More proof the EUSraeli empire's plans for regime change have been rebuffed.
"Fighting in Syria impedes delivery of food, medical aid" by Hania Mourtada and Nick Cumming-Bruce | New York Times, July 06, 2013
BEIRUT — Syrian forces bombarded the city of Homs for a sixth day in a row Friday, while government soldiers backed by Hezbollah fighters clashed with rebels on the outskirts of the city’s besieged Khalidiya neighborhood amid warnings from international health officials that fighting was increasingly preventing humanitarian aid from reaching those most in need....
While the Syrian army holds large sections of Homs, rebels continue to hold out in a few central neighborhoods. The sustained violence has left the civilian population in dire need of humanitarian assistance....
Restrictions put in place by the Syrian authorities in recent weeks have increasingly blocked delivery of medicine and medical supplies around the country, even to areas under government control and even as health needs are escalating for people trapped in two years of conflict, the World Health Organization warned Friday....
The health agency’s warning was one of several alarms sounded by UN organizations Friday. The human rights office expressed concern for the fate of several thousand civilians caught in parts of Homs and urged all parties to allow civilians to leave the area without fear of persecution or violence.
The United Nations’ Rome-based food agencies warned that Syrian crop production had slumped as a result of the disruption and population displacement caused by the war, leaving a quarter of the population unable to produce or buy sufficient food.
A by-product of regime change, thank you.
The World Food Program said it was providing food support for 2.5 million people and was trying to put in place the logistical capacity to support 4 million people by October.
Yet, the deeply divided UN Security Council failed to approve a statement....
Russia, Syria’s closest ally, and Western nations, which support the opposition, were again at odds — as they have been since the Syrian conflict began over two years ago.
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Related:
"Syrian planes drop leaflets to rebels; Government urges surrender in battle for road" by Diaa Hadid | Associated Press, July 04, 2013
BEIRUT — Syrian government aircraft scattered leaflets over the northern city of Idlib on Wednesday demanding that rebels surrender, as the two sides battled for control of a highway the regime uses to transport weapons from a coastal stronghold to its troops fighting in opposition-held areas in the north.
The battle for the highway leading from the mountainous Latakia province along the Mediterranean coast into the neighboring province of Idlib is crucial to rebel efforts to retain control of the villages and towns they hold.
They dynamited a highway bridge near the city of Jisr al-Shughour and demolished other parts of the road, said Fuad al-Deek, an activist via Skype, based in Idlib province.
Those are the kind of tactics associated with Hitler's scorched eart policies -- and they are "our" guys!
Syrian troops fired mortar shells and conducted airstrikes to try dislodge the rebels, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists on the ground.
Idlib holds strategic value to the rebels because it borders Turkey, which has been a critical source of weapons shipments and other supplies....
Syria’s conflict began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests against Assad’s rule but escalated into a civil war in response to a brutal government crackdown.
The conflict has taken an increasingly sectarian bent, with mostly Sunni rebels assisted by foreign fighters. Assad’s forces are bolstered by fighters of the Lebanese Shii’te group Hezbollah.
That's the standard Jewish war propaganda and intelligence agency cover story that I have come to despise.
See: Obama's Syrian Shift
One thing that hasn't changed are the never-ending lies.
Deek said the rebels fighting for the Idlib highway were from two Islamic brigades, Suqour al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham.
He said they were struggling to obtain weapons to keep up their fighting, despite a recent influx of arms from Gulf Arab states.
In recent months, rebels have accessed more powerful weaponry, including antitank missiles and surface-to-air missiles, probably supplied by Qatar and Saudi Arabia....
Probably?
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Qatar Quickly Arms Syrian Insurgents
Been doing it for years.
With so much blood shed and the country still contested, the regime’s call Wednesday to surrender was highly unlikely to find takers on the rebel side, either Syrians or foreign fighters....
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"Assad calls war conspiracy, boasts foes can’t oust him" by Albert Aji | Associated Press, July 05, 2013
DAMASCUS — President Bashar Assad of Syria said in an interview published Thursday that his government had fended off everything his enemies had thrown at him and that the only remaining threat to his rule was a far-off — and improbable — foreign intervention.
In comments to the state-run Al-Thawra newspaper, Assad rejected the idea that what has transpired in Syria for more than two years is a revolution. Instead, he reiterated his past claims that it is a conspiracy by Western and some Arab states to destabilize his country.
It's sad when the truth in my paper is told by the "enemy."
He also praised this week’s massive protests by Egyptians against their Islamist leader and said the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi meant the end of ‘‘political Islam.’’
See:
Egyptian Enigma
Slow Saturday Special: Egyptian Epilogue
Slow Saturday Special: New Egyptian General a-Sissy
Also see: Opposition leader named interim prime minister
So that is what ElBaradei was angling for.
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Throughout the crisis, Assad has insisted that his government is not facing a popular rebellion, but rather a Western-backed conspiracy against Syria, accusing the rebels fighting to topple his regime of being terrorists, Islamic extremists, and mercenaries of the oil-rich Arab Gulf states that are allies of the United States.
That is true, and the entire world knows it.
‘‘The countries that conspire against Syria have used up all their tools — moral, material and psychological — and they have nothing left except direct [military] intervention and this is too big for them to attain,’’ Assad said in the interview.
He did not elaborate, but the Obama administration is reluctant to mire the US military in another unpredictable conflict and its allies are unwilling to engage military in Syria alone.
The Assad regime says Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey, in addition to the United States and its European allies, are on the list of countries conspiring against Syria. These states have been chief supporters of the opposition fighting to overthrow Assad....
The Western-backed opposition bloc is primarily composed of exiled politicians with little support from Syrians....
Then it WAS NEVER a CIVIL WAR and EXACTLY what Assad said!
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But let's not let that stop the Globe from pushing the conventional myth of things:
"The temptation of other people’s civil wars" by H.D.S. Greenway | July 05, 2013
I could smell the sulfur and brimstone the moment I opened the door. It was late at night, and there, sitting in my favorite chair, was my old nemesis, the Devil’s Advocate. “What, you again?” I said. “Are you trying to peddle those nagging doubts again? And I don’t like people smoking cigarettes in my house.”
“You know very well my smoke doesn’t come from cigarettes,” he said, with his usual off-putting smirk. “I just came by to have a chat about Syria.”
“You are not going to defend Bashar Assad to me are you? What he’s doing to his own people is indefensible.”
“No doubt my boss has a certain fondness for him,” he replied, “but you must know we have some very good people among the rebels,” he replied. “And do you think for a moment that the rebels aren’t doing their share of slaughtering innocents?”
“Your boss?”
“Well, I am the Devil’s Advocate,” he said. “You must have read about some of our friends. Take that outstanding rebel commander known as Abu Sakkar.”
“You mean the guy filmed cutting out the heart and lungs of a Syrian soldier and eating bits on camera? Surely that is an aberration and not typical of the rebels?”
I've heard of that, I won't link it, you can go see it.
“You may think that,” he said, “but I can tell you we have some pretty choice people among the rebels, and their numbers are growing. Do you think your sweetie Syrians in exile are going to run Syria if Assad goes? Our guys are going to be in charge, and I’m talking Islamist extremists. I’m talking Al Qaeda, I’m talking forces of darkness that will make you wish that silly little eye doctor holding out in Damascus was back in power.
“And you have those naifs, Senators McCain and Graham, always urging you to get mixed up in somebody else’s civil war,” he said. “One might have thought that after Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan you might get sick of other people’s civil wars. And you haven’t succeeded in any of them,” he said.
“Wait just a minute,” I said. “Yes, we got off to a slow start, but didn’t we finally prevent a civil war in Iraq?’’ I asked.
“That’s rich,” he said. “Your occupation starts a civil war, and then you want to tell me you prevented it? Do you know how many people are killed by sectarian strife every day in Iraq?”
Related: Occupation Iraq: Divide and Conquer
Yeah, who are the terrorists again?
“Don’t we need to come in on the side of the Syrian rebels to maintain our influence in the Middle East, to prevent the war from spreading to other countries?’’ I asked.
“You seem to forget what’s going on,’’ he said. “Don’t you know that there is a volcanic struggle between Sunni and Shia in the Middle East?
I'm tired of that shop-worn lie when they have intermingled for centuries without killing each other.
Syria is just where the hot lava is breaking through the surface. What do you think Iraq is all about? You went in there and turfed out the Sunnis, the traditional rulers of Iraq, and empowered the Shia, all but handing the country over to Iran. Do you really think that furthered American interests in the Middle East? Don’t you know that every Muslim country you get involved in militarily just makes more recruits for extremists? Don’t get me wrong. My boss would be delighted if you get involved in another Muslim civil war, but do you really think you are going to further American interests by sending weapons to those nice fellows who would like to cut your heart out and eat it?
Globe beat you to it.
“You can say what you like about Assad,” he said, “but the minorities in Syria were protected more than practically any other Arab country. My boss scolded him on that score. But what do you think will happen to the Syrian Christians if McCain and Graham’s friends take power? You remember that Abu Sakkar said he wanted to kill every single Alawite in the country.
Say what?
“Arm the rebels?” he went on. “My boss would love it, but do you really want to get a lot more people killed? Level the playing field? Civil wars are not soccer matches. American influence? American intervention is just another word for nothing left to lose.”
“I’ve heard enough,” I said, but he was gone, and I threw open the windows to clear the air of unsettling thoughts.
Doesn't mean it won't happen.
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Also see: MSM Surrenders on Syria
I've given up on them.
NEXT DAY UPDATE:
"Assad’s forces gain ground as opposition names leader" by Diaa Hadid | Associated Press, July 07, 2013
BEIRUT — The main Western-backed Syrian opposition group elected a former political prisoner Saturday as its new president, filling a post that has been vacant for months due to divisions among opponents of President Bashar Assad.
So what and who cares? The war is soon going to be over.
Inside Syria, government troops advanced into rebel-held areas of the central city of Homs, pushing into a heavily contested neighborhood after pummeling it with artillery that drove out opposition fighters, an activist said Saturday....
The election of Ahmad al-Jarba suggests that the opposition is trying to unite despite its differences after Assad’s forces have gained ground in and around the strategic town of Qusair near the border with Lebanon.
On the ground in Syria, meanwhile, troops gained ground in the rebel-held Khaldiyeah district of the city of Homs. The push into Khaldiyeh was the first significant gain in the city for Assad’s forces. Government troops have been waging an eight-day campaign to seize parts of the central Syrian city.
The truth is finally being told.
Fighting also continued Saturday in the northern city of Aleppo, a crucial stronghold for the rebels, as well as the Damascus suburb of Qaboun.
The Syrian conflict, which began with months of peaceful protests against the Assad regime two years ago, deteriorated into an all-out civil war after a violent government crackdown.
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