suburb of Douma, Al Jazeera's Rula Amin, reporting from the capital, said. She said the suburb was effectively sealed off, with security personnel "in almost every corner".
Big rallies have been held in the suburb, with attempts by demonstrators to march into the centre of the capital resulting in clashes with security forces.
More than 200 members have quit Syria's ruling Baath party in the southern province of Deraa, at the epicenter of the country's uprising to protest against the violence, Mustafa Osso, a rights activist, said on Thursday.
He said another 30 resigned in the coastal city of Baniyas, adding that most of those who had quit were lower-rank members.
There were also reports of divisions within the army and a growing number of soldiers refusing to follow orders and shoot at protesters. Al Jazeera has received footage of wounded soldiers, who sources say were shot by colleagues for switching allegiance in Deraa.
Al Jazeera has not been able to verify the footage.

source: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011428103427307165.html

[Qayin]

But really there just militant jihadists! Khad said so.

[bailey_187]

:laugh: Oh please. I've been to liberal puppet countries. Sure, you might be able to talk against the government, if you manage not to starve to death first.


And people in Syria dont go hungry?



The United Nations Human Development’s study of Poverty in Syria 1996-2004 is the most comprehensive statistical report currently available. It found that the wealth gap widened and 11.4 percent of people, or 2.2 million of Syria’s 21 million population, lived in extreme poverty, defined as unable to obtain their basic food and non-food needs, a sum equal to SYP92 or US$2 per capita per day
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/soci-j13.shtml

[Sword and Shield]

And people in Syria dont go hungry?

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jul2010/soci-j13.shtml

Some do. It's what happens in a capitalist country with welfare aspects. But far better than in a neoliberal puppet country, where millions starve to death and millions more get killed.

[bailey_187]

Some do. It's what happens in a capitalist country with welfare aspects. But far better than in a neoliberal puppet country, where millions starve to death and millions more get killed.

IF Syria goes "neo-liberal", are you saying millions will starve?

Why does there have to be a Hungarian goulash communism style trade off between politics and economics tho

[Sword and Shield]

IF Syria goes "neo-liberal", are you saying millions will starve?

That's exactly what I'm saying.


Why does there have to be a Hungarian goulash communism style trade off between politics and economics tho

Err what?

[bailey_187]

That's exactly what I'm saying.

LOL. Going "neo-liberal" will be bad though, but seriously...




Err what?

u heard

[Sword and Shield]

LOL. Going "neo-liberal" will be bad though, but seriously...

Yes seriously. It's that bad.


u heard

I don't know what it is you're advocating. Could you give an example of a country that you want Syria to become like?

[bailey_187]

I dont have an example, why did u get that idea

i cba to argue with an idiot like u, bye

[Sword and Shield]

I dont have an example, why did u get that idea

Well you seemed to be implying there was an alternative to the two, which would mean you would have an example of such an alternative...


i cba to argue with an idiot like u, bye

Goodbye, troll.

[Os Cangaceiros]

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2011/4/29/1304103182470/A-protestor-burns-a-portr-007.jpg


Thousands of Syrians defied their government's bloody attempts to suppress protests, braving gunfire from security forces to demonstrate in Damascus and across the country.

Initial reports said at least 24 people had been shot dead, most of them in the opposition stronghold of Deraa, where villagers tried to break through the security cordon to relieve its besieged population.

Further deaths were reported in Latakia and Homs after the security forces opened fire on demonstrators. There was news of protests in 50 towns and villages including Hama, Aleppo, the coastal cities of Latakia and Banias, Deir Ezzor in the east, and Qamishli in the north-east. Unrest was also reported from the Syria (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria)-Jordan border, which is straddled by the Haurani tribes.

Despite the government crackdown, the demonstrations – many starting as Friday worshippers left mosques – appeared to be at least as big as last week. Even more significantly, activists said, the protests spread closer into the centre of Damascus.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/29/syrian-protests-unrest-damascus

[comradeRed:)]

Pretty much its almost the same situation in Bahrain. Since the ruling monarchy are Sunni while 70% of the population is actually Shiite. Hopefully in Syria however the result will be a victory for the people, as i cant see the same for the people of Bahrain.

[agnixie]

Some do. It's what happens in a capitalist country with welfare aspects. But far better than in a neoliberal puppet country, where millions starve to death and millions more get killed.

You should learn to read - Bailey's numbers were certainly millions.

Also: itt, a third positionist fascist party is again glorified as anti-imperialist.

[Sasha]

Pretty much its almost the same situation in Bahrain. Since the ruling monarchy are Sunni while 70% of the population is actually Shiite. Hopefully in Syria however the result will be a victory for the people, as i cant see the same for the people of Bahrain.

euh, no. The ruling Syrian monarchy is alawi (an small shia sect, not to be confused with Turkish alevi's) 75% of the Syrian population is in fact Sunni (the rest is alawi, regular shia, christian or druze).
So exactly the opposite of what you stated.

[Comrade Jandar]

People need to recognize what these so called "revolutions" really are; destabilization fomented by western intelligence agencies. It's really pathetic how the left has been duped into supporting blatant imperialism.

[Sasha]

LOL, you got any evidence to substantiate that claim?
It's really pathetic how some "leftist" suddenly turn conspiracy nuts if its about imperialism instead of anal-probing aliens.

[ckaihatsu]

People need to recognize what these so called "revolutions" really are; destabilization fomented by western intelligence agencies. It's really pathetic how the left has been duped into supporting blatant imperialism.


As a result of the breakdown of the global economic (valuations) order we're seeing the rise of conventional geostrategic power politics -- just offhand it's looking something like a reprise of the Cold War, with West vs. East, with local, *regional* spheres of influence in the Middle East itself, between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

I think the popular uprisings -- including all of the "color" revolutions of the past decade, through to the recent rebellions in Egypt and throughout the Middle East -- all have legitimate popular roots, but it's just that they've become overshadowed by major-power politics and have been limited in scope to localized anti-government sentiments.

It looks like Syria is caught squarely in the middle and is being torn apart between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with the larger U.S. and Russian interests behind those two regional powers.





Syrian regime continues to use lethal force against protests

By Jean Shaoul
16 May 2011

http://wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/syri-m16.shtml


Syrian government widens crackdown

By Jean Shaoul
13 May 2011

http://wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/syri-m13.shtml


This is just a sketch, though -- feel free to comment.

[Comrade Jandar]

US, Israeli, Saudi involvement in Syrian uprising

By Tahir Mustafa

It was only a matter of time before protests erupted in Syria like elsewhere in the Muslim East. In fact, informed observers were surprised that Syrians had not joined the movement for change sooner when long-entrenched Western-backed dictators like Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, Hosni Mubarak and Ali Abdullah Saleh were already ousted or under intense pressure to go. The Arabic word, irhal (go or more accurately translated as get lost) has become the standard slogan in the region.

Thus last month’s eruption of protests in Syria starting in Daraa and duly projected and amplified by al-Jazeera has focused attention on the situation in the region. But al-Jazeera refuses to reveal the true identity of those behind the uprising. In fact, the Doha-based network is part of the US-Zionist-Saudi conspiracy to undermine the Syrian regime so that a major challenge to American-Israeli hegemony can be removed and the Saudis can breathe a little easier under the protective umbrella of their Western masters.

The protests in Syria are not entirely indigenous even if people have legitimate grievances. A much larger game is underway that has little to do with the rights of the people. The US, Israel and Saudi Arabia as well as exiled Syrian politicians are all involved in undermining the regime of President Bashar al-Assad for their own nefarious ends. This is not to argue that Assad is a democrat or that he does not rule with an iron fist. Syria’s importance lies elsewhere: unlike regimes in the rest of the Muslim East, it is not an American-Zionist puppet. In fact, it is part of the resistance alliance that includes Islamic Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas against US-Zionist aggression. Add to that the US-Zionist agents in Lebanon whose machinations to undermine Hizbullah have been frustrated by the steadfastness of the resistance movement, and the picture begins to get clearer.

Unlike Libya, Syria would be an even bigger prize for the West and the Zionists. Colonel Muammar Qaddafi of Libya is a two-bit player compared to Bashar al-Assad. Syria is a major plank in the resistance alliance against US-Israel. As long as it remains part of the Iran-Hizbullah-Hamas front, Israel feels insecure because its ill-gotten gains can be challenged and undermined. The uprising in Syria is part of the ongoing US-Zionist conflict that was first checkmated by Hizbullah’s valiant resistance in the Zionist-imposed war of July–August 2006. Instead of crushing Hizbullah, the Zionist invaders suffered a humiliating defeat. The psychological trauma was even greater than their military defeat. The Zionists then tried to eradicate this shame by assaulting and perpetrating a bloodbath in defenseless Gaza in December 2008–January 2009. There too, despite inflicting massive casualties and destroying much of Gaza’s dilapidated infrastructure, Hamas stood its ground and the Zionists failed in their mission to obliterate the resistance movement.

Behind these maneuvers lies the US-Israeli plan to isolate and ultimately destroy the Islamic government in Iran. In this, they also have the backing of the Saudis because they feel vulnerable when Islamic Iran supports Hizbullah’s resistance to Israel and Hamas’ standing firm in Gaza — while the Saudis do not lift a finger to help them. Islamic Iran also exposes the Saudis’ claim to being leaders of the Muslim world. Instead, the Saudis stand exposed as agents of the West and the Zionists, hardly credentials that can earn them laurels among masses in the Muslim world.

The uprising in Syria is part of this chain of events. Recent revelations confirm the deep conspiracy being hatched by the US-Zionist-Saudi nexus to undermine and overthrow the government in Syria. A number of exiled Syrians are involved in this including Abdul Halim Khaddam, the former vice president of Syria, Abdul Razzaq Eid, chief of the Damascus Declaration National Council Abroad, former Syrian opposition MP Mamoun Homsi, Farid al-Ghaderi, leader of the self-styled Reform Party, Saad Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister, his Saudi paymaster, Bandar bin Sultan and even an Emirati crown prince.

Al-Ghaderi, like Bandar, has the dubious distinction of visiting in 2007 the Israeli Knesset while the Saudi did it secretly in the summer of 2009 to urge then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to attack and eliminate Hizbullah. He said Saudi Arabia would pay for all the costs of Israeli aggression. Given their experience of three years ago, the Zionists refused to oblige.

Websites and social communications networks like Facebook and Twitter were not the only means used to coordinate demonstrations in Syria, especially Darra. Scores of UAE-supplied Thuraya mobile satellite handsets to specific activists in Syrian districts were also utilized. An Emirati crown prince, owner of Thuraya mobile handsets facilitated dispatch of these phones, which enabled users to communicate directly via satellite without using land lines or mobile Syrian networks, in addition to using Jordanian and UAE SIM cards. Weapons are being smuggled to Syrian rebels from Jordan using pack animals. These are paid for by Bandar who had tried, unsuccessfully, to smuggle hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to Syria for disbursement among anti-government groups. Dressed in disguise and travelling on a fake passport, Bandar thought he could slip through Syrian immigration and customs. He was caught, interrogated and detained for several months. At that time, Bandar claimed his mission was to organize a “coup against King Abdullah” who had become senile. This led to his return and disappearance in the kingdom for nearly 18 months. He re-appeared only last October. Given recent revelations, it would appear Bandar’s plan was to finance anti-government groups in Syria. He has now organized these through Jordan.

Early last month, Nasser Qandil, a former Lebanese MP, revealed that Syrian opposition figures had met in Lebanon to plan and coordinate “sabotage” operations in Syria. Qandil said “On January 18, Hariri’s consultant Hani Hammoud went to Paris where he met with US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffery Feltman, and former Lebanese minister Marwan Hmedeh who is part of the March 14 alliance. It is reported that during this meeting, Fares Khashan, who works for Hariri’s Future newspaper, was tasked with coordinating with the Syrian opposition groups abroad. It was after this meeting that the Syrian conspirators flew to Beirut in private jets to avoid detection. Immigration and customs procedures were also bypassed, courtesy of Hariri.

Dr. Haytham Mannaa, spokesman for the Arab Commission for Human Rights confirmed in discussions with al-Manar television website that he was invited to a meeting in a Paris cafe with a Syrian businessman who had dual Syrian-French nationality. He was accompanied by three other Syrians and a reporter for al-Jazeera. The talks focused on Syria and “…the needs of the youth in Daraa, Syria. The Syrian businessman with the Western nationality offered to arm Syrian opposition groups both qualitatively and quantitatively.” Dr. Mannaa has reported that he and the other Syrians were stunned at what they had heard.

The offer was categorically rejected, according to Dr. Mannaa. He then informed the movement leaders in Daraa, his hometown, that under no circumstances should they accept offers of arms regardless of their origin, and no weapons should be used. This would be a disaster for the opposition, fully aware that any regime confronted with this kind of challenge would come down hard and easily crush the uprising. The reply he received was that no weapons would enter the district of Daraa. It is, however, clear that while those leading the movement in Daraa may not have accepted arms from Syrian agents working for the West, there have been several instances of unidentified men driving in fast moving cars shooting at demonstrators. Some policemen have also been shot and wounded. Who are these people? The Syrian government insists these are foreign agents. Given the discussions in the Parisian cafe, could this not be a possibility?

Dr. Mannaa has also revealed that the Paris cafe arms offer was not the first its kind. “There were two other armament offers, one of them came from a Lebanese party that is currently at odds with Syria,” Dr. Mannaa was quoted as saying. This was an indirect reference to Hariri’s Future Movement that is backed by the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Once again, there is proof of the trio’s dirty tricks.

It is not difficult to identify the parties anxious to resort to armed struggle in Syria and who their foreign sponsors are. These are groups financed by the Americans, Lebanese groups and parties that lost out in the recent power-struggle, and rich Syrian exiles sidelined in the political process. It is the same groups that have spread rumors about Hizbullah members being in Daraa, a charge categorically rejected by the Islamic resistance group.

Syrian opposition groups are hoping the US and its NATO allies would come to their aid the same way they have done in Libya. What they forget is that Syria and Libya are very different situations and if the West is feeling such great difficulties in Libya despite its being a soft target, Syria would be a lot worse.

[agnixie]

[B]

The US and Israel give funding to people who did not rise up, and also give funding to the regime.

[Os Cangaceiros]

general strike called for wednesday (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110517/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria)

[the_red_pickle]

LOL, you got any evidence to substantiate that claim?
It's really pathetic how some "leftist" suddenly turn conspiracy nuts if its about imperialism instead of anal-probing aliens.


I agree.




Not supporting these protesters giving up their lives for regime change disqualifies you as a revolutionary.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Syrian government: 120 (!) security officers killed in northern Syrian town.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201166152649439258.html

[tachosomoza]

Syrian government: 120 (!) security officers killed in northern Syrian town.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/06/201166152649439258.html

Awesome. The people need to fight back.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Yeah, I don't know though...if Syrian TV reported that I had a nose, I'd wonder when it fell of my face...:closedeyes:

[Comrade_Oscar]

I have also heard accounts that the riots in Syria were orchestrated by the United States and that they want to overthrow the Syrian government because Syria has been in open opposition to Israel. And that Syria actually poses significant threat to the safety of the Zionist regime.

[Os Cangaceiros]

That prospect has actually been discussed in this and other threads. Personally I don't think that Syria poses any real threat to Israel. It's certainly no match for Israel militarily, and ultimately Hezbollah in Lebanon (which Syria has aided) is an annoyance, certainly not any sort of existential threat for the state of Israel.

You have to wonder if protests in Syria just popped up out of nowhere due to some kind of covert Pentagon budget item for dissident groups, considering the fact that unrest has also occured in a lot of other nations. Unless it's all a giant conspiracy, in which case I'll just use Occam's razor to slit my own throat.

[Os Cangaceiros]

STRATFOR on Syrian military defections:


Gunmen dressed in military uniforms and traveling in government cars were responsible for killing 120 members of the Syrian security forces in the past week in the northwestern city of Jisr al-Shughour, state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported June 8. The official Syrian claim could not be independently verified, but it does lend credence to reports STRATFOR has received from opposition as well as pro-regime sources in Syria on the increasing number of defections among Syrian army troops and police who have refused to take part in the regime’s intensifying crackdowns on anti-government protesters.


These defections are concerning to Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s regime, which is wary of the possibility of arms and equipment flowing to the opposition. However, the Alawite-dominated military so far has not seen the type and level of defections that would pose an imminent threat to the regime’s survival.

Demographics of Syrian Security Forces

Most of the defections that have taken place so far occurred in the tens of soldiers. For example, 21 soldiers defected from the 76th Brigade of the 1st Division of the Syrian army on April 21, according to a STRATFOR source. Since the beginning of May, the pace of defections and desertions has been accelerating. It is difficult to provide a precise figure on the total number of defections thus far and how many of those alleged “defections” reported by the opposition are in fact desertions, i.e., conscripts returning home or fleeing the country instead of choosing to actively fight on behalf of the opposition. One source, whose information could not be independently verified, estimated around 10,000 soldiers, or roughly 3 percent of the army’s 300,000 conscripts, have deserted.

It is important to keep in mind the demographic profile of the Syrian armed forces in examining these reports of defections. The regime, which has ruled Syria for more than four decades, belongs to the minority Alawite sect and has taken great care to stack the country’s armed forces with fellow Alawites while selectively co-opting members of the Sunni majority. Most of the defectors and/or deserters appear to be Sunni conscripts, and it is likely that many of them are reservists from the countryside who were called up to serve within the past few months. Of the Syrian army’s 200,000 active troops, 70 percent are Alawites. Alawites also constitute some 80 percent of the officer corps. The number of Sunni officers in the Syrian army is severely limited, and it remains unclear how many of the reported defections/desertions include officers with significant expertise and operational experience.

The all-Alawite Republican Guard, led by the president’s younger brother Maher al Assad, has been playing a leading role in the crackdowns. So has the Syrian army’s 4th Division, its best equipped and most capable division, which also is dominated by Alawites and has carried most of the burden in suppressing uprisings in the country’s Sunni strongholds. The execution of these crackdowns has spread the 4th Division thin, and it has allegedly been using army helicopters to fire on rebel soldiers in places including Jisr al-Shughour. Though the army appears to be struggling to suppress the revolt and some officers may be questioning the regime’s tactics, there are no indications thus far that the army is suffering the kind of severe internal splits that would portend the end of the regime. The Alawites understand well that they are the minority in Syria, and many view the current uprising as an existential threat. The fear of Syria reverting to a political system of Alawite subjugation under Sunni rule is precisely what is driving the Alawite community to hold together, most critically in the Alawite-dominated military.

The Syrian air force contains a large number of Sunni pilots and is thus one area the regime is closely monitoring. According to a STRATFOR source in Syria, the air force helicopters that fired on demonstrators in Jisr al-Shughour took off from an air base in Aleppo, where Sunni pilots subsequently attacked them upon their return. With sectarian tensions mounting within the air force, the regime ordered many Sunni pilots to take extended leaves. According to a Syrian military source, the Alawite-dominated air force intelligence has discontinued all training missions and has grounded the country’s jets. The ground control operators are mostly Alawites and thus have oversight of Sunni pilots, but the regime does not want to take any chances that Sunni officers will defect, taking millions of dollars worth of military equipment with them. The steadily increasing pace of defections among Sunnis raises the possibility of the country’s armed forces splitting along sectarian lines, with the Alawites fighting to the end to maintain power, the Sunnis rebelling, and the Druze and Christians in the military trying to remain neutral.

Possibility of Insurgency

The regime also is concerned that defecting soldiers, even among the lower ranks, could allow for more arms to flow to the opposition. Rumors are already circulating that a faction of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood is preparing for an armed insurgency against the regime. According to a STRATFOR source, Syrian tribes in the al Jazeera region, which is contiguous to Anbar province in Iraq, have threatened to revolt against the army. These tribesmen are believed to be extremely well armed, with most of their arsenal coming from former Baathist Iraqi army officers who fled to Syria. Al Jazeera tribesmen, along with Jordanian Bedouins, have been making money smuggling arms into the Syrian hinterland, and the demands for those arms is rising as some segments of the opposition are concluding that the only way to resist the regime is through force, bringing the Syrian uprising into a new and more dangerous phase.

An attempt at armed insurgency, even by a small segment of the opposition, could end up working in the regime’s favor. The Syrian government is struggling in its efforts to justify the use of violent tactics against largely peaceful protesters, but an armed rebellion would provide the regime with greater justification to crack down in the name of securing the state. The transformation of peaceful demonstrators into armed rebels will also make it much more difficult for external players such as Turkey to openly support the opposition.

When the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood began an armed insurgency in 1976 against the Alawite regime (then run by al Assad’s father, Hafez al Assad), the entire movement was brutally crushed in 1982 in the infamous Hama massacre that allegedly killed some 30,000 civilians. In the lead-up to the Hama crackdown, other Sunni strongholds, including Jisr al-Shughour, crumbled under the weight of the security apparatus. The 1976-1982 crushing of the Syrian Brotherhood took place at a time when the al Assad regime and the Alawite monopoly on the government were still in a formative state.

Today, the Alawite-dominated military is operating under a great deal of stress but has likely retained the institutional framework and unity of mind to commit another Hama — an increasingly likely scenario as the security situation continues to deteriorate.

[Dimmu]

I have also heard accounts that the riots in Syria were orchestrated by the United States and that they want to overthrow the Syrian government because Syria has been in open opposition to Israel. And that Syria actually poses significant threat to the safety of the Zionist regime.


This accusation makes no sense.. Because Israel is interested in keeping Assad in power.. He brings stability and he is well known by the Israeli and US policy makers. The same reason why Israel wanted Mubarak to stay in power.

Not to mention that from a military perspective the Syrian military is pretty bad and is not a threat to Israel.

[ckaihatsu]

Syria -- taking sides vs. imperialist intervention


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Events in Syria –taking sides against imperialist intervention



U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ declared on March 25, 2011 – that there are 3 repressive regimes in the Middle East that must be condemned – Syria, Libya and Iran. Why is the U.S. targeting these particular countries?

The progressive political movement must avoid being just an echo and a justification of Pentagon war policy, especially whenever any developing country is in the cross hairs of a U.S. attack.

Consider: isn't Israel a criminally repressive regime against the Palestinian population? Aren't Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan repressive regimes, military dictatorships and/or corrupt monarchies? All of these brutally repressive regimes have killed of thousands of their own population and could not survive one day with out decades of U.S. military, economic, diplomatic and political support. Is the U.S., with the largest prison population in the world and more weapons than the rest of the world put together, a repressive regime? It is the source of repression, destabilization, dictatorships and wars.

It is within this context that progressives must view the demonstrations that have been taking place for two months against the Bashir Assad government in Syria. The regime has both acknowledged that reforms are essential and responded with force. The actual character and the social forces involved in these demonstrations remains unclear, as does the political direction of the Syrian opposition.

The events in Syria are connected to the social explosion shaking the Arab world. Washington and all the old regimes tied to it in the region are trying desperately to manage and contain this still unfolding mass upheaval into channels that do not threaten their domination of the region.

The attitude of the U.S. government towards these upheavals has varied widely. When the U.S. supports the government, it takes a “hands-off” or even a hostile approach to the uprising, as in Bahrain and Yemen. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia made every effort to save the Saleh dictatorship in the face of a massive uprising. But when the country has taken an independent course from that desired by the U.S., Washington supports peoples genuine grievances with intense military, political, diplomatic support, new sanctions, sabotage teams, covert actions and extensive media coverage. All focused to further destabilize and inflame the situation.

The corporate media and the U.S. State Department give the impression that most of Syria has taken to the streets against Assad. Unlike her benign attitude toward the monarchy in Bahrain, and the 32 year dictatorship in Yemen, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton constantly criticizes and attacks the Syrian government. Anyone trying to understand the developments in that region has to ask, “Why the difference?”

It is clear that the U.S. and its allies are trying to use these protests in Syria to their own advantage. This has nothing to do with any demands raised by Syrian workers, who are suffering from an austerity plan imposed by the International Monetary Fund in 2006. Despite the difficulties for many Syrian workers, many Middle East pundits, even those from the establishment, admit that the Syrian government has a strong base of support in the population.

More than 6,000 aerial sorties and 3,700 U.S./NATO bombings of Libya has clarified where imperialism stands regarding that country. But Syria is also targeted by imperialism, even if it is not yet the target of U.S.-NATO air force. Decades of Zionist occupation of Syrian land has put Syria on the front line, and Damascus has supported and is currently supporting the Palestinian resistance and its refusal to recognize the Zionist occupation. The imperialists also condemn Syria’s assistance to Hezbollah in their struggle to end the Israeli occupation of Lebanon and they condemn Syria’s strategic alliance with Iran. The NATO Powers want to stamp out all support for any form of resistance to their domination and make these countries again, as captives of Western imperialism, mere day laborers for multi-national corporations.

Wikileaks exposes U.S. role

An article entitled “U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups” by Craig Whitlock (Washington Post, April 18) described in great detail the information contained in U.S. diplomatic cables that Wikileaks had sent to news agencies around the world and posted on its web site. The article summarizes what these State Department cables reveal about the secret funding of Syrian political opposition groups, including the beaming of anti-government programming into the country via satellite television.

The article describes the U.S.-funded efforts as part of a “long-standing campaign to overthrow the country’s autocratic leader, Bashir al-Assad.” These efforts began under President George W. Bush. They continued under President Barack Obama, even though Obama claimed to be rebuilding relations with Syria and posted an ambassador to Damascus for the first time in six years.

It is not difficult to see why the U.S. and its clients in the region, including Israel and the corrupt dependent monarchies of Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, want to see “regime change” in Syria.

Syria is one of the few Arab states that have no relations with Israel. Several Palestinian resistance organizations have offices-in-exile in Syria, including Hamas. Syria has been allied closely with Iran and with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Syrian state represents contradictory forces. It has at times tried to defend the gains won in the anti-colonial struggles and upheavals by the Arab masses in 1960s and 1970s. But the regime in Syria has also harshly repressed efforts of mass movements based in Lebanon and Syria that wanted to take the struggle further in the mid-1970s.

Years of U.S. sanctions and past destabilization efforts have also had a cumulative effect. The state apparatus, facing the real threat of outside intervention, has acted conservatively to avoid change.

Syria has also had to provide for more than 500,000 Palestinian refugees and their descendants for the past 63 years. Unlike in Lebanon and Jordan, Palestinians in Syria have access to health care, education and housing.

The U.S. occupation of Iraq stimulated sectarian violence, which created the refugee crisis and displaced more than 25 percent of the Iraqi population. More than 1.5 million of these Iraqi refugees have flooded into Syria. This was a huge influx for a country with a population in 2006 of 18 million.

The unexpected arrival of these Iraqi refugees has had a dramatic impact on the infrastructure, on guaranteed free elementary and high schools, on free health care, on housing availability and other areas of the economy. It has led to a rise in costs across the board. The prices of foodstuffs and basic goods have gone up by 30 percent, property prices by 40 percent and housing rentals by 150 percent. (Middle East Institute, Dec. 10, 2010 report on Refugee Cooperation) The regime’s acceptance of IMF demands also increased inequalities and suffering among Syria’s workers and poor.

The diverse nationalities, religions and cultural groupings in Syria and especially its workers and poor have every right to raise demands of the regime. But just as the other peoples of the region, what the Syrians need most is an end to constant, unrelenting U.S. intervention.

Antiwar activists, trade union and community activists and progressives fighting for social justice must take a firm stand against all forms of U.S. and European intervention in Syria and against all countries in the region.
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[Os Cangaceiros]

Stuff is still going on in Syria:


http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/07/31/syria.unrest/

[agnixie]

snip

Long live baath, fascism and the national bourgeois.

[punisa]

Long live baath, fascism and the national bourgeois.

You prefer long live US imperial involvement maybe?

[agnixie]

you prefer long live us imperial involvement maybe?

Clearly there can only be two choices and we must always take a position even if it means supporting bleeding the workers for it.
Got it brah.

Quick question - Have any of you conceited stalinoid/maoid/etc wankers ever wondered why, faced with the apparent position that they will only have freedom if, and only if, they adopt the views of your political sect, of the "philosopher" (let's say for Stalin and mao that's rather generous) you are masturbating over, as opposed to generally anti-fascist views which will allow building on things later, then they cna be free of fascism of plutocrats, of the national bourgeoisie, why they would give you the finger?

This is not Libya, it's not some sort of small movement led mostly by ex cronies of the government.

I swear, if Mubarak had had just slightly different foreign politics, his virtues would still be extolled here by the same twits.

[Comrade Jandar]

I agree.




Not supporting these protesters giving up their lives for regime change disqualifies you as a revolutionary.

I'm fairly sure it does not disqualify me from being a revolutionary. I agree with you that Syria is an extremely reactionary, authoritarian state but this is not a true organic revolution of the worker. Most of the so called "golden youth" out on the streets are middle class, bourgeois, students who have a penchant for spending way to much time on twitter, and face spouting off abstract concepts such as "freedom" and "dignity." Little do they know they are nothing more than pawns of western intelligence agencies who have used social media websites to spread propaganda. This is not a conspiracy. The fostering of "faux revolutions" are a tactic governments have used against each other repeatedly for quite a long time.

[ckaihatsu]

I think it's easy for *any* of us to get frustrated with this (Syria) kind of situation, as with Libya, too, recently -- it's also similar to this "debt crisis" in the U.S....

What they all have in common is that their intra-bourgeois politics are playing out without a demonstrable impact from working class activity. It becomes even *more* difficult to watch as the pace of events picks up, accompanied by violence and drama.

These inter-nationalist politics of petty competitive confrontation *seem* to be begging for some kind of political commentary and third-party solution, but there *is none* -- none that is in the interests of the world's working class, until its own activity is widespread and coordinated enough to have a counteracting effect to the overall, predominant ruling class battles in play.

There *is no* good position to take on a situation of *local* despotism versus *international* imperialist predation. On all three of these situations I think the best position to take is that of *abstention*, meaning that there is *no* sound direction for the working class in matters that are internal to ruling class interests. The working class must act in solidarity, for its *own* best interests, worldwide.


Political Spectrum, Simplified

http://postimage.org/image/35tmoycro/

[punisa]

I swear, if Mubarak had had just slightly different foreign politics, his virtues would still be extolled here by the same twits.

You are correct. IF he in fact have ran the country differently he would get support. But Since old Mub was a puppet of the imperialist force, he got what he deserved.

As for your comment.. you make it sound almost heretical to support a regime that takes an anti-imperialist stance.
As if we should fully support EVERY mass rebellion out there?
C'mon now.. you are aware of the fact that in this day and age the mass movements can easily be manufactured and orchestrated.
Need examples? Maybe check out mass uprisings in Serbia from early 2000s. Great people movement, real revolution... only in the end it was discovered that it has been fully payed and conducted by the US.

To the topic.
Assad seems weak and panicky and what he is doing is unjustifiable.
But apparently he still has a lot of supporters.
If he was smart he would use the current crisis in the west and break away from IMF and other imperialist forces that have already enslaved Syria.
Unfortunately this is just wishful thinking and certainly will not be a scenario.

Recent suppression of demonstrators and how western media reports on it is very similar to Libya few months back. I wouldn't be surprised if NATO decides to call for another "no-fly" zone.

[agnixie]

you are correct. If he in fact have ran the country differently he would get support. But since old mub was a puppet of the imperialist force, he got what he deserved.


Thank you for confirming you care fuck all about workers brah, it's important to cheer on the national bourgeoisie. It's all about cheering a team, and who cares if the team you cheer happens to think fascists are okay.

You are little more than a conceited realpolitiker reactionary little shit.

Just like the side you rail against.

[ckaihatsu]

Syrian regime cracks down on protests

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/aug2011/syri-a02.shtml

[CynicalIdealist]

You can support people being pissed off at a **** right-wing regime and not support a bad leadership if one arises from this. It's not as cognitively dissonant as the "anti-imperialists" might think.

[ckaihatsu]

You can support people being pissed off at a **** right-wing regime and not support a bad leadership if one arises from this. It's not as cognitively dissonant as the "anti-imperialists" might think.


The well-founded concern here, though, is that generically 'anti-government' protests can actually be too politically close to the ongoing interests of the bourgeois government itself -- *nationalist* politics, in other words, instead of decisively *working class* politics. This could be termed 'militant populism' which is actually *substitutionist* for proletarian self-activity if it sustains armed clashes at the expense of having real links to local labor solidarity.

It also risks being *opportunist* -- which we saw occurred very quickly in Libya recently.





Deir ez-Zor is one of Syria’s major oil and gas hubs, close to the Iraqi border, and has been a center of anti-Assad protests since early this year.

Aljazeera cited unconfirmed reports from the anti-government group Avaaz that the holiday town of Zabadani, located near the Lebanese border, has been surrounded by Syrian troops.

The Syrian army reportedly resumed attacks inside Hama on Monday, with tanks shelling several buildings and killing an estimated 10 people.

[punisa]

You are little more than a conceited realpolitiker reactionary little shit.
You sure know how to make constructive arguments, good job..

[agnixie]

You sure know how to make constructive arguments, good job..

In case people haven't been paying attention to my reactions in Libya and Syria threads, I'm sort of done with constructive criticism of people who only want to hear how the national bourgeoisie, fascist or not, is so much more awesome than NATO when most of the time it's the exact same fucking horrible deal no matter what, all that changes is who fills their pocket, because the workers, they still get fuck all either way.

Clearly, Haile Selassie, totally a great head of state, surely his anti-imperialist creds allow us to disregard absolute monarchies starving half their population.

[ckaihatsu]

http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-gunmen-break-artists-hands-warning-172819236.html;_ylt=AkQXVbR5Mt6T3Bogli5Tfiq8aw8F;_ ylu=X3oDMTBzNDQyczk0BHBvcwM3BHNlYwNBcnRpY2xlIFRvcF N0b3JpZXM-;_ylg=X3oDMTNjMzNnYWowBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRw c3RhaWQDZWFmYWYxMmUtZjc3OS0zM2NiLTljNWYtYWRlMDEyNm MxMzRkBHBzdGNhdAN3b3JsZHxsYXRpbiBhbWVyaWNhBHB0A3N0 b3J5cGFnZQR0ZXN0Aw--;_ylv=3


Syrian gunmen break artist's hands as 'warning'


By ZEINA KARAM - Associated Press | AP – 49 mins ago
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In this photo taken Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011, Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat poses in …
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BEIRUT (AP) — A renowned political cartoonist whose drawings expressed Syrians' frustrated hopes for change was grabbed after he left his studio early Thursday and beaten by masked gunmen who broke his hands and dumped him on a road outside Damascus.

One of Syria's most famous artists, Ali Ferzat, 60, earned international recognition and the respect of many Arabs with stinging caricatures that infuriated dictators including Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and, particularly in recent months, Syria's autocratic Assad family.

He lay badly bruised in a hospital bed Thursday evening with his hands swathed in bandages, a stark reminder that no Syrian remains immune to a brutal crackdown on a five-month anti-government uprising.

Ferzat remembers the gunmen telling him that "this is just a warning," as they beat him, a relative told The Associated Press.

"We will break your hands so that you'll stop drawing," the masked men said, according to the relative, who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation.

Before inheriting Syria's presidency from his father in 2000, Bashar Assad, a British-trained eye doctor, used to visit Ferzat's exhibitions and offer encouraging words, the artist has said.

When the new president opened Syria to reforms, Ferzat was allowed to publish the country's first private newspaper in decades, a satirical weekly called The Lamplighter.

The paper was an instant hit, with copies of each issue selling out a few hours after hitting the stands. It was soon shut down, however, as Assad began cracking down on dissent and jailing critics after the brief, heady period known as the Damascus Spring quickly lost steam.

Ferzat became a vehement critic of the regime, particularly after the military launched a brutal crackdown on the country's protest movement.

Human rights groups said Assad's forces have killed more than 2,000 people since the uprising against his autocratic rule erupted in mid-March, touched off by the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.

An endearing figure with a bushy gray beard, Ferzat drew cartoons about the uprising and posted the illustrations on his private website, providing comic relief to many Syrians who were unable to follow his work in local newspapers because of a ban on his drawings.

His illustrations grew bolder in recent months, with some of his cartoons directly criticizing Assad, even through caricatures of the president are forbidden in Syria.

This week, he published a cartoon showing Assad with a packed suitcase, frantically hitching a ride with a fleeing Gadhafi. Another drawing showed dictators walking a long red carpet that leads them, in the end, to a dustbin.

The response was swift.

Ferzat, who usually works late into the night, left his studio at 4 a.m. Thursday, but a jeep with tinted windows quickly cut him off, according to the relative. Four masked gunmen then dragged him out of his car, bundled him into the jeep and drove him to the airport road just outside Damascus, beating him and making threats all the while.

The men then singed the artist's beard, put a bag over his head and dumped him on the side of the road.

The Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy in Damascus described it as a "government-sponsored, targeted, brutal attack."

The Obama administration, which has called for Assad to step down, said the cartoonist's beating was deplorable.

"They broke his hands in the most disgusting and deplorable way to send a message," said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "It's not only Ali Ferzat that we're worried about. The regime has also locked up a number of other prominent dissidents to send a message."

The United States and European nations are seeking U.N. sanctions against Assad and his regime. The Security Council scheduled closed consultations Thursday on their draft resolution that would impose an arms embargo on Syria, an asset freeze on Assad and key members and companies associated with his regime, and a travel ban on 21 individuals.

Diplomats said Russia and China, both with close ties to Damascus, boycotted the meeting. Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin hinted Wednesday that he would veto the resolution, saying the council should use dialogue to persuade Syria to end its violent crackdown on protesters. Calls to Russian and Chinese U.N. Missions seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Assad's crackdown has not spared other Syrian intellectuals and artists who dared to voice criticism. A group of intellectuals and artists, including Syrian actress May Skaff, were rounded up and jailed for a week last month after holding a protest in Damascus.

Damascus-based activist and film producer Shadi Abu Fakher went missing on July 23 and has not been heard of since.

Ferzat, however, is the most famous victim of the repression to date. He had been encouraging other Syrian artists to side with the protesters, even publishing on his website a "List of Shame" that included names of those who were on the side of the regime.

"We were a group of reformers in the country, and suddenly, the doors of hell opened on us. It was a huge disappointment," Ferzat told the AP earlier this month in a phone interview.

The timing of the attack strongly suggests Ferzat's attackers knew his unusual working hours and had been tracking him. Ferzat said his day starts at 5 p.m.

In the telephone interview, he said he was full of hope that the Syrian revolution would bring about the change fervently desired by so many Syrians.

"There are two things in this life that cannot be crushed — the will of God and the will of the people," he said.

Asked if he fears arrest because of his drawings, he said: "I have killed the policeman in my head."

After news of Ferzat's attack broke Thursday, online social networking sites exploded with angry postings.

"Assad's Syria is the burial ground of talent," read a posting on Twitter.

"Ali Ferzat, your innovation will stand in the face of their cowardice and hate," wrote Suheir Atassi, a prominent Syrian pro-democracy activist.

Soon after the attack, his website where he published his cartoons and satirical commentary was taken down. "This account has been suspended," reads a message on the website, http://www.ali-ferzat.com/.

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the U.N. contributed to this report

___

Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram

[Os Cangaceiros]

There was a pretty big pro-Assad rally a couple days ago in Aleppo.

[dekarnys]

Western media lie about Syria – eyewitness reports

Get short URL (http://rt.com/news/syria-lies-interview/) Link copied to clipboard


email story to a friend (http://rt.com/emailstory/?doc_id=62645&type_doc=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Frt.com%2Fnews%2Fsyria-lies-interview%2F) print version (http://rt.com/news/syria-lies-interview/print/)
Published: 29 April, 2011, 15:50
Edited: 29 April, 2011, 23:08


http://rt.com/files/news/syria-lies-interview/damascus-news-coffins-hospital-102.n.jpg

A photo released by the Syrian Arab news Agency (SANA) on April 27, 2011, shows one of 6 coffins of a killed member of either the army or security forces being taken from the October Military hospital in Damascus to their towns and villages for burial, following several days of unrest (AFP Photo)

TRENDS: Arab world protests (http://rt.com/trends/arab-world-protests/)
TAGS: Conflict (http://rt.com/tags/conflict/), Interview (http://rt.com/tags/interview/), RT Exclusive (http://rt.com/tags/rt-exclusive/), Middle East (http://rt.com/tags/middle-east/), Protest (http://rt.com/tags/protest/), Politics (http://rt.com/tags/politics/), Corruption (http://rt.com/tags/corruption/)

While media reports paint a picture of the situation in Syria as a mass public uprising brutally suppressed by the dictatorial government, the events are viewed in a totally different way by those living there.
*RT caught up with Anhar Kochneva, director of a Moscow-based tourist firm specializing in the Middle East. She often travels to Syria, and stays in touch with hundreds of people in the region. She shared what her contacts say about the unfolding unrest and who they blame for the spreading violence.

RT: What’s happening in Syria? What have you seen? And that are the Syrians saying?

Anhar Kochneva: Not even once did I come across anyone who would in any way support these riots; and mind you, in the line of my job, I deal with all sorts of people. There are many vehicles with the president’s portraits driving the streets throughout the country – ranging from old, barely moving crankers to brand new Porsches and Hummers. You can't force people into hanging up portraits. It means that people, irrespective of their status and income, support the president rather than the rebellion. I saw quite a number of young people walking or driving around with Syrian flags. How can you force a young person hanging out with friends to wave flags? I think it's difficult too. If you understand the mentality of the Syrians you can tell there is a sincere impulse from a forced obligation.

On March 29, I saw a rally in Hama to support the president – indeed, many thousands of men and women, with their children, and entire families went out. The streets were flooded with people. It was quite a shock to see Al-Jazeera presenting rallies in support of the president as if they were protests against him. It was just as surprising to see the Israeli websites post photos and videos of supporters' rallies with comments saying those were opponents of the regime. There you have people holding portraits of Bashar al-Assad and flags, and we’re told that these people are against him.
RT: The media reports mass anti-government rallies.

AK: There’s a powerful misinformation swell going on. On April 1, the media reported a large anti-governmental rally in Damascus. I was in Damascus on that day. This rally never happened – I didn’t see it, and neither did the locals.
On April 16, Reuters news agency wrote that 50,000 opponents of the regime took to the streets of Damascus, and that they had been dispersed with tear gas and batons. Damascus’ residents realize that such a rally could not take place in the city unnoticed. How many policemen would it take to disperse it? And how come nobody saw it except Reuters? Five hundred people in the streets of Damascus are a large crowd. Reuters broadcast their material around the world, including Russia. One source lies, and then this lie is like a snowball rolling downhill creating a fake reality, and picking up rumor and speculation.

People in Syria watch the footage. What do they see? A picture allegedly from Yemen. A picture allegedly from Egypt. A picture allegedly from Syria. But the pictures all show people dressed in the same fashion. People in Syria can tell their fellow countrymen from their neighbors – both by their faces and their clothes.

There are videos on the internet showing how amateur footage of the so-called riots is made. There's a parked car and nothing’s going on around. And there's a man standing next to it throwing rocks. And people around are taking pictures.

There are a lot of staged videos. A Lebanese can tell the difference between footage taken in Lebanon and that taken in Damascus at a glance. And they show footage from Tripoli, or footage taken several years ago in Iraq, and say it is unrest in Syria.

There are many online forums for women in Arab countries. Women share information following TV reports on ‘mass unrests’. Women write – what’s happening outside your window? And they reply: we looked down from the balcony, and didn’t see anything that the TV was talking about.

Presently, a lot of young unarmed policemen get killed. The media propaganda immediately labels them as victims of the regime. I repeat, policemen are unarmed. The Syrian police are not too good with guns, because nothing like this has happened here for a long time. But the killed rookies are reported as either victims among the protestors, or as policemen who refused to shoot at their fellow countrymen, depending on the editors’ preference. Goebbels’ words seem to be true: the bigger the lie, the more easily they believe it.

RT: But why are policemen dying if there are no mass protests?

AK: Policemen die because they get shot by those who know that they are unarmed.

RT: Who shoots policemen?

AK: They talk a lot about it in Syria. Rumor has it that trained commandos came across the border from Iraq. People in Syria are well-aware that after the US occupied Iraq, they formed special squads there. They were killing people, stirring up conflicts between the Shiite and Sunni communities, and between Muslims and Christians; they were blowing up streets, markets, mosques and churches. Those terrorist attacks targeted civilians rather than the occupying regime.

Not long ago, they caught three such commandos in the outskirts of Damascus, when they were randomly shooting at people. They turned out to be Iraqis.

Syrian TV showed footage of somebody shooting at policemen and passers-by from bushes and rooftops. They occasionally get caught, and they either turn out to be Iraqis, or they admit that they were paid for it. Such militants were detained in Deraa and Latakia. They had US-made weapons.

The Lebanese security service intercepted several cars carrying weapons as they were coming into Lebanon. One such car was stopped coming from Iraq. There were American weapons in those cars too. Also there are reports about detained people who had large sums of money with them – with US dollars. These people carried expensive satellite phones that cannot be tapped by the Syrian security service.

In Syria, it is no longer a secret to anyone that the Americans have an unhindered opportunity to recruit and train the commandos in Iraq, and then send them wherever they want.
Hilary Clinton has already stated that if Syria cuts its relations with Iran and withdraws its support for Hamas and Hezbollah, the demonstrations would stop the next day. They don't even bother to keep secret the hand instilling riots in Syria.

There’s plenty of evidence of foreign interference.

Finally, people say protestors are brought in from afar for the rallies. Those people speak and look differently from the locals. Nobody in the neighborhood knows them. Who rents the buses and finances the delivery of these people? The question stands.

The former Syrian Vice-President Abdel Halim Khaddam had initiated the riots in the coastal regions. He had plundered half of the country. He was involved in corruption schemes and finally fled to the West. It was he who tried to accuse Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of assassinating the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. The Syrians firmly believe that Sayed Hariri had personally given a villa to Abdel Halim Khaddam for spreading this version of Rafic Hariri’s murder. But when that version fell apart and was not confirmed, the villa was taken away. Today, those who shot at cars in Banias are shouting: “We don’t want Bashar. We want Abdel Halim!”

There are peaceful and cultured opposition members in Banias who have been against al-Assad’s regime for many years. But they are shocked by what’s going on and do not support Khaddam at all. They say: “He’s a thief. He who stole most calls to fight corruption and thievery.”

RT: What role are Syrian emigrants playing in the Syrian destabilization?

AK: It’s an open question. There was a leak claiming that Dan Feldman, Hillary Clinton’s special representative for the Middle East, met representatives of the Syrian opposition in Istanbul in mid-April and suggested the tactics for assassinations of civil and military officials. In less than three days, on April 19, several military officials had been brutally killed in Syria. Not only were they attacked and shot dead, some victims of the attacks, including three teenage children of a Syrian general, who were in a car with him, were cut to pieces with sabres.

Murders committed with a high degree of brutality are aimed at intimidating the population. The news that children had been cut to pieces served that purpose quite well.

RT: Media reports used to say that the riots started after the arrest in the city of Deraa, in southern Syria, of several children writing anti-government slogans? Is it really so?

AK: All the children had been released very quickly. Moreover, the government-owned Syrian newspapers published the release orders.

RT: Have the troops been brought into Deraa?

AK: Yes, troops are there. After an Islamic emirate had been proclaimed in Deraa, the local residents asked the government for help. Troops have been brought in. I’ve just seen the videos. The demonstrators published them on the internet and shortly after erased them. But people made copies. There are soldiers, and people come to them and talk peacefully. Nobody shoots anyone.

RT: Is there a sentiment in Syria that if it gets rid of Hamas support and the Palestinians and strike a peace deal with Israel, all the riots will end immediately?
AK: No, there’s no such sentiment. There’s consolidation of society. The people are sticking together because they see that the enemy is extremely dangerous. For instance, previously I never heard anything except pop music and the recital of the Koran on the radio when I rode in a taxi. Now, patriotic music is coming from all cars. When Bashar al-Assad was speaking on television, the people who were listening to him at the market applauded him. You cannot force people to applaud a president who speaks on television.

RT: What has the public mood been in recent days?

AK: People are afraid of going out. In some regions, people risked their lives to record with a secret camera how unidentified persons sneaked into a car, moved off and started shooting in all directions. This is how they are sowing panic in residential areas.

Bandits blocked a bridge on the road near the coast. Soon, the military pushed them back. One of my Syrian contacts told me: “you don’t need many people to plunge the country into trouble.”
Putting five people on a major road would be enough to paralyze the whole area. People are unable to deliver foodstuffs or reach hospitals. And the whole country is in shock because of a handful of bandits.
Now, Syrian television is making live broadcasts from various parts of Damascus and other cities for people to see how the situation is unfolding and how life is getting back to normal, whatever the Western media show.
It’s noteworthy that bandits intentionally tried to rouse hatred among various communities. Recently, a sheikh was insulting the Druze, particularly women, in an address to the residents of the south. This video is being broadcast by the foreign media and is advertized on the internet. Nothing like that ever happened in Syria before. Provocations failed in Damascus though attempts were made to set religious communities against each other. Provocateurs lack support in rural areas too – the sowing campaign has started there.

The most massive demonstrations in Dera gathered 500 people. But they say 450 people have been killed.

RT: Has the government launched any reforms?

AK: The government has lifted martial law and has allowed the staging of authorized rallies if permission for them is obtained five days ahead. Foreigners have been allowed to buy real estate. The Kurds have been granted citizenship. The Kurdish population didn’t have it before for a number of historical reasons. The government is opening business courses for women in northern Syria. Many provincial governors have been dismissed. Unfortunately, in some cases they were honest people. Like those who refused to free criminals from prison for bribes and had been targeted by smear campaigns in public for it.

RT: Have the number of flights to Syria been cut?

AK: There are no tickets for Syria. We wanted to dispatch a group of tourists to Syria but there were no air tickets to Damascus for April 30. But Russians are not fleeing from Syria. I have full information about it for my job.
*Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT

[Os Cangaceiros]

That report was previously posted here. It's no less ridiculous today, either.

[RadioRaheem84]

That report was previously posted here. It's no less ridiculous today, either.

Why is it ridiculous?

[blackandyellow]

protests? what protests?

[dekarnys]

I have only posted here on a couple of occasions but on reading some of the socalled "Commissars" on this forum, it looks like this "Left" forum has been heavily infiltrated by rtwing pro Western disinformation agents or even set up by US or western fascists!

Then Im not surprised because by my own experience 90% of the forums in the socalled "Freeworld" are heavily infiltrated or even set up by the fascist satanists who rule in the WEST!

The genuine anti fascists are being used as dupes - dupes to be "identified" or to spread lies and division!



That report was previously posted here. It's no less ridiculous today, either.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Why is it ridiculous?

Because it requires one to believe that what's happening in Syria has nothing to do with the social forces acting out in almost every single nation in the middle east, but is instead the result of commandos coming in from outside nations. :rolleyes: Also, hate to say this, but it is "Russia Today". Besides the wingnuttery evident from that service from time to time, it's also worth noting that Syrian protesters have burned Russian flags in the streets, that's how much they despise Russia for being such a strong ally with the Assad regime.

It's not a clear case of Syria vs. Assad, because Assad still has a fair deal of support within Syria. But to just ignore the (very much justified) deep resentments against his regime in Syria, not unlike the attacks against the political cultures of regimes in other Arab states, is willful ignorance.

[blackandyellow]

I have only posted here on a couple of occasions but on reading some of the socalled "Commissars" on this forum, it looks like this "Left" forum has been heavily infiltrated by rtwing pro Western disinformation agents or even set up by US or western fascists!

Then Im not surprised because by my own experience 90% of the forums in the socalled "Freeworld" are heavily infiltrated or even set up by the fascist satanists who rule in the WEST!

The genuine anti fascists are being used as dupes - dupes to be "identified" or to spread lies and division!

yes comrade, it is a big problem. how shall we proceed with liquidating the satan worshippers?

[dekarnys]

First you thank "EXPLOSIVE SITUATION" and then you post a leading question to me!
I can see the rats on here for what they are!

So Assads opponents burn the Russian flag!
Why are there not camera videon film of these socalled government massacres in Syria?
Because there is a news BLACKOUT by the Fascist West who masquerade as Democracies!
BTW:
I read about how the New world Order would proceed to take on the states who refused to join the fold of the satanic Order of the Great Satan!
They isolate them one by one and attack them, like the fascist bully boys they are!
Its so easy to see their next moves!
They will use the puppet o states of the Arab League to remove Syrias membership and then their next move will be to "Buy off" Russia and China and then they will attack Syria!

The same with Iran!
However, Putin is coming to power next year - this is all set up for a big confrontation!
Its like a worldwide satanic dance - its choreography is almost pre-ordained!
Will Russia and China face up to the satanism of the West and got to war or will they sit back and watch events?
This time its not the Jews or the jypsies
Its even the dupes on here who will be the fallguys as well!

Alex Jones claims the plan is to reduce world population by 80 -90%
Do the dupes on here think they will be the 10% who will survive?
Think again!
You dupe fools!




yes comrade, it is a big problem. how shall we proceed with liquidating the satan worshippers?

[Iron Felix]

Yup, let's support a massive and brutal terror campaign waged by the West's death squads against the population of Syria and government and military officials. Excellent idea!

[dekarnys]

Its the same on here as Indymedia.ie, Boards.ie, UK Column (which has closed down because people wised up to the real agenda!) , David Icke forum etc!






Yup, let's support a massive and brutal terror campaign waged by the West's death squads against the population of Syria and government and military officials. Excellent idea!

[ckaihatsu]

We should keep in mind that the global capitalist order is hitting the wall *everywhere*, *at all scales*, causing unease and disillusionment -- to put it lightly -- with anyone who normally put their faith in the status quo world order. This is especially evident now just from glancing over at the system's regular backers and proponents -- the disarray in Europe due to the EU euro crisis, the now-peripheral and bullying-dependent U.S., Japan's unending stagnation, etc.

In a world with that kind of "ceiling" crashing down, how much worse off would the national identities of those countries lower down on the totem pole be -- ???





Because it requires one to believe that what's happening in Syria has nothing to do with the social forces acting out in almost every single nation in the middle east, but is instead the result of commandos coming in from outside nations. :rolleyes:


Actually *both* contentions are correct -- witness the Egyptian Revolution for the former, and the neo-colonialist carve-up of Libya for the latter.

In such a collapsing world order -- no longer buttressed by the certainty of solid and growing capitalist economic valuations -- we're bound to see increasing contentiousness on a class-struggle basis, on same-level geopolitical scales, and in top-down predatory ways.





It's not a clear case of Syria vs. Assad, because Assad still has a fair deal of support within Syria. But to just ignore the (very much justified) deep resentments against his regime in Syria, not unlike the attacks against the political cultures of regimes in other Arab states, is willful ignorance.


We've already seen legitimate populist momentum re-channeled into a means for inter-imperialist predation -- (Libya again).

Without a clear avenue for the growth and development of *continued* sustained conscious class struggle, the politics of opportunism will find ready inroads in the midst of the non-formal politics-in-flux that may not yet have developed a clear understanding in common for future activity.

Such mid-tier regimes like that of Saddam Hussein, Gadaffi, or Assad will be subject to the material force of *implosion*, pressed from below and from above simultaneously.

[freepalestine]

22:04 11/02/2011
And Now for Syria


Supporters of the government appear to have the numbers. (SANA)
By Jeremy Salt – Ankara

'We came, we saw, he died'. So did Hillary Clinton, paraphrasing Julius Ceasar, only a few years before his own brutal death, she should perhaps be reminded, describe the conquest of Libya and the murder of Muammar Gaddafi. Asked if there was a connection between the killing and her visit to Tripoli a few days earlier, when she spoke of looking ahead to the capture or killing of Gaddafi, she remarked: 'Of course there was'. So we can reasonably surmise she was there to inform the 'national transitional council' of what had been decided. The Americans knew exactly where Gaddafi was. Knowing also that a breakout was imminent, they had decided that he would be prevented from escaping but also prevented from appearing before the International Criminal Court. Whether someone said it out loud or not we don't know. They probably did, but what it meant was that he would have to be killed.

According to a detailed report in the French newspaper, Le Canard Enchaîné, a US Predator drone had been tracking the Libyan leader's movements. On the ground American and French special forces were charged with helping the 'rebels' investing Sirte quarter by quarter. When the time came they were to 'handle' the Libyan leader and his family or, according to another euphemism, 'deliver the parcel to Renard', a possible reference to a special unit of the 'national transitional council'. Early in the morning of October 20 three NATO planes appeared outside Sirte. When a column of 75 vehicles was seen leaving the city it was hit by Hellfire missiles fired from a Predator Drone and two 225-kilogram GBU-12 laser-guided bombs dropped by a French Mirage 2000-D. Twenty-five vehicles in the convoy were destroyed. Close to 100 people were killed but the main target - Gaddafi - survived. Some reports suggest that he was leaving the city under a white flag, according to a prearranged plan, but was betrayed.

On the ground French special forces were waiting. Whatever their role from that point on, Gaddafi was found in a culvert under the road, pulled out by a howling pack of 'rebels' and done to death in the most disgusting fashion. Even Bernard Henri-Lèvi, who flew from Paris to Benghazi to give the uprising the benefit of his illustrious reputation, was disappointed. Up to the point of Gaddafi's murder, he wrote, the 'essential morality' of the insurrection had been 'almost exemplary'. The 'almost' is the loophole that leaves space for the atrocities committed by the 'rebels' from the beginning as well as the civilians killed in British, French and US air attacks. The bodies of the Libyan leader, his son Mu'tasim and his intelligence chief were put on public display in Misrata until they rotted. Amidst the ruins of Sirte, the bodies of hundreds of 'Gaddafi loyalists' were found, hands tied behind their backs and shot through the head after capture. Other bodies, of men, women and children, remained buried in the ruins of buildings destroyed in NATO air strikes, as part of what Anders Fogh Rassmussen declared was 'one of the most successful' missions in NATO history … we have fully complied with the historic mandate of the United Nations to protect the people of Libya, to enforce the no-fly zone and the arms embargo'.

The dishonesty of this statement is a fitting conclusion to an operation that was dishonest from the start. Unlike Egypt and Tunisia, there was no popular revolution in Libya. The overthrow of the government in Tripoli was a western operation from start to finish, with the so-called 'rebels' and 'revolutionaries' on the ground playing a supporting role. There was not the slightest indication that anything but a small number of Libyans supported foreign intervention or the overthrow of their government. Africans certainly did not. Gaddafi took a leading role in the foundation of the African Union, served as its president for one term and had set aside billions of dollars for the creation of African central financial institutions, aimed at freeing the continent from the stranglehold of the IMF, before he was murdered. Nelson Mandela and other African leaders regarded the invasion as yet another criminal adventure in the long history of western assaults on their continent. The evidence that Britain, France and the US committed war crimes is overwhelming. There are also the questions of whether the war itself and the refusal to seek a negotiated solution before resorting to arms violated various articles of the UN Charter or could be justified under the recently invoked 'responsibility to protect'.

None of this will be subjected to investigation or inquiry. As far as far as the actions of these three western 'liberal democracies' are concerned, not just in Libya but in other countries around the world, the UN charter, international law and conventions on war crimes are irrelevant. They do what they want, when they want and where they want. It is precisely this lawless behavior that disturbs the rest of the world. It is Saif al Islam al Gaddafi the ICC wants to prosecute for war crimes, not Sarkozy, Cameron, Obama, Rasmussen and the military commanders of the aerial invasion of Libya. The Palestinians have asked the ICC to investigate war crimes committed by Israel during Operation Cast Lead in Gaza (2008-09). It has steadfastly refused to act on their petition. The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, now calling on the Syrian government to 'stop the violence', had nothing to say during the eight months in which thousands of Libyan civilians (not to mention the soldiers obliterated without any chance of being able to defend themselves) were being killed in British, French and American air attacks.

In a recent article Muhammad Hassanein Heykal, the doyen of Egyptian political commentators, wrote that what we are witnessing is the greatest attempt to reshape the Middle East since the Sykes-Picot treaty of 1916. The 'Arab spring' caught the imperial west on the back foot. Quickly recovering, it set out to turn challenge into opportunity. We are now seeing how the script for the new Middle East is being written. The autocratic gulf regimes that are the central pillar of 'western interests' are not to be disturbed. Elsewhere the rhetoric of freedom and democracy is to be enthusiastically and openly embraced even as 'dialogue' continues behind closed doors with groups that have no particular interest in either.

In Egypt demonstrations against Mubarak have been replaced by demonstrations against the military council and the mistreatment and imprisonment of protestors. The masses of largely young people who overthrew Mubarak through the sheer power of their energy, enthusiasm and determination are seeing the revolution being snatched out of their hands. In dealing with the emerging duumvirate - the military and the Muslim Brotherhood - the chief concern of the US will be the protection of US interests across the region and not the wishes of the Egyptian people. It will be framing its position around the expected election in late November of a Muslim Brotherhood-dominated government that will be close to Saudi Arabia and correspondingly antipathetic to Iran.

The Brotherhood is a not a monolithic movement but the US will be relying on the leadership – older and pragmatic – to control the drive from below to scrap the most important item on the American agenda, the 1979 'peace' treaty with Israel. The influence of Saudi Arabia, underpinned by its money power, will be a central element. What Egypt does within its own borders, as long as it sites its regional policies within the perimeter of US interests, will be regarded as its own business, with the grievances of women and minorities dealt with reprovingly in the country reports issued by the State Department.

In Libya the 'Arab spring' created the opportunity to get rid of a man who had offended the west for decades. The rights of the Libyan people and the need to protect them from the demented dictator were played on to the full. On the basis of lying claims made to the UN Human Rights Council about Gaddafi's scorched earth campaign and the bombing from the air of his own citizens, later augmented with other lies, of officially-encouraged mass rape and the use of black mercenaries, the no-fly zone was introduced and passed by the UNSC. Once Britain, France and the US intervened, Gaddafi was doomed.

The jamahiriyya now passes into history but without the comfort for the Libyan people of knowing what lies in the future beyond the sharia law promised by Mustafa Abdul Jalil. For the US, Britain and France, the gamble seems to have paid off. The economic rewards for bringing down Gaddafi are already coming their way. Russia, China and Brazil had extensive contracts in the Libyan energy and construction sectors but will be punished for opposing military intervention. Russia was represented by the oil giants Gazprom and Tatneft, Brazil by Petrobas and the Odebrecht construction company, China by 75 companies. Their contracts with the former Libyan government were worth billions of dollars. 'We have lost Libya completely', Aram Shegunts, the chairman of the Russia-Libya Council, told Reuters. It may not work out like this. In 2003 the Iraqi government abrogated oil contracts with Russia and China, only to bring them back into the picture a few years later, to the displeasure of the US oil giants. At the end of the western road, however the economic spoils are distributed, lies the possibility of military bases and Libya's reincorporation into the western strategic and economic order.

The next item in the western deck of cards is Syria and the possibility of finally bringing down a regime which has cooperated with the west from time to time (as it did after the 9/11 attacks) but basically has remained a thorn in the side of the US and Israel. The US has been after Syria for years. Indeed, covert intervention in Syrian affairs dates back to the earliest years of its emergence from French mandatory rule. Recently, in 2003, the US Congress passed the Syrian Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, sponsored by New York Congressman Eliot L.Engel, who describes himself as being amongst 'the strongest supporters of a close US-Israeli relationship'. The prime purpose of the act was to weaken the Syrian government through economic sanctions and - most immediately – force it to end its presence in Lebanon. US sanctions were quickly followed by EU sanctions, both centring on the banking sector and the export of technology and similar to the sanctions applied against Iran.

In Lebanon the campaign against Syria reached a climactic point with the assassination in February, 2005, of the former Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri. The crime horrified the Lebanese public, creating the momentum which compelled Syria to withdraw what remained of its military forces within a few months. This coup for the US and its allies was followed by the indictment of four 'pro Syrian' Lebanese generals responsible for security, police, intelligence and the operations of the presidential guard. They were held for four years before being released for lack of evidence, a decision which was a complete indictment of the shoddy work of Detlev Mehlis, the first prosecutor appointed by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Without losing a breath, the tribunal then turned its attention to Hizbullah, eventually issuing indictments against four of its members. It has refused to deal with its admission of fraudulent evidence given against the four generals by 'false witnesses' and has ignored compelling circumstantial evidence (intercepted drone reconnaissance film released by Hizbullah) implicating Israel in the killing.

Another weapon used against Syria is its designation by the US State Department's as a 'state sponsor of terrorism' (along with Cuba, Iran and Sudan). The cause is Syria's support for the Palestinians through Hamas, its support for Hizbullah and its strategic relationship with Iran (which includes a mutual defence treaty). Israel has made its own contributions to the campaign against Syria. In 2006 it launched an air attack on a site in northern Syria which it claimed to be a fledgling nuclear installation. In 2008 Imad Mughniyeh, a key figure in Hizbullah, was assassinated in Damascus when a bomb exploded in a car as he walked by it. A Syrian agent working for Israel was recently arrested in connection with that murder. Later in 2008 Brigadier-General Muhammad Suleiman, an intelligence advisor to Bashar al Assad, was assassinated near Tartus, very possibly by a sniper firing from a yacht. This murder is generally believed to have been the work of the Israelis, rather than an inside job.

Now the 'Arab spring' has created the opportunity to strike a terminal blow against the Assad regime. The failure of Israel to crush Hizbullah when it attacked Lebanon in 2006 is said to have persuaded the former Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, that something could and should be done about Syria. By 2008 Prince Bandar and the former US Ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, according to media reports, were working on a plan to destabilise Syria involving $2 billion in funding and the creation of a system of overlapping networks tasked with murder and the spreading of propaganda, disinformation and sectarian turmoil. Media skills and the mobilization of young people were emphasized. The Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamists would be used as tools against the regime. In a recent article ('The Great Game in Syria') the Beirut-based analyst Alastair Crooke has filled out more details. In Washington, according to Crooke, Feltman has been working on Syria with two other former ambassadors, Ron Schlicher and David Hale. Hypothetical planning took a more operational form after the fall of the Saad Hariri government in Beirut in January this year and the overthrow of Husni Mubarak a month later. Qatar provided money and a base for operations in Doha. According to Crooke, the Palestinian exile and former Knesset member Azmi Bishara 'cooked up' a scenario in which Al Jazeera would not just report revolution but would foment it through the region, on a selective basis, of course. The results of this policy were first seen in Libya, where Al Jazeera's 'news' coverage complemented Qatar's political coordination with Britain, France and the US and the role played by its special forces on the ground in the overthrow of the government in Tripoli.

With regard to Syria, Feltman and his team were assigned the task of overall coordination; Qatar would host the war room, the news room and would provide money; the 'Elysee team' in Paris (including Bernard Henri-Lèvy) and Doha would take the lead in pushing the 'transitional council' model; Prince Bandar and Turkey would jointly manage the Sunni theatre inside Syria, 'both armed and unarmed', according to Crooke, with Turkey also assigned the task of 'playing point' on the Syrian border.

If none of this is true the parallels between these reports of planned destabilization and actual destabilization are certainly an extraordinary coincidence. Arms and money are pouring into Syria from Lebanon and Turkey. Propaganda is at the same time being poured into the western mainstream media. The head of Al Jazeera's Beirut bureau, Ghassan bin Jiddu, a known advocate of political reform in Syria, resigned over the channel's abandonment of any pretence of neutrality with regard to Libya and Syria and its transformation from a news centre into what the Lebanese daily Al Safir called 'an operations room for incitement and mobilization'. In the name of the Syrian National Council, a 'transitional council' bringing together Syrian exiles of varying ethnic and religious backgrounds has been set up in Istanbul. Turkey is maintaining pressure on Syria through sanctions and its protection of a Syrian army defector (Colonel Riad Asaad) who openly boasts of the number of Syrian soldiers his small group of army rebels (the Free Syrian Army) is killing.

Buttressing this mixture of what is known and what is suspected is the hard evidence of US involvement in the campaign against the Syrian government. This has mainly come from the Wikileaks release of US diplomatic correspondence sent from Damascus. Support for opponents of the regime inside and outside Syria has been provided through a State Department program, the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI). According to a 2009 cable, a Los Angeles-based organization, the Democracy Council, was given $6.3 million by the State Department to run a program called the Civil Society Strengthening Initiative. Specifically tied to Syria, this initiative was described as a 'discrete collaborative effort between the Democracy Council and local partners' to produce - among other objectives - 'various broadcast concepts'. These included Al Barada satellite channel, the propaganda arm (broadcasting into Syria 24 hours a day) of the London-based Movement for Justice and Development. According to a State Department spokesman, $7.5 million has been allocated to MEPI projects since 2005. Cables from Damascus put the figure at $12 million from 2005 to 2010. An unspecified amount of money has been funneled through proxy organizations to opponents of the regime inside Syria.

The relationship between Syrian exiles, including Abdul Halim Khaddam, Burhan Ghaliun and Radwan Ziadeh, and the US government is no secret. Cables released by Wikileaks show that the US was being advised to encourage the Saudis to give Khaddam access to its media so that he could 'air' the Syrian government's 'dirty linen'. Insofar as the destabilization of Syria from the inside was concerned, it was suggested that rumors should be spread about a possible coup; that rumors should be spread about plotting and restlessness in the military and intelligence services; that Kurdish complaints centring on economic grievances should be highlighted; and that Sunni fears of Iran should be played upon.

A Saudi source quoted by Alastair Crooke said that King Abdullah believed 'regime change' in Damascus would greatly benefit Saudi interests: 'The king knows that other than the collapse of the Islamic republic itself, nothing would weaken Iran more than losing Syria'. Here US, Saudi and Israeli interests intersect perfectly but 'regime change' in Syria is a far more complex and dangerous project than destroying the government in Libya. Russian and Chinese opposition even to sanctions rules out the possibility of a second no-fly zone directed against Syria being passed by UN Security Council. Anders Fogh Rasmussen has had to admit that NATO will not be intervening in Syria; if there is to be intervention another route will have to be found. Assad has warned that Syria is a fault line and that armed intervention would trigger off an earthquake across the region. The violence of the armed gangs and the scenes of destruction and death delivered to Libya through foreign intervention seem to have bound Syrians more tightly to their government. In the war of demonstrations, including the mass demonstrations recently held in Ladhikiyya and Deir al Zor, the supporters of the government would appear to have the numbers.

The struggle for Syria is not just about the Assad government, reform and the wishes of the Syrian people. They are factors in a much bigger game which is being played out across the region, whose outcome will decide the fate of the Middle East for decades to come. It is a game - a game partly of calculation and partly of chance – because those playing it cannot be sure of the outcome. The reshaping of the Middle East has been a continuing process since the end of the First World War. The western powers have had their ups and downs, their successes and their failures, but in the 'Arab spring', behind the regional movement for democracy and freedom, the US and its allies see the opportunity to bring about changes they have wanted for a long time. There is complete convergence between their interests and the interests of Saudi Arabia and other gulf states. Just as in the 1950s western 'defence' plans were based on the construction of an anti-Soviet and anti-Arab nationalist wall across the Middle East, so now it seems that western and Saudi plans centre on the construction of a wall of anti-Iranian and anti-Shia Sunni Muslim governments across the region. In a new, reforged Syria, in a country with a 70 per cent Sunni Muslim population, the Muslim Brotherhood, bolstered by its relationship with Saudi Arabia, supported by Turkey and feeding off the electoral success of Muslim movements elsewhere, would be well placed to play a commanding role in government. The strategic relationship between Iran, Syria and Hizbullah would be broken. Whatever comes next, this would be an achievement of surpassing strategic importance to the US and its allies. The problem for them is how to shake the tree so this prize falls into their lap.

- Jeremy Salt teaches the history of the modern Middle East in the Department of Political science, Bilkent University, Ankara. He previously taught at Bogazici (Bosporus) University in Istanbul and the University of Melbourne. His publications include The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands (University of California Press, 2008). He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.


http://www.palestinechronicle.com/vi...s.php?id=17218









----------------------------------------------






OCTOBER 18, 2011
Syrian Bloodshed and the West's Abdication of Journalistic Responsibility




Syria and the Media

by PETER LEE





The October 13 BBC headline read: Clashes in Syria leave 19 dead – rights activists.

That gives the impression that the brutal Syrian army killed 19 Syrian demonstrators.

Not quite.

The story continues:

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 10 people died when government troops attacked the northern town of Banash.

In the southern town of Haara, armed men killed at least nine soldiers.

That’s nine Syrian government soldiers. According to Syrian government reports, 1100 Syrian government forces have been killed since the uprising began.

Anti-government violence by armed groups is one of the inconvenient truths about the Syrian uprising.

Democracy activists don’t want to admit it; sympathetic media outlets don’t want to report it.

Now that the issue is becoming unavoidable, the new tactic is to excuse it as the response of incensed deserters, while deploring the “slide toward civil war.”

Not so.

The issue of “armed gangs” has been there from the beginning.

It took a willful abdication of journalistic responsibility to suppress it—and to continue to misrepresent it in order to evade responsibility for the simple-minded (and single-minded) pro-democracy media cheerleading that characterized most reporting on Syria.

Now that the non-violent anti-government protests are sputtering into futility, center stage is taken by the advocates of violent struggle.

For the West and Sunni states to breathe more life into the anti-Assad movement, violence has to be portrayed as inevitable, principled response, not escalating provocation seeking to obscure the failure of a political movement.

I expect the media to cover the issue of anti-government violence with same dishonest, guilty evasiveness it has displayed in the past.

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/...and-the-media/




--------------------------------------------







OCTOBER 05, 2011

Down a Failed Path

US Intervention and the Syrian Uprising
by RAMZY BAROUD






United States ambassador to Syria Robert Ford is quite a feisty diplomat. He shows up unannounced and uninvited at various hot spots in the country, greeted with varying degrees of enthusiasm and, oftentimes, anger.

When he made a highly touted appearance in the city of Hama in July, residents reportedly greeted him with flowers. However, his appearance at the home of an opposition figure in Damascus on September 29 earned him a salvo of tomatoes and rocks from angry protesters.

Naturally – and as confirmed by various WikiLeaks cables – American diplomats don’t behave independently from the main organ of US foreign policy in Washington, the State Department. It is also safe to assume that Ford’s alleged solidarity visits throughout Syria were not intended to cater to a Syrian audience. We all know how most Syrians feel about US foreign policy in the region.

Writing in the Gallop website on June 25, 2009, Steve Crabtree described a decision by the Barack Obama administration to send a US ambassador to Syria (the first one in six years) as an “important signal that it seeks improved relations between the two countries”. One of the unstated objectives of this was to “contend with widespread anti-US sentiment among Syrians”.

According to a March 2009 poll, nearly two-thirds of Syrians (64%) have unfavorable views of the United States, and more (71%) disapprove of the US leadership. One could argue that such views are sensible, considering the US’s history of anti-Syria policies, and its lack of support for the Syrian people’s urgent call for democracy and reforms.

In the past decade, if not longer, Syrians have watched as US policies in the region destroyed two neighboring countries, Iraq and Lebanon. For several decades now, they have seen the US support and subsidize the Israeli occupation of Palestine. The targeting of Syria in the US Congress and plots to “roll back” Damascus to ensure Israeli domination is a whole different story. Few in Syria believe that the interests of the people in revolt are at the heart of US policies.

Syria had already survived the regime-change frenzy that took Washington elites by storm after their “success story” in Iraq. This survival was aided by two conditions. One was the stiff resistance in Iraq following the US invasion, which thwarted the US’s long-term agenda for the country. Another factor was the number of concessions made by the Bashar al-Assad regime, which had played its role well in the so-called “war on terror”.

Israel’s friends in the US – government, think-tanks and media – were clearly frustrated that the US government was forced to settle for a status quo in Syria. This defied the conventional wisdom imparted by the neo-conservative likes of Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, David Wurmser and others. While the neo-cons were ready to move into a new phase – one that went beyond simply “containing Syria” – circumstances were no longer suitable; thus the unwelcome return of the containment policy, whereby Syria would pose as a guardian of Arab resistance while ensuring that its border with Israel (or rather its own occupied Golan Heights) remained calm.

The Syrian people began their uprising for long-denied rights in March. The government responded with the only method it knew well: sheer brutality, coupled with illusory language of change and reforms. The world watched as Syrians died in droves. But then the politicking began. Some genuine Syrian opposition groups passionately organized to give a voice to their people at home. Others also organized, although their reasons were not so genuine.

“The State Department has secretly financed Syrian political opposition groups and related projects, including a satellite TV channel that beams anti-government programming into the country, according to previously undisclosed diplomatic cables,” reported the Washington Post on April 17. It was WikiLeaks that exposed a US program founded and financed by the George W Bush administration and continued under Obama’s.

“The US money for Syrian opposition figures began flowing under President George W Bush after he effectively froze political ties with Damascus in 2005,” according to the Post. While Obama verbally set himself apart from his gung-ho predecessor, finally appointing a US ambassador to Syria in January, his administration continued to facilitate ties and secretly fund opposition groups and figures.

The US insists on enforcing the same failed policies of the past, but expects different results every time. Propping up an Iraqi opposition that took part in the destruction of Iraq (following the US invasion of 2003) seems to be the model used by US policymakers in Syria. And this too is doomed to failure.

The US is also leading the charge against Syria at the United Nations, once more trying to co-opt the Security Council to impose crippling sanctions on Damascus. These sanctions are already felt in the streets of Syria, but hardly among the elites – a characteristic of all US sanctions throughout history. The prices of most basic foodstuffs are already skyrocketing and this trend is likely to continue.

United States involvement in Syria is the second-greatest danger facing the Syria uprising (the first being the cruelty of the regime). Sweeping sanctions and threats will turn the conflict into another American fight against an Arab regime, as opposed to an unadulterated people’s uprising – a revolution even – for the rights of Syrians and the future of their country.

Robert Ford is a mere conduit of failed US policies. His insistence on hijacking the diplomatic scene in the country will garner him some media attention, and perhaps a book deal. But for now it will be a liability for the Syrian uprising, which needs to remain independent from US posturing in order to triumph.

And in the long run, the economically frail and militarily compromised US cannot be an effective player in shaping the political landscape in Syria – or anywhere else in the Middle East. Ultimately, the future of the Syrian people will be determined by their own fortitude.

Ramzy Baroud is editor of PalestineChronicle.com. He is the author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle and “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story” (Pluto Press, London).



http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/10/...rian-uprising/

[Leftsolidarity]

Why does the western media refer to it as a revolution when there are 3 days of protests in foreign city but pretty much ignores over a month of occupations and protesting/fighting in the USA?

[Smyg]

... because no western media is ever going to admit it.

[danyboy27]

The canadian and french governement ask to their citizens in syria to get the fuck out ASAP.


In the mean time sporadic gun battle and rpg attack trought Syria, army checkpoint attacked, this is starting to sound all too familiar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15769804

[Zostrianos]

The Baath party building in Damascus was just hit by rockets:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-15809269

[thefinalmarch]

Israeli security forces: Turkey nearing military intervention in Syria
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/israeli-security-forces-turkey-nearing-military-intervention-in-syria-1.397335


Defense officials in Israel say Turkey is likely to set up secure buffer zones in Syria, near the border, to allow armed Syrian opposition groups to battle against the regime.

Israeli security forces officials said Wednesday that they believe Turkey is nearing a military intervention in Syria, in order to create a secure buffer zone for opposition activists.

Thus far, Ankara has given shelter to some 20,000 refugees who escaped the deadly crackdown by Syrian President Bashar Assad's security forces, and also housed Syrian opposition groups.

In recent days, however, Israeli officials said that according to an updated assessment of the situation, Turkey is expected to set up secure buffer zones on its border with Syria that would allow armed opposition groups to organize against the Syrian regime from bases that would be protected by the Turkish army.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently hardened his stance against Assad and suggested for the first time the possibility of foreign intervention in Syria.

Wide protests against Assad's regime have been ongoing across Syria, but in recent weeks the focal point of the armed resistance by army defectors was in the three northern cities close to Turkey's border – Idlib, Homs, and Hama.

According to various reports, there is an area in Idlib where the Syrian army lost control and has the potential to become an independent, rebel-controlled area, such as the Libyan city of Benghazi, which was seized by the rebels early in the revolution and became the temporary base for the opposition movement.

[thefinalmarch]

Turkey confronted with possible Syrian civil war
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/23/us-syria-turkey-hazards-idUSTRE7AM26L20111123


(Reuters) - Turkey appears to be preparing for some form of civil war in neighboring Syria, wary of any unilateral intervention but fearful fighting there could quickly escalate to a broader sectarian conflagration in the Arab world.

"I observe a simmering threat in the region based on a Sunni-Shiite divide," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday. "It ... has the potential to move the Muslim world from the 21st century into the darkness of the Middle Ages."

These were words Gul would not have uttered in public even a couple of weeks ago. But Ankara has in recent days openly abandoned any notion of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad staying in power and is focused on dealing with the chaos that could follow his removal.

"Contingencies seem to be based on a worst-case scenario," said Semih Idiz, a commentator with Milliyet newspaper. "The assumption seems to be that this is leading to some form of civil war."

Political leaders had held consultations with military and intelligence officials on Tuesday over a protest movement in which 3,500 people have already been killed now taking on the characteristics of an armed conflict, as soldiers desert, with some alarming sectarian overtones.

'BUFFER ZONE'

Turkish land forces commander Hayri Kivrikoglu visited the border area on Tuesday, declaring there was "no special reason for our visit." Excursions by top generals to the area are indeed frequent, but they are not normally made public.

Ankara has floated the idea of setting up a 'buffer zone' on Syrian soil if fighting triggers a flood of refugees. Thousands are already housed in camps on the Turkish side of the border and army deserters, already using the area as a safe haven, want Turkey to provide them with a bridgehead inside Syria.

But it would clearly take a huge flow of refugees and an immediate threat to Turkey's security to trigger any Turkish involvement on the Syrian side of the border; even then, Turkey would probably seek some form of United Nations backing, possibly from the General Assembly.

Russia, standing by Assad where Turkey has abandoned him, would likely block any move against Syria in the Security Council, where it has a veto.

Western and Arab powers alike appear happy with Sunni Muslim Turkey playing this prominent role on Syria's borders. Turkey itself has enjoyed growing diplomatic and economic influence in the Arab world under Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

"Turkey is trying to act as a firefighter-in-waiting at the moment," said Yavuz Baydar, a columnist with Zaman newspaper. "But Turkey will not go it alone."

UNPREDICTABLE FORCES

Turkish strategists, traditionally wary of involvement beyond Turkish frontiers, are inevitably making provision for that fire getting out of hand. But Ankara has made it clear its desire to avert any military conflict that could unleash unpredictable forces.

President Gul raised the specter of broader sectarian conflict between Sunni Muslims and Shi'ites in his speech in London on Wednesday.

He named no country; but Iraq, another Turkish neighbor, could be vulnerable if the Syrian conflict took on a sectarian form. Tensions between the Sunni minority and the Shi'ite majority run high. The sectarian clashes following from the 2003 U.S.-led invasion have eased but tensions still run high and are exacerbated by competition for control of oil resources.

Shi'ite Iran also views Turkey's growing influence with some suspicion. Turkey's Kurdish rebellion could be worsened by unrest among Kurds in Iran, Syria and Iraq.

Erdogan's recent invocation of Nazi Germany in describing Assad's Syria, General Kivrikoglu's border visit and President Gul's warnings of ethnic conflagration will read for many Turks more like an exhortation to Syrians to settle the crisis themselves, and quickly.

Turkey had over many years of better relations with Damascus cultivated an educated and influential business middle class close to the political elite and eager to open to the West. It saw this elite as the key to integrating Syria and ending its virtual pariah status.

"The hope is that this business elite will seek a way out (with Assad)," said Baydar.

The alarm signals emanating from Ankara, however, suggest those hopes are fading.

[khad]

(Reuters) - Turkey appears to be preparing for some form of civil war in neighboring Syria, wary of any unilateral intervention but fearful fighting there could quickly escalate to a broader sectarian conflagration in the Arab world.

You know, if they really don't want to deal with this bullshit, they could, you know, stop hosting a 10,000 man rebel division in their territory.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Seems like Syria has been getting more like Yemen recently, with military deserters attacking the army, etc. (if reports out of Syria are accurate, a big "if")

All the talk of intervention is very frusterating, though. A lot of people have put their lives on the line to prove that secret police and tanks aren't enough to stop an insurrection, it would be a shame if all that effort was tarnished a la Libya.

[Per Levy]

I can see the rats on here for what they are!

oh my chinise zodiac sign is rat, how did you know?


I read about how the New world Order would proceed to take on the states who refused to join the fold of the satanic Order of the Great Satan!

what new world order? are you one of these loony conspiracy theorists? also whats the big deal with satan? he is a pretty cool guy if you get to know him.


They isolate them one by one and attack them, like the fascist bully boys they are!

only that they arnt fascists but imperialists/capitalists. words have meaning after all.


Will Russia and China face up to the satanism of the West and got to war or will they sit back and watch events?

you do know that russia and china are also capitalist, just that they have sometimes other goals then the west. ofton enough they have the same goals. so why do you put hope in imperialists nations? also what is your problem with satan?


Alex Jones claims the plan is to reduce world population by 80 -90%
Do the dupes on here think they will be the 10% who will survive?
Think again!
You dupe fools!

who is alex jones and why should anyone care what he is saying? especially with such stupid claims. tbh if you really belive in this stuff, you're fool.


All the talk of intervention is very frusterating, though. A lot of people have put their lives on the line to prove that secret police and tanks aren't enough to stop an insurrection, it would be a shame if all that effort was tarnished a la Libya.

exactly, it truly would be a shame if it would come to intervention. but we can see allready that the bigger powers try to do everything to either keep their influence or strenghten it.

[freepalestine]

http://alazerius.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/interview-with-palestinian-activist-dr-ayed-ahmed-in-sweden/
Mohamed Omar
”Hurry to the defense of Syria!” – Interview with Palestinian activist Dr. Ayed Ahmed




Dr. Ayed Ahmed is a medical doctor and the chairman of the Arab Cultural Society in the city of Uppsala, Sweden. He is active in organizing the resistance in Sweden against the aggression facing Syria. He has set up a committee called “Hurry to the defense of Syria!”, which unites Arabs of from different political ideologies, religions and sects to work together for the welfare of the Syrian people. We met at his house to discuss the current crisis.

MO: Who are the so called Syrian opposition?

AA: The organized opposition is led by the so called “Syrian National Council” which is in fact run by a fraction of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood which is closely aligned to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the other kings of the Gulf and the Hariri movement in Lebanon. There are of course other elements, such as pro-Western liberals and a few Wahhabi or Salafi extremists driven by sectarian hatred against what they describe as the “Alawi regime”. In the beginning of the crisis many ordinary people took to the streets to demand reform. This movement was immediately hijacked by outside forces, aided by US and Israel, which yearn for the downfall of the Syrian regime. Their purpose is to weaken the Arab and Islamic resistance in the region, especially Hezbollah, which defeated Israel in 2006. By destroying Syria they hope to isolate Hezbollah.

The opposition is portrayed as “peaceful” and “democratic”. That’s a lie. There are armed gangs in Syria roaming the streets. They are killing soldiers and police officers.

MO: So Saudi Arabia plays a big role in creating the crisis?

AA: Yes, of course. Saudi Arabia is a reactionary regime, a de facto colony of the US, which tries to sabotage any revolutionary, progressive movement in the Arab world. It has always done so. During the Israeli invasion in Lebanon in 2006 the Saudis openly supported Israel. The Saudis are funding the armed groups that are terrorizing the Syrian people as we speak. They are also funding the so called “Syrian National Council”. Another way in which they aide the US and Israeli plot against Syria is through religion, using their media and their clerics to demonize Alawis and Shi’ites in general in order to inflame sectarian tensions.

MO: So you mean there is a political agenda behind the sectarian hatred against the Shia?

AA: Yes, since the revolution in Iran in 1979 the West had found it’s new enemy. First it was Iran and then later Hezbollah. Shi’ism is a revolutionary movement. Look at Imam Ali, how he struggled for the rights of the poor, the proletariat! Look at the revolution of Imam Hussein against the tyrant Yazid! Imam Ali has always been a role model to progressive, anti-capitalist movements. So is Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari, the follower of Imam Ali. He fought against exploitation and poverty. So you see this Wahhabi hatred against Shi’ism is not only religious, it has a social and economic dimension as well. Saudi Arabia wants to have a reactionary, backwards and capitalist Islam and feels threatened by the revolutionary spirit of Shi’ism. The most formidable foe of Zionism in the region is Hezbollah. In order to isolate them morally and politically, to weaken their support base, they use the Saudi clerical establishment to scare people of Shi’ism.

MO: What role does Al-Jazeera have?

AA: Al-Jazeera was created by some elements within the Muslim Brotherhood with pro-Saudi and pro-Wahhabi tendencies. In the beginning they tried to gain confidence by reporting objectively from the Palestinian intifada. They are now using this capital of confidence, this false image, in order to advance the cause of US imperialism and Zionism in the Arab world. Qatar is an American colony with a huge American military base. Al-Jazeera serves the Qatarian government, and thus the US and the Zionist regime, by inciting against Syria. The reporting from Syria is completely biased. You never see or hear from the other side. I mean the majority of the Syrian people who are nationalistic and absolutely opposed to the American and Israeli plans. This man, Al-Qaradawi, has been handpicked by the Qatar regime, to serve their interests. There are many great scholars, thousands, who support peace and stability in Syria. Why don’t we see them? We only see Al-Qaradawi and the likes of him. It’s because he serves them. He is responsible for a great deal of the trouble in Syria.

MO: What is the position of the Sunnis in Syria?

AA: The majority are not opposed to the regime, quite the contrary. More than ninety percent of the populations of Damascus and Aleppo are very much in favor of Bashar al-Assad. And most of them are Sunnis! The religious leaders of the Sunni community support the government. The mufti of Syria, Ahmed Hassoun, actually paid a big prize. His son was killed in cold blood by the so called “democratic” and “peaceful” opposition! Millions have poured into the streets to show their loyalty towards Al-Assad. Al-Jazeera doesn’t show them! When we had a pro-Syrian rally in Stockholm a few days ago a handful of Anti-Assadists showed up. We were five or six hundred, while they were just about twenty people. It’s the same situation in Syria! The opposition is tiny. If you are against Al-Assad all Swedish media outlets will praise you but if you are for Al-Assad you will be completely ignored. In Sweden it is like we don’t exist, even though the majority of the Arabs here support Al-Assad.

MO: What TV-channel do you recommend instead of Al-Jazeera?

AA: I prefer Al-Manar, as a Palestinian I find it the most trustworthy. Al-Manar is always with the resistance, they never side with Zionist occupiers.

MO: What does the crisis in Syria mean to the struggle in Palestine?

AA: It means a lot. Why hasn’t there been any US intervention in Palestine? Our country has been occupied for sixty years with the help of the US government. All of a sudden the US speaks of human rights in Libya and Syria? They enforced a no-fly-zone in Libya. Why isn’t there any talk of a no-fly-zone in Palestine? As a Palestinian I don’t trust the US talk of human rights, it’s only a pretext for imperialism. As always. The US wants to change the Syrian regime in order to crush the Arab and Islamic resistance. They also have a plan to divide Syria into smaller territories.

In the biggest Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, the Yarmouk camp, there have been mass rallies, tens of thousands of Palestinians, in favor of the regime. Many Palestinian organizations reside in Damascus, like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (Qiyada al-amma), Palestinian Popular Struggle Front and so many others. I’m sure the so called “Syrian National Council” will eventually recognize Israel. Perhaps it has already made a deal in secret.

I’m a democrat, I want to have democratic changes in Syria, and that is also what Al-Assad wants, he has agreed to reforms, but this so called opposition is not the least democratic. They want to establish a dictatorship much worse than anything seen in Syria before. I know them. When I was demonstrating in support of Syria the other day I was harassed by thugs from the so called opposition. They are violent and fanatic, but show a different face to Western media. That is why the Christians in Syria are worried. In fact many Christians participate in our demonstrations.

I was very pleased to see that Russia sent a fleet to the Mediterranean to protect Syria. I hope they will do the right thing. A NATO intervention would be a disaster.

Artikeln har även publicerats i Islam Times

[Threetune]

Maybe you should read your marx, the overtrow of (fuedal) dictatorships, even if the revolution ends up hijacked by the petit bourgeois, is an necessary step to communism.

"petit bourgeois" - what? NATO? :lol:

[Threetune]

As far as I can tell this question of ‘support’ or ‘oppose’ this that and the other side in war, civil war and revolution is a question that causes more fundamental confusion than any other on Revleft – even for some of the best revolutionary communist contributors.

Below I have edited a passage from Lenin with the insertion of (Assad) and (Imperialist intrigue)

It is obviously not a direct comparison, it is not meant to be. But the general principle holds true.

http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/aug/30.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/aug/30.htm)

“Even now we must not support Kerensky’s (Assad’s) government. This is unprincipled. We may be asked: aren’t we going to fight against Kornilov? (Imperialist intrigue) Of course we must! But this is not the same thing; there is a dividing Line here, which is being stepped over by some Bolsheviks who fall into compromise and allow themselves to be carried away by the course of events.


We shall fight, we are fighting against Kornilov, (Imperialist intrigue) just as Kerensky’s ( Assad’s) troops do, but we do not support Kerensky (Assad). On the contrary, we expose his weakness. There is the difference. It is rather a subtle difference, but it is highly essential and must not be forgotten.

What, then, constitutes our change of tactics after the Kornilov (Imperialist intrigue) revolt?


We are changing the form of our struggle against Kerensky. (Assad) Without in the least relaxing our hostility towards him, without taking back a single word said against him, without renouncing the task of overthrowing him, we say that we must take into account the present situation. We shall not overthrow Kerensky (Assad) right now. We shall approach the task of fighting against him in a different way, namely, we shall point out to the people (who are fighting against Kornilov) (Imperialist intrigue) Kerensky’s (Assad’s) weakness and vacillation. That has been done in the past as well. Now, however, it has become the all-important thing and this constitutes the change.


The change, further, is that the all-important thing now has become the intensification of our campaign for some kind of “partial demands” to be presented to Kerensky: arrest Milyukov, arm the Petrograd workers, summon the Kronstadt, Vyborg and Helsingfors troops to Petrograd, dissolve the Duma, arrest Rodzyanko, legalise the transfer of the landed estates to the peasants, introduce workers’ control over grain and factories, etc., etc.


We must present these demands not only to Kerensky, and not so much to Kerensky, (Assad) as to the workers, soldiers and peasants who have been carried away by the course of the struggle against Kornilov. (International intrigue) We must keep up their enthusiasm, encourage them to deal with the generals and officers who have declared for Kornilov, (International intrigue) urge them to demand the immediate transfer of land to the peasants, suggest to them that it is necessary to arrest Rodzyanko and Milyukov, dissolve the Duma, close down Rech and other bourgeois papers, and institute investigations against them. The “Left” S.R.s must be especially urged on in this direction.

[agnixie]

Glory to the national bourgeoisie, glory to national fascism, glory to my political football team no matter how uncommunist it is, so long as it prefers the bourgeois regimes of China and Russia to the bourgeois regimes of NATO. :rolleyes:

[Threetune]

Glory to the national bourgeoisie, glory to national fascism, glory to my political football team no matter how uncommunist it is, so long as it prefers the bourgeois regimes of China and Russia to the bourgeois regimes of NATO. :rolleyes:

You can always have another try when you’ve learned how to read the revolutionary theory offered to you. You might even attempt to refute it then with something resembling a critical assessment of your own, which would be a good thing, rather than simply steeling the imperialist’s second hand clothing which only makes you look like a clown.

I’m sorry you don’t feel able to argue an internationalist communist line within you middle class surroundings, but that really is no excuse for acting the fool out of frustration and ignorance. But don’t let me stop you; I enjoy watching a prankster doing a pratfall.

[agnixie]

You can always have another try when you’ve learned how to read the revolutionary theory offered to you. You might even attempt to refute it then with something resembling a critical assessment of your own, which would be a good thing, rather than simply steeling the imperialist’s second hand clothing which only makes you look like a clown.

I’m sorry you don’t feel able to argue an internationalist communist line within you middle class surroundings, but that really is no excuse for acting the fool out of frustration and ignorance. But don’t let me stop you; I enjoy watching a prankster doing a pratfall.

An internationalist communist line fights fascism, it doesn't call for the local working class to die for its preservation. It doesn't ally with it based on spurious claims that the whole opposition is asking for help from NATO (which has been demonstrated to be largely false)

[Leo]

The interview above is pure gold.


The opposition is portrayed as “peaceful” and “democratic”. That’s a lie. There are armed gangs in Syria roaming the streets. They are killing soldiers and police officers.Ah, the irony of a Palestinian activist whining about an opposition killing soldiers and police officers.

Funny, I remember others from the Middle East going on about how oppositions are killing soldiers and police officers, so how they are not in reality "peaceful" or "democratic" or whatever. Others such as the Israeli officials. "The Palestinians are portrayed as “peaceful” and “democratic”. That’s a lie. There are armed gangs in Israel roaming the streets. They are killing soldiers and police officers."


The Saudis are funding the armed groups that are terrorizing the Syrian people as we speak. They are also funding the so called “Syrian National Council”.Actually, Turkey is funding as well as militarily supporting the Syrian National Council, to such an extent that they openly give them bases in their territories and discretely they donate weapons. The same Turkish state which is a dear friend to Hamas.


I’m a democrat, I want to have democratic changes in Syria, and that is also what Al-Assad wants,Yes, no doubt, as much as a democrat as the Turkish or the Israeli governments, or as the Libyan or the French governments, as much as Saddam or Bush was a democrat.

This is democracy, this is nationalism, this is national liberation.

And as the leftists make idiotic analogies comparing Al Asad with Kerensky, or the situation in Syria with the Russian revolution, for all the real actors in the Middle East and their actual mouthpieces, it all comes down to this:


I was very pleased to see that Russia sent a fleet to the Mediterranean to protect Syria.Keep on cheering for the working masses of the Middle East, be they Palestinian or Jewish, Sunni or Shiite, Persian or Arab, Turkish or Kurdish to tear each others guts, all for the sake of the interests of the nationalist bourgeois butchers who rule over them and their greater imperialist allies.

[ckaihatsu]

http://wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/syri-f02.shtml


US, Russia clash over Washington’s war drive against Syria


By Chris Marsden
2 February 2012

The United States, France, Britain and the Arab League are pressing for the United Nations Security Council to adopt a resolution on Syria, while denying that the resolution is intended to pave the way for regime change and Western military intervention in Syria.

This is a lie. While the imperialist powers and their proxies are helping arm “rebel” forces that are fighting a deepening civil war in Syria, they are simultaneously trying to intimidate Russia and China, who oppose intervention, by casting them as responsible for the deepening bloodshed in Syria.

The resolution explicitly demands regime change, urging Assad to step down in favour of his deputy and prepare the way for multi-party elections.

Debate over the Arab League resolution has stalled, with Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, expected to veto it. Last night, diplomats at the UN leaving negotiations for the night said that “key differences” remained between the different countries.

In a propaganda offensive, one leading political figure after another has mixed demands for regime change with reassurances that no Libya-style operation to achieve this is under consideration.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stated that Assad's "reign of terror" would end, but claimed there was no intention "to pursue any kind of military intervention.”

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé called foreign intervention “a myth”.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, declared, “The resolution does not call for military action and could not be used to authorise it,” but then warned that, “measures will be considered by this council if there is not an immediate end to the violence.”

Moscow has rejected these assurances. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pointedly refused to attend the meeting. Clinton’s spokeswoman said he was unavailable when she called him to discuss the situation.

Lavrov warned that the resolution could lead to “another Libya”. If the opposition “refuses to sit at a negotiation table with the regime,” he asked, “what is the alternative? To bomb the regime? I’ve seen that before. I guarantee the Security Council will never approve this.”

Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, declared, “The international community should not be meddling in economic sanctions or through the use of military force.”

The Chinese Ambassador to the UN, Li Baodong, stated his opposition to “pushing for forced regime change in Syria, as it violates the United Nations Charter and the basic norms guiding the practice of international relations.”

The draft is presented as a proposal for a peaceful transfer of power, stating that the security council is “reaffirming its strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria, emphasising the need to resolve the current crisis in Syria peacefully, and stressing that nothing in this resolution compels states to resort to the use of force or the threat of force.”

But whereas it does not call for military intervention, neither is it excluded. Rather, it pledges “to review Syria’s implementation of this resolution within 15 days and, in the event that Syria has not complied, to adopt further measures, in consultation with the League of Arab States” [emphasis added].

It was the Arab League which provided the US with a casus belli against Libya when it sanctioned the establishment of a no-fly zone, leading to NATO bombings and military intervention.

That is why, yesterday, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s European Union envoy, reiterated the demand for the resolution to include “the most important thing: a clear clause ruling out the possibility that the resolution could be used to justify military intervention in Syrian affairs from outside.”

Behind the scenes, the US has made strenuous efforts to court Russia’s support. The Financial Times reported that, “Syrian opposition leaders have joined western and Arab officials in New York in pressuring Moscow. Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council, the main opposition group, met Russia’s UN ambassador on Monday, reassuring him that Russia’s interests would be preserved in a post-Assad era.”

The Russian government has until now refused US assurances on Syria.

Syria is Russia’s main ally in the region. It has defence and oil contracts with Damascus worth billions and its only Mediterranean base at the port of Tartus. Moreover, both Russia and China understand that efforts to depose Assad are only a way of isolating Washington’s main target, Iran, in an effort to secure undisputed hegemony over the oil riches of the Middle East and Caspian Basin.

This month, Moscow dispatched three warships to Tartus, including its only aircraft carrier. With the US, Britain and France having dispatched six warships to the Straits of Hormuz, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, after an Iranian threat to close the channel, the danger of a regional war could not be clearer.

Plans for military intervention in Syria are already proceeding.

The US is working with the Gulf States, led by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and Turkey to destabilize the Assad regime. The Free Syria Army (FSA) and its political backers in the Syrian National Council (SNC) are acting as a front for their military operations. In the run-up to the UN Security Council, the FSA escalated its offensive in neighborhoods of Damascus and the city of Hama.

The US media is openly debating whether the FSA should be armed by the Obama administration. CNN asked, “What kinds of assistance can and should the United States and its allies provide the FSA as part of an overall strategy of helping to achieve President Obama’s goal outlined last August to get Assad to ‘step aside’? Or should Washington subcontract that such support to regional allies…”

Nicholas Blandford wrote an article for the Christian Science Monitor, “Free Syrian Army: Better tool for toppling Syria’s Assad than UN?”

“Pushing for a UN resolution on Syria is one of the last steps the international community can take before mulling more seriously the military solution that some Syrian activists are openly advocating,” he states.

He cites “US-based Syrian activist Ammar Abdulhamid”—a representative of the neo-conservative Foundation for the Defense of Democracy—who argues that, “a UN resolution is no longer necessary, and might even be counterproductive… What is needed at this stage is the ability and willingness to provide the necessary materiel and logistical support to the rebels and to provide protest leaders with the training and advice necessary to lead the transitional period themselves.”

There is significant evidence of the US arming the FSA, with reports of unmarked NATO warplanes arriving at Iskenderun, near the Syrian border, delivering Libyan volunteers and weapons, and of US, French and British special-forces, providing training.

Turkey has made clear it backs a military solution. President Abbdullah Gull told Zaman on January 31 that Syria was now on a “path of no return.”

“The end is certain,” he said. If “authoritarian rulers” did not reform, “foreign intervention will be inevitable.”

Turkey is the base of operations for the SNC and the FSA. It is now offering itself as a home to Hamas, reportedly offering funding of up to $300 million. The top leadership of Hamas, a Sunni group originating in the Muslim Brotherhood, has already left Damascus. It has close ties to the Syrian opposition, which is also dominated by the Brotherhood.

Copyright © 1998-2012 World Socialist Web Site - All rights reserved

[Dunk]

What is Syrian labor doing to stop this? Can the labor unions of primary trade partners hold strikes? Are there transnational Arab labor organizations which could organize something like this? I imagine if there were, the possibility could exist that they could be effectively under the control of states, like similar organizations are elsewhere in the world.

[NoMasters]

What is Syrian labor doing to stop this? Can the labor unions of primary trade partners hold strikes? Are there transnational Arab labor organizations which could organize something like this? I imagine if there were, the possibility could exist that they could be effectively under the control of states, like similar organizations are elsewhere in the world.

The Syrian labor can do nothing to stop it. The government has cut off gas and electricity. If the labor force stops producing in anyway, the people will starve.

The situation in Syria is going to require a civil war and support for the Free Syrian Army is the only way the civilians can come out on top.

Quote me on this, "there will be over 50,000 deaths before Syria is freed from Assad"

[GoddessCleoLover]

Syria is also a country that is divided against itself on ethnic and religious lines, and much of the current struggle is between the ruling Alawite minority and the insurgent Sunni majority. There seem to be no good alternatives in Syria, but IMO the Assad regime ought to go in order to end the bloodshed. This ought not be read as an endorsement of NATO intervention.

[NoMasters]

Syria is also a country that is divided against itself on ethnic and religious lines, and much of the current struggle is between the ruling Alawite minority and the insurgent Sunni majority. There seem to be no good alternatives in Syria, but IMO the Assad regime ought to go in order to end the bloodshed. This ought not be read as an endorsement of NATO intervention.

Well it really isn't as sectarian as you think. That is propaganda.

The Kurdish minority has joined the FSA and support the opposition. There is also several hundred Alawites in the FSA as of now.

I wish Assad would do that.

But if no one minds me saying, I think they should behead the bastard like they did in the French Revolution for the King and Queen.

Also, idealistically I'd want the NATO to help, but that is just asking for Western exploitation...

[Dunk]

The Syrian labor can do nothing to stop it. The government has cut off gas and electricity. If the labor force stops producing in anyway, the people will starve.

The situation in Syria is going to require a civil war and support for the Free Syrian Army is the only way the civilians can come out on top.

Quote me on this, "there will be over 50,000 deaths before Syria is freed from Assad"


It's hard for me to believe that the revolutionary agent is powerless to stop the functioning of a state. I know I'm ignorant of the real situation inside Syria, I readily admit it. I have never had to suffer like that. But everything I know screams to me that if an indefinite mass strike inside and outside of Syria occurs, there is nothing that can really stop them except for complete obliteration by an invading force.

I'm unaware or who exactly in Syria is the opposition - is there sectarian factions - is their labor solidarity across sectarian divides, what is the deal - to anyone who knows more?

I'm assuming by now NATO has long since been funneling money, arms, and specops trainers to the section of the opposition most suited to their interests.

[NoMasters]

It's hard for me to believe that the revolutionary agent is powerless to stop the functioning of a state. I know I'm ignorant of the real situation inside Syria, I readily admit it. I have never had to suffer like that. But everything I know screams to me that if an indefinite mass strike inside and outside of Syria occurs, there is nothing that can really stop them except for complete obliteration by an invading force.

I'm unaware or who exactly in Syria is the opposition - is there sectarian factions - is their labor solidarity across sectarian divides, what is the deal - to anyone who knows more?

I'm assuming by now NATO has long since been funneling money, arms, and specops trainers to the section of the opposition most suited to their interests.

Yes in theory the strike would work, but the strike would only bring about economic band aids and would further infect the wounds of the people. Plus, the workers are the only thing keeping the Syrians alive at the moment, the government would take joy in the working class striking, it would allow him to destroy more buildings and kill more civilians by denying them food and water and basic necessities.

And the opposition is not sectarian in anyway. They might be Sunni in majority but it is probably representational in terms of population. They are more focused with bring change in the government and stopping the Assad regime from murdering people every day.

I don't think NATO has done that yet. I do believe that private arms dealers and private military companies are doing that though.

[gorillafuck]

the Syrian owned sandwich shop in my town was closed due to family emergencies today.

[Ocean Seal]

Quote me on this, "there will be over 50,000 deaths before Syria is freed from Assad"
Kind of like when Iraq was freed from Saddam. Neo-conservative propaganda is where its at.

[Os Cangaceiros]

al-Assad is a real prick, but right now he's actually losing the conflict, even though he's still in power in Syria. He'll continue losing as long as his country is partially ungovernable. Unless he takes a page out of his daddy's playbook turns Homs into Stalingrad I don't think it looks good for him...if even that will work. A lot of people have died thus far and resistance has continued.

Placing faith in some armed force basing itself out of Turkey is setting yourself up for disappointment, though. It'll just end up being a new set of douchebags who'll set off another round of mass executions and misery, similar (although not directly equivalent) to what happened in Libya. What a miserable world we live in.

[gorillafuck]

Placing faith in some armed force basing itself out of Turkey is setting yourself up for disappointment, though. It'll just end up being a new set of douchebags who'll set off another round of mass executions and misery, similar (although not directly equivalent) to what happened in Libya. What a miserable world we live in.how much of the resistance to Assad is based in turkey?

[Os Cangaceiros]

I believe that the FSA has benefited from Turkey allowing them to use some of their territory across the border from Syria to launch attacks from.

[Leftsolidarity]

I am actually completely and 100% confused on what the fuck is going on in Syria right now. I don't even know the basic fucking story.

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.marxist.com/syria-regime-is-shaking-elements-of-dual-power-emerge.htm


Syria: The regime is shaking - elements of dual power emerge


Written by Mousa Ladqani
Sunday, 29 January 2012

The Syrian revolution has entered a higher stage in the last few weeks. The number and size of demonstrations have reach record numbers, towns are falling under the control of the defected soldiers- including areas surrounding the capital Damascus, and embryonic forms of popular power are appearing on the stage in the form of popular councils.

After dying down for a period, the demonstrations in Syria have come back to a record level in terms of their size and geographical distribution. The Syrian Revolution 2011 facebook-page estimates the number of demonstrators to range from 3 to 5 million on Fridays and the number of locations to be in tens and hundreds covering the whole country. Most notable development is that the protests are becoming a daily phenomena in many areas. significantly the movement is expanding inside the two largest cities of the country, Damascus and Aleppo involving neighbourhoods likeAl-Mazeh in downtown Damascus and Salah Al-Din inside Aleppo.

The forces of the regime had not been able, after trying for weeks, to bring under their control areas such as Baba-Amrou in Homs City and Khan-Shekhun in the Idleb countryside. These failures of the Assad forces seem to have paved the way for the forces of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) to gain control of a resort town called Zabadani, only 45 away kilometres from Damascus. A few days later they scored a victory temporarily driving out the security forces of the regime in Douma, a suburb of Damascus. This definitely indicated a change in the balance of forces between the regime and the revolution.

The last two days have seen dramatic development. Intense fighting have been taken place all over Syria, most importantly around the capital Damascus, where the defected soldiers claim to have partial control over some areas only 8 kilometres from the presidential palace. Today, officer Maher Al-Na'imi, the spokesperson of the FSA, spoke to Al-Arabia TV said that the forces of the FSA have been strengthened and emboldened, and they continue to be strengthened with fresh daily splits in the armed forces. He mentioned that in the last few hours units stationed in the periphery of Damascus have defected with their military vehicles (tanks etc.). If confirmed this would be the first time soldiers defect with vehicles and heavy artillery.

Al-Na'imi threatened dire consequences if the regime does not stop its attack on the surrounding areas of Damascus or if the air force is used against the defected soldiers, reminding the regime that the presidential palace is within the reach of the FSA, only 8 Kilometers away. However, a military expert from Beirut explained that the regime is refraining from using the air force fearing that the air force itself might defect! Another expert speaking from Cairo made the point that two thirds of the Syrian Army is being kept in barracks for fear of immediate mass defection of they are deployed against the people. Al-Na'imi added that they had information that already around 1500 army officers are in jail due Syrian intelligence forces being to suspicious of their loyalties.

Many of these informations remain unconfirmed, but there are growing indications that they reflect the real situation on the ground. This would indicate a turning point in the Syrian revolution. The regime is frightened. Troops and tanks were heavily deployed inside Damascus for the first time today, and there are also reports of a number of explosions took place in the Abasi'yn square and Al-Sabeh Bahrat square in Damascus. Also, the road to the Damascus International Airport was cut off for a few hours apparently due to skirmishes between the Assad forces and FSA. In parallel, the regime deployed its thugs in mass numbers in Aleppo after mass demonstrations broke out in neighbourhoods such as Salah Al-Din and Al-Fourdos. It was reported that scuffles broke out with demonstrators fighting back with stones and their bare hands. One of the regime thugs was reportedly killed by demonstrators and a security bus was wrecked.

In addition to what seems as a rapid collapse of the forces of the regime in the last hours, interesting news have come from the town of Zabadani. For many weeks there has been news of the formation of popular committees and revolutionary councils in areas like Dar'aa, Homs, Der Al-Zor and Idleb, but no concrete details have been available on this matter. Today we saw a glimpse of this process for the first time with a declaration coming from "The Free Local Council in Zabadani". This declaration is translated in the following paragraph as we received it:


"The Free Local Council in Zabadani:

Having lived in freedom for two months after its youths repelled the violent attack of the Assad gangs aimed at destroying it and sabotaging it, and after persisting in standing in the face of any possible attack upon it, Al-Zabadani sought to build its own democratic experience...........The people of the town gathered to set up an election system based on family affiliation so that each 1000 citizen get one seat. The families agreed to form groups of around 1000 people each, and all components and sects of society participated in the process, most notably the Christians, where a priest delivered a touching speech in the constituent assembly.........each family or group of families were asked to elect a representativesfor each of their 1000 members and a general commission was formed, out of which 60 ran for the election of the local council resulting in the formation of a council of 28 members distributed on a number of offices. They elected a president and a secretary and formed a number of offices: political bureau, financial bureau, health and rescue bureau, military and security council, administration and general services bureau. The council and the offices have assumed their duties and the general strike has seized. [apparently there had been an ongoing general strike in the area - ML] The school have reopened their doors and the new flags have been raised, saluted every morning together with slogans for the fall of Bashar Al-Assad and his miserable criminal regime. The Imams of the mosques were replaced by ones belonging to the people and committed to the revolution. A special branch for security and investigations, popular tribunals, and a detention center were formed.....the vehicles of the Free Army put on their special plates and started patrolling and forming groups to control and watch for any potential hostile forces. Committees record the entrance and exit of strangers. Everyone is participating is a massive workshop to prepare what is needed to repel an potential attack, including military, food, and health needs, and also to accommodate refugees asking for safety from the brutality of Shabiha (thugs) and their regime. Also, to provide supplies other ruined cities and villages and help them to be liberated. The city council appointed by the regime was prohibited under the penalty of detention and trial of any authority that does not come to exist based on free elections. The streets and squares were renamed by the names of the dignified martyrs. The clinic of the opposition figure, Dr. Kamal Labawani, was chosen as the centre for the free city council since it is located by the major mosque in the old commercial city centre where demonstrations start and where the first martyrs fell. Democracy is a new experience and a new born baby that needs attention and everyone knows that they are lacking experience and culture of democracy, and that it is necessary to move to the system of parties. But first an atmosphere of freedom is necessary for different party point of views to form and crystallize.....It is a start, and a successful start if God wills. We want it to be the beginning of the liberation of all lands and people of the homeland who are dear heroes deserving all good, respect and support......and God will bring success........"


What we are seeing in Zabadani is obviously the emergence of an alternative power. The regime no longer has any means of asserting its authority and the masses have created their own democratically elected organs of power. In each and every revolution in the history of capitalism, starting with the Paris commune of 1871, such forms of council power have appeared. In Russian they were called "soviets". They formed the basis for the revolutionary government after the 1917 revolution and thus the "Soviet Union". Similar councils have also appeared in the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions. It is unclear if similar councils have developed to the same extent in other areas of Syria but it is likely. Also, Zabadani has become a focal point of attention for the struggling masses throughout Syria. It is therefore likely that other places will be inspired by it and follow its example. These councils mean the beginning of a situation of dual power, at least at a local level. If these was to develop at a higher level the days of the regime would be over.

Unfortunately, the petty-bourgeois opposition politicians who have appointed themselves as "leaders" of the people, never believe or trust the masses. More concretely, they are afraid of the independent movement of the masses as it threatens their own "leadership" position. Still, after seeing these marvellous development and the iron determination of the masses, the Syrian National Council (SNC), and the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution (GCSR)are both calling for foreign intervention to save the revolution from being militarized! At a time when the masses are taking the initiative and arming themselves, creating their own power, these gentlemen of the liberal opposition are appealing for "peace," an appeal which amounts to leaving the people unarmed in the face of brutal military repression.

Things are moving quickly. It is difficult to gauge precisely the stage the movement is at. What is clear to many activists in Syria is that there is no turning back. The developing dual power in Zabadani and other places can only be resolved in one of two ways: either the masses seize the initiative boldly, or the regime smashes the movement in blood.

The demands of the day are:

• A national general strike must be called immediately. Occupy work places, factories, and offices. Paralyze what remains of the power of the regime.

• It is time for a general armed insurrection. Mobilize the free soldiers. Arm the masses. Appeal to the ranks and lower officers of the Army to defect and join the revolutionary people. It is time to take Damascus. March on Versailles.

• No to foreign intervention. The Syrian masses can and must complete the job themselves. Denounce the political leaders who keep sewing illusions among the people. The masses are more than capable of overthrowing Assad.

• From workers councils in all factories and workplaces.

• Democratically elected councils in every neighbourhood. Link revolutionary councils from all villages, towns, cities and workplaces in a democratically elected national council of representatives expressing the will of the people and the interests of the revolution. Down with impotent and bankrupt SNC and GCRS. For a revolutionary government based on committees of workers, farmers and youth.

[NoMasters]

Kind of like when Iraq was freed from Saddam. Neo-conservative propaganda is where its at.

Yeah similar situations.... :rolleyes:

Haha it is totally different. The FSA will free their people from Assad hopefully.

How is that neoconservative propaganda?

[ckaihatsu]

---








During a visit Saturday by some of the Arab League monitors, residents could not hide their joy that Zabadani has, at least for now, become what they are hailing as a “liberated city,” the first since the armed rebel force began taking shape in the fall.

“It’s similar to Benghazi,” said Suleiman Tinawi, a sergeant who defected from the army and joined the rebels eight months ago, reflecting a widely held hope that Zabadani will serve a role similar to that of the eastern Libyan city from which rebels launched the war that toppled Moammar Gaddafi, with the help of NATO air support.

“But it’s not the same,” he said. “We can’t get weapons, and we don’t have help. We need a no-fly zone.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrias-zabadani-liberated-but-for-how-long/2012/01/21/gIQAMhDYGQ_story.html

[ckaihatsu]

Pentagon plans US-backed war against Syria

http://wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/syri-f10.shtml

[Os Cangaceiros]

Syrian general assassinated in Damascus

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h56tmG1AzTrmRqFYQMz5p3x1rAEg?docId=9fd5188af 14841499daaff0edce0a46b

[Sidthekid]

I have a question. In the rush to see that syria doesn't turn out like another libya, conquered by western imperialists and their native stooges, is the left backing out on extending support to a genuinely democratic and popular revolt against Mr.Assad? I'm quite aware of the importance of syria in halting several attempts to consolidate their already considerable control of the middle east by the western powers, but if the mass of syrian people want Assad to step down and are braving bullets for that very reason, is it fair for the left to diss such a revolt? Afterall, the population of syria has a right to choose their leaders, even though they mightn't be the people the left hoped for.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Personally I think that the situation there is complex, it's not simply a matter of an unsupported state going apeshit on their citizens. I think that al-Assad still has a good deal of support, esp. in areas like Damascus and Aleppo, although I think it has diminished since the beginning of hostilities. Likewise I think that the Syrian opposition aren't "angels", as their sometimes portrayed in western media...they're are definitely elements in the opposition who just want to become the new Assad. Whenever you take a strongman figure like Assad out of the picture, you have the real risk of filling that vacuum with just another power-hungry asshole.

However the characterization of the opposition as the result of some western conspiracy is laughable (such as the article posted here a while back accusing the unrest solely on foreign fighters from Lebanon)...the first signs of unrest started around the same general time that other protests in the middle east did, from Tunisia and Egypt (January & February) to Bahrain (February) and Libya (February 17th). The stated impetus for all the protests were basically the same: the fact that certain groups in all these countries didn't appreciate having a boot on their necks, additionally exacerbated by things like rising food prices. Of course these things were also additionally filtered through the unique national situations of the given countries, for example in Bahrain it was a predominantly Shia movement against an entrenched Sunni ruling class, while in Libya there was a much more complex situation regarding the clan system etc.

[ckaihatsu]

I have a question. In the rush to see that syria doesn't turn out like another libya, conquered by western imperialists and their native stooges, is the left backing out on extending support to a genuinely democratic and popular revolt against Mr.Assad? I'm quite aware of the importance of syria in halting several attempts to consolidate their already considerable control of the middle east by the western powers, but if the mass of syrian people want Assad to step down and are braving bullets for that very reason, is it fair for the left to diss such a revolt? Afterall, the population of syria has a right to choose their leaders, even though they mightn't be the people the left hoped for.


Besides being in agreement with ES here, I'll note that the situation in Syria is wholly intractable without a movement from below that's broad-based *and* politically focused enough to challenge hegemonic rule across the entire Middle East and North Africa -- it's similar to the intractable dilemma that faces U.S. (etc.) voters every four years, "having" to vote for "the lesser evil". Obviously there's never going to be appropriate political representation from the likes of one millionaire or another in the U.S., Mubarak or the SCAF in Egypt, Gadaffi or the NTC in Libya, or Assad or the SNC in Syria, etc.

Obviously this is something of a novel situation for the (revolutionary) left since there haven't been any mass insurrectionary movements from recent memory that demand ongoing attention in realtime. The time pressure component indicates that "we" are in something of the driver's seat here, and that we need to know what our political priorities are in terms of the real-world situation.

- Should we want, and call for, Assad to be out of power immediately if that *also* necessarily creates a power vacuum and causes the door to open to NATO invasion -- ? I argue that we should *not* call for the nation to become destabilized if it only invites predation from above.

- Should we support Assad unconditionally as Syria's "strongman" -- similarly to Obama in the U.S. -- even if that means that potential populist uprisings in Syria will be crushed by government forces -- ? No, of course not *unconditionally*, but unless there *is* a genuinely revolutionary movement on the ground that can both *displace* and *replace* Assad's rule in a single stroke, we should instead practice a leftist sort of "realpolitik" -- if you will -- and call for a nationalist united front against NATO predation, as a priority, with internal domestic matters of power to necessarily, unfortunately, take a back-seat for the time being.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Interesting article by Wallerstein

http://www.iwallerstein.com/syrian-impasse/

[ckaihatsu]

Interesting article by Wallerstein

http://www.iwallerstein.com/syrian-impasse/


Wallerstein's entire line here is problematic, for several reasons -- overall it amounts to betting on at-rest inertia winning out, here in this current period of historic world economic instability that promises to only *increase* -- for potential revolutionary gains as well as geopolitical chaos.





[T]he U.S. government has “no appetite for a military intervention.”


How would the U.S. just suddenly halt its grand crusade through the Middle East when it still has more countries on its shit list, culminating with Iran and China -- ? Remember, please, that 'War is the health of the state'. The U.S. has had a solid trajectory of *increasing* its militarism through recent decades as its economic position has steadily eroded. It is not about to bring all of that to an inexplicably sudden halt.





[Obama and his advisors] were pressured into the Libyan operation. The U.S. didn’t lose many lives, but did they really gain geopolitical advantage as a result?


This "aw shucks" posture is absolutely *infuriating*, and even a *casual observer* of recent world events would know better -- the U.S. has hardly been *lagging* in its participation within NATO.

Libya's oil stakes have now been nicely divided up, as was Iraq's, and the U.S. has now claimed more territory encircling Iran.





The bottom line is that, however loud the rhetoric and however ugly the civil war, no one really, really wants Assad to go. So, in all probability, he will stay.


Geopolitical turbulence is only *increasing* and we're only seeing more and more of a pre-WWI geopolitical atmosphere taking shape, with concomitant (neo-)colonialism on the rise as the major powers turn to old-fashioned territorialism in lieu of a neater, cleaner inter-imperialist competition through the proxy of sound *economic* valuations.

[Lisboa]

I truly recommend this video

hk1sLqfWdVw

[ckaihatsu]

The Egyptian junta of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) helped to prepare the imperialist war against Libya. SCAF reportedly supplied arms to the Western-backed Libyan rebels in coordination with Washington, even before NATO forces officially began to bomb Libya on March 19. As the US is preparing a military confrontation with Syria, Washington is again requesting the services of the Egyptian junta.

As before the war against Libya, the junta is not officially calling for foreign intervention—due to widespread hostility against imperialist wars in the Egyptian masses—but it is supporting the US-led isolation of the Syrian regime of President Bashar Al-Assad. On Sunday Egypt removed its ambassador to Syria, a step immediately applauded by the US government. This came shortly after the pro-Western regimes in Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia cut their diplomatic ties with Damascus.

http://wsws.org/articles/2012/feb2012/useg-f23.shtml

[R_P_A_S]

I truly recommend this video

hk1sLqfWdVw


poor idiot.. she's makes good points but she's smoking some shit.

[Comrade Samuel]

Can't wait to see that bastard assad's head on a stick. Its sickening to think that edtrocities like this can just continue for weeks and the U.N either can't or chooses not to do anything to stop it. It's like the league of nations all over again, absolutely worthless.

[ckaihatsu]

poor idiot.. she's makes good points but she's smoking some shit.


Keep in mind that she's essentially a Syrian patriot (nationalist) at heart -- her analysis is *in defense* of her homeland.

She says things like "the plan of the powers-that-be is to reduce the population of the earth" and "Israel is living off of steam, and one day that bubble is going to pop". These are hyperbolic kinds of statements but they come from the right place.

[Imposter Marxist]

Syria is currently commiting a masscare against the proletarians of that country. What kind of communists would we be if we opposed something putting a stop to that. I don't ever agree with imperialism, but, in this case perhaps some sanctions and some UN peace keepers might help the working class.

[R_P_A_S]

Keep in mind that she's essentially a Syrian patriot (nationalist) at heart -- her analysis is *in defense* of her homeland.

She says things like "the plan of the powers-that-be is to reduce the population of the earth" and "Israel is living off of steam, and one day that bubble is going to pop". These are hyperbolic kinds of statements but they come from the right place.

I get it too.. that she's a patriot.. however she's not denouncing Bashar at all. She's a patriot to Bashar and not to Syria.. I'm not a patriot to no country techincally I should be a patriot to Mexico and the USA but i don't care if "my president" and it's government are killing innocents and oppressing people.. FUCK THEM and their government.

[ckaihatsu]

I get it too.. that she's a patriot.. however she's not denouncing Bashar at all. She's a patriot to Bashar and not to Syria..


No, as I recall from watching the video she's expressing a concern for her homeland of Syria. If she's relatively silent on Assad's rule I myself have *no problem* with that for the moment:





[We should] call for a nationalist united front against NATO predation, as a priority, with internal domestic matters of power to necessarily, unfortunately, take a back-seat for the time being.





I'm not a patriot to no country techincally I should be a patriot to Mexico and the USA but i don't care if "my president" and it's government are killing innocents and oppressing people.. FUCK THEM and their government.


Absolutely.

Technically / actually we should (almost) *all* be revolutionaries, and not patriots, because we have far more interests in common as a class than we do as arbitrarily-born denizens of one geographic area or another.

[GoddessCleoLover]

Where is the Syrian working class in all of this? Which side are they on?

[R_P_A_S]

I know a couple Syrian guys. I work with one.. One is of Bashar's Islamic sect. (Alowatte???) and one is Sunni.. they both agree that Syrians are pretty much brainwashed and paranoid of ANYONE... there have been cases where brothers turn on brothers if they hear they "denounce Bashar".. it's really hard to get anyone to speak up against the government as they are used to having spies and secret police in every aspect of society.. One of the cheers even goes..

GOD, SYRIA AND BASHAR IS ALL WE WANT.
WITH our blood and our souls we'll defend Bashar.. yaaaaa

[ckaihatsu]

---








Imperialism can exist only because there are backward nations on our planet, colonial and semi-colonial countries. The struggle of these oppressed peoples for national unity and independence has a twofold progressive character, since, on the one hand, it prepares favorable conditions of development for their own use, and on the other, it strikes blows at imperialism. Hence, in part, the conclusion that in a war between a civilized imperialist democratic republic and the backward barbarian monarchy of a colonial country, the socialists will be entirely on the side of the oppressed country, notwithstanding its monarchy, and against the oppressor country, notwithstanding its “democracy”.




... I'll make the simplest and most striking example. Brazil is dominated by a semi-fascist regime to which every revolutionary can not treat differently, than with hatred.

Assume, however, that tomorrow England enters into a military conflict
with Brazil.

I ask you, whose side will be in this conflict the world working class? Answer for myself: I will in this case be on the side of "Fascist" Brazil against "democratic" Great Britain.

Why? Because the conflict between them will not be about democracy and fascism. If England wins, she will plant in Rio de Janeiro some other fascist to impose a double chain on Brazil. Conversely, if Brazil wins, it will give a mighty impulse to national and democratic consciousness of the country and lead to the overthrow of the Vargas dictatorship. The defeat of England will cause at the same time a blow to British imperialism and will give an impetus to the revolutionary movement of the British proletariat.

You need to have a truly empty head, to reduce global antagonisms and military conflicts to the struggle between fascism and democracy. Under all masks one must be able to distinguish between the exploiters,
slaveholders and predators!


How do you find a position on a country without a workers movement?

http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2367658&postcount=1

[ckaihatsu]

Building on my position from post #169, I'll note that the uprisings in Syria seem fairly geographically constrained, and that, because of the imperialist opportunism hanging overhead, any more intra-Syrian insurrections are simply only going to play into a civil war that weakens the country and ripens it for the plucking by NATO.

I would liken the situation to one of building too narrowly high, too fast -- a *broader-based* pan-MENA political movement infrastructure is what's needed now, instead of seeing various *nation*-based struggles circumscribed by national borders and easily contained, or turning backward into colonies for the West.

[derg]

I know a couple Syrian guys. I work with one.. One is of Bashar's Islamic sect. (Alowatte???) and one is Sunni.. they both agree that Syrians are pretty much brainwashed and paranoid of ANYONE... there have been cases where brothers turn on brothers if they hear they "denounce Bashar".. it's really hard to get anyone to speak up against the government as they are used to having spies and secret police in every aspect of society.. One of the cheers even goes..

GOD, SYRIA AND BASHAR IS ALL WE WANT.
WITH our blood and our souls we'll defend Bashar.. yaaaaa

Why is this chant so unbelievable to you? Bashar is still relatively popular in much of the country. They are not brainwashed

[Os Cangaceiros]

The shelling/bombardment has moved on from Homs to other Syrian cities it seems.

[Os Cangaceiros]

A car bomb has hit Syria (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria)'s second city, Aleppo, a day after 27 people were killed when blasts rocked Damascus.

The car bombing came as security forces arrested and beat activists at a rare anti-government protest in the centre of the capital.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/18/syrian-city-hit-car-bomb

[ckaihatsu]

In Defence of the Syrian Revolution: The Marxist position on the revolution and Assad’s so-called “anti-imperialism” – Part One

http://www.marxist.com/in-defence-of-the-syrian-revolution-the-marxist-perspective.htm


In Defence of the Syrian Revolution: The Marxist position on the revolution and Assad’s so-called “anti-imperialism” – Part Two

http://www.marxist.com/in-defence-of-the-syrian-revolution-the-marxist-perspective-2.htm

[ckaihatsu]

ridiculous article.. how is it THE marxist position..


Are you asking *me*, or are you just kind of "putting it out there" -- ?

[ckaihatsu]

This report indicates that the FSA is anything but grassroots....





A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, one of the main US-sponsored groups, [...]




http://wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/syri-m20.shtml

[Os Cangaceiros]

god, whenever Hillary Clinton talks about Syria I throw up a little bit in my mouth. It's almost enough to make one sympathize with Assad. :rolleyes:

[Os Cangaceiros]

hmm, a little while ago I would've said that Assad looked pretty good as far as the victor of the conflict in Syria went, not so sure now. Seems the situation has slipped out of his control in several areas according to what I've seen in the news, including an increasingly volatile situation in Damascus...

[ckaihatsu]

---





[T]he equipment will also enable [the Free Syrian Army] to conduct more effective terrorist attacks against both government targets and civilian populations perceived as supporting the government. It will also allow them to receive actionable intelligence from US military and intelligence, including from drones deployed over Syrian territory.

These actions came in the immediate wake of the announcement by United Nations Syria envoy and former secretary general Kofi Annan that the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad had agreed to a six-point peace plan calling for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of the army from population centers, and a negotiated political settlement of the country’s year-old conflict.

The hiring and bribing by outside powers of Syrians to carry out armed attacks on government forces, together with the US provision of equipment designed to make these attacks more lethal, is clearly aimed at derailing any UN effort at achieving a so-called “soft landing” in Syria.




“Friends of Syria”—the antechamber of a wider Mideast war

http://wsws.org/articles/2012/apr2012/pers-a04.shtml

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] Pepe Escobar on War Against Syria


We Want War, And We Want It Now


By Pepe Escobar http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31011.htm

April 06, 2012 "Asia Times" -- It was deep into the night, somewhere over Siberia, in a Moscow to Beijing flight (BRIC to BRIC?) when the thought, like a lightning bolt, began to take hold.

What the hell is wrong with those Arabs?

Maybe it was the narcotic effect of that perennially dreadful Terminal F at Sheremetyevo airport - straight out of a Brejnev gulag. Maybe it was the anticipation of finding more about the Russia-China joint naval exercise scheduled for late April.

Or it was simply another case of "you can take the boy out of the Middle East, but you can't take the Middle East out of the boy".

With friends like these ...

It all had to do with that Friends of Syria (fools for war?) meeting in Istanbul. Picture Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal - who seems to have a knack for sending US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton into rapture - feverishly arguing that the House of Saud, those paragons of democracy, had "a duty" to weaponize the Syrian "revolutionary" opposition.

And picture al-Faisal ordering an immediate ceasefire by the Bashar al-Assad government, guilty - according to the House of Saud - not only of cruel repression but crimes against humanity.

No; this was not a Monty Python sketch.

To make sure he was milking the right cow, al-Faisal also said that the Gulf Counter-revolution Club (GCC), also known as Gulf Cooperation Council, wanted to get further into bed with the United States. Translation, if any was needed; the US-GCC tag team, as expressed by the weaponization of the Syrian "rebels", is meant to body slam Iran.

For both the House of Saud and Qatar (the other GCCs are just extras), what's goin' on in Syria is not about Syria; it's always been about Iran.

This especially applies to the Saudi pledge to flood the global oil market with a spare oil production capacity that any self-respecting oil analyst knows they don't have - or rather wouldn't use; after all, the House of Saud badly needs high oil prices to bribe its restive eastern province population into not even thinking about that Arab Spring nonsense.

Clinton got the pledge from the House of Saud in person, before landing in Istanbul. Washington's return gift was of the Pentagon kind; the GCC soon will be protected from "evil" Iran by a US-supplied missile shield. That implies that an attack on Iran may have been discarded for 2012 - but it's certainly "on the table" for 2013.

Asian nations - especially BRICS members China and India - will keep buying oil from Iran; the problem is what the European poodles will do. Other real problems are that the Kurds in northern Iraq are taking their oil off the market until Baghdad pays them the share they had agreed upon. And then there are Syria's 400,000 barrels a day, which have been dwindling over the past few months.

Still, the Saudis will keep playing the make-believe oil scenario as a gift to Washington - as the US pressures compliant European Union poodle economies and extremely wary Asians they have no reason to keep buying Iranian oil.

But then into this mess in Istanbul Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki - whose power is a direct consequence of Washington's invasion and destruction of Iraq - steps in with quite a bang.

Here it is, in his own words:

We reject any arming [of Syrian rebels] and the process to overthrow the [Assad] regime, because this will leave a greater crisis in the region ... The stance of these two states [Qatar and Saudi Arabia] is very strange ... They are calling for sending arms instead of working on putting out the fire, and they will hear our voice, that we are against arming and against foreign interference ... We are against the interference of some countries in Syria's internal affairs, and those countries that are interfering in Syria's internal affairs will interfere in the internal affairs of any country ... It has been one year and the regime did not fall, and it will not fall, and why should it fall?"
Maliki knows very well that the ongoing and already escalating weaponizing of Sunni Syrians - many of the Salafi and jihadi kind - will inevitably spill over into Iraq itself, and threaten his Shi'ite-majority government. And that irrespective of the fact that his administration supports the close Iran-Syria relationship.

Maliki, by the way, was back in power in the autumn of 2010 because Tehran deftly intervened to make sure the Sadrists would support him. To add to Maliki's anger, Qatar is refusing to extradite Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, accused of masterminding a pro-Sunni coup d'etat in Baghdad.

How green was my jihad valley
So Washington is now merrily embarking in a remix of the 1980s Afghan jihad - which, as every grain of sand from the Hindu Kush to Mesopotamia knows, led to that ghostly entity, al-Qaeda, and the subsequent, transformer "war on terror".

The House of Saud and Qatar have institutionalized that motley crew known as the Free Syrian Army as a mercenary outfit; they are now on their payroll, to the tune of $100 million (and counting). Isn't democracy wonderful - when US-allied Persian Gulf monarchies can buy a mercenary army for peanuts? Isn't it great to be a revolutionary with an assured paycheck?

Not missing a beat, Washington has set up its own fund as well, for "humanitarian" assistance to Syria and "non-lethal" aid to the "rebels"; "non-lethal" as in ultra battle-ready satellite communications equipment, plus night-vision goggles. Clinton's silky spin was that the equipment would allow the "rebels" to "evade" attacks by the Syrian government. No mention that now they have access to actionable US intelligence via a swarm of drones deployed all over Syria.

Maliki can clearly see the writing on the (Sunni) wall. The House of Saud invaded Shi'ite-majority Bahrain to protect the extremely unpopular Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty in power - their "cousins". Maliki knows that a post-Assad Syria would mean Muslim Brotherhood Sunnis in power - sprinkled with Salafi-jihadis. In his worst nightmare, Maliki sees this possible dystopian future as an al-Qaeda in Iraq remix on steroids.

So this is what the Istanbul-based "Friends of Syria" bash turned into; a shameless legitimizing - by Arabs allied with the US - of civil war in yet another Arab country. The victims will be average Syrians caught in the crossfire.

This US-GCC weaponizing entirely dissolves the United Nations Syria envoy and former secretary general Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan. The plan calls for a ceasefire; for the Syrian government to "cease troop movements" and "begin pullback of military concentrations"; and for a negotiated political settlement.

There will be no ceasefire. The Assad government accepted the plan. The weaponized "rebels" rejected it. Imagine the Syrian government beginning the "pullback of military concentrations" while swarms of weaponized "rebels" and assorted mercenaries (from Libya, Lebanon and Iraq) keep deploying their torture tactics and launching a barrage of improvised explosive devices.

I landed in Beijing eager to learn more about the upcoming joint Russia-China naval exercise in the Yellow Sea, but instead I was stuck with a Henry Kissinger op-ed in the Washington Post. [1] Here it is, in Dr K's own words:
The Arab Spring is widely presented as a regional, youth-led revolution on behalf of liberal democratic principles. Yet Libya is not ruled by such forces; it hardly continues as a state. Neither is Egypt, whose electoral majority (possibly permanent) is overwhelmingly Islamist. Nor do democrats seem to predominate in the Syrian opposition.

The Arab League consensus on Syria is not shaped by countries previously distinguished by the practice or advocacy of democracy. Rather, it largely reflects the millennium-old conflict between Shi'ite and Sunni and an attempt to reclaim Sunni dominance from a Shi'ite minority. It is also precisely why so many minority groups, such as Druzes, Kurds and Christians, are uneasy about regime change in Syria.
Well, China scholar Dr K at least got this one right (and in total agreement with Maliki, no less). A full-fledged mercenary army paid for by autocrat Arabs to overthrow an Arab government is pure and simple regime change - US rhetoric about "democracy" and "freedom" notwithstanding. It's all about classic, imperial divide and rule, profiting from pitting Sunnis against Shi'ites.

And then my divine roasted duck revealed to me that realpolitik stalwart Dr K is not getting much traction in Washington these days.

Note
1. See here.

[smk]

What percentage of syrians support the FSA? I've heard many reports that they are funded by western governments such as the US, which may mean they are working for other bosses besides the people of syria.
how many syrians support US/NATO intervention?

[Zostrianos]

This is what the rebels are doing to non Muslims in Syria, terrorizing and killing them. They raped tortured and murdered a girl who was denounced by her own brother as a witch:

http://wildhunt.org/2013/03/the-fall-of-a-syrian-pagan.html

“What happened to her is so ugly I’m struggling to … I can’t even finish that sentence. I’ll just tell you what I have learned, and although I trust this source, there is no way for me to independently confirm this. Some time in late June, Yana’s brother, who had become radicalized, informed the rebels that his sister was a Pagan. They took her, tortured her, then her brother publicly denounced her as a whore and a witch. After that, she was drug out onto the street, raped, and killed.

[ckaihatsu]

Ex-hostage - 'Local helped me escape from Syrian rebels' (RT EXCLUSIVE)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dn_9mGOfMA

[TheGodlessUtopian]

The Syrian government has launched vigorous counteroffensives against recent gains by the imperialist-backed rebels across that country. Intense fighting has been reported in neighborhoods of Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, in the north. In the south, near the Jordanian border, the Syrian army has moved to push back the contra rebels while sharp fighting goes on along the Lebanese border.
The pro-imperialist media have promoted gains by the contras over the past two years while giving subsequent reversals less coverage. Only in the past weeks has it become clear that the contra rebels have received massive airlifts of weapons since December, all coordinated by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA has also been exposed as running a military training camp for rebels in northern Jordan, sending hundreds of fighters against the Syrian government.
The weaknesses of the political opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad continue to worry the U.S., Britain and the other Western imperialist powers seeking its overthrow. At an April 10 meeting of the G-8 nations, France and Britain pushed to end the European Union arms embargo to both Syria and the rebels.
Meanwhile, Middle Eastern monarchies subservient to the Western powers have not been bound by this embargo and carry on huge arms shipments aiming to overthrow the Syrian government. While the imperialist nations plot their attack on Syria, “the Syrian National Coalition [the opposition front] will be present on the sidelines.” (guardian.co.uk, April 10)
In an embarrassment for the imperialists, the al-Nusra Front militia in Syria announced that it is officially in alliance with al-Qaida. The United States has been pushing the idea of supporting more “moderate” Syrian factions. However, Moaz al-Khatib, president of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, “called on the U.S. to reconsider its decision to list Jabhat al-Nusra as a foreign terrorist organization.” (guardian.co.uk)
In the end, the destruction of the nationalist Assad government is more important to U.S. imperialism and its allies than establishing a stable regime of any sort in Syria. The examples of Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan all expose the mayhem of imperialist intervention. No viable national government replaced the overturned regimes in those countries.
Will the fighting spread beyond Syria? The open interference of Turkey, Jordan and forces in Lebanon in the fighting in Syria already threaten to spread to those nations. Syrian TV, radio and newspapers have warned Jordan and Turkey that they “could not claim neutrality while actively supporting the insurgents” and “it is difficult to prevent sparks from crossing the border” (New York Times, April 5).
Washington is also aware that their “problem” in Syria is not just getting rid of President Assad. In testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, James R. Clapper Jr., who is director of national intelligence for the Obama administration, told the committee that fighting would probably continue in Syria for a year or more even if the government were overturned. Powerful peoples’ militias throughout the nation “would fight to the death” against the contra rebels, according to testimony of Robert S. Ford, U.S. ambassador to Syria (New York Times, April 12).
On April 20, the “Friends of Syria” group of 11 nations, headed by the U.S., European imperialists and puppet regimes in the region, will meet in Istanbul to ponder how to increase military and political support to their agents inside Syria. The people of Syria, for their part, continue to suffer death and destruction, fighting on to maintain a government independent of the imperialist powers.

Source: http://www.workers.org/2013/04/15/syrian-counteroffensive-challenges-imperialists-plans/

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news


U.S. takes step toward possible military intervention in Syria

17 Apr 2013

The Pentagon is sending about 200 troops to Jordan, the vanguard of a potential U.S. military force of 20,000 or more that could be deployed if the Obama administration decides to intervene in Syria to secure [alleged] chemical weapons arsenals or to prevent the 2-year-old civil war from spilling into neighboring nations. Troops from the 1st Armored Division will establish a small headquarters near Jordan's border with Syria to help deliver humanitarian supplies for a growing flood of refugees and to plan for possible military operations, including a rapid buildup of American forces if the White House decides intervention is necessary, senior U.S. officials said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-us-jordan-troops-20130418,0,7018059.story

[ckaihatsu]

US to give $123 million military aid package to Syrian rebels

http://rt.com/news/friends-syria-istanbul-us-152/

[Flying Purple People Eater]

This is what the rebels are doing to non extremist sunni Muslims in Syria.

Fixed for you. I would link to visual evidence in the form videos directly from Syria of Shia and other moderate sunni muslims being decapitated by ten year olds with the help of their fucking nazi parents if I wouldn't be banned for it outright here.

[Geiseric]

Fixed for you. I would link to visual evidence in the form videos directly from Syria of Shia and other moderate sunni muslims being decapitated by ten year olds with the help of their fucking nazi parents if I wouldn't be banned for it outright here.

Not all of the rebels are like that, I hope you realize this. If Assad actually used chemical weapons you can expect a whole lot more people to want to chop heads off. This conflict started with him going Nicholai II on some protesters.

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] Cartalucci/Lendman: US promotes "wmd" stories on chemical weapons Vs. Syria


US Unveils Iraq WMD “Curveball-Style” Lies Vs. Syria By Tony Cartalucci

25 April 2013 — Land Destroyer http://williambowles.info/2013/04/26/us-unveils-iraq-wmd-curveball-style-lies-vs-syria-by-tony-cartalucci/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+williambowles%2FKJFu+%28Willi amBowles.info+Investigating+the+new+imperialism%29

As NATO terror front collapses in Syria, US attempts to justify intervention by drumming up familiar WMD lies.

April 25, 2013 “Information Clearing House” -”LD” – The last two weeks have seen a series of victories for the Syrian Army across Syria. It appears that 2 full companies of so-called “Free Syrian Army” fighters have been annihilated near Damascus, while government forces have restored order in parts of Homs and along the previously porous Lebanese-Syrian border.

Time has run out for the West, and it appears that they are desperately seeking any excuse to rescue their failing proxy war. When urgent, but otherwise unjustified military intervention is needed, a “humanitarian” pretext is usually invented – as it was in Libya. Failing that, as the West has already clearly done in Syria, an even more tenuous narrative has been resurrected from its well-earned grave. CNN has reported in their article, “Hagel: Evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria,” that:

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Thursday that the United States has evidence that chemical weapons have been used in Syria.

This comes a couple of days after an Israeli intelligence official said Damascus was using weapons banned under international law against its own people in the country’s civil war. Syria has said rebels have used chemical weapons.

U.S. President Barack Obama has said the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons against its own people in the country would be a “game changer.”

Astonishingly, the West is attempting to repeat tales of “WMD’s” in Syria, just as it infamously did in Iraq. In the Washington Post’s “U.S. intelligence agencies: Assad used chemical weapons ‘on a small scale’,” the nature of this “evidence” is elaborated on (emphasis added):

Hagel said the intelligence agencies’ assessment was reached with “varying degrees of confidence,” meaning that they lacked proof or overwhelming evidence. He said the conclusion was “reached within the last 24 hours” and that the White House delivered a letter outlining the findings to Congress Thursday morning.

A letter from the White House via the Washington Post exposed further just how tenuous the evidence actually is (emphasis added):

Our intelligence community does assess with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin. This assessment is based in part on physiological samples. Our standard of evidence must build on these intelligence assessments as we seek to establish credible and corroborated facts. For example, the chain of custody is not clear, so we cannot confirm how the exposure occurred and under what conditions. We do believe that any use of chemical weapons in Syria would very likely have originated with the Assad regime.

Physiological samples indicating sarin – in other words – samples taken from people exposed to sarin, could have been produced in a number of ways. It is confirmed that Libya’s chemical weapon stockpiles included sarin and mustard gas. In the Washington Post’s 2011 “Libya’s poison gas unaffected by turmoil, official says,” it was stated:

Experts believe that Libya destroyed about 3,300 bombshells designed to carry mustard and sarin gas chemicals years ago, as part of its deal to end decades of economic and diplomatic isolation with the West.

But some 10 metric tons of mustard sulfate and sarin gas precursor remain stockpiled in barrels at three locations in the Libyan desert south of Tripoli, where Moammar Gaddafi has holed up in a last-ditch fight to keep from being overthrown.

Many experts worry that the barrels are ripe for picking by terrorists linked to al-Qaeda.

Of course, since 2011, it is now confirmed that the so-called “Libyan rebels” were actually Al Qaeda terrorists operating under the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) which has been confirmed to have subsequently traveled to Syria to join Al Qaeda’s al-Nusra franchise in NATO’s proxy war there.

It is just as likely that NATO’s proxy forces brought along with them not only small arms and cash from Libya, but also heavier weapons, including possibly chemical weapons – and specifically – sarin and mustard gas.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ejOCXxuhUyg/UL12lnF-L7I/AAAAAAAAGZQ/52N6-O86weg/s1600/LIBYA_Chemical-containers-in-th-007.jpg

Image: (via the Guardian) “Chemical containers in the Libyan desert. There are concerns unguarded weapons could fall into the hands of Islamist militants. Photograph: David Sperry/AP” As increasing evidence reveals Libyan fighters and weapons are pouring into Syria, it seems the West is preparing to preempt or leverage the inevitability that Libya’s chemical arsenal has also found its way into the besieged nation.
….

Considering that the Syrian government knows the use of chemical weapons would basically hand the moral, strategic, and geopolitical initiative over to the West, and in light of its recent gains made using conventional weapons and tactics, it makes it all the more likely any real sarin to be found and used in Syria was the work of NATO proxies attempting to produce a plausible casus belli. Terrorists operating in Syria have already been caught using other chemical weapons.

And yet still, despite all of this doubt, the Western political establishment has hailed the so-called “findings” as the “game changer” required to green-light US military intervention.

Remember “Curveball”

It is absolutely imperative to recall the propaganda campaign conducted prior to invading Iraq in 2003. Chemical weapons were also used as a pretext for an otherwise unjustified war. The “intelligence” used by Hagel’s predecessors was admittedly fabricated on-demand.

In the British Independent’s article, “Man whose WMD lies led to 100,000 deaths confesses all: Defector tells how US officials ‘sexed up’ his fictions to make the case for 2003 invasion,” it stated:

A man whose lies helped to make the case for invading Iraq – starting a nine-year war costing more than 100,000 lives and hundreds of billions of pounds – will come clean in his first British television interview tomorrow.

“Curveball”, the Iraqi defector who fabricated claims about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, smiles as he confirms how he made the whole thing up. It was a confidence trick that changed the course of history, with Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi’s lies used to justify the Iraq war.

He tries to defend his actions: “My main purpose was to topple the tyrant in Iraq because the longer this dictator remains in power, the more the Iraqi people will suffer from this regime’s oppression.”

We can already envision the establishment defending in hindsight its next “noble lie” to unseat “the tyrant in Syria.”

The Independent continues:

But Mr Janabi, speaking in a two-part series, Modern Spies, starting tomorrow on BBC2, says none of it was true. When it is put to him “we went to war in Iraq on a lie. And that lie was your lie”, he simply replies: “Yes.”

US officials “sexed up” Mr Janabi’s drawings of mobile biological weapons labs to make them more presentable, admits Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, General Powell’s former chief of staff. “I brought the White House team in to do the graphics,” he says, adding how “intelligence was being worked to fit around the policy”.

“How “intelligence was being worked to fit around the policy,” indeed is the most important aspect of the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, and is without doubt what is being done in Washington, Doha, Riyadh, and Tel Aviv in regards to Syria now.

The “Curveball-style” lies told about Iraq are now being repeated about Syria by an increasingly unhinged West who has tried every trick in the book, and is flipping back to the beginning to start over again. The question is, can the world afford to be led down this path again, knowing exactly where it ends? Nations and people outside the Wall Street-London international order are tasked with foiling this criminal war of aggression – unable this time to plead ignorance to the West’s true intentions.


Fabricated Intelligence and the WMD Pretext: Obama Heads Closer Closer to War on Syria By Stephen Lendman

25 April, 2013 — Global Research http://williambowles.info/2013/04/26/fabricated-intelligence-and-the-wmd-pretext-obama-heads-closer-closer-to-war-on-syria-by-stephen-lendman/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+williambowles%2FKJFu+%28Willi amBowles.info+Investigating+the+new+imperialism%29

A previous article discussed spurious allegations of Syrian chemical weapons use. Obama calls using them a “game changer.” He also said their use crosses a “red line.”

Syrian officials categorically deny using them. According to Information Minister Omran al-Zoabi:

“Even if Syria does have chemical weapons, our leadership and our military will not use them either against Syrians or against Israelis, above all for moral reasons and secondarily on legal and political grounds.”

On April 24, The New York Times headlined “US Says It Suspects Assad Used Chemical Weapons,” saying:

“….American intelligence agencies now assess, with ‘varying degrees of confidence,’ that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, but it said it needed conclusive proof before President Obama would take action.”

On April 25, the White House Office of Legislative Affairs director Miguel Rodriguez addressed Syria. His letter to SenatorsJohn McCain (R. AZ) ad Carl Levin (D. MI) said:

“At the president’s direction, the United States government has been closely monitoring the potential use of chemical weapons within Syria.”

“We have kept the relevant committees of Congress fully informed of our assessments on this issue, consistent with our statutory obligations.”

“Our intelligence community does assess with varying degrees of confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin. This assessment is based in part on physiological samples.”

“Our standard of evidence must build on these intelligence assessments as we seek to establish credible and corroborated facts.”

“For example, the chain of custody is not clear, so we cannot confirm how the exposure occurred and under what conditions.”

“We do believe that any use of chemical weapons in Syria would very likely have originated with the Assad regime. Thus far, we believe that the Assad regime maintains custody of these weapons and has demonstrated a willingness to escalate its horrific use of violence against the Syrian people.”

“Because of our concern about the deteriorating situation in Syria, the president has made it clear that the use of chemical weapons – or transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups – is a red line for the United States of America.”

“Given the stakes involved, and what we have learned from our own recent experience, intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient – only credible and corroborated facts that provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our decision-making….”

“In the interim, the administration is prepared for all contingencies so that we can respond appropriately to any confirmed use of chemical weapons, consistent with our national interests.”

“The United States and the international community have a number of potential responses available, and no option is off the table.”

Britain’s Foreign Office claims “limited but persuasive information from various sources showing chemical weapons use in Syria, including Sarin.”

Days earlier, Israeli General Itai Brun claimed Syria used chemical weapons “on a number of occasions.” He cited unspecified photo evidence. He called the weapon used sarin-based.

Former US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said Obama’s “red line appears to have been crossed. The administration has to take some time to decide what to do about it.”

“But if they end up leaving the impression that the president is not willing to enforce his red line, that will have consequences in the region, particularly when it comes to Iran’s nuclear program, as well as for our ability to deter Assad’s use of chemical weapons in Syria.”

An unnamed Israeli official told the New York Times:

“Every intelligence branch can submit its own assessment. The issue of chemical weapons is being examined by Israel and the United States at the most senior levels, and is still being discussed.”

The Times added:

“Administration officials said that the Pentagon had prepared a menu of military options for Mr. Obama if he concluded that there was incontrovertible evidence that chemical weapons had been used.”

“Those options, one official said, could include missile strikes on Syrian aircraft from American ships in the Mediterranean or commando raids.”

Days earlier in Brussels, Secretary of State John Kerry said NATO should plan for a possible Syrian chemical weapons attack. He stopped short of calling for NATO’s intervention.

Separately, Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) said Israeli warplanes downed a Hezbollah drone eight kilometers “out at sea” from Haifa. It flew south from Lebanon.

An IDF spokesman said:

“An attempt by an unmanned aerial vehicle to enter Israel’s air space was thwarted. The UAV was identified flying from the north past the coast of southern Lebanon and continuing south.”

“It was tracked continuously until it was downed by Israeli fighter planes and attack helicopters.”

“They went into action after the drone was identified as not coming from a friendly source. The Air Force gave the order to shoot it down.”

Netanyahu said:

“We take an extremely grave view of this attempt to violate our borders and will continue to guard them and keep our citizens safe.”

“We are watching events in Syria and Lebanon with extreme concern. Syria is breaking up and Lebanon is unstable.”

“Both places pose not inconsiderable perils to Israel – two emanating directly from Syria.”

“The first is the possible transfer of sophisticated weaponry to terrorist organizations and the second, attempts by terrorists to break through our borders and attack our towns and villages.”

“Israel stands ready to counteract any threats from Syria or Lebanon by sea, air and land.”

DF claims “there are plans afoot to spread (Syria’s) violence into Israel.” It cites Hezbollah’s UAV incident and violent incidents on the Israeli/Israel border.

On April 23 (updated on April 25), Washington Post editors headlined “Honoring a ‘red line in Syria over chemical weapons,” saying:

“THREE MAJOR US allies – Britain, France and Israel – have now concluded that the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has very likely used chemical weapons, not once but on multiple occasions.”

“This would cross a ‘red line’ drawn by President Obama.” He’s been very clear saying America “will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons against the Syrian people.”

So far he stopped short of intervening. “If there is no response, Damascus may decide that it is free to use its chemicals on a larger scale.”

At the same time, “Obama has been inching toward more decisive action.”

“If (he) waffles or retreats on the one clear red line he drew, US credibility across the region will be severely damaged.”

These type reports bear watching. Their significance remains to be seen. They may be prelude to direct US intervention. Stay tuned. More reports will follow.

[Brutus]

Any excuse for foreign intervention...

[dez]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-preparing-to-send-lethal-arms-to-syrian-opposition-officials-say/2013/04/30/3084d0d4-b1a6-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story.html

President Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive U.S. leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, according to senior administration officials.

The officials said they are moving toward the shipment of arms but emphasized that they are still pursuing political negotiation. To that end, the administration has launched an effort to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that the probable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government — and the more direct outside intervention that could provoke — should lead him to reconsider his support of Assad.

But Obama, who spoke by telephone with Putin on Monday and is sending Secretary of State John F. Kerry to Moscow in the coming days, is likely to make a final decision on the supply of arms to the opposition within weeks, before a scheduled meeting with Putin in June, the officials said.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Syrian government troops battled their way on Thursday into the central city of Homs in a push to oust rebels from the country’s third largest urban centre, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops loyal to President Bashar Assad regained control of the Wadi Sayeh district in the centre of Homs by early morning.

The neighbourhood is strategically important for the government forces as they try to dislodge opposition fighters from several of Homs’ central districts that have been under rebel control for more than a year. There were no immediate details or reports of casualties from the latest fighting.

The crisis started with protests against Mr. Assad’s regime in the impoverished suburbs of the major cities, but quickly spread around the country, descending into a full-scale civil war.

In recent weeks, regime forces have been on a counter offensive to reverse rebel gains in and around Aleppo, where the opposition controls whole neighbourhoods and large swathes of land around the northern city.

The Army has also conducted massive sweeps through opposition strongholds around Damascus to oust rebels from their enclaves, from which they were increasingly threatening the capital, the seat of Mr. Assad power.

Regaining full control of Homs would be a psychological blow to the opposition, which holds the city as a symbol of Syria’s uprising, inspired by other Arab Spring revolts against authoritarian rulers around the Middle East. Homs was the scene of massive street protests against Assad’s regime in the first months of the uprising that began in March 2011.

Since then, Homs has seen some of the worst urban warfare in the Syrian civil war.
Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/world/syrian-troops-reclaim-rebelheld-area-in-homs/article4676665.ece

[dez]

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/03/world/meast/israel-airstrike-syria/index.html

Sources: U.S. believes Israel has conducted an airstrike into Syria

[ckaihatsu]

Israel Again Strikes Syria

Targets missiles believed headed for Hezbollah


By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff

Posted May 5, 2013 5:58 AM CDT http://www.newser.com/story/167386/israel-again-strikes-syria.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_top
STORY


(Newser) – Israel has again struck Syria, this time in a series of airstrikes in and around Damascus last night that targeted a shipment of Iranian-made missiles Israel believed were headed Hezbollah's way. "In last night's attack, as in the previous one, what was attacked were stores of Fateh-110 missiles that were in transit from Iran to Hezbollah," an intelligence source tells Reuters. Syrian state news said that the Jamraya military and scientific research was hit; it added that there were casualties, but did not give a number. "Night turned into day," said a witness.

The presence of Fateh-110 missiles would be a "game-changer," according to a missile expert, because they would put almost all of Israel within striking distance. An Israeli source tells the AP that the strikes are an Israeli signal to Iran that "when they define red lines and they are crossed, (the Israelis) take it seriously." Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu made no reference to the strikes, and kept his public schedule in a move that Reuters says indicates little fear of reprisals.
__,_._,___

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] Syria: Israeli Strike a 'Declaration of War'


Syria: Israeli Strike a 'Declaration of War'

Israel deploys missile defenses to northern border


By Polly Davis Doig, Newser Staff

Posted May 5, 2013 1:27 PM CDT http://www.newser.com/story/167403/syria-israeli-strike-a-declaration-of-war.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_top

(Newser) – Syria is firing back figuratively at Israel after airstrikes today struck targets in and around Damascus, calling the attack "a declaration of war. This is not something that is (new)," a deputy foreign minister reports CNN. "We dealt with this on several occasions, and the retaliation was always painful to Israel, and they will suffer again." A statement from the foreign ministry later blamed Israel for "the terrorist acts which Syria is witnessing," adds the BBC.

Israel itself isn't commenting, but it has shut down airspace along its northern border and deployed missile defenses to the region. The attack has drawn criticism from the Arab world, with Egypt saying Israel had "violated international law and principles," while the Arab League called on the UN Security Council to "act immediately" to stop it.

[ckaihatsu]

CLICK HERE (http://www.iacenter.org/nafricamideast/syria050513/) to view in your browser. Please Post Widely


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Israeli attack on Syria widens war -- U.S. anti-war movement on alert: Statement from The International Action Center


The latest Israeli warplane striking the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, during the nights of May 2-3 and May 4-5 have dangerously escalated foreign intervention in the ongoing war in Syria. The anti-war movement in the United States must be alert to the growing attempt by the U.S., other NATO powers and now the main militarist threat in the region, Israel, to overturn the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria and replace it with an imperialist puppet.

These strikes and Washington's obvious support for all Israeli aggression against Syria appear to be the opening thrust of open imperialist military intervention in the war in Syria. For the past two years, Western imperialism fed weapons through the Qatar and Saudi monarchies through NATO-member Turkey to arm and fund reactionary "rebel" forces inside Syria. This support kept them going and extended the bloodletting of Syrians.

In recent months the support not only from the U.S. but from imperialist Britain and France, the former colonial powers in that region of Western Asia, has increased and grown more and more overt. The Pentagon has placed Special Forces on Jordan's border with Syria. The U.S. and other NATO countries have personnel with anti-missile batteries on Turkey's border with Syria.

The governments and the corporate media machine in the NATO countries have carried out an intensive propaganda campaign against the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. The stories about use of chemical weapons have no basis in fact. The imperialist gun running has cost the lives of tens of thousands of Syrians, yet all the blame for these deaths is heaped on the Damascus government. For the imperialists, Syria's real sin was to have wrested some independence from U.S. and West European domination and to be an enemy of the Israeli settler state.

Despite the material, diplomatic and political support for the "rebels," the Syrian government in recent weeks has clearly been defeating the reactionaries militarily. At the same time, the "rebels" are split into dozens of little groups, each with its own leadership. The military initiative of these contra rebels has slid over to those groups closest to al-Qaida in ideology. The U.S. and its allies have contributed by recruiting people closest to this ideology from all around the world and sending them -- mercenaries, reactionary fundamentalists of all backgrounds -- into Syria as veritable death squads. They are capable only of bringing sectarian slaughter to Syria.

No matter what today's or tomorrow's pretext for more Israeli attacks -- and the Israelis and their U.S. backers will tell plenty of lies -- Israeli air strikes against Syrian soil put Israel on the side of the reactionary uprising against Damascus. It clearly places bloody U.S. and NATO imperialism and the Israeli local gendarmes on one side and the Syrian people and government and their allies on the other. It means that U.S.-NATO forces are resorting to what is a desperate measure: using the Israeli pit bull against an independent country in that region.

It would not be the first time the Israeli state has played the role of cat's paw of imperialism in the region. The French-British-Israeli seizure of the Suez Canal in 1956, the June 1967 war against the progressive Syrian government, the 1982 invasion and occupation of Lebanon and the more recent blows against the Palestinian and Lebanese liberation movements are other examples. While serving its own interests as an expansionist settler state in the region, Israel also serves the interest of the worldwide dominant U.S. and NATO imperialism. In the current situation with U.S. and other NATO powers controlling all intelligence and monitoring the airspace, it is more than reasonable to assume that any Israeli airstrikes are first signaled to and approved by Washington.

For the anti-war movement in the United States, it is a time to remove any doubts about who is who in the war going on in Syria. The worldwide forces of oppression -- U.S., NATO and Israel -- are all lined up against the Syrian government. It is time demand U.S., Israeli, NATO hands off Syria!

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[Zostrianos]

More Islamist savagery

http://wwrn.org/articles/39874/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/20/us-syria-crisis-whipping-idUSBRE94J0MR20130520

Video shows Syrian Islamists flogging men over illegal marriage
Islamist rebels in the northern Syrian town of Saraqeb have publicly flogged two men for violating an Islamic ban on marriage to recently divorced women, according to an internet video uploaded this week.
The video showed a gunman reading out the verdict of an Islamic court which found the elder of the two men guilty of marrying off his daughter to the younger man less than three months after her divorce.
He said the normal punishment for the two men would have been death, but due to the turmoil of Syria's two-year civil war the court had handed down sentences of 50 lashes for the older man and 40 for the younger.
The two men then lay on the ground as a masked man whipped them one after the other.
Syria's uprising against President Bashar al-Assad started as peaceful protests for reform but his opponents resorted to arms after he sought to crush the protests by force.
The mainly Sunni Muslim rebellion against the Alawite president has taken an increasingly Islamist tone, with rebels setting up Islamic courts dispensing Sharia justice in areas under their control - alarming many of Syria's minorities including Christians, Druzes and Alawites.

[Revy]

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-03-19/world/37840878_1_al-nusra-deir-aleppo



ALEPPO, Syria — The evidence was incontrovertible, captured on video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7nL_EVpP1c)and posted on YouTube for all the world to see. During a demonstration against the Syrian regime, Wael Ibrahim, a veteran activist, had tossed aside a banner inscribed with the Muslim declaration of faith.


And that, decreed the officers of the newly established Sharia Authority set up to administer rebel-held Aleppo, constitutes a crime under Islamic law, punishable in this instance by 10 strokes of a metal pipe.


The beating administered last month offered a vivid illustration of the extent to which the Syrian revolution has strayed from its roots as a largely spontaneous uprising against four decades of Assad family rule. After mutating last year into a full-scale war, it is moving toward what appears to be an organized effort to institute Islamic law in areas that have fallen under rebel control.

[dez]

it spreads to lebanon

It is this open presence of a large number of Hezbollah soldiers inside Syria that has prompted a deadly spill over of violence inside Lebanon in the past week, where at least 30 people have been killed and 250 injured in sectarian clashes in the northern town of Tripoli.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/assads-forces-score-victory-in-syria-fight-20130530-2ncm1.html#ixzz2UpkyvEvG

[La Guaneña]

Israel accused of using Depleted Uranium in Syria:

http://rt.com/news/syria-israel-uranium-air-strike-847/

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

[Captain Ahab]

AMMAN, Jordan – Syrian rebel fighters and wounded civilians were forced to flee al-Qusayr Wednesday, as Syrian troops, supported by Hezbollah militia, advanced on the strategic city close to the Lebanese border.

"Yes, al-Qusayr fell to regime control," said 25-year-old Muhammad Awad of the Free Syrian Army's al-Farouk Battalion in Qusayr. "Let the world, the regime and all the people against us be happy. We retreated because we could not take them on anymore."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/06/05/syrian-tv-army-in-control-of-key-town-of-qusair/2390947/
Al-Qusayr has fallen.

[GuyinCognito]

When this first started the Syrian government actually went to areas of protest and tried to talk to them. This worked and crowds dispersed and no violence was noticed.

Now during the arab spring most people thought of this as a panarab nasserist movement in which the arabs would overthrow their dictators and kings (such an evil concept in this day and age) and usher in enlightens european principles. It just didn't work that way.

Tunisia was the first covered by al-jazzera in which the army basically told the dictator to get out. A relatively bloodless coup that was able to transition from the age of the dictator to something politically better which still didn't do enough to help the unemployed youth.

Algeria was another nation that had its "arab spring" in which 100 cops showed up to surround 1 person. It seems most Algerians didn't want to change the current status quo. Especially due to the recent civil war in which Islamist militias butchered entire villlages for not being muslim enough.

The next was Egypt in which al-jazeera had a big part to play in it. The activists had burnt down the local headquarters of the regime but never managed to take the most important institution of the dictator which was the state media. The military was later sent in which the Egyptians trusted (big mistake) and a junta formed ignored everything the activists fought for. Mubarak still had tons of allies in powerful positions such as the judiciary and the military. AS well as allies abround that destroyed the economy Making any new government alliance impotent ( a part which al jazerra didn't cover.

Now came Libya in which al-jazzera and other arabian media outlets from the GCC just spread propaganda. So much so that they claimed that Gaddafi was commiting genocide against his own people and that 100,000 had already died.

At the same time qatar was providing advanced weapons to the rebels which annihilated Gaddafi forces. With propaganda (such as video of Libya soldiers who had there arms timed behind their back and executed for refusing to shoot "peaceful demonstrations" found between the board of Eygpt and Libya instead of their barracks) most of the world was decieived in allowing "no fly zones" (i think the UK, France, and the USA knew the propaganda was BS but still wanted to destroyed Libya) in which the relatively demilitarized Gadafi was bombed into nothing.

No 100,000 had died. All that happened was that blacks where chased out of the town they lived in and every city developed a milita to combate the militia of the other cities. A broken nation all due to propaganda.

Continued

[GuyinCognito]

Part 2.

Now Syria was the next one to be changed. AL-jazzera and other gulf news agencies immediately started propaganda against it. I personally felt used by al-jazeera in regards to Libya but I knew that their propaganda was total crap when I watched a youtube clip of a syrian youth chuck a huge stone at a tank machine gunner. Instead of spraying the whole place with bullets, he simply tried to dodge it and went on his way.

More BS propaganda started out when activists using satelite phones contacted wealthy foreign expats and their experts on what to do. Which was usually to set car tires full of petrol on fire (makes dark smoke that can look like destruction of entire neighborhoods) as well as going to rural sunni towns to show the locals 30 second video clips edited together on film. So that the rural sunni locals would become outraged enough to take up arms.

This still wasn't enough so the qatar, usa, france, and saudi arabia had to start providing "aid" in forms of weapons, training, logistics, and money to pay for their revolutionary wages.

When it appeared that was still not enough, then propaganda was expanded claiming it was a "sectarian war" even if most government positions are run by sunnis and 70% of the SAA is sunni. Mercenaries where also hired to equiped throughtout the arab world mostly coming from areas that already had brutal battle experience and some (like gcc guys) who where there just to be cannon fodder or suicide bombers.

Still this wasn't enough. The "free syrian army" also forced thousands of children to shore up it's man power as well as to run suicidal missions in which they would mostly get killed. In which members of the Free syrian army would then take a picture of the dead child that they had ordered to die as a photoop for more propaganda.

Syria is know Bahrain. Assad is more a figurehead and most of the people who actually run the state are sunnis who believe in the secular nature of syria.

As for Hezbollah, they didn't start the fire of organized foreign fighters. One thing is for sure, they are probably the most honest and moral of all the military organizations in Syria.

[ckaihatsu]

1,000 US troops arrive in Jordan for deployment at Syria border

Thu Jun 6, 2013 5:20PM
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/307502.html

http://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20130606/sheidayi20130606134357390.jpg

U.S. Marines landing in the Jordanian port of Aqaba

A large U.S. military force has reportedly arrived at a port in the south of Jordan, ready to be deployed at the country’s border with neighboring Syria.

The Israeli military intelligence website DEBKAfile has reported that 1,000 U.S troops from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force arrived at the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba on Tuesday and made their way to the north of the country under heavy Jordanian military escort.

According to DEBKAfile, Washington imposed a blackout on the arrival of the rapid-response force as the Pentagon only reported the sending of a Patriot missile battery and F-16 warplanes to Jordan for a military drill.

On Monday, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command based in Tampa, Florida, Lieutenant Colonel T.G. Taylor, confirmed that Patriot missile launchers and F-16 fighter jets “were approved for deployment to Jordan”.

The U.S. has sent numerous ground troops to Jordan over the past few months, mainly for operating a training camp for militants fighting against the Syrian government.

The recent deployment of U.S. troops to Jordan’s border with Syria comes amid rising concerns over U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to appoint Susan Rice, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as his next national security adviser.

According to Antiwar, with Rice taking the reins of the national security machinery of the White House, the U.S. will keep “a keen eye on military intervention in Syria”.

U.S. Senator John McCain, who met with several leaders of the foreign-backed militants in Syria last week, urged Obama on Sunday for a military intervention in Syria as he acknowledged that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has the upper hand in the Syrian conflict.

The developments come as Syrian government forces on Wednesday regained full control of the strategic city of Qusayr after three weeks of fighting with the foreign-backed militants.

Damascus has repeatedly said that the crisis in Syria is being engineered from outside the country. On May 18, President Assad said militants from 29 different countries were fighting against his government in different parts of the country.

Last week, the FBI confirmed the death of a 33-year-old American woman who had been fighting along with foreign-backed militants in Syria against the Syrian government.

Syrian TV showed a black VW Golf car, belonging to the American female militant, identified as Nicole Lynn, along with three other foreign militants including a British man, from which several Kalashnikovs were retrieved.

[Yesereth]

If one were to look at all these happenings from a wider perspective, I think it would explain much of what is going on, and give us at least some idea of what this may turn into.

You will find a prevailing web of alliances. The United States (with Israel) and Saudi Arabia form the center of a general alliance of Sunni theocratic power in the Middle East and Western interests, especially that of the U.S. Russia, and more peripherally China, are allied with Iran. During the Iraq War, the U.S. had the support of Saudi Arabia and the Kurds inside Iraq. When Iraq invaded Iran, what happened? But then when Saddam, a Baathist dictator, attacked Kuwait, a Sunni theocratic petrostate, that's when Baathists were no longer useful. The United States, the EU, Saudi Arabia, and the Peshmerga are positioned antagonistically toward an alliance of Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, and China (with North Korea even more peripheral). From Saudi Arabia's and Iran's angles; each are fighting for Saudi-led Sunni theocratic dominance and Iran-led Shi'a theocratic dominance of the Middle East, respectively. The US and EU would benefit from overarching Sunni theocratic control because (they think) it will bring stability to their major oil supply. Russia and China would benefit in a similar way with Iranian-led Shi'a theocratic power. Russia has contracts for ports and bases with Syria, much like the U.S. does with Jordan. And Iran, of course, has been aided in its nuclear development by both China and Russia, with peripheral assistance from North Korea.

The fact that Iran and Hezbollah have already invaded Syria, and the fact that the U.S. has already been conducting operations against the Baathist regime with the EU soon to get involved does not bode well. Iraq all the while is slowly slipping into civil war and no doubt this will be another battlefield for these alliances. When this happens, Russia will certainly begin operations in Iraq; it does not want Iran surrounded by countries already conquered by US/EU forces (Afghanistan to the east and Iraq to the west). Russia continues to beef up the ordnance sent to Iran.

To me this whole situation is starting to get dangerous. All the geopolitical tension since the fall of the Soviet Union seem ready to burst in the Middle East. If you are aware of the implications of what I am insinuating, let us hope I am wrong.

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] U.S. preparations for greater military intervention in Syria

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-exclusive-us-war-games-send-signal-assad-211855222.html

Associated Press, via Yahoo news,
http://news.yahoo.com
June 19, 2013

AP EXCLUSIVE: US war games send signal to Assad

*ZARQA, Jordan (AP) �* Under the watchful eye of stern-faced American
advisers, hundreds of U.S.-trained Jordanian commandos fanned across this
dusty desert plain, holding war games that could eventually form the basis
of an assault in Syria.

With the recent deployment of Patriot missiles near the Syrian border, and
the mock Syrian accents of those playing the enemy, the message was clear:
There is fear of spillover from the Syrian war in this U.S.-allied kingdom,
and the potential for a Jordanian role in securing Syria's chemical weapons
stockpiles should Bashar Assad's regime lose control.

Dubbed Eager Lion, the 12-day exercise involves combined land, air and sea
maneuvers across the country. It brings together 8,000 personnel from 19
Arab and European nations to train on border security, irregular warfare,
terrorism and counterinsurgency.
Marine Corps Lt. Col. Duke Shienle said Syria "is a concern that all our
regional partners share."

The Syrian crisis is "causing all military in the region to increase
intensity," he said as he supervised masked commandos in black uniforms
from Jordan and two other Syria neighbors � Iraq and Lebanon � in a mock
exercise to free a hijacked aircraft on an airstrip in the eastern
Jordanian desert.

Nearby, U.S. military strategists taught Jordanian riot police to quickly
contain a mock protest by angry mobs in a crowded refugee camp. The
trainers refused to name the camp, but the trainees said it was "Zaatari,"
a reference to a refugee settlement straddling the border with Syria that
shelters around 185,000 displaced Syrians.

"We want freedom! We want a free Syria!" the trainees shouted, speaking the
Syrian dialect as they depicted Syrian refugees. Others looked on from
under dusty tents pitched on a strip of desert outside a Jordanian
armycompound. The location of this exercise and others could not be
disclosed
in line with Jordanian army regulations.

Elsewhere, in the south, hundreds of masked Jordanian commandos in black
uniforms used machine-guns, rocket propellers and tanks to overwhelm an
enemy target as Jordanian helicopters and fighter jets � all part of
previous American donations � buzzed the skies overhead.

"We want to tell anyone with malicious intentions toward Jordan that we can
hit back where it hurts most painfully," said one Jordanian commando,
speaking under scorching sun in the arid mountain region. He could not be
named under army regulations and declined to say if the enemy he was
fighting was Assad's army.

Other training focused on humanitarian relief and crisis management and
involves 7,000 civilians from non-governmental organizations engaged in
providing assistance to Syrian refugees, said Tawfiq Hennawi of the
International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the participating NGOs.

Jordan hosts more than half a million Syrians who fled Assad's military
onslaught and that number is expected to rise to 1.2 million by the end of
the year.
"These exercises bolster our defense capabilities," said Jordanian army
Maj. Gen. Awni Edwan, adding that the Eager Lion exercises, which end
Thursday, are routine, having being held twice before at the same time.
"We don't intend to attack anybody," he said.

Jordan has been leery that Assad may eventually use his chemical weapons
against his neighbors, or if his regime starts to collapse, his stockpile
may fall into the hands of al-Qaida or other militants who are trying to
rise to power in Syria.

There has been mounting speculation that should Assad's regime begin to
lose control, Jordan will dispatch its highly-skilled, U.S.-trained and
equipped commandos to secure Assad's chemical weapons and create a safe
haven for Syrian refugees along the 230-mile (375-kilometer) border with
Jordan, according to a Western diplomat who monitors Syria from his base in
Jordan.

The purpose is to prevent a further influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan
out of fear that Shiite militants from the Lebanese Hezbollah group or
other Iranian agents may slip across the border to destabilize this key
U.S. ally, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because
identifying him might jeopardize his intelligence-gathering on Syria.

Jordan's predominantly Sunni Muslim population is traditionally a fiery
critic of the growing influence of Iran and its rival Shiite sect.

Regional media reports this week suggesting that Hezbollah activists are
deploying near the Jordanian border to help Assad regain control of
southern Daraa province� which has been a lifeline for arms shipments to
rebels seeking to topple him � sent jitters across Jordan. Officials said
that security was immediately beefed up, with more Jordanian soldiers
deployed along the border with Syria.

In recent weeks, Assad's forces have appeared to be regaining control over
areas seized by rebels, particularly the strategic town of Qusair.

Jordan also fears that Assad's sleeper cells, including Hezbollah, may
already be in the country and would act if instructed by Iran or Syria,
where an uprising that started in 2011 has descended into all-out civil war.
Eager Lion coincides with Washington deploying one or two Patriot batteries
along the border with Syria and agreeing to keep a squadron of 12 to 24
F-16 fighter jets after the exercises � a move Syria's regime and its
Russian patron have expressed concern over.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by Russia's Interfax news
agency as saying that the deployment of the air-defense systems in
Jordanin order to set up a no-fly zone over Syria would be a violation
of
international law.

The United States has said it has no plans for military intervention in
Syria, although President Barack Obama has left the door open for any
possibility.

"With this exercise being the biggest fire power show ever in Jordan,
coupled with the deployment of Patriot air defense systems and U.S. fighter
jets, it is clear that the ground is being set for military intervention in
Syria," said Col. Khalil Rawahneh, a Jordanian military strategist who
participated in at least 16 U.S. and British-sponsored maneuvers until he
retired four years ago.
-------------------

[GuyinCognito]

The fact that Iran and Hezbollah have already invaded Syria, and the fact that the U.S. has already been conducting operations against the Baathist regime with the EU soon to get involved does not bode well.


"invaded" is not a very useful term. Pretty much every nation with interests in oil or Syria has people on the ground in Syria in government supporting rolls or as terrorists and millitias fighting against the government. Iran, from what I gather, has a mutual defense pact with Syria just in case scenarios like this happen. So Iran is just keeping it's word.

[Yesereth]

"invaded" is not a very useful term. Pretty much every nation with interests in oil or Syria has people on the ground in Syria in government supporting rolls or as terrorists and millitias fighting against the government. Iran, from what I gather, has a mutual defense pact with Syria just in case scenarios like this happen. So Iran is just keeping it's word.
I am using the word "invaded" simply in the sense that foreign military units have entered Syria and are engaging in military operations. This is still a civil war, so any foreign troops is an invasion, especially from the POV of the rebels.

And Iran's invasion is certainly motivated for self-interests and in the interests of its wider alliances with Russia and China.

What of Hezbollah? They are non-state actors aligned with Iran. Is this not an invasion in the more traditional sense?

[ckaihatsu]

F.y.i.:





What's going on in Syria is not a 'civil war' -- that's the euphemism used by the bourgeois corporate media in an attempt to cover up their complicity with the warmongers, or "opposition". It's actually a *proxy war*, and very world-war-like in its composition, since its backers are several nations.

[Sasha]

Syrian state media is reporting that Assad purged the full leadership of his baath party (obviously excluding himself), opposition is claiming the fired officials all have been placed under house arrest.

[Turinbaar]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23283079

The Islamic State of Iraq, and the Levant, a splinter group from Al Nusra, has killed a member of the FSA's Supreme Military Council, and has made direct threats on the rest of them.


FSA commanders reacted angrily to the killing. “We are going to wipe the floor with them,”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/death-of-key-free-syrian-army-commander-heralds-a-brutal-new-chapter-in-conflict-8705975.html

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] U.S. congressional hurdles lifted on arming Syrian rebels


U.S. congressional hurdles lifted on arming Syrian rebels


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/23/us-usa-syria-arms-idUSBRE96L0W520130723


By Tabassum Zakaria and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON | Tue Jul 23, 2013

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will move forward with a plan for the United States to arm the struggling Syrian rebels after some congressional concerns were eased, officials said on Monday.

"We believe we are in a position that the administration can move forward," House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers told Reuters.

The White House announced in June that it would offer military aid to vetted groups of Syrian rebels after two years of balking at directly sending arms to the opposition.

"We have been working with Congress to overcome some of the concerns that they initially had, and we believe that those concerns have been addressed and that we will now be able to proceed," a source familiar with the administration's thinking told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

But both Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate intelligence committees had expressed worries that the arms could end up in the hands of Islamist militants in Syria like the Nusra Front, and would not be enough to tip the balance of the civil war against President Bashar al-Assad anyway.

Part of the logjam was broken on July 12 when members of the Senate Intelligence Committee who had questioned the wisdom of arming the insurgents decided behind closed doors to tentatively agree that the administration could go ahead with its plans, but sought updates as the covert effort proceeded.

Now, the House committee has also given at least a cautious go-ahead.

"It is important to note that there are still strong reservations," Rogers said. "We got a consensus that we could move forward with what the administration's plans and intentions are in Syria consistent with committee reservations."

The source familiar with the administration's thinking said, "The committees were persuaded and we will be able to move forward."

The timeline was unclear, but supporters of the rebels hope the deliveries of U.S.-provided arms will start in August.

They hope for "a large number of small weapons" such as rifles and basic anti-tank weapons, said Louay Sakka, a co-founder of the Syrian Support Group, which backs the Free Syrian Army fighting Assad.

Committee sessions on arming the rebels are classified and have been held in secret. Senior government figures like Secretary of State John Kerry have briefed lawmakers behind closed doors to persuade them to back the White House's Syria strategy. Rogers said he still had "very strong concerns" about the plan's chances of success.

REBELS LAGGING

The mostly Sunni Muslim rebels have been struggling since government forces, helped by Lebanese Hezbollah allies, took the strategic town of Qusair in early June. Backed by warplanes and artillery, Assad is much better armed than the rebels.

Representative Adam Schiff, a Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, opposes sending U.S. arms to the rebels.

"It's too late to affect the outcome with a small amount of arms," Schiff said. "I think we would have to provide such a massive amount of arms, and additional military support to change the balance on the battlefield, that we would inevitably be drawn deeply into the civil war," he said.

"And I think we also have to expect that some of the weapons we provide are going to get into the hands of those who would use them against us," Schiff said.

He said his view is probably a minority one within the intelligence committee - but that for many Americans, after two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is "little appetite for getting involved in a third."

Obama has been reluctant to intervene in the civil war in Syria, in which more than 100,000 people have died.

"Arms do not make peace," said Lakhdar Brahimi, the special peace envoy for Syria of the United Nations and the Arab League. "We would like to see the delivery of arms stopped to all sides," he told reporters in Washington.

He said the United States and Russia both agreed there was no military solution to the Syrian conflict "even if they are delivering weapons in the hope their side is going to win."

Brahimi said it was possible to find a political solution in efforts to bring together the warring parties for a peace conference in Geneva. "It is extremely difficult to bring (together) people who have been killing one another for two years just by waving a magic wand to a conference like this. It will take time but I hope it will happen."

Supported by Iran and Russia, Assad has looked increasingly stronger in recent months while the opposition has been fractured.

Clashes between Islamist rebel forces and Kurdish militias spread to a second Syrian province last weekend.

The fighting is further evidence that the 2011 uprising against Assad's rule has splintered into turf wars that have little to do with ousting him

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] Rozoff: Military buildup around Syria points to invasion


2

Interview: Military Buildup Around Syria Points To Another Invasion

Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:23 am (PDT) . Posted by:

"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_07_23/Military-buildup-around-Syria-points-to-another-invasion-Rozoff-4593/

Voice of Russia
July 23, 2013

Military buildup around Syria points to another invasion - Rozoff

Audio at URL above

The dressing down and attempted humiliation of General Martin Dempsey, the Head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, by superannuated life-time bureaucrat John McCain, was another in a long series of attempts to push the U.S. military into another act of aggressive war by those controlling Washington. With the amassed U.S. and NATO military forces and hardware around Syria and the advancements made by the Syria Army, the likelihood that the U.S. will invade and commit another act of aggressive war against yet another country they have helped to destabilize and tear apart seems very likely. Regular Voice of Russia contributor Rick Rozoff spoke to the VOR about these matters and more.

PART 1

This is John Robles I’m speaking to Rick Rozoff, the owner and manager of the Stop NATO website and international mailing list.

Robles: Hello Rick. How are you this evening?

Rozoff: Very good John.

Robles: What is going on with all the saber rattling surrounding Syria? Do you think there is a chance that the U.S. may be up to something, or that they are planning an invasion in the near future?

Rozoff: They certainly intend direct military action against the government of Syria, and you characterized it correctly by using the term saber rattling. Gunboat diplomacy and brinkmanship and other similar terms from the colonial era I think also are apropos in this context.

What is most disturbing, and it’s something that many of your listeners may be aware of by now, but just today the Senate confirmation, actually reconfirmation, hearings for the chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff and his second-in-command, General Martin Dempsey, was dressed down rather rudely and even brusquely by Senator John McCain, who in recent years with his colleagues, Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, and until recently, until he retired, Joseph Lieberman from Connecticut formed a triumvirate of U.S. Senators, almost like the imperial Roman proconsuls that would travel around the world inciting hostilities against other countries. We’ve talked about this on your show before. A traveling war circus is how I characterized it, but you know, McCain and Graham being the two survivors of that trio.

McCain, in so many words humiliated, this is really pretty stark. I’ve just seen the transcripts of it and accounts of it but I can imagine what this looks like, to see a superannuated, life-time bureaucrat like McCain, dress down and attempt to humiliate the head of the U.S. armed forces and essentially accusing him of being cowardly and indecisive and irresolute because he won’t go to war against Syria - there is no other way of interpreting McCain’s comments - and then finally browbeating Dempsey, the same Dempsey who had warned earlier this year, in February, that enforcing a no-fly zone over Syria ipso facto constituted war, an act of war, which in fact it would be. Finally, coaxing out of Dempsey the statement that no options were off the table and that “kinetic strikes†, meaning air strikes and strikes on the warships in Mediterranean, were something the U.S. military has considered, so I can’t think of any other way of describing or
characterizing or interpreting the comments both by McCain and by the U.S. military chief Dempsey except an avid and almost passionate desire to have some sort of military action taken against Syria.

Now we have to remember, this occurs immediately after joint massive military exercises in two countries bordering Syria led by the United States. That is, in both Jordan and Turkey, almost simultaneously. They overlapped towards the end of June, Eager Lion as it was called in Jordan, where there are 8,000 troops from 19 nations. These are NATO nations, the U.S. and its allies, and their Arab allies, through the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative.

The reports came out, and they were picked up by the Voice of Russia, as a matter of fact, from other press-wires, that the US intended during the course of those exercises, to retain 700 troops in Jordan along with Patriot Interceptor missiles of the sort that NATO has now deployed in Turkey and military aircraft, I believe F-16s. And in Turkey you had similar large-scale multinational exercises between NATO members and their Arab allies, involving NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft and 50 fighter jets.

So, you see the potential for military buildup. Some of these are annual exercises, like the Eager Lion one in Jordan, but the fact they’re being held in countries bordering Syria, with just the cast of characters you would expect to participate in an attack on Syria, something comparable, perhaps even on a larger scale perhaps, comparable to what was used against Libya two years ago and were used in the invasions and occupation of Iraq both in 1991 and in 2003.

So, we have all this going on at the same time. Incidentally increasing encroachment around Syria, and incidentally one step removed, around Iran, with the U.S. son-of-Star-Wars missile shield system, Patriot missiles and eventually Standard Missile 3 and other interceptors and radars, is a pretty ominous development. It suggests that again they’re preparing for war.

And we have to recall that NATO has only twice before deployed AWACS and interceptor missiles, Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, and that was in 1991 for the attack against Iraq, and in 2003 for the invasion of Iraq.

One would be hard-pressed to miss the analogy in the fact that the military buildup, and this is all compounded by, and this came across in the Senate hearings today, it is compounded by the fact that Martin Dempsey, the head of the US military, acknowledged, what everyone now knows, is that the tide has turned inside Syria, where government forces and their allies have scored fairly decisive, and I think at this point irreversible gains against internal rebel forces and their foreign mercenary allies, or backbone, and the more desperate the situation becomes for the U.S. and its NATO partners’ proxies inside the country, I think the more apt the hotheads like McCain and company are going to be in terms of pushing a direct U.S. military aggression.

Robles: How far along would you say is the political buildup compared to before the invasion of Libya, before the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan? Do you see the same mechanisms and strings being pulled? Or was McCain kind of on his own here? What’s going on there?

Rozoff: I am glad you asked that question, particularly about Libya. This is maybe a study on two different scenarios, opposing scenarios, with Iraq which eventually culminated in the U.S.-British attack on and invasion of the country in March of 2003, there’d been a build-up, I think in a lot of people’s minds for a year and a half since events of 9-11 2001. It was clear that the U.S. was going to use those attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. as a pretext for invading Iraq.

So there was plenty of time to anticipate and to organize against what was maybe not an imminent, but was certainly an unavoidable, inexorable threat to Iraq, whereas with Libya it was a matter of only some six weeks between the first protest that erupted in Benghazi, and the first U.S. and British cruise missiles that landed inside the country.

So, the turnaround time was appreciably abbreviated, in relation to previous wars such as that eight years earlier in Iraq in 2003.

I fear, then, that the Libya precedent is more likely to be at work with Syria, that with the turn of a dime, if you will, that the U.S. and company, which has amphibious assault ships right in the Eastern Mediterranean now, which participated for example, in the Jordanian exercises and in the official U.S. Armed Forces publication Stars and Stripes, they had an article four-five days ago the actual quote was “U.S. amphibious assault navy vessels are parked off the coast of Syria†, or words to that effect.

It is clear that the U.S., through the Sixth Fleet in Mediterranean and NATO through Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean, the U.S. Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf, that they have the military assets, particularly the naval ones, to put in place very quickly.

You were listening to an interview in progress with Rick Rozoff, the Owner and Manager of the Stop NATO website and international mailing list.

Visit our site in the near future for the conclusion of this interview.

Read more: http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_07_23/Military-buildup-around-Syria-points-to-another-invasion-Rozoff-4593/

[Le Socialiste]

Pretty cool:


Though Syria has more than its own share of problems, the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin caused a stir even in the war-torn country.

"Martin family! The Syrians are the best who know what it's like to lose loved ones to immune criminals," a banner held up by protesters read.

A photo of the sign appears to have been taken in the village of Kafranbel on July 15.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/c645d6c425f739bd45ba1f3c90893bf0/tumblr_mpzxznGeJn1rmm2pgo1_500.jpg

Described as the online "creative center of the revolt against Bashar al-Assad", the town of Kafranbel has become famous for its banners and signs that draw parallels between world events and the conflict in Syria.

A group from the village in Syria's Idlib province began calling itself "Occupy Kafranbel," has put together numerous banners, posting them on its Tumblr and Facebook page.

"We are so sorry Tony Soprano is dead. We wish Assad, the Syrian Mafia boss, had died instead," a banner written after the death of American actor James Gandolfini read.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/ff8b3062cc4adf4ab6479d840c764ec8/tumblr_moqwv5IfWh1r1boeoo1_500.jpg

Days after the Boston bombings, a sign noted:

http://25.media.tumblr.com/a5a802b1223673f705bffd4ddecd217d/tumblr_mlisvqVqk01qzya4mo1_500.png

And it seems other villages have taken to the practice as well. On June 28, anti-government protesters in the town of Hass near the Turkish border were filmed holding a banner that wished South African icon Nelson Mandela a speedy recovery after he was admitted to the hospital with a lung infection.

"Nelson Mandela! We wish we could take all your pains and add them to ours. God bless you," the banner said.

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1217590/thumbs/o-SYRIA-570.jpg?3

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/syria-trayvon-martin-sign_n_3603925.html

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] Report: Israel Bombs Syria again



Report: Israel Bombs Another Syrian Weapons Convoy

IAF jets bombed trucks carrying missiles to Hizbullah, according to Syrian opposition sources.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/170350


By Gil Ronen
First Publish: 7/28/2013, 7:22 PMIAF website

Israeli air force jets bombed trucks carrying Syrian missiles bound for Hizbullah's warehouses in Lebanon, according to Syrian opposition sources. The sources, were cited Sunday by Voice of Israel radio's Arabic-language service, which was quoted by i24 News.

The Friday night bombing reportedly targeted a Syrian military base near the town of Quneitra, not far from the Golan Heights cease-fire line.

This was the fifth known Israeli attack this year on Syrian weapons bound for Hizbullah. Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad reportedly wants to send the weapons to Hizbullah for safekeeping, out of fears they will fall into the hands of the rebels forces fighting him inside Syria, whilst the Iranian-backed terrorist group seeks "game changing weapons" - such as anti-aircraft missiles - in exchange for its costly intervention in the Syrian civil war on behalf of the Syrian regime.

In the most recent such reported attack, a series of explosions rocked the Syrian port of Latakia, on July 5.

The explosions were the result of strikes by Israeli warplanes, multiple U.S. officials told CNN.

Regional media widely reported the predawn explosions at Latakia on July 5, but no one had officially claimed responsibility.

Three U.S. officials told CNN the target of the airstrikes were Russian-made Yakhont anti-ship missiles that Israel believes posed a threat to its naval forces.

The Syrian rebels said that “foreign forces” had destroyed the missiles in Latakia, hinting that Israel may have been behind the attack.

[Le Socialiste]

A statement from the Revolutionary Left Current in Syria:


Our Revolution: a popular revolution for freedom, equality and social justice and against every kind of absolutism

More than two years has passed. The popular revolution of our people and of our youth has been waged against the corrupt authoritarian regime that has monopolized power, wealth and the public right in Syria, while repressing all independent or opposition political, cultural and social work on behalf of a tiny bourgeois clique. The process of mass impoverishment of the Syrian people has expanded through the implementation of wild neoliberal policies, accelerated during the rule of Bashar al-Assad, which included the privatization of sectors such as education and health.

This bourgeoisie of ours has blossomed over the years, closely grafted as it was onto the ruling dictatorial junta. Although 50,000 people from this class have left the country, taking with them a large booty stolen from the toilers of our nation, the bourgeois class as a whole remains committed to the survival of the old regime. In response, our intifada has been growing since 2006, and that growth has been accompanied by an increase in mass protests and strikes.

The popular revolution that broke out in March of 2011 was typical of revolutions throughout the region: peaceful in its demands and its mechanisms. To our demands for freedom, dignity and social justice the regime responded, and still responds, with bloody violence. It was only natural that in response to the brutal scorched earth policy of the junta an armed popular resistance should arise to protect demonstrators and their neighborhoods.

We also witnessed the appearance of takfiri [Muslims who accuse other Muslims of apostasy], jihadist and other sectarian groups, groups that were tolerated and often aided by the old regime. These groups still represent a minority in the broader revolutionary movement, but it must be said that they have become a part of the counterrevolution, and a real threat to the popular revolution and an extension of the oppressive old regime.

It wasn't long before there were popular protests against the regressive Islamic (or Sharia) Councils and these takfiri sectarian jihadists in many cities throughout the country--confirming that people have declared them to be counter-revolutionary, just as the armed conflict between them and the Free Syrian Army has shown that the revolutionary will requires of us a confrontation with this fascist counter-revolutionary force, which must be firmly crushed.

It's not terribly long; the rest of the statement may be found here (http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/our-revolution-a-popular-revolution-for-freedom-equality-and-social-justice-and-against-every-kind-of-absolutism/).

[emilianozapata]

The one thing that confuses me about these takfiri fanatics is that they are receiving arms, aid, finances from the same western countries which their founding father(osama bin laden) vehemently spoke out against.

Al-CIADA

[Sasha]

a. binladens's mudjadheen got funded by the west too
b. binladen is hardly the founding father of sunni extremism
c. sunni extremism is hardly an uniform movement, in fact i would say its as complicated with splits, sects, competing factions and completely distinct ideological movements as "communism"

[emilianozapata]

a. binladens's mudjadheen got funded by the west too
b. binladen is hardly the founding father of sunni extremism
c. sunni extremism is hardly an uniform movement, in fact i would say its as complicated with splits, sects, competing factions and completely distinct ideological movements as "communism"

He was the founding father of al-qaeda, the global organisation that most of these rebels pledge allegiance to. He also issued a fatwa in 1998 that stated the killing of any US citizen military or civilian was morally justified and ridiculed the Saud family for their pro-western values. It is the same as what happened with Gaddafi though they just want rid of Assad because he refuses to follow their agenda.

[ckaihatsu]

Published On: Wed, Feb 15th, 2012 Africa / Analysis / Middle East / Northern America / Politics | By nsnbc


US-Military Logic behind Syrian Insurgency. The “Special Forces Unconventional Warfare” manual TC 18-01


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Special Forces Unconventional Warfare Syria TC 18-01


In several articles nsnbc has referred to, and published extracts from the US Special Forces Training Manual TC 18-01. nsnbc is here publishing the US Army Manual for Unconventional Warfare in it´s entirety.

In previous articles attention was directed to the fact that it is possible to predict the systematic, step by step development of the insurgency and attempted subversion of the Syrian Government. So far, the “predictions” based on the manual have been stunningly accurate and reveal the true nature of what is euphemistically called protesters, opposition forces, Free Syrian Army, National Council of Syria, and other euphemisms for illegal US, NATO, and allied backed Insurgents.”.

The manual is classified “Restricted” with a “Destruction Notice“, and for good reasons.

“DISTRIBUTION RESTRICTION: Distribution authorized to U.S. Government agencies and their contractors only to protect technical or operational information from automatic dissemination under the International Exchange Program or by other means. This determination was made on 1 August 2010. Other requests for this document must be referred to Commander, United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, ATTN: AOJK-DTD-SF, 2175 Reilly Road, Stop A, Fort Bragg, NC 28310-5000.

DESTRUCTION NOTICE: Destroy by any method that will prevent disclosure of contents or reconstruction of the document.

FOREIGN DISCLOSURE RESTRICTION (FD 6): This publication has been reviewed by the product developers in coordination with the United States Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School foreign disclosure authority. This product is releasable to students from foreign countries on a case-by-case basis only.”

TC 18-01 does not only reveal the strategy of militant US-Foreign Policy. It reveals the absolutely criminal nature of US Foreign Policy, the blatant commitment to committing war crimes, supporting terrorism, and the use of almost any conceivable form of brutal, murderous crimes if it suits US Interests. It is a training manual from the military archives of a nation, that is positioning itself as herald of freedom, democracy and human rights while abusing the UN Security Council to wage illegal wars.

“Training Circular (TC) 18-01, Special Forces Unconventional Warfare, defines the current United States (U.S.) Army Special Forces (SF) concept of planning and conducting unconventional warfare (UW) operations. For the foreseeable future, U.S. forces will predominantly engage in irregular warfare (IW) operations.”

Please access SPECIAL FORCES UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE TC 18-01 (http://nsnbc.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/special-forces-uw-tc-18-01.pdf) in nsnbc´s archives by following the link: special-forces-uw-tc-18-01 (http://nsnbc.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/special-forces-uw-tc-18-01.pdf)




http://nsnbc.me/2012/02/15/us-military-logic-behind-syrian-insurgency-the-special-forces-uncon/


Also:


The Truthseeker - America's Next Colonies (E20, Part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7tdUYN37XU


The Truthseeker - America's Next Colonies (E20, Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhbnYw2A4ik

[fahadsul3man]

There are no winners in this proxy war only losers are the Syrian people , the defeat of the anti asaad proxy militants might slow the imperialists down but on the long run I doubt this country can ever be free from sectarianism now

Sent from my sexy nexy 4 using tapatalk 4 beta

[Turinbaar]

New reports of chemical weapons attack in Syria. There is video footage of victims in the link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23777201


Chemical weapons attacks have killed hundreds on the outskirts of Damascus, Syrian opposition activists say.

Rockets with toxic agents were launched at the suburbs of the Ghouta region early on Wednesday as part of a major bombardment on rebel forces, they say.

The Syrian army says the accusations have been fabricated to cover up rebel losses.

The main opposition alliance said that more than 1,000 people were killed by the attacks.

[piet11111]

Ah so Assad when he has the upper hand decided the best way to make use of this is by using the one thing he knows will draw in the american army in an attack of limited military value ?

I am not a chemical weapons expert but i would expect them to be far more deadly then what the video shows.

[Rusty Shackleford]

I dont get why the state would use chemical weapons while it is being investigated for that very same thing. also, france just went nutters again and declared it would intervene if chemical weapons were proven to have been used.

[ckaihatsu]

[EmergencyResponseforUSAttackonIranorSyria] Beware: U.S. Planning possible military attack on Syria


From the Wall Street Journal---

Updated August 23, 2013, 8:38 a.m. ET

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323665504579029122081493110.html#a rticleTabs%3Darticle


U.S. Weighs Plans to Punish Assad

Possible Military Responses Are Refined After Poison Gas Claims

------------------------

August 23, 2013, 10:36 p.m. ET

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323665504579029122081493110.html


Navy Moves Ships as U.S. Preps for 'All Contingencies'

Hagel Says U.S. Determination on Syrian Deaths Due 'Very Shortly'


==============================================

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/23/us-military-option-in-syria_n_3807557.html

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT OVER THE PACIFIC — The Pentagon is moving naval forces closer to Syria in preparation for a possible decision by President Barack Obama to order military strikes, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel suggested on Friday.

Hagel declined to describe any specific movements of U.S. forces. He said Obama asked that the Pentagon to prepare military options for Syria and that some of those options "requires positioning our forces."

U.S. Navy ships are capable of a variety of military action, including launching Tomahawk cruise missiles, as they did against Libya in 2011 as part of an international action that led to the overthrow of the Libyan government.

"The Defense Department has a responsibility to provide the president with options for contingencies, and that requires positioning our forces, positioning our assets, to be able to carry out different options – whatever options the president might choose," Hagel said.

He said the U.S. is coordinating with the international community to determine "what exactly did happen" in the reported use by the Syrian government of chemical weapons against civilians earlier this week.

"We're still assessing that," he said.

Hagel said a determination on the chemical attack should be made swiftly because "there may be another attack coming," although he added that "we don't know" whether that will happen.

Hagel said that although he is scheduled to spend the next week traveling in Southeast Asia, he will remain in contact with the White House about developments in Syria and planning for potential U.S. action.

[emilianozapata]

100% it's a false flag used by the anti-assad opposition to tempt NATO into military intervention.

[ckaihatsu]

100% it's a false flag used by the anti-assad opposition to tempt NATO into military intervention.


Yeah....

Just an f.y.i, then.

(There was also that latest opposition claim about Assad supposedly using chemical weapons, *again*....)

[Onecom]

Glad to be back after 2 years.:thumbup1:

The thing is Assad is winning for the most part,so it does not make sence they would use chemical weapons and get the west involved.
There is alot of evidence the point to past chemical attacks as either teargas or being done by rebel forces.

I find it odd that the media keeps ignoring the fact that the army recently captured rebel tunnels full of chemical containers,weapons and gasmasks.

It does verywell look like an attempt for the rebels to get western support or a falseflag attack,either way it will be very bad for the syrian people.

[TheIrrationalist]

I agree with you, Onecom.

I've never seen anything in the media about the real situation in Syria. Nothing about which side has the upper hand in this conflict. Nothing really but the spectacles (i.e. gas attacks etc.).

And Syria is now allowing UN inspectors to an alleged gas attack site:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/08/201382512509279986.html

[TheGodlessUtopian]

"Royal Navy Ready to Launch First Strike on Syria" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10265765/Navy-ready-to-launch-first-strike-on-Syria.html) -The Telegraph

[brigadista]

the old wmd/type excuse - didnt believe it the first time - pocket churchill wannabe william hague been all over the media frothing at the mouth again - despicable

[piet11111]

Could they at least pretend to want the UN chemical weapons team to file their report before they start this war ?

Guess not.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Man, the vultures are really circling now!

[Krano]

Military strikes on Syria 'as early as Thursday,' US officials say (http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/27/20209022-military-strikes-on-syria-as-early-as-thursday-us-officials-say)

[Crux]

Kurdish guerilla YPG forms an arabian batallion. (http://www.hawarnews.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84%3Aa-ypg-battalion-from-arabian-citizens&catid=1%3Anews&Itemid=2)

Longer article on the YPG from Vice, from the end of last year. (http://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-ypg)

[Comrade Chernov]

Personally, I believe the Kurds to be the only faction worth supporting in the civil war. The Kurds only want their own state, and if the YPG truly is aligned with the PKK, then they're our Leftist brothers and sisters in arms.

[Futility Personified]

There's been no confirmation about anything, they mention things getting worse, then assume whatever they want to speed ahead exacerbating the conflict. BBC and Sky have been the only sources i've followed recently, but before one suspicion is verified they move onto the next step. They have token debates about the rights and wrongs of interventionism but they are stilted pointless affairs.