"At least 72 are killed in Damascus car bombings" by Anne Barnard and Rick Gladstone | New York Times
TRIPOLI, Lebanon — At least three car bombs roiled Damascus on Thursday, including a powerful blast near the downtown headquarters of President Bashar Assad’s ruling party and the Russian Embassy that witnesses said shook the neighborhood like an earthquake.
And all a day after peace talks were to get started. What an absolutely stinking cui bono of a false flag.
Antigovernment activists described the bombings as some of the worst to hit the city in the nearly two-year-old conflict and said at least 72 people had been killed, mostly civilians.
Witnesses, including people who had been living near the ruling party headquarters in the Mazraa district, said the bombings were eroding what little confidence they had left that Assad’s forces could preserve at least some semblance of normalcy in Damascus, the Syrian capital, where armed insurgents have attacked with increasing brazenness.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
The hallmark of western intelligence agency operatives.
The main umbrella opposition group seeking to depose Assad condemned the bombings as it convened a meeting in Cairo. It was unclear whether the blasts had been timed to the Cairo meeting.
Another hallmark of western intelligence operatives. When they scream the loudest they are the ones who did it.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency described the blasts as the work of armed terrorist groups, its standard terminology for the insurgency.
That is such an instructive sentence regarding the agenda-pushing paper and its double standards and word games.
SANA said the victims included children and students and hundreds of people had been wounded. It said the Foreign Ministry had sent letters to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and the Security Council, urging that the body ‘‘adopt a firm stance which proves its commitment to combating terrorism regardless of its timing or place.’’
Asked about the bombings, Martin Nesirky, Ban’s spokesman at the United Nations, described them as appalling attacks that underscore ‘‘the need to end the violence and move onto a political track.’’ The United Nations and Arab League also announced that Lakhdar Brahimi, their special Syria peace envoy whose mandate was due to expire on Friday, will remain in that position at least through the end of 2013.
Some witnesses contacted in Damascus reported insurgent attacks and explosions elsewhere in the city Thursday, including mortar rounds aimed at the Defense Ministry’s headquarters, central Umayyad Square, and a park in a heavily protected affluent neighborhood, Abu Roumana. This week insurgent fighters lobbed mortar rounds that damaged one of the presidential palaces and killed a soccer player practicing inside a stadium.
“It is the first time to feel we are living in a war condition,’’ said a 30-year-old Mazraa resident named Anas, who lives with his family in a house behind the headquarters of Assad’s Ba’ath Party. ‘‘Today I saw what was happening in Baghdad in my city, Damascus. This is not the Damascus I know.’’
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-Assad group based in Britain that has a network of contacts in Syria, reported....
You can pick up any Amerikan newspaper almost any day of the week to see what they have to say as gospel.
The National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, the main Syrian umbrella group for the opposition, denounced the car bombings and other mayhem that killed civilians in Damascus on Thursday, saying in a statement that it ‘‘holds the Assad regime responsible for them.’’
Even though it was their band of terrorists responsible.
The group issued the statement as it was meeting in Cairo to talk about a negotiated settlement to the conflict, which has claimed an estimated 70,000 lives since it began as a nonviolent uprising against Assad in March 2011.
Note the death total (which will mostly be blamed on the government in my Jewish war rag), and the emphasis on the nonviolent roots of the protests (meaning good protests in newspeak).
So what happened? The nonviolence ended about the same time western intelligence agencies started sending in their "Al-CIA-Duh" mercenaries.
The meeting focused mainly on recent proposals by the coalition’s leader, Sheik Ahmad Moaz al-Khatib, to talk with representatives of the Assad government. Those proposals have been criticized by some of Khatib’s colleagues, who contend that they have only emboldened Assad.
Participants at the Cairo meeting made clear that at least so far, Khatib was speaking for himself.
“Per his own words it is not a formal initiative,’’ said Yasser Tabbara, a legal adviser to the coalition. ‘‘It is an idea he had, and now he is seeking some sort of a sanction for it, through the general assembly of the coalition.’’
Some members of the coalition said the dispute remained largely theoretical. No one believes that officials of Assad’s government will talk with the armed opposition about any political solution other than the opposition’s complete surrender, several said.
Monzer Makhous, the coalition’s representative in Paris, who was attending the Cairo meeting, said he believed that the intended audience for Khatib’s overtures for talks was not the Assad government but its Russian backers. The Russians have blocked UN actions against Assad and consistently accused the opposition of a refusal to negotiate, and Makhous said US and other Western officials had encouraged Khatib to appear open to talks primarily as a tactic to try to soften the Russian resistance to international action.
Of course, the Russians aren't stupid and I suspect they are having none of this. How would you like to be an intelligent and influential nation and have the current crop of globe-kickers treat you like an imbecile?
French and US diplomats told the Syrian coalition that this was ‘‘very important,’’ Makhous said.
And now we have this bombing. How blatantly obvious. Who benefits? I can hear NATO and the "coalition" now: we tried for peace, but...
--more--"
Who are those rebels anyway?
"In Syria, group suspected of Al Qaeda links emerging" by Justin Vela and Liz Sly | Washington Post, August 25, 2012
ALEPPO, Syria — Fears are widespread among Western governments that weapons sent to the rebels could wind up in the hands of extremists and, perhaps, be turned against their benefactors in a region already taut with sectarian and geopolitical rivalries....
Oooooo-kay, so, the REBELS are GETTING WEAPONS as early as AUGUST, if not before. Please keep that in mind for the rest of the post. That is why I typed some capital letters.
Jabhat al-Nusra, a shadowy jihadist organization suspected of affiliations to Al Qaeda that first surfaced on the Internet, is the only Syrian rebel group that posts on a Web forum that is used by Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri and other known Al Qaeda affiliates.
After the initial anger at the endless flogging of fraud, I just started laughing from the bottom of my belly.
Yup, it's CIA-Duh!
This suggests a link, at least through its media department, to the main Al Qaeda terrorist network, a connection that endows Jabhat al-Nusra with a credibility among jihadists that other organizations lack, said Aaron Zelin, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
An expert from where?
--more--"
Yeah, I've noticed my jewspaper turning to experts like that a lot.
Related:
"Al Qaeda-style suicide bombings have become increasingly common in Syria, and Western officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists, some associated with the terror network, have made inroads in Syria as violence has engulfed the country. But the main fighting force looking to oust Assad is the Free Syrian Army, a group made up largely of defected Syrian soldiers."
And thus not terrorists?
"Al Qaeda-style bombings have become increasingly common in Syria, and Western officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists, some associated with the terror network, have made inroads in the country as instability has spread."
At least they changed the ending.
"‘‘liberated areas’’ inside Syria.... latest in a series of recent efforts by the armed opposition inside and outside Syria to establish a tighter command-and-supply structure."
"Increasingly powerful Islamist rebel factions rejected the country’s new Western-backed opposition coalition and unilaterally declared an Islamic state in the key battleground of Aleppo. Made in a new online video, 13 Islamic radical factions — including foreign Al Qaeda-style jihadi fighters — denounced the coalition as a foreign creation."
Typical intelligence operation. Put forth some truth but it's discredited because it's from the "terrorists."
Also see: Occupation Iraq: Divide and Conquer
Yeah, who is responsible for the sectarianism and other things, including the "Al-CIA-Duh" media?
"Atrocities laid to Syrian rebels" by Kareem Fahim | New York Times, September 11, 2012
BEIRUT — The top UN human rights official warned opposition fighters in Syria on Monday that they would not be immune from prosecution for atrocities, as videos from the Syrian city of Aleppo appeared to show a mass execution by rebel fighters of bound and blindfolded Syrian government soldiers.
One of the videos, first publicized Monday on the Brown Moses blog, which curates and analyzes video evidence from Syria, showed at least 20 corpses lying in crooked row on a bloodstained street curb. The victims wore fatigues but no shoes. Several appeared to have been shot in the head.
Oh, look, the AmeriKan media is directing you to a controlled blog.
In that video and another that captured the same scene, different rebel groups appear to take responsibility for the killings. It was impossible to immediately confirm the authenticity of the videos or to determine exactly when and where they were recorded.
If confirmed, the executions are likely to add to growing concerns about the conduct of the militias fighting to topple the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, and particularly their treatment of prisoners.
In a brutal episode in late July, a group of rebel fighters was seen in a video executing several captives — members of an Aleppo family accused of being enforcers for the government — with a spray of gunfire. In recent days, other videos have captured summary executions by the rebels.
And as the AmeriKan media now says, if it appeared genuine and corresponded to other reporting.
Speaking in Geneva on Monday, Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for human rights, warned of atrocities by the government and its opponents. Both, she said, ‘‘deploy snipers that target civilians.’’
Interesting how the EUSraeli empire does the same thing and yet not a peep from the U.N.
Pillay also said the Syrian government’s attacks on civilians and destruction of homes ‘‘may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity,’’ according to a transcript of Pillay’s remarks on her office’s website. And in a stern warning directed at antigovernment forces, Pillay noted the ‘‘undoubted climb in human rights violations’’ attributed to the rebels, including abductions and summary executions.
Quite a distinction there! Rights violations (you know, things we do when we are bad) are a far cry from possible prosecution for war crimes.
“Opposition forces should be under no illusion that they will be immune from prosecution,’’ she said....
And I'll believe it when I see them before the bar at the Hague.
--more--"
"Video appears to show Syrian rebel brutality; Captured regime soldiers kicked, then executed" by Karin Laub and Zeina Karam | Associated Press, November 03, 2012
BEIRUT — A video that appears to show a unit of Syrian rebels kicking terrified, captured soldiers and then executing them with machine guns raised concerns Friday about rebel brutality at a time when the United States is making its strongest push yet to forge an opposition movement with which it can work.
UN officials and human rights groups believe President Bashar Assad’s regime is responsible for the bulk of suspected war crimes in Syria’s 19-month-old conflict, which began as a largely peaceful uprising but has transformed into a brutal civil war.
But investigators of human rights abuses say rebel atrocities are on the rise.
At this stage ‘‘there may not be anybody with entirely clean hands,’’ said Suzanne Nossel, head of Amnesty International.
The United States has called for a major leadership shakeup of Syria’s political opposition during a crucial conference next week in Qatar. Washington and its allies have been reluctant to give stronger backing to the largely Turkey-based opposition, viewing it as ineffective, fractured, and out of touch with fighters trying to topple Assad.
But the new video adds to growing concerns about those fighters and could complicate Washington’s efforts to decide which of the myriad of opposition groups to support.
‘‘We condemn human rights violations by any party,’’ State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. ‘‘Anyone committing atrocities should be held to account.’’
I'm sorry, readers, but this double standard hypocrisy is just too much for me.
She said the Free Syrian Army has urged its fighters to adhere to a code of conduct it established in August, reflecting international rules of war.
The summary execution of the captured soldiers, purportedly shown in an amateur video, took place Thursday during a rebel assault on the strategic northern town of Saraqeb, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.
It was unclear which faction was involved, though the Qaeda-inspired Jabhat al-Nusra was among those fighting in the area, the Observatory said.
The video, posted on YouTube, shows a crowd of gunmen in what appears to be a building under construction. They surround a group of captured men, some on their bellies as if ordered to lie down, others sprawled as if wounded. Some of the captives are in Syrian military uniforms.
‘‘These are Assad’s dogs,’’ one gunman is heard saying of those cowering on the ground.
The gunmen kick and beat some of the men. One gunman shouts, ‘‘Damn you!’’ The exact number of soldiers in the video is not clear, but there appear to be about 10. Moments later, gunfire erupts for about 35 seconds, screams are heard, and the men are seen shaking and twitching. The spray of bullets kicks up dust from the ground.
The video’s title says it shows dead and captive soldiers at the Hmeisho checkpoint. The Observatory said 12 soldiers were killed Thursday at the checkpoint, one of three regime positions near Saraqeb attacked by the rebels that day.
Amnesty International’s forensics analysts did not detect signs of forgery in the video, according to Nossel. The group has not been able to confirm the location, date, or identity of those in the footage, she said.
Un-flipping-real! After all the bin Laden and other fakes and forgeries by western intelligence agencies that have been foisted upon us? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at such chutzpah in my paper.
After the assault Thursday, rebels took full control of Saraqeb, a strategic position on the main highway linking Syria’s largest city, Aleppo — which rebels have been trying to capture for months — with the regime stronghold of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast.
I was actually told they had, but.... yeah.
On Friday, at least 143 people, including 48 government soldiers, were killed in gunbattles, regime shelling attacks on rebel-held areas and other violence, the Observatory said.
Of the more than 36,000 killed so far in Syria, about one-fourth are regime soldiers, according to the Observatory. The rest include civilians and rebel fighters, but the group does not offer a breakdown.
--more--"
Related: "Also Sunday, the Observatory distributed two videos showing a rebel beating a captured government soldier with a rope."
And yet when the criminal charges come down....
"Petition seeking war crimes investigation angers Syria" by Anne Barnard | New York Times, January 20, 2013
BEIRUT — The Syrian government reacted with outrage Saturday to a petition from 58 countries asking that it be investigated for war crimes, even as reports of new atrocities surfaced a day after the United Nations’ top human rights official called forcefully for the case to be referred to the International Criminal Court.
But no one is immune.
“The Syrian government regrets the persistence of these countries in following the wrong approach and refusing to recognize the duty of the Syrian state to protect its people from terrorism imposed from abroad,’’ the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Syrians can see!
The Syrian government uses the word terrorists as a blanket term for its opponents, many of whom took up arms after the government fired on demonstrators early in 2011.
Related:
"Something of a catchall term for loosely affiliated insurgents without a singular command structure. Often, the Afghan government favors the phrase 'enemies of the state' (New York Times July 24, 2007)."
That was then, this is now, right?
Some rebel groups have increasingly used tactics such as car bombs and other weapons that kill indiscriminately.
Yet opposition supporters say the government has committed the majority of wanton attacks on civilians, using airstrikes and artillery barrages on residential neighborhoods.
The BBC reported Friday that it had found evidence of a massacre that government opponents said was carried out on Tuesday in Al Haswiya, a working-class suburb of Homs in northern Syria.
The BBC reported that visibly shocked villagers said at least 100 people, almost all of them Sunni Muslims, had been killed. Soldiers escorting the BBC journalists blamed the extremist group Jabhet al-Nusra for the killings, while out of earshot of the soldiers, villagers blamed the army and said some soldiers had apologized for the killings.
After half-hour early report of the collapse of building 7, Iraq, and the British press hacking scandal, you don't seriously think I'm believing anything the BBC says?
On Friday, UNICEF’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, Maria Calivis, condemned what she called ‘‘the terrible price children are paying’’ in Syria, condemning the Haswiya killings of ‘‘whole families’’ and the deaths of women and children last week in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp, south of Damascus, and in explosions at Aleppo University that killed more than 80 people.
Each side blamed the other for the blasts in Aleppo and for other large explosions in Daraa and Aleppo on Thursday — possibly from surface-to-surface missiles, whose frequent use would represent another escalation in the conflict.
On Friday, the UN commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, expressed dismay over the lack of Security Council action against the killing and the human rights abuses in Syria, where the death toll now surpasses 60,000.
She said her job was to give voice to the victims and ‘‘certainly they see the situation as the United Nations not carrying out its responsibility to protect victims.’’
Unless they are Palestinians being oppressed by Israel. Just goes to show you the U.N. is nothing but a western imperial tool, and why wouldn't it be? They are the ones who founded it.
Pillay strongly backed the call by 58 countries this month that the Security Council send Syria’s case to the International Criminal Court for investigation. Russia has made it clear that it will veto any such action.
And thus we get the bombing at the Russian embassy.
--more--"
Those immune:
"Suicide blast hits Syrian compound" Associated Press, October 01, 2012
BEIRUT — A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a Syrian security compound in a remote, predominantly Kurdish town Sunday, killing at least four people, state media said, in a new sign that the country’s largest ethnic minority might be drawn into a widening civil war.
It's not really a civil war. The people of Syria are not behind the opposition; otherwise, Assad would have been long gone by now.
Opposition activists said at least eight Syrian intelligence agents were killed and several dozen people wounded in the attack in the northeastern town of Qamishli, more than 435 miles from the capital Damascus.
Syria’s more than 2 million Kurds, long marginalized, have largely stayed out of the fighting, though some have participated in protests against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
And WHO would BENEFIT by bringing them in?
Over the summer, Syrian troops left several towns and villages in the Kurdish northeast, possibly to divert forces to overstretched troops fighting in hot spots elsewhere.
However, the regime has maintained a security presence in Qamishli, which abuts the Turkish border, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s blast. Several previous suicide attacks in Syria were claimed by Al Nusra Front, a Syrian militant group.
A-ha! EITHER WAY it is a WESTERN INTELLIGENCE OPERATION, folks. I recognize the code.
Fighting continued Sunday in several areas of Aleppo as part of what rebels say is a new push to drive out regime forces. Either side could potentially break the civil war’s stalemate if it were to seize Aleppo, a city of 3 million people.
This article was how long ago?
--more--"
Related: Who is Winning the War in Syria?
HowTF would I know? I read an AmeriKan newspaper.
"Rebels, militants seize base in Syria; Al Qaeda group joins in attack" by Ben Hubbard and Zeina Karam | Associated Press, October 13, 2012
BEIRUT — Fighters from a shadowy militant group with suspected links to Al Qaeda joined Syrian rebels in seizing a government missile defense base in northern Syria on Friday, according to activists and amateur video.
It was unclear if the rebels were able to hold the base after the attack, and analysts questioned whether they would be able to make use of any of the missiles they may have spirited away.
Oh, the REBELS have MISSILES, huh? Yeah, but they can't use them says by lying war rag.
Nevertheless, the assault underscored fears of advanced weaponry falling into the hands of extremists playing an increasingly large role in Syria’s civil war....
Despite Western opposition to President Bashar Assad’s regime, the United States and other countries have cited the presence of extremists among the rebels as a reason not to supply the Syrian insurgents with weapons....
What a LIE!
"US intelligence agents have helped funnel arms to rebel groups."
"The Obama administration has been reluctant to provide arms to the Syrian rebels"
Which means they are providing.
Which means they are providing.
Let's just stop it with the distorted and contorted semantics, 'kay?
Western powers — and many Syrians — worry that Islamist extremists are playing an increasing role in Syria’s civil war, which started in March 2011 as a mostly peaceful uprising against Assad.
Then why did they send them there? Just a damn excuse to invade. Yup, create the problem, and then offer the solution. Cui bono?
Little is known about Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Support Front, which began claiming attacks in Syria earlier this year in postings on jihadi forums often used by Al Qaeda.
While neither group has officially acknowledged a link to the other, analysts say al-Nusra’s tactics, rhetoric and use of Al Qaeda forums point to an affiliation.
You got that? al-Nusra affiliated with Al-CIA-Duh!
--more--"
Related: US renounces Syrian rebels led by ex-pats The United States has no direct power to anoint the would-be new leaders of Syria, but US backing will be essential for any hopefuls seeking outside financial, diplomatic, or possible military assistance."
Translation: we will be installing our own man at some point.
"Bombing kills 20 in olive oil factory, Syrian activists say; Civilians again the victim of a regime attack" by Bassem Mroue | Associated Press, November 28, 2012
BEIRUT — On Tuesday, the pro-government daily Al-Watan published a list with names of 142 Arab and foreign terrorists it said were killed in Syria in recent months.
The list had names of people it said were from 18 countries, including 47 from Saudi Arabia, 24 Libyans, 10 Tunisians, nine Egyptians, six Qataris, and five Lebanese.
Analysts say most of those fighting Assad’s regime are ordinary Syrians and soldiers who have defected, fed up with the authoritarian government. But increasingly, foreign fighters and those adhering to an extremist Islamist ideology are also turning up on the front lines. The rebels try to play down their influence for fear of alienating Western support....
--more--"
That was a nice one-day wonder tucked into another turd of an article, wasn't it?
"Car bombs kill at least 45, injure scores, in Damascus neighborhood" by Babak Dehghanpisheh, November 28, 2012
BEIRUT — The neighborhood, Jaramana, is a mixed area of mostly Christian and Druze residents that is generally viewed as supportive of the Syrian government....
Then we KNOW WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE!
The official Syrian Arab News Agency said the attack was carried out by “terrorists,” the label used by state media to refer to opposition fighters....
Have I told you how tired I am of a s***-stinking pot media hollering kettle?
The two car bombs had been placed on the same street and were detonated about 10 minutes apart, leading some Syrians to conclude that the timing was a deliberate attempt to maximize casualties.
Yes, the HALLMARKS of WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY OPERATIONS!
After that it's a totally rewritten pos.
What I am hand-typing because it has been scrubbed from the web:
The twin blasts came a day after rebel fighters took over two military bases in Syria, an additional sign that the ragtag force may finally be breaking a weeks-long stalemate and making progress in its battle against the government of President Bashar Assad.
Can you overdose on AmeriKan media bullshit because I think I'm losing consciousne....
The deadliness of the Syrian military's air power was on bloody display Tuesday after an air raid on an olive press in Idlib Province killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens of others, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network.
Amazing. The thing would be sanitized were it an EUSraeli atrocity from the air -- if they even bothered to cover it at all.
That the two air bases were taken over by such radically different groups among the opposition indicates that the recent rebel gains may not have been coordinated by any sort of unified leadership. It also hints at potential problems ahead if Islamists and secular groups begin to fight one another for control of territory.
Please keep in mind you were being told this back in November. That's what is so stark about being so far behind and catching up: you really realize how much crap the AmeriKan media is feeding us, as opposed to being on top of it every day.
Some observers note that although rebel fighters have succeeded in taking over military bases, it is much less certain how long they will be able to hold them. Rebel groups have been losing territory to the military at the same time they have been making gains.
Related: Who is Winning the War in Syria?
Still, rebels also have had a number of recent successes.
Still is a precursor to a shovel full of shit.
What the WaPo web pos added:
The tactic was used often by insurgents in Iraq during the height of the civil war there between Shiites and Sunnis in 2006 and 2007....
Divide and conquer, cui bono?
Meanwhile, rebel forces continued a string of recent successes in Syria’s northwest, taking over a military base and shooting down a MiG jet in Aleppo province, according to activists.
Rebel forces also announced the capture of Brig. Gen. Mustafa Mayouf, the head of state security for the Damascus suburb of Daraya, on Wednesday.
The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, reported that three other airplanes and a helicopter were also shot down Wednesday, although no video footage or additional information was provided to support the claim.
In the past week, rebel fighters have taken control of at least half a dozen bases around the country, a sign that the opposition may be gaining momentum in its battle against the Syrian government. The challenge for the rebel forces, observers say, will be to hold territory and consolidate their gains.
The base overrun by rebel fighters in Aleppo province Wednesday belonged to the Syrian military’s 608th Air Defense Battalion, and videos posted online showed some of the hardware captured in the raid that the fighters may use to boost their arsenal.
In one video, a man films a number of large, white, mounted missiles as he walks across the base. “These are the missiles of Assad,” he says. “By the permission of Allah, they are ours now.”
Another video shows a fighters using an anti-aircraft gun purportedly confiscated at the base.
The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified because of the Syrian government’s restrictions on media access to the country.
That is NO LONGER A CONCERN!
The downing of the MiG jet Wednesday in the town of Darat Ezzah, 20 miles west of Aleppo, came a day after a video was posted online that appeared to show a helicopter being blasted by a surface-to-air missile.
So the rebels do have missiles and can use them.
The attack on the MiG raised the possibility that rebels have gained access to a supply of surface-to-air missiles, either confiscated from Syrian military bases or donated by the opposition’s foreign supporters.
Like the missiles that plow into buildings and universities?
Video footage posted online Wednesday showed the flaming wreck of the plane plummeting down and exploding into a massive black cloud.
Another video posted Wednesday showed a bloody and unconscious man in what appeared to be a green pilot’s uniform being carried by three men.
“This is the pilot that was shelling the houses of the citizens,” one man in the video says. “The heroes of Darat Ezzah shot down his jet.”
The alleged pilot is shown laid out on a bed in a sandbagged room in a third video as medical personnel examine him.
--more--"
Related: Twin car bombs kill at least 34 in Syrian capital
That's the Globe's web version by New York Times.
What is with the censorship, anyway?
"Syrian rebels capture part of massive army base; 13 soldiers killed in ambush near strategic town" by Bassem Mroue | Associated Press, December 11, 2012
BEIRUT — In Washington, the Obama administration declared a Syrian rebel group with alleged ties to Al Qaeda as a terrorist organization.
The State Department said Jabhat al-Nusra is part of Al Qaeda in Iraq....
Thanks for bringing them there, AmeriKa.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be traveling to North Africa this week to try to bolster moderates hoping to end President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.
Monday’s gains by rebel forces in northern Syria came as the European Union denounced the Syrian conflict....
‘‘The current situation in Syria is a stain on the world’s conscience and the international community has a moral duty to address it,’’ European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said in Oslo as the EU received the Nobel Peace Prize....
Proving those awards mean nothing. Now I'm not so upset Gandhi never won one; in fact, it actually shows he was not a controlled-opposition figure serving the agenda.
The fighting has also spilled repeatedly into the neighboring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. Clashes between Sunni Muslim and Alawite militias in Tripoli, Lebanon, over the last week killed at least 17 people....
Hard-line Islamic militant groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra, Mujahedeen Shura Council, and the Muhajireen group, which count both Syrians and foreigners in their ranks, are among the most effective fighters on the rebel side of the country’s civil war.
I'm waiting for the war crime indictments.
--more--"
Related: "a new phase of US engagement, the move may well be too little, too late."
Quote With another quote from WINEP!
Tired of the fart mist.
"Gas pipeline attacked, Syria says" by Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, January 01, 2013
BEIRUT — Rebels blew up a natural gas pipeline in eastern Syria on Monday, disrupting distribution, officials said.
That should help the global warming problem. Thanks, assholes. Happy New Year's Eve.
A statement carried by Syria’s state news agency blamed a ‘‘terrorist group,’’ the regime’s description of rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad.
The news agency said the blast 18 miles north of Deir el-Zour caused the loss of around 1.5 million cubic meters of gas. It quoted an Oil Ministry official as saying the station fed electricity plants and a fertilizer factory and that engineers were repairing the leak.
Rebels have repeatedly targeted Syria’s oil infrastructure in an effort to sap government finances. Last week, they reported seizing the Tanak oil field, also in eastern Syria....
Rebels have made gains in recent months, though few expect the war to end soon.
Are you sick of the mixed messages and general bullshit yet? And this is what I wake up to nearly every damn day.
An international plan to end the civil war with a cease-fire and the formation of a transitional government has gone nowhere....
Because the globe-kicking empire-builders wish it.
--more--"
"Syria appears to distance itself from UN’s peace envoy" by Anne Barnard and Rick Gladstone | New York Times, January 11, 2013
BEIRUT — The verbal back-and-forth came as new flare-ups of insurgency violence hit Idlib Province in northwest Syria, where rebel fighters were reported to have raided an important air base housing helicopters and warplanes that Assad’s military has been using to attack rebel-held territory and to resupply soldiers.
A government opponent said the military was blowing up the aircraft preemptively to prevent insurgents from gaining access to them. Despite the increased range of weaponry used by the rebels, who include a number of defecting air force pilots, they have no aircraft....
The Syrian insurgent assault on the Idlib air base, the Taftanaz military airport, lasted for hours and included fighters from the jihadist groups Jabhet al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, according to accounts from government foes.
--more--"
Syrian troops recapture key territory
I guess I just thought that was important.
The back-to-back declarations highlight the see-saw nature of the conflict in Syria, where one side’s victories in one area are often followed by reverses in another. More than 60,000 people have been killed since March 2011 in Syria’s conflict, which has turned into an outright civil war driving hundreds of thousands from their homes and across the borders into neighboring countries. In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Saturday it is still strongly against any foreign interference in the war-torn country’s affairs."
"Blasts at Syria’s Aleppo University kill scores; Target unclear of possible bombs, airstrikes" by Rick Gladstone and Hwaida Saad | New York Times, January 16, 2013
BEIRUT — At least two deadly explosions, possibly caused by airstrikes or bombs, devastated the campus of Aleppo University in Syria on Tuesday as students were taking exams, a major escalation of the violent struggle for control of the country’s largest city. The opposition and government blamed each other for the blasts, among the worst since the Syrian conflict began nearly two years ago.
Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, said at a Security Council meeting that 82 people were killed and 192 wounded in the explosions, which he called a terrorist attack. Opposition sympathizers said more than 50 people were killed.
The carnage at the public university, the premier educational institution in Aleppo, shocked Syrians inured to violence and brought an unusually intense round of speculation and mutual recrimination.
The toll was extraordinarily high even for Syria’s bloody conflict. The target was mysterious. The university has been a center of antigovernment demonstrations but is in a government-held area, so neither side had an obvious reason to strike.
Stinks to high heaven, doesn't it?
And there was horror that the explosions struck as students tried to go about their studies normally, even after people who had fled the fighting in other Aleppo neighborhoods had taken up residence in a dormitory, which was hit by a blast.
''The most painful scene was a chopped hand with a pen and notebook right next to it,’’ an education student who identified himself as Abu Tayem said over Skype.
The university’s press office appeared to have issued a statement accusing Syrian air force MiG fighter planes of targeting the campus in two missile attacks three minutes apart, destroying buildings and causing ‘‘massive destruction in the surrounding roads.’’ The statement denounced the attacks as a ‘‘criminal act.’’
But it was unclear if the statement, which was posted on an opposition Facebook page, reflected the view of the leadership of the government-run university.
The government, too, appeared to realize the impact of the event, issuing an unusual statement casting President Bashar Assad as coming to the school’s rescue. The Education Ministry said in a statement that the president would oversee reconstruction ‘‘immediately to secure the functioning of the teaching process.’’
Sort of like Syria's Newtown, 'eh? Except I'm sure this is all too real.
Aleppo, in northern Syria, has essentially been a battleground since July. But the campus area had been largely spared until Tuesday.
Competing and contradictory accounts proliferated in a propaganda battle to cast blame for the explosions, none of them verifiable because of the difficulties of firsthand reporting inside Syria. Some witnesses reported hearing the screech of warplane jet engines, but there was no corroborating video.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an antigovernment group based in Britain with a network of contacts in Syria, said that either government airstrikes or car bombs could have been responsible. Car bombs have been used by some rebel groups, and a rebel battalion immediately accused the Syrian Observatory on Facebook of ‘‘supporting the lies of the regime.’’
No one wants to own up to it, which exposes the hand of western intelligence agencies or Israel.
One student said insurgent fighters just outside Aleppo who apparently were armed with a heat-seeking missile fired it at a fighter; when the fighter pilot dropped a heat balloon as an evasive tactic, the missile followed the balloon and then exploded near a military post adjacent to the university dormitories. That account, however, did not explain the second explosion.
Other students also reported seeing what they described as heat balloons before the explosions. Some said the university dormitories were hit by one missile, and that other missiles struck the buildings that house the university’s architecture and humanities departments.
Looks like missiles hit it. They could even be U.S. drones for all I know.
Witness accounts and videos uploaded on the Internet from the campus and nearby hospital painted a picture of utter panic.
''I was inside my car when I heard the sound of two consecutive explosions which was preceded by the sound of a warplane,’’ said an antigovernment activist in Aleppo reached on his mobile telephone, who identified himself only by his first name, Tony.
And who could question that or the AmeriKan media, 'eh?
--more--"
"Rocket slams residential site in Aleppo" by Bassem Mroue | Associated Press, January 19, 2013
BEIRUT — A rocket hit a building in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo and two suicide bombers struck near a mosque in the south Friday, capping a particularly bloody week in the country’s civil war.
More than 800 civilians were killed since Sunday, including an unusually large proportion in government-held areas.
And yet it is the government on the hook for war crimes?
The residential building struck in Aleppo was in a part of the city controlled by regime forces, as was a university hit earlier in the week in an attack that killed 87 people, mostly students. The government accused rebels in both attacks, a claim the opposition denies.
So do I, because we know. I no longer need posts and proofs. It is something I have learned all these years. You read between the lines of the intelligence operation known as an AmeriKan newspaper.
But if confirmed, it would signal that the rebels have acquired more sophisticated weaponry — rockets— from captured regime bases and are now using them to take the fight more into government-held areas in an effort to break a monthslong stalemate in the war.
Rebels have in the past posted videos showing them capturing heavy rockets — apparently of the style fired from truck-mounted launchers — at regime military bases that they have overrun.
But it is not clear whether the fighters have — or are able to — use any of the ballistics. The rebels’ primary weaponry are automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Rockets would for the first time give them a greater range, an advantage that until now the regime military has overwhelmingly held, with its arsenal of warplanes, helicopters, artillery, rockets, and mortars.
For crying out loud, they have had them since last year -- according to their own reporting above. God, am I ever sick of this shit-slop passing itself off as news.
Regime bombardment has caused heavy civilian casualties — and if the rebels start blasting back with sometimes inaccurate rockets the civilian toll would likely rise.
Yeah, it's all retailatory. Pfffft!
But the opposition has denied being behind the Aleppo university strike and the strike Friday on the residential building, which one activist group said killed 12 people.
‘‘It was an air raid,’’ said Aleppo-based activist Abu Raed al-Halabi.
When asked why the regime would attack a government-held area, al-Halabi said most people in Aleppo are opposed to the regime.
Halabi said the rebels have captured some rockets near the capital, Damascus, but not in the Aleppo region. ‘‘If they have such missiles they would have fired it at the Military Intelligence headquarters,’’ he said.
Even if the rebels have captured surface-to-surface rockets it would not be a turning point in their battle against the regime of President Bashar Assad, said Aram Nerguizian, a Middle East security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Such systems would ‘‘do little to erode [regime] air power, effectively target [its]
infrastructure, turn the tide of the conflict, or change the broader strategic picture,’’ he said.
But the rebels are making gains and winning.
And rebel use of rockets could backfire since ‘‘these inaccurate systems are more likely to produce either no impact or kill more civilians than Syrian military forces.’’
Already a given.
Friday’s strike in Aleppo and suicide car bombings in the southern town of Daraa occurred during a particularly bloody week in Syria’s nearly two-year-old conflict.
Since the previous Friday, more than 1,000 people have been killed, including 804 civilians, 214 soldiers, and 20 army defectors fighting with the rebels, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a London-based activist group that gathers information from a large network of contacts on the ground....
About 200 civilians were killed this week in government-controlled areas.
Most of them died during the strike on the university in Aleppo and in a mass killing Thursday in the central town of Haswiyeh, where opposition activists say a pro-government militia torched houses and killed more than 100 people.
If you say so, s*** media.
--more--"
"With Syria’s turmoil rising, Russia moves to evacuate 100; Increasingly, Assad viewed as losing control; rebel coalition struggles to start governing system" by Ellen Barry and Hania Mourtada | New York Times, January 22, 2013
MOSCOW — The conflict continued to rage Monday, with the government accusing rebels of attacking an important power line, causing a blackout in Damascus, the capital, as well as areas to the north and a swath of territory reaching south to Jordan.
Power failures have been frequent reminders of the conflict that has engulfed Syria, but the latest one appeared to be the first to affect the entire capital, where Assad’s forces are still largely in control.
The Associated Press reported that power was restored in parts of Damascus on Monday.
In Istanbul, the main exile opposition group once again failed to form a transitional government, deciding instead to postpone the step while new proposals are drawn up. The delay was a setback to the opposition’s plans to fill the power vacuum created by the ever bloodier civil war.
The opposition group, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, has won recognition by a number of foreign countries as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people, but it has not yet solidified support among rebels fighting on the ground. Nor has it begun planning for a post-Assad future.
The Western and Arab nations that pressed Assad’s adversaries to reorganize last year have been urging the new coalition to select a prime minister, but no candidate has won a consensus.
A statement by the National Coalition on Monday said it had formed a five-member committee to ‘‘lead consultations’’ with rebel commanders, foreign backers, and others seeking Assad’s ouster, and to draw up proposals for a transitional government within 10 days. The statement was similar to one the coalition made last month, after failing to form a government at a meeting in Cairo.
The talks over a transitional government were bogged down by a heated debate over a provision in the coalition’s bylaws banning its members from assuming ministerial posts in any future interim government, in an effort to protect the coalition from accusations that its members are merely seeking personal power. Some opposition leaders want to scrap that provision, arguing that it will deny the interim government the benefit of including experienced and respected senior figures, but they met with strong resistance.
‘‘The idea faced an immediate storm of objections and criticism,’’ said Samir Nachar, a member of the Syrian National Coalition. ‘‘We saw that during the meeting, and decided not to change anything.’’
Nachar said the main reason the opposition has failed to shape a transitional government so far is that it is not sure such a government would receive the international recognition and support it would need to function.
‘‘Falling into the trap of forming a paralyzed government will not just be useless, it will be a huge disappointment to Syrians,’’ he said. ‘‘The coalition was promised a lot when it was formed, and none of that materialized.’’
The coalition announced that it was sending $250,000 in emergency aid to Daraya, a Damascus suburb that has been hit hard recently with artillery and airstrikes, and forming committees to aid refugees and the wounded and to coordinate with armed opposition groups inside Syria.
The coalition has been under pressure to show that it can offer real help to Syrians inside the country.
What, sending Al-CIA-Duh killers in to terrify the people into regime change doesn't go over well?
What, sending Al-CIA-Duh killers in to terrify the people into regime change doesn't go over well?
--more--"
"Russia admits large Syria evacuation amid fighting" by Barbara Surkand Vladimir Isachenkov | Associated Press, January 24, 2013
BEIRUT — Inside Syria, fighting between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad raged around the capital Damascus and in the north of the country, killing at least 60 people, including six members of a single family who died in a government rocket attack, activists said....
That's what activists say. Could have been either, right?
That's what activists say. Could have been either, right?
The fighting continued unabated inside Syria on Wednesday, with government airstrikes in the Damascus area and clashes and shelling in the southern province of Daraa and the central region of Homs, activists said.
In the northern province of Aleppo, a regime rocket hit the village of Abu Taltal, killing six members of a single family, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees.
Both groups rely on a network of activists on the ground and frequently report on government bombardment of rebel-dominated regions.
And who dare question that?
And who dare question that?
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the international community to declare the Syrian regime’s bombardment of its own citizens a war crime.
Also Wednesday, Human Rights Watch reported that armed opposition groups appeared to have deliberately destroyed religious sites in mixed areas of northern Syria late last year.
That's a war crime!
That's a war crime!
--more--"
"Historic mosque burned in ancient Syrian city" by Barbara Surk | Associated Press, October 16, 2012
BEIRUT — A landmark mosque in Aleppo was burned, scarred by bullets, and trashed — the latest casualty of Syria’s civil war — and President Bashar Assad ordered immediate repairs on Monday to try to stem Muslim outrage at the desecration of the 12th century site.
The Umayyad Mosque suffered extensive damage, as has the nearby medieval covered market, or souk, which was gutted by a fire that was sparked by fighting two weeks ago. The market and the mosque are centerpieces of Aleppo’s walled Old City, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Government troops had been holed up in the mosque for months before rebels launched a push this week to drive them out. Activists and Syrian government officials blamed each other for the weekend fire at the mosque.
Rebel supporters also alleged that regime forces defaced the shrine with offensive graffiti and drank alcohol inside, charges bound to raise religious tensions further in Syria. Many of the rebels are Sunni Muslims, while the regime is dominated by Alawites, or followers of an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.
‘‘It’s all blackened now,’’ activist Mohammad al-Hassan said of the site, also called the Great Mosque. One of Syria’s oldest and largest shrines, it was built around a courtyard and enclosed in a compound next to the ancient citadel.
It survived all these centuries until now? Yeah, something stinks, and it isn't the fire.
Hassan said the army had been using the mosque as a base because of its strategic location in the Old City; he blamed Assad for the destruction. ‘‘He burns down the country and its heritage, and then he says he will rebuild it. Why do you destroy it to begin with?’’ Hassan said in a telephone interview from Aleppo.
Fighting has destroyed large parts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city with 3 million residents and its former business capital. Activists say more than 33,000 people have died in the conflict, which began in March 2011 and has turned into a civil war.
Five of Syria’s six World Heritage sites have been damaged in the fighting, according to UNESCO, the UN cultural agency. Looters have broken into one of the world’s best-preserved Crusader castles, Crac des Chevaliers, and ruins in the ancient city of Palmyra have been damaged.
Both rebels and regime forces have turned some of Syria’s significant historic sites into bases, including citadels and Turkish bath houses, while thieves have stolen artifacts from museums.
Karim Hendili, a Paris-based UNESCO expert who oversees heritage sites in the Arab world, said Aleppo’s Old City has been hardest hit. The fire that swept through the souk burned more than 500 shops in the narrow, vaulted passageways, destroying a testament to its flourishing commercial history.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Syrian Rebels Burn Historic Marketplace
"Syrian army unleashes offensive" by Barbara Surk | Associated Press, January 26, 2013
BEIRUT — Syria’s army unleashed a barrage of rocket and artillery fire on rebel-held areas in a central province Friday as part of a widening offensive against fighters seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. At least 140 people were killed in fighting nationwide, according to activist groups....
Despite significant rebel advances on the battlefield, the opposition remains outgunned by government forces and has been unable to break a stalemate on the ground....
Activists said the army recently brought in military reinforcements to the central province of Homs and launched a renewed offensive aimed at retaking patches of territory that have been held by rebels.
An amateur video posted online by activists showed rockets slamming into buildings in the rebel-held town of Rastan, just north of the provincial capital, Homs.
Another video showed thick black and gray smoke rising from a building in the besieged city. ‘‘The city of Homs is burning . . . day and night, the shelling of Homs doesn’t stop,’’ the narrator is heard saying.
Troops also battled rebels around Damascus in an effort to dislodge opposition fighters who have set up enclaves in surrounding towns and villages. The troops fired artillery shells Friday at several districts, including Zabadani and Daraya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said regime planes carried out airstrikes on the suburb of Douma, the largest patch of rebel-held area near Damascus.
The Observatory, which like the LCC relies on activists around Syria, said at least 80 people were killed in violence across the country Friday.
--more--""
"France warns that Syria could succumb to extremists; Rebels plead for more help from nations" by Zeina Karam | Associated Press, January 29, 2013
BEIRUT — Growing concern over the rising power of Islamic militant groups....
Their growing prominence has fueled fears that Muslim radicals might try to hijack the revolt....
Wow, is that ever a loaded term that brings up visions of you-know-what.
The most dominant of the extremist groups is Jabhat al-Nusra. The United States has declared it a terrorist organization, alleging it has ties to Al Qaeda.
--more--"
They have already "hijacked" it, and I think that has been the whole point. I'm beginning to believe that the Arab Spring was nothing more than an attempt to remove and replace puppet leaders with liability problems with their new men, or allow elections to bring Islamists to power so it would show how "dangerous" they are.
"Women shut out of Syria’s opposition leadership" by Karin Laub | Associated Press, November 09, 2012
DOHA, Qatar — The leadership of Syria’s main opposition group in exile is all male after elections failed to promote a single woman to the decision-making group of 41 members.
Some of the female delegates at the Syrian National Council conference in the Qatari capital of Doha rushed the podium in protest after the results were announced in the early hours of Thursday. They said the new leadership fails to reflect the key role of women in the push to topple President Bashar Assad.
On at least this point, the council appeared to fall short in its attempt to showcase a new diversity in the face of international criticism that it is not representative enough of the whole spectrum of the opposition....
‘‘The bottom line is that there is a recognition that the women got shafted, and that it has to be fixed,’’ said delegate Muna Jondy, 37, an immigration lawyer from Flint, Mich. It is ‘‘not going to cure the underlying problem, which I think was the lack of recognition of the importance of the voice of women at the decision-making table,’’ she added.
The council, established a year ago from a pool of long-term Syrian exiles and academics, has faced mounting criticism from within Syria and the international community that it is out of touch with those inside risking their lives on the frontlines.
Oh, it is another Iraqi National Congress, intelligence agency and empire builder organization in exile. Remember Chalabi of Iraq, readers?
--more--"
At least we are winning:
"Syrian rebels take key area near Aleppo airport" by BARBARA SURK | Associated Press, February 03, 2013
BEIRUT — Syrian rebels captured a strategic neighborhood near Aleppo’s international airport on Saturday, putting opposition fighters in control of a key road that the regime has used to ferry supplies and reinforcements to soldiers fighting in the embattled northern city, activists said.
Elsewhere in the nation, fighting continued unabated, killing more than 60 people nationwide, according to activists.
Troops loyal to President Bashar Assad and rebels have been locked in a deadly stalemate in Aleppo, Syria’s largest urban center and main commercial hub, since an opposition assault last summer. Seven months later, the rebels hold large parts of the city and its outskirts, including several army bases, but they have been unable to overcome the regime’s far superior firepower.
The capturing of the Sheik Said neighborhood, southeast of Aleppo, is a significant blow to regime forces because the area includes a major road, linking the northern city with the airport. The army has used the road to supply troops.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels captured the area Saturday after several days of fierce battles with Assad’s troops. Rebels have previously established enclaves outside Syria’s major cities to threaten the regime, including near the capital, Damascus, but they were later attacked by Assad’s fighter jets and artillery.
In an effort to reverse rebels’ advance in Aleppo, regime war planes carried out several airstrikes on Sheik Said, the Observatory said. There were no reports of casualties.
The opposition’s Western backers, including the United States, have been reluctant to supply rebels with more sophisticated weapons because of the increased influence of an Al Qaeda-affiliated group among the anti-Assad fighters on the front lines.
What do you do when the lies go on and on and on and on and on....
The Islamists’ growing prominence in the Syrian opposition has fueled fears that Muslim radicals might try to hijack the revolt that started as peaceful protests against Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.
There is that word again.
In Germany, US Vice President Joe Biden said, ‘‘The opposition [to Assad] continues to grow stronger.’’
Speaking at an annual security conference in Munich, Biden stated the conviction of the United States and many others. ‘‘President Assad — a tyrant hell-bent on clinging to power — is no longer fit to lead the Syrian people and he must go,’’ Biden said.
I'm so glad we have Democrats in the White House so we no longer have this silly regime change s***.
Assad has repeated brushed aside international calls to step down, characterizing his opponents as Islamic extremists who are out to destroy the country. In a speech last month, Assad outlined a peace initiative that would keep him in power.
The opposition coalition has rejected any talks with Damascus until Assad steps down. However, Moaz al-Khatib, the president of the coalition that is dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood movement, said Wednesday that he is willing to negotiate with members of Assad’s regime to bring a peaceful end to the country’s civil war.
Russia is Assad’s longtime ally, and it has disagreed sharply with Washington and its Western allies on ways to end the bloodshed in Syria. Moscow has maintained that Assad is part of the solution to the crisis, though Russian officials have recently criticized their ally in Damascus and even mentioned the possibility of rebels winning the war. However, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, told the gathering of top security officials that Biden’s statement that Assad must go was counterproductive.
‘‘The persistence of those who say that priority No. 1 is the removal of President Assad — I think it’s the single biggest reason for the continued tragedy in Syria,’’ Lavrov said.
Syria’s civil war is estimated to have claimed more than 60,000 lives since the uprising erupted in March 2011.
Despite disagreements on ways to end the fighting and Assad’s role in peace efforts, Lavrov said Russia shared the West’s concern over the fate of Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons.
--more--"
"Syria opposition coalition backs leader’s peace proposal; Offer by Khatib could let Assad escape a trial" by Hania Mourtada | New York Times, February 05, 2013
BEIRUT — Syria’s opposition coalition gave qualified backing Monday to its leader’s surprise offer last week for a dialogue with President Bashar Assad to end the civil war, pressing him to respond definitively and even suggesting he could avoid trial if he resigned and left the country.
I think yesterday's bombings ended this s***-show fooley, folks.
Although the offer made by the opposition leader, Mouaz al-Khatib, was by his own admission a personal gambit and was initially greeted with a torrent of criticism inside the Syrian opposition movement, his colleagues in the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces basically endorsed it over the weekend.
While some complained that Khatib had not consulted them before making the offer and a few even called for his resignation, others went along in part to counter the appearance of fractiousness, which has long been a weakness in the opposition.
Khatib, a respected Sunni cleric in exile who once was the head imam at the historic Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, said he would engage in dialogue with Assad’s government only if it released 160,000 political prisoners and renewed all expired passports held by members of the Syrian diaspora, which includes large numbers of dissidents.
On Sunday, an aide to Assad gave a vague response.
The aide, Ali Haidar, Syria’s minister of national reconciliation, said in an interview with Russia Today, a Kremlin-financed news organization sympathetic to Syria’s government, that the government was open to talks with any opposition members who reject violence.
Related:
Operation Mockingbird
Why Am I No Longer Reading the Newspaper?
Six Zionist Companies Own 96% of the World's Media
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
You see who my intelligence operation posing as a newspaper is sympathetic to, right?
Let me tell you, IT SHOWS in the WRITING!
He also said it was willing to address the passport issue but not necessarily the release of prisoners. Haidar said the 160,000 figure was exaggerated and asked Khatib to send a list of prisoner names....
--more--"
"Syrian bloc, lawmaker reject conditions for peace talks" by Albert Aji and Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, February 06, 2013
DAMASCUS — After 22 months and more than 60,000 dead, Syria’s crisis appears to have reached a stalemate, with neither side making significant battlefield gains likely to bring about a military victory anytime soon....
But rebels are making significant gains all the time above.
Human rights organizations say tens of thousands of opposition leaders, protesters, and their families are being held by state security services in Syria....
Have you had enough propaganda?
--more--"
"Syrian rebels make inroads, taking part of oil field, base" by Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, February 15, 2013
BEIRUT — As the situation inside Syria has worsened, many rebel groups have embraced radical Islamist ideologies and Sunni Muslim foreign fighters have entered the battle, seeing it as a holy war, or jihad, against a regime dominated by Alawites — an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.
Fighters from the most radical Syrian rebel group, Jabhat al-Nusra, have been at the forefront of most recent rebel victories.
The United States has designated Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist group, saying it is linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq.
On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called Syria ‘‘the number one destination for jihadists anywhere in the world today.’’
--more--"
And what do they do when they get there?
"Both sides in Syria commit atrocities, UN panel charges; Europe extends arms embargo; rebels seek gains" by Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, February 19, 2013
BEIRUT — A United Nations commission on Monday said fighters on both sides in Syria’s civil war have committed atrocities and should be brought to justice, while European foreign ministers extended an arms embargo on the country in hopes it would limit the ability of both sides to wage war.
The announcements had little resonance inside Syria, however, where rebels fought to capture air bases in the north and the forces of President Bashar Assad shelled rebellious areas throughout the country.
Rebels on Monday overran a government checkpoint on the road to the Aleppo international airport, the country’s second-largest airfield, as they continued their drive to capture the strategic facility, activists said.
This after I was told they had months ago. Just another in their long string of successes.
The spreading violence inside Syria despite international efforts to stop it reflects the dilemma the conflict poses for the international community.
Despite pleas from the anti-Assad opposition, even sympathetic powers are resistant to provide arms, fearing they will fall into the hands of Islamic extremists who have risen in the rebel ranks.
??????? What are we to do when it is ONE LIE after ANOTHER after ANOTHER after ANOTHER after ANOTHER?
European ministers said Monday they were keeping an arms embargo in place for three more months.
Related: Europe to debate lifting Syria’s arms embargo
As if there really was one.
At the same time, international calls for a negotiated solution have gone nowhere, mostly because both sides still seek military victory.
In this context, the report issued Monday by the UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Syria served as a grim state-of-play on the brutal conflict....
The report accused both sides of atrocities, while saying that those committed by rebel fighters have not reached the ‘‘intensity and scale’’ of the government’s violations.
And with that all credibility was lost.
Regime forces and its associated militias have committed crimes against humanity, the report said, citing murder, torture and rape.
It said rebels have committed war crimes, including murder, torture, looting and hostage-taking.
But no rape.
And btw, AmeriKa has and does torture as well as murder, so....
The report also accused both sides of using child soldiers, citing the presence of fighters younger than 18 on the government side and under 15 among the rebels....
Our "guys" are worse violators?
Related: Soccer Match Monday: Somalia's Kid Soldiers
Seems to be a pattern.
And where are the war crimes indictments?
--more--"
Whose behind the rebels:
"Britain gives recognition to Syria coalition; Rebels display weapons from captured base" by Hania Mourtada and Neil MacFarquhar | New York Times, November 21, 2012
BEIRUT — Questions swirled around a video posted online on Sunday appearing to show several Islamist groups disavowing the coalition. But at least two of the groups named in the video later said it did not reflect their opinion, reinforcing the murky details surrounding the groups fighting the Syrian government....
Murky means intelligence operatives.
In an apparent opposition victory, rebels captured a large military base near Aleppo over the weekend, helping solidify their control over a growing strip of land along the border that many opposition supporters hope will become fully liberated....
The developments came against a backdrop of steadily increasing violence....
--more--"
Also see:
France receives new envoy from Syria’s rebel coalition
Recognition from France boosts Syrian rebels
Rifts seen at Syrian opposition conference
Syrian rebels step up attacks on strategic sites
Declassified: Massive Israeli manipulation of US media exposed
You see who my intelligence operation posing as a newspaper is sympathetic to, right?
Let me tell you, IT SHOWS in the WRITING!
He also said it was willing to address the passport issue but not necessarily the release of prisoners. Haidar said the 160,000 figure was exaggerated and asked Khatib to send a list of prisoner names....
--more--"
"Syrian bloc, lawmaker reject conditions for peace talks" by Albert Aji and Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, February 06, 2013
DAMASCUS — After 22 months and more than 60,000 dead, Syria’s crisis appears to have reached a stalemate, with neither side making significant battlefield gains likely to bring about a military victory anytime soon....
But rebels are making significant gains all the time above.
Human rights organizations say tens of thousands of opposition leaders, protesters, and their families are being held by state security services in Syria....
Have you had enough propaganda?
--more--"
"Syrian rebels make inroads, taking part of oil field, base" by Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, February 15, 2013
BEIRUT — As the situation inside Syria has worsened, many rebel groups have embraced radical Islamist ideologies and Sunni Muslim foreign fighters have entered the battle, seeing it as a holy war, or jihad, against a regime dominated by Alawites — an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.
Fighters from the most radical Syrian rebel group, Jabhat al-Nusra, have been at the forefront of most recent rebel victories.
The United States has designated Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist group, saying it is linked to Al Qaeda in Iraq.
On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague called Syria ‘‘the number one destination for jihadists anywhere in the world today.’’
--more--"
And what do they do when they get there?
"Both sides in Syria commit atrocities, UN panel charges; Europe extends arms embargo; rebels seek gains" by Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, February 19, 2013
BEIRUT — A United Nations commission on Monday said fighters on both sides in Syria’s civil war have committed atrocities and should be brought to justice, while European foreign ministers extended an arms embargo on the country in hopes it would limit the ability of both sides to wage war.
The announcements had little resonance inside Syria, however, where rebels fought to capture air bases in the north and the forces of President Bashar Assad shelled rebellious areas throughout the country.
Rebels on Monday overran a government checkpoint on the road to the Aleppo international airport, the country’s second-largest airfield, as they continued their drive to capture the strategic facility, activists said.
This after I was told they had months ago. Just another in their long string of successes.
The spreading violence inside Syria despite international efforts to stop it reflects the dilemma the conflict poses for the international community.
Despite pleas from the anti-Assad opposition, even sympathetic powers are resistant to provide arms, fearing they will fall into the hands of Islamic extremists who have risen in the rebel ranks.
??????? What are we to do when it is ONE LIE after ANOTHER after ANOTHER after ANOTHER after ANOTHER?
European ministers said Monday they were keeping an arms embargo in place for three more months.
Related: Europe to debate lifting Syria’s arms embargo
As if there really was one.
At the same time, international calls for a negotiated solution have gone nowhere, mostly because both sides still seek military victory.
In this context, the report issued Monday by the UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Syria served as a grim state-of-play on the brutal conflict....
The report accused both sides of atrocities, while saying that those committed by rebel fighters have not reached the ‘‘intensity and scale’’ of the government’s violations.
And with that all credibility was lost.
Regime forces and its associated militias have committed crimes against humanity, the report said, citing murder, torture and rape.
It said rebels have committed war crimes, including murder, torture, looting and hostage-taking.
But no rape.
And btw, AmeriKa has and does torture as well as murder, so....
The report also accused both sides of using child soldiers, citing the presence of fighters younger than 18 on the government side and under 15 among the rebels....
Our "guys" are worse violators?
Related: Soccer Match Monday: Somalia's Kid Soldiers
Seems to be a pattern.
And where are the war crimes indictments?
--more--"
Whose behind the rebels:
"Britain gives recognition to Syria coalition; Rebels display weapons from captured base" by Hania Mourtada and Neil MacFarquhar | New York Times, November 21, 2012
BEIRUT — Questions swirled around a video posted online on Sunday appearing to show several Islamist groups disavowing the coalition. But at least two of the groups named in the video later said it did not reflect their opinion, reinforcing the murky details surrounding the groups fighting the Syrian government....
Murky means intelligence operatives.
In an apparent opposition victory, rebels captured a large military base near Aleppo over the weekend, helping solidify their control over a growing strip of land along the border that many opposition supporters hope will become fully liberated....
The developments came against a backdrop of steadily increasing violence....
--more--"
Also see:
France receives new envoy from Syria’s rebel coalition
Recognition from France boosts Syrian rebels
Rifts seen at Syrian opposition conference
Syrian rebels step up attacks on strategic sites
