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AUSTRALIANSFORSYRIA
Just another WordPress.com site
* Home
* About
* Extremism and the U.S.
* Letter to ABC Advisory Council
* People of Syria
* Petition to the Australian Senate, August 2012
* RALLY FOR PEACE IN SECULAR SYRIA, 5 August
* Thoughtlines with BOB CARR
* ABC Reportage on Syria
* Australians for Syria
* Russia and Syria
* Syria
* Uncategorized
September 2, 2012
SEPTEMBER 2012 REFERENCE LIST
There is a dearth of information and serious analyses in regard to Syria
presented in the Australian mainstream media. Therefore, to develop an
understanding of the crisis and to participate in efforts for peace, it is vital
that people do the hard research. This website is one tool that can be used in
that task.
Most of the images of Syrian people presented on this page are from Syrian TV,
August and September 2012. The images chosen are mostly ones of people
attempting to lead a normal life. The photos of ‘rebels’ and refugees usually
presented in the media tend to distance the experience of people in Syria from
that of people a world away leading peaceful suburban lives. They should be
seen because it is necessary to know there is a war and suffering in order to
try and stop it. However, empathy for others may depend to some extend on
Mirror neurons , as described in an ABC radio program. In other words, for us to
feel real empathy for Syrians today, it helps to see the people of Syria in
circumstances we can relate to; the more familiar the gesture, the smile, the
glance or simple shrug, the easier it may be to feel an understanding for that
person and their story and to want to do all we possibly can to bring peace and
stability back into their world – their world is our world, after all.
Many of the people whose images you see on this blog are speaking about anything
else but war. Hope can be retained if normality is remembered … for it to be
regained.
NB: there are also links to articles or reports prior to September 2012 which
remain relevant and deserve attention.
***********************************************
This slideshow includes images of a reciter of the Quran, people interviewed in
the street, actors from a Syrian TV drama, Fairuz (the Lebanese diva and perhaps
the most popular singer in Syria), and news presenters from satellite TV.
An up-to-date look at the Christian response to the crisis in Syria
A priest in Aleppo (September 6, 2012) has spoken out against the US
Administration’s support of the ‘rebels’ in Syria. In his videoed speech, he
refers to the words of Barak Obama’s former preacher, Rev Wright and his “God
damn America” sermon.
The priest supports the views expressed by Mother Agnes Mariam on Irish radio
(RTE). They both speak of the terror in Syria inflicted not just against
Christians, but also against ‘moderate’ Muslims, which would include millions of
Alawi and Sunni Syrians.
They criticize the western media’s reporting on Syria as it allows the terror to
continue.
For example, few people in the west would realize that tens of thousands of
Christians were targeted in Homs by Islamist fighters and forced to flee, often
unable to take anything with them.
Also, in January 2012, Father Basil Nassar was shot and killed by armed men in
Hama in January 2012. Although he was killed by armed men, a photo of Fr.
Nassar was held up by a young boy at a Melbourne rally organized by people who
support the armed opposition to the Syrian government; there was the clear
intention to mislead the public about Father Nassar’s murder. Those at the rally
could do this as the Australian media does not inform us about such events when
they occur.
Beyond the internet, there is virtually no mainstream public forum for serious
debate or discussion on Syria while the efforts to censor Syrian media outlets
continue.
Note, the views of the Aleppo priest and Mother Agnes do not correspond with
those of the Italian Jesuit priest, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio who is travelling
the world meeting western politicians, religious figures and media to put the
case for the ‘rebel’ fighters in Syria. He is quoted by those who support the
armed fight against secular Syria; he is not quoted by those who support peace,
dialogue and reconciliation.
To suggest that Christians have always supported the ‘regime’ out of fear for
their fate if it is replaced by a non-secular state skews the reality. As Rev
Awad and the Archbishop of Aleppo have explained, Christians have been voices
of dissent for many years. Mother Agnes also makes it clear that many
Christians work hard for peace and justice, and this can mean they have stood
in opposition to the government.
According to the Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church in Beirut, Ignatius
Ephrem Joseph III, the West’s attitude to the Syrian conflict was described as
“hypocrisy” and sharply criticised: “For many governments it’s merely a matter
of economic interests.”
While Lebanon’s Maronite Christian Patriarch , Patriarch Bishara Rai, draws a
distinction between supporting a ‘regime’ and supporting the state.
Note, Christians in Syria have been reluctant to focus on their suffering in
Syria, one reason being the fear that drawing attention to religion can only
fuel sectarian violence. Also, Christians are not the only targets of Islamist
extremists. As mentioned above, Moderate Alawi and Sunni Muslims are also
targeted by extremist clerics who call for blood. Sheik Qaradawi, the Muslim
Brotherhood cleric based in Qatar who issued a fatwa against Syria in March
2011, has declared on Al-Jazeera that “it is ok if 1/3 of the population of
Syria is killed if it leads to the toppling of the heretical Syrian regime”.
Note: the majority of that government are Sunni Muslims as is the majority of
Syrian people, but unlike most militia members they are not Wahhabi, Takfiri or
Salafi jihadists.
What do Australians know about the views of the clerics who target secular
Syria? Not just for the sake of the people of Syria, but also for our own
people and peace in Australia, we should be better informed: Qaradawi on
Christmas . Qaradawi on Hitler and the Jewish people. Qaradawi on the dangers
of female masturbation. There are more links to Qaradawi in an Andrew McCarthy
December 2011 National Review Online article which refers to the US
Administration calling on Qaradawi to be the middle man in talks with the
Taliban.
If people fear that condemning extremist clerics and Islamist fighters is a
condemnation of Islam the religion, there would be 100s of millions of
peace-loving Muslims who could assure them this is not the case. The victims of
their terror in Bali, London, NY, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other places would
support such a condemnation. However, as John Pilger writes, there must be
condemnation of the ‘liberalism’ which supports the crimes of Islamist
terrorists in Syria and which censors the news and discussion of it.
The fact that mainstream media reports on Syria rarely present the point of view
of people affected by the terror in Syria means that many Australians,
including those from Christian and Muslim communities, accept the simple,
dangerous narrative that has dominated in the media: “the president is a brutal
dictator killing his own people and he is the head of an Alawi regime which
oppresses the Sunni people”. Even Amnesty International is implicated in the
continuing terror in Syria as it adopted the narrative at the beginning of the
crisis in Syria and it sticks to it no matter what evidence presented refutes
it. In Syria, people are losing their lives because they have tried to tell the
truth about the terror or because they have worked for peaceful reform or their
family members support peaceful reform, evolution not “revolution“. But this is
not the case in Australia. People in the media or in government should have no
such fears. Why is there so little truth being disseminated when the lives of
millions depend on it?
***********************************************************
Egypt satellite company to stop Syrian state TV broadcast
Published Wednesday, September 5, 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/egypt-satellite-company-stop-syrian-state-tv-broadcast
*********************************************************
Syria and Us (Part II)
By: Ibrahim al-Amin
Published Sunday, August 19, 2012
Of all the Arab and neighboring states, Lebanon and the Palestinian people will
remain the most affected by the Syrian crisis…..
http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/11245
****************************************************
Press TV
Egypt still follows some Mubarak-era policies: Analyst
5 September 2012
http://www.presstv.com/detail/2012/09/05/260044/morsi-continues-old-geostrategic-guidelines/
****************************************************
THE INDEPENDENT:
Robert Fisk: In Maaloula, the past has relevance to Syria’s tragic present
3 September
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-in-maaloula-the-past-has-relevance-to-syrias-tragic-present-8101501.html
**********************************************************
It has often been often alleged in Australian mainstream media that ‘rebels’ in
Syria are supporting the Sunni majority against an ‘Alawi’ regime. What is
ignored is the fact that the vast majority of Syrian politicians, including
ministers, are not Alawi and that Syria is a secular country, so the religion of
ministers would be, in theory at least, irrelevant in a country which works hard
to avoid the lethal mix of politics and religion.
Al- Zoubi: Syria Facing Massive Conspiracy and Terrorist, Extremist Mentality…
Solution is Purely Syrian
4 September 2012
DAMASCUS, (SANA) – Information Minister Omran al- Zoubi said that what is
happening in Syria is a massive conspiracy and an aggression using barbaric
tools whose elements are obvious, stressing that Syria is facing a terrorist,
Wahabi and Takfiri mentality and an extremist culture in various guises and
under various names…
http://sana.sy/eng/21/2012/09/04/439409.htm
Syria 360
SANA HEADLINES SEPTEMBER 3, 2012
Information Ministry: Qatari, French Experts Set up Devices in North Lebanon to
Jam Syrian Satellite Channels Broadcast
The Information Ministry said that a group of Qatari and French experts are
setting up devices and mobile stations in Wadi Khaled and Akroum Mountain in
North Lebanon to jam the broadcast of the Syrian satellite channels and wiretap
communications in Lebanon and Syria.
The Ministry said that the Qatari intelligence intends to set up satellite
broadcasting devices in North Lebanon to be used by the armed terrorist groups,
adding that French technical experts have started execution. The Ministry said
that the stations are connected to communication devices connected with
communication bases north of the occupied Palestine.
http://syria360.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/sana-headlines-september-3-2012/
**********************************************
INTERVIEWS WITH HASSAN NASRALLAH, HEAD OF HEZBOLLAH
The WikiLeaks Discussion Forum:
Julian Assange interviews Hassan Nasrallah, April 17 2012
http://www.wikileaks-forum.com/index.php?topic=10465.0
Syriaonline.sy
Nasrallah: They Want Syria to Change into a Country of Renunciation
4 September 2012
http://www.syriaonline.sy/?f=Details&catid=12&pageid=3510
Hezbollah leader Nasrallah calls for dialogue in Syria
4 September 2012
Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah says “political settlement
and dialogue” between the Syrian government and opposition is the rational
solution to the Syrian crisis.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/04/259737/nasrallah-calls-for-dialogue-in-syria/
*****************************************************
Hassan Nasrallah was interviewed by Ghassan Bin Jeddo, former Al-Jazeera Beirut
office head who resigned from Al-Jazeera in protest in April 2011 over its
presentation of the ‘Arab Spring’, particularly in regard to news on Bahrain and
Syria. He interviewed Nasrallah on Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV.
France 24
‘Anti-Al Jazeera’ channel Al Mayadeen goes on air 12/6/2012
…….Ali Hashem, another journalist who quit Al Jazeera to join Al Mayadeen, made
headlines in Lebanon in March when he vented his anger over the one-sided
coverage of Syria on Al Jazeera in several emails, which were leaked by Syrian
hackers.
In his emails, Hashem criticized the Qatar-based channel for refusing to cover
the anti-regime uprising in Bahrain, a Shiite majority Arab country ruled by a
Sunni monarch.
“I felt in one way or another, I am losing my integrity as a journalist, being
pushed to lie. It’s the owners of Al Jazeera, those who own Al Jazeera, the
Qataris. They are pushing this channel toward journalistic suicide,” said Hashim
in an interview with FRANCE 24…….
http://www.france24.com/en/20120612-al-mayadeen-new-anti-al-jazeera-channel-media-lebanon-syria
************************************************
THE EXTERNAL OPPOSITION TO THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT:
An analysis in The Guardian by Charlie Skelton (featured previously on this
blog)
The Syrian opposition: who’s doing the talking? 12 JULY 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/12/syrian-opposition-doing-the-talking
Bloomberg News
Anti-Assad Figure Resigns Citing Syria Opposition Discord
By Flavia Krause-Jackson on August 28, 2012
Bassma Kodmani, a prominent voice of the Syrian National Council, resigned from
the main political opposition body to President Bashar al-Assad, citing
disappointment in the group’s failure to work together more than 17 months after
the uprising began.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-28/anti-assad-figure-resigns-citing-syria-opposition-discord
George Sabra: A man for all seasons?
9 April 2012 by Malik Al-Abdeh, Former chief editor of Barada TV (Charlie
Skelton: “According to the Washington Post’s report: “Barada TV is closely
affiliated with the Movement for Justice and Development, a London-based network
of Syrian exiles. Classified US diplomatic cables show that the state department
has funnelled as much as $6m to the group since 2006 to operate the satellite
channel and finance other activities inside Syria.””)
http://syriaintransition.com/2012/04/09/george-sabra-a-man-for-all-seasons/
See photo on a Facebook page of George Sabra meeting Adnan Arour, the notorious
extremist cleric based in Saudi Arabia. If it is genuine, it raises even more
very worrying questions about the external Syrian ‘opposition’.
An alternative “man for all seasons”: a Syrian elder in the Syrian Australian
community:
http://pool.abc.net.au/media/who-will-have-last-laugh
****************************************************************
THE INDEPENDENT
Robert Fisk: Syria’s road from jihad to prison
For the first time, a Western journalist has been granted access to Assad’s
military prisoners 2 September 2012
> Mohamed Amin Ali al-Abdullah was a 26-year-old fourth-year medical student
> from the northern Syrian city of Deir el-Zour. The son of a “simple” farming
> family in Latakia, he sat in the governor’s brown leather chair in a neat
> striped blue shirt and trousers – given to him, he said, by the authorities –
> and told us he had encountered “psychological problems” in his second year. He
> twice broke down in tears while he spoke. He said he had followed medical
> advice as a student but also accepted psychological help from a “sheikh” who
> suggested he read specific texts from the Koran.
>
> “This was a kind of entrance to my personality and from time to time the
> second man gave me disks about the Salafist cause, mostly of speeches by Saudi
> sheikhs such as Ibn Baz and Ibn Ottaimin. Later, he gave me videos that
> rejected all other sects in Islam, attacking the Sufis, attacking the Shia.”
> The “sheikh” was imprisoned for a year but later joined Mohamed as a roommate
> in Damascus. “Then he used to show me videos of operations by jihadi people
> against Nato and the Americans in Afghanistan.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-syrias-road-from-jihad-to-prison-8100749.html
*********************************************
Manufacturing Dissent
31 August 2012 A documentary about Syria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwv7JXgPxLI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.manufacturing-dissent.com
Media Conspiracy against Syria: Lizzie Phelan
Interview with one of the makers of “Manufacturing Dissent” (Both transcript and
video available on page.)
Alaa Ebrahim (Syrian Presenter) — What are the main points of view that you will
be raising in this documentary?
(Lizzie Phelan) — The main point is to
basically deconstruct the main fabrications that have been put forward by the
global media, mainly the western media and channels, particularly Al Jazeera and
Al Arabiya. And these fabrications are that the army is on a mass systematic
scale killing peaceful protesters, that there is no democracy in Syria, that
there is no respect for human rights and that there is no support for President
Bashar Al-Assad. So the documentary deals with all of these fabrications and in
effect shows that in many of the cases they are complete and outright lies….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myxV3wPk9P4
********************************************************
Syria TV News 2.9.2012: Robert Fisk visited Syrian jail, Qatari airplane smuggle
telecommunications; US and Wahhabi ‘freedom fighters’; detainees released;
protest in Turkey
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3jcss1YeIU&feature=player_embedded
********************************************************
George Galloway responds to a question from a member of an audience who supports
the ‘revolution’ and fight for ‘freedom’ in Syria
(published on Youtube 1 September 2012)
Al Mayadeen TV channel with British Member of Parliament George Galloway speaks
the truth about what is called Syrian Revolution and its supporters. He answered
Question from Lebanese Tayyar AL mustakbal representative who supports NON
Muslim Brotherhood terrorists in Syria….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in_3G_X4Gi0&sns=em
NB: Alastair Crooke’s assessment of the ‘revolution’.
*************************************************
Robert Fisk: Another week in the violent, murderous and divided world of Syria
DAMASCUS SATURDAY 01 1SEPTEMBER 2012
Christians and Armenians among latest to die
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-another-week-in-the-violent-murderous-and-divided-world-of-syria-8099884.html
***********************************
Syrian rebels give airlines ’72-hour warning’ before they plan to seize civilian
airports 1 September 2012
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) gave a 72-hour advance warning to airlines to suspend
flights to Syria before the rebels try to seize civilian airports in Damascus
and Aleppo. They claim the Syrian Air Force is using them ‘illegally.’
The 72-hour period begins on Saturday, September 1, the FSA told Asharq
Al-Awsat, the major pan-Arab daily newspaper based in London.
The FSA believes
that Syria’s civilian airports are being used to support pro-regime military
operations…. International law prohibits attacks on civilian airports, whether
during internal conflicts or wars between states. Prior to the FSA’s ultimatum,
some international companies already cancelled flights to Syria over security
and cost concerns.
http://rt.com/news/rebels-warning-civilian-airports-114/
RT interview with Syria Tribune Editor-in-Chief, Ali Mohammad, about the foreign
rebel warning and the support for the ‘rebels’
1 Sept 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mzNmyRWz9A&feature=player_embedded
Global Research
NATO Terrorists to Target Syria’s Civilian Airports By Tony Cartalucci
Global Research, September 01, 2012
Land Destroyer
http://www.globalresearch.ca/nato-terrorists-to-target-syrias-civilian-airports/
**********************************************************
US, Certain Regional States Dispatching Al-Qaeda Elements from Yemen to Syria 2
September 2012
TEHRAN (FNA)- One of al-Qaeda ringleaders in Yemen disclosed that the US and
certain regional states plan to dispatch al-Qaeda terrorists from Yemen to Syria
to help their counterparts intensify attacks against the Syrian people.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9106061476
**********************************************************
Although these reports are from August, the concerns are on-going and demand
attention.
French & US Intelligence Chemical Weapons False Flag in Syria Exposed uploaded
28 August 2012
A meeting between Al Arabiya news channel manager with a US diplomat then with
French & US intelligence plan to use chemical weapons on Syrians and accuse the
Syrian Army for it, the long anticipated, exposed, consumed False Flag..
A
Saudi company has already arranged for 1,400 ambulance cars equipped with
chemical & poisonous gas filtering system for swift military intervention when
needed..!
A public spontaneous revolution or a NATO covert & overt military
intervention with NATO mainstream media coverage?! You decide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxKIyk5dgqk
Chemical Weapons False Flag against Syria
Uploaded 3 August 2012 by SyriaGirlpartisan
A new recent shipments of Gas masks has turned up in syria for use by the Syrian
foreign funded insurgency affiliated with AlCIAda. Perhaps in preparation for
the planned false flag chemical weapons attack that will be used by NATo as a
tool to get sanctions and interventions approved by the UN. And in the last 24
hours the Israeli ambassador to the UN repeated the accusations that the syrian
govt would use chemical weapons against its own people, laying the ground work
for the false flag event to take place. This video is a summary of recent and
past events
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbMdll58lis&feature=related
***************************************************
Protest in Turkey against Erdogan’s support for the US foreign policy and its
support for aggression and instability in Syria 1/9/12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPRT_qbYvmo&feature=player_embedded
Al-Jazeera report on Turkish people marching for peace in Syria; note the
editorial comments.
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/video-report-turkey-protesters-march-support-assad
***************************************
PRESS TV interviews American analysts (from August 2012):
US analyst from Executive Intelligence Report interviewed by Press TV, August
2012
He refers to the fear that a 30-year war will be created in the region if the
conflict continues. Iran is being targeted, but the ultimate targets are Russia
and China. It is not the US military or the most of the intelligence community
who want the conflict in Syria, but the Obama administration and their British
allies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2dR2F_hgis&feature=player_embedded
US, allies using Turkey to start war in Syria: Analyst
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/257857.html
*****************************************
Press TV
NAM can put brakes on wars in Middle East: Analyst
31 August 2012
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/259147.html
***********************************************************
NATO’s Secret Armies Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe
(Sourced from “Friends of Syria” blog)
Uploaded 1 September 2012
Interview with Daniele Ganser, author of »NATO’s Secret Armies.
Operation Gladio
and Terrorism in Western Europe«
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/natos-secret-armies-operation-gladio-and-terrorism-in-western-europe-interview-with-daniele/
********************************************
Leave a Comment
August 4, 2012
AUGUST 2012 REFERENCE LIST
Editor’s note: The aim of the reference lists on these posts is to offer
alternatives to the generally accepted mainstream narrative on Syria. Excerpts
from articles of interest are presented. NB: not all articles would be fully
supported by members of Australians for Syria. However, the range of reports,
analyses, and views should help readers build a picture of what is happening in
Syria which is much more complex and accurate than that provided in the local
mainstream media.
There may be some articles from previous months on this post as they have not
been presented before and they are of some interest.
Images: People in Australia who support a political solution to the crisis in
Syria and images from Syrian television. The audio interviews of members of
Australians for Syria and Hands Off Syria can be found at
http://socratesandsyria.com/australian-voices-on-syria/
***********************************************************************************
This August page highlights three courageous women: Yara Saleh, Mother Agnes
Mariam, and Oksana Boyko.
For the most recent August updates, please see below the information about these
three women.
YARA SALEH, Syrian journalist, cameraman, and driver abducted by ‘rebels’. 16
August NEWS UPDATE: YARA, AND HER TWO COLLEAGUES HAVE BEEN RESCUED.
A report by Yara before her abduction:
Syrian Army
A live report from Damascus city about the Syrian Army and how Syrians see their
army and what they want to say to the army on the 67th national day of the
Syrian Arab Army.
August 1, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw0Ndc_yhmc&feature=player_embedded
Yara is embedded Syrian soldiers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMWTald6_-E
This video shows the three held captive by Islamist rebels:
http://documents.sy/videos.php?id=1756&lang=en
Video: TV journalist Yara Saleh and colleagues from Syrian TV station are
rescued
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwDbBvuZBto&feature=player_embedded
Note: Another Syrian journalist was assassinated in or near his home on Saturday
11 August.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/14/256146/iran-slams-killing-of-syrian-journalist/
NB: Report of 3 Hungarians kidnapped
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/three-hungarians-feared-kidnapped-syria?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29
********************************************************
MOTHER AGNES MARIAM
Highly Recommended:
RTÉ.Video: Mother Agnes Mariam of the Cross, from Homs province, speaks about
the Syrian conflict 10 August 2012
http://www.rte.ie/news/av/2012/0810/media-3363784.html
If the above link fails to open, the interview with Mother Agnes can be accessed
on link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is_JJ9R9dAQ
IrishTimes.com
Media coverage of Syrian violence partial and untrue, says nun
13 August 2012
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent
A NUN who has been superior at a Syrian monastery for the past 18 years has
warned that media coverage of ongoing violence in that country has been “partial
and untrue”. It is “a fake”, Mother Agnes Mariam said, which “hides atrocities
committed in the name of liberty and democracy”…
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0813/1224322099930.html
This is a link to a report written by Mother Agnes in 2011.
In the Flood of Disinformation, the Situation in Syria
http://www.maryakub.org/downloads/PDF/In%20the%20Flood%20of%20Disinformation%20-%20Mother%20Agnes%20Mariam.pdf
Note: Another Catholic travelling the world to talk about Syria is Father Paolo,
an Italian Jesuit priest, who lived in Syria for 3 decades and presents a very
different perspective to that of Mother Agnes. He was expelled from Syria
(there were requests for him to leave before the beginning of the ‘Arab Spring’,
apparently). He supports the FSA and romanticizes their fight for ‘freedom’.
He has been ‘disowned’ by the church in Syria. (see document below) He is now
based in a monastery in Kurdistan (Iraq).
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13922be556902f74&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D6aa6b4fd16%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13922be556902f74%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26realattid%3Df_h5ub49x20%26zw&sig=AHIEtbSYLqKzJRK480vLUBVkiFZh8QOdMQ
Interview with Father Paolo in Canada after he met with the Canadian PM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyILiqbE10o
NB: This Des Spiegel article from July 2012 about Christians forced to flee
their homes in Syria refers to the terror faced by some Christian communities,
airbrushed over by Father Paolo, but of great concern to Mother Agnes.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/christians-flee-from-radical-rebels-in-syria-a-846180.html
The Irish reporter Mary Fitzgerald responds to the views of Mother Agnes Mariam,
the Palestinian Lebanese nun who has been based in Syria for the past 18 years.
IRISH TIMES.COM
Nun on Irish visit accused of peddling ‘regime lies’ about crisis in Syria
MARY FITZGERALD, Foreign Affairs Correspondent 18 August 2012
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0818/1224322385595.html
*****************************************
Oksana Boyko, Russia Today reporter based in Syria
The title of this report doesn’t point to the main subject which is NO ONE IS
SAFE IN SYRIA AS CIVIL SERVANTS ARE TARGETED BY THE ‘REBELS’ . The report
includes an interview with the brother of a Syria Air pilot, ambushed and
assassinated on his way home from the airport.
SYRIA CIVIL WAR: Turks and Saudi caught in OPERATION ALEPPO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZUWK0wLM7M&feature=player_embedded
Oksana interviews a member of the internal unarmed opposition.
‘Syria rebels just hostages in hands of allies’
Published on Aug 13, 2012 by RussiaToday
A former Syrian politician persecuted and forced underground for more than ten
years tells RT what he thinks is going wrong with his country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhWiFSUY8gY
************************************************
31 AUGUST 2012 UPDATES
Note: Most of the images are of Syrian people taken from Syrian satellite TV,
August 2012. Many of the people are ‘ordinary’ Syrians stopped in the streets
of Damascus to be interviewed by reporters about different subjects, often
unrelated to the crisis in Syria. However, most of the links to articles and
videos below relate to the war and present other images.
Images of Syrians who are not ‘rebels’ determined to destroy the country can be
found on other blogs linked to Australians for Syria: SocratesandSyria.com and
also here. To ponder what peace and war might mean for Syrians or, for that
matter, any other people facing terror and war, please go here.
*******************************************************************************
Syrian envoy to UN censures Saudi Arabia, Qatar
31 August 2012
Bashar Ja’afari said in an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the
humanitarian situation in Syria on Thursday that Riyadh and Doha should answer
to the world for the turmoil in Syria.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/259091.html
Bashar Ja’afari (Syria) on Syria – Security Council Media Stakeout (30 August,
2012)
http://webtv.un.org/watch/bashar-jaafari-syria-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-30-august-2012/1815258209001
NOTE:
Qatar builds up anti-Syria Wahhabi army
28 December 2012
Qatar has built up a strong army of hundreds of Wahhabi forces to help overthrow
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a new report has revealed…. The Qatari and
Saudi rulers approved the program for the Qatari chief of staff Major General
Hamas Ali al-Attiya to join the anti-Assad army for rapid deployment on the
Turkish-Syrian border
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/218149.html
*********************************************
Russia Today
No-fly zone over Syria ‘not ruled out’ by France, UK
31 August 2012
“UN is being used to promote war instead of peace.”
Britain and France say they’re not ruling out any options in Syria, including a
military-enforced no-fly zone. The deadlocked UN Security Council has again held
a meeting on the crisis, with Turkey also pushing for the creation of a buffer
zone. Professor Paul Sheldon Foote of California State University, who
specializes in Middle Eastern affairs believes the US and its allies are using
the humanitarian situation in Syria to pursue their agenda in the region.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=fCUwZrxHTUM
*****************************************************
Russian Today
‘Morsi slams Assad at NAM summit at US bidding’
31 August 2012
Interview with UK journalist and blogger, Neil Clark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXLOBy_Y1bs&feature=relmfu
*******************************************************
‘I saw rebels beheading men for religion’ – Syrian cleric
Published on Aug 30, 2012 by RussiaToday
RT talks to Mother Agnes Mariam, founder of monastery in Qara in Syria and
witnessed what the people went through when the first sparks of trouble ignited
the war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iogH78kXccU&feature=relmfu
******************************************************
NAM Summit Closes with 680 Point Statement but Results Pertaining to Syria
Doubtful
By Christof Lehmann 31 August 2012
http://nsnbc.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/nam-movement-summit-closes-with-680-points-statement-but-results-pertaining-syria-doubtful/
***************************************:
Bashar al-Ja’afari in UN General Assembly: “Turkish govt. allows terrorists to
set up training camps on their soil”
August 30 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMW1Zo1iC_k&feature=youtube_gdata
**************************************************
President Bashar Al-Assad’s interview with Addounia Tv Channel, Damascus
29/08/2012- 2nd,3rd part
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxZpTmQ7-X0
**************************************************
The Real News: Pt.3 Who Supports Assad in Syria?
Published on Aug 6, 2012 by TheRealNews
Sami Ramadani: The Syrian Civil War and Big Power Rivalry: Assad has a social
base of support, but if opposition had not militarized, he would have been
pushed out by now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VTlWDkrWtI&feature=related
*********************************************
Humanitarian aid to Syria must be neutral – Russia’s UN ambassador
August 31 2012
http://rt.com/news/un-syria-humanitarian-situation-996/
************************************
INTERVIEW
The remapping of the Middle East
By Claudio Gallo 31 August 2012
La Stampa interview with Dr Jeremy Salt, an Australian academic working at a
university in Turkey.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NH31Ak01.html
*****************************************
BBC’s HARDTALK interviewer demands answers to difficult questions from a
supporter of war against Syria.
BBC’s HARD Talk interview with US paid lobbyist Brian Sayers for Syrian Support
Group, which helps fund FSA
NATO employee Brian Sayers to act as a full-time Washington DC lobbyist, on
behalf of intervening in Syria and arming the rebels. In April, one of the
organization’s leaders, Maher Nana of Florida, registered the organization as a
non-profit corporation based in Washington DC. On May 24th, the SSG’s lawyer,
Mazen Asbahi, applied for a license to fund the Free Syrian Army. [1]
Media
attention was given to the group starting in June of 2012. By June 25th, the
then-little-known organization had received donations from 59 people. On the
23rd of the following July, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign
Asset Control granted the organization it’s license to fund the Free Syrian
Army; a fact which became public knowledge on Friday, July 27th[2] . The story
was in turn reported by many other news organizations. On Wednesday, August 1st,
a Treasury Department official confirmed that they had given Syrian Support
Group this license. The license requires that the organization make monthly
reports of their expenditures to the U.S. Department of State
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_cC2kUd4x4&feature=player_embedded
*************************************************
Amnesty International has supported the US Administration narrative on Syria
since the beginning of the crisis there. Ref:
http://socratesandsyria.com/uncle-of-syrian-australian-killed-by-terrorists-in-april-2011-amnesty-international-silence/
WASHINGTON POST
Amnesty International Web site hacked by supporters of Syrian government
28 August 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/amnesty-international-web-site-hacked/2012/08/28/9628e83a-f121-11e1-a612-3cfc842a6d89_story.html
*******************************************
The Corbett Report
From the Houla Hoax to Chemical Weapons – Deceptions in Syria
30 August 2012
http://www.corbettreport.com/from-the-houla-hoax-to-chemical-weapons-in-syria/
******************************
German blogger who has visited Syria several times recently explains that the
German media is very one-sided and does not represent the reality on the
ground. He explains Germany is under pressure from the US to follow its line on
Syria.
RT – M. Klostermayr – German hypocrisy towards Syria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOi_aqqw9V8&feature=player_embedded
****************************************************
Tunisian Al Qaeda Jihadists in Syria
25 August 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWQKXrZbhbU&feature=player_embedded
*************************************************
THE INDEPENDENT
Robert Fisk: How a failed Syrian prisoner swap turned into a massacre in
devastated Daraya …
Wednesday 29 August 2012
> ….Another man said that, although he had not seen the dead in the graveyard,
> he believed that most were related to the government army and included several
> off-duty conscripts. “One of the dead was a postman – they included him
> because he was a government worker,” the man said. If these stories are true,
> then the armed men – wearing hoods, according to another woman who described
> how they broke into her home and how she kissed them in a fearful attempt to
> prevent them shooting her own family – were armed insurgents rather than
> Syrian troops.
>
> The home of Amer Sheikh Rajab, a forklift truck driver, had been taken over,
> he said, by gunmen as a base for “Free Army” forces, the phrase the civilians
> used for the rebels. They had smashed the family crockery and burned carpets
> and beds – the family showed this destruction to us – but had also torn out
> the internal computer chip parts of laptops and television sets in the house.
> To use as working parts for bombs, perhaps?..
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/robert-fisk-how-a-failed-syrian-prisoner-swap-turned-into-a-massacre-in-devastated-daraya-3214447.html
**********************************************************
SANA REPORT ON THE KILLING OF PEOPLE IN ZAMALKA TO INCITE WORLD OPINION AGAINST
SYRIA 29 August 2012
http://sana.sy/eng/337/2012/08/29/438556.htm
***********************************************************
Press TV
Western media distorts truth in Syria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epqycRFR2L8&feature=player_embedded
*********************************************************
Note: The Czech Ambassador was quoted on Syrian TV, 29 August 2012, “What is
going on in Syria is not a civil war, but a fight between the government and
armed men. Many of the European ambassadors had left Syria with pain in their
hearts.”
Czech diplomats continue working in Syria despite hostilities
ČTK | 29 AUGUST 2012
http://praguemonitor.com/2012/08/29/czech-diplomats-continue-working-syria-despite-hostilities
AXIS OF LOGIC
Analysis of the differences which apparently existed between former French
ambassador to Syria and Sarkozi’s foreign minister, Alain Juppe:
http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_64405.shtml
********************************************
Press TV
Ban Ki-moon in Iran for NAM summit
28 August 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVqyfEwWzxw&feature=youtube_gdata
**********************************************
Blog “Wrong Kind of Green”
SPEAKING TRUTH: A PROFOUND MESSAGE TO AVAAZ FROM POET GABRIEL IMPAGLIONE OF
ARGENTINA
http://wrongkindofgreen.org/2012/03/12/speaking-truth-a-profound-message-to-avaaz-from-poet-gabriel-impaglione-of-argentina/
***************************************************************
Syria – A car bomb killed 12 citizens in Jaramana during a funeral procession
28-08-2012
From Addounia TV 28 August 2012 (parents weep for their children). Warning:
Graphic 18+
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXF5J5DHxQM&feature=player_embedded
**********************************************************
THE INDEPENDENT
Robert Fisk interviews Walid Muallim, the Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister
Tuesday 29 August 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exclusive-we-believe-that-the-usa-is-the-major-player-against-syria-and-the-rest-are-its-instruments-8082457.html
Evidence of Media Complicity With Terrorists Slitting Throats in Syria Uploaded
27 August 2012
Syrian TV station Addounia examines the claims of Al-Jazeera in regard to the
slaying of men on the outskirts of Damascus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CecJuIQ0T4o&feature=player_embedded
For an examination of Al-Jazeera’s reporting of events in Syria and its links
with those involved in the killings of soldiers and civilians, go to interview
with Ali Hashem, former reporter as well as that with the mother of Sari Saoud,
a young boy killed in Homs last year. What also relates to this story is one
reported by Dr Fiona Hill about her Syrian ‘nephew’, a young army conscript,
being abducted by ‘rebels’ and told he had four choices: join them and be
prepared to kill, destroy utilities etc, get his family to pay a ransom, or be
killed.
***************************************
Alakhbar English
Syrian archbishop flees to Lebanon
Published Monday, August 27, 2012
The Melkite Greek Catholic archbishop of Aleppo has fled to Lebanon and his
offices in the war-ravaged city have been looted, Vatican media said on Monday,
amid fears over the fate of Christian minorities.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-archbishop-flees-lebanon
An interview with the Archbishop on France 24 in January 2012
http://www.france24.com/en/20120113-interview-jean-clement-jeanbart-archbishop-aleppo-syria-bashar-al-assad-christian-community
Reuters reports the story of the Archbishop’s fleeing, but qualifies it and
muddies the water by claiming the following:
> Christians make up around 10 percent of the population and many have remained
> loyal to President Bashar al-Assad – a member of the minority Alawite faith,
> an off-shoot of Shi’ite Islam – fearing that the majority Sunni Muslims would
> trample on religious rights if they took power.
>
> However some senior members of the opposition are also Christians.
Many questions are raised by these claims, not least the following:
1. If it were just the Christians and Alawis who remained loyal to the
president, how could he stay in power? Note: The Minister of Defense is from the
Sunni majority and the majority of Syrian soldiers would be Sunni.
2. Why would Christians fear the Sunni majority when they have been living
alongside them peacefully for many centuries? Is it the extremists they fear,
Wahhabis and Salafis in particular who are incited to violence by extremist
clerics against anyone who doesn’t support their cause?
3. What are the differences in religious and political views between the
Wahhabis, the Salafis, and the majority of Sunnis in Syria?
4. There are senior members in the unarmed opposition who are Christians, some
of them stood against the Baath Party in the recent elections and at least one
is an MP. Are they the Christians the reporter is referring to?
5. If not, is he referring to Christians fighting alongside jihadists,
mercenaries, Al-Qaeda, Salafis, ‘rebels’ who believe in the violent overthrow of
their government? Can the reporter name them?
6. If he is referring to Christians in the Syrian diaspora who support the
armed opposition, can he tell their story? Why do they support Islamist
fighters that have forced over 80,000 Christians to flee Homs?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/27/us-syria-crisis-christians-idUSBRE87Q10L20120827
****************************************************************
Charlie Skelton’s article published in The Guardian in July should be referenced
whenever claims by anonymous ‘opposition activists’ about massacres resurface.
The Syrian opposition: who’s doing the talking?
The media have been too passive when it comes to Syrian opposition sources,
without scrutinising their backgrounds and their political connections. Time for
a closer look …
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/12/syrian-opposition-doing-the-talking
Something to ponder: John Howard and Stephen Harper read from the same script to
justify war against Iraq, 2003
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8YwJC_nBgw&feature=player_embedded#!
********************************************
BLOG: FRIENDS OF SYRIA
Darayya Massacre: Innocent people killed by FUKUS backed FSA
Includes report by Addounia TV in Syria
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/08/26/darayya-massacre-innocent-people-killed-by-fukus-backed-fsa/
Warning: Graphic images of victims in Darayya
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiYKAoMcTHI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=/watch%3Fv%3DwPzKIkNepyo%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded
*********************************
Russia Today report on the Darayya massacre
‘Hundreds of bodies’ found in Damascus suburb after govt assault – opposition
watchdog
26 August 2012 Interview with U.S. radio show host Dr Kevin Barrett.
http://rt.com/news/daraya-massacre-reports-syria-590/
*************************************
Los Angeles Times report of the Darayya Massacre
Dozens more bodies found at Syria massacre site
By Patrick J. McDonnell 27 August
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-violence-20120827,0,3137672.story
*************************************************
Interview on Skype with a young engineer who lives in Damascus, 17 August 2012,
speaks from a suburb on the outskirts of Damascus.
People maintain “hope” for peace. They place their hope in the army. There is
reference in the interview to young men being kidnapped from street by ‘rebels’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMLnzboSrt0&feature=player_embedded
An interview with a Syrian Australian activist who refers to the killing of
people who have been kidnapped in order to create a massacre:
http://socratesandsyria.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/hanadi.mp3
FRIENDS OF SYRIA
Innocent people massacred on a daily basis…
25 August 2012
Includes graphic footage of kidnapped men later killed by ‘rebels’.
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/innocent-people-massacred-on-a-daily-basis-by-obamaclintons-fsa/
*****************************************
FRIENDS OF SYRIA
Questions raised by the shooting down of a Syrian helicopter, 27 August 2012
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/helicopter-shot-down-by-a-us-missile/
******************************************
Analyst: Alastair Crooke, former British diplomat and intelligence officer, and
Middle East expert.
Video interview with Alastair Crooke from May 2012, following the Houla
massacre:
Style of Killings in Houla very unlike Syrian Islam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLN3NvaMp5I
NB: Transcript of an Al-Jazeera interview with Alastair Crooke in August 2005
in regard to the radicalization of young Muslims.
***********************************************
Tunisian Al Qaeda Jihadists in Syria
August 2012
Video from Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen channel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Mayadeen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWQKXrZbhbU&feature=player_embedded
*************************************************
THE INDEPENDENT
Robert Fisk: ‘Rebel army? They’re a gang of foreigners’
23 August 2012
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-rebel-army-theyre-a-gang-of-foreigners-8073717.html
*************************************************
MEDIAWERKGROEP SYRIE
LiveWire Amnesty calls on UN to stop the US, Qatar and Turkey funding and arming
Syria rebels
28 August
http://mediawerkgroepsyrie.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/livewire-amnesty-calls-on-un-to-stop-the-us-qatar-and-turkey-funding-and-arming-syria-rebels/
*******************************************************
Aleppo Residents Celebrating Cleansing Their Neighborhoods From Turkey’s FSA
Terrorists
August 23 2012
Video from Syrian TV
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ydyIQU6vo&feature=player_embedded
**********************************************
FRANCE and SYRIA
This discussion on France 24 about the French response to Syria draws a
connection between French politics and a tough stand on Syria:
France 24
‘Copé’s concerns about Syria’ 10 August 2012
http://www.france24.com/en/20120810-syria-cope-sarkozy-hollande-golden-court-economy-camoing-holidays
President Hollande has responded with very tough talk, reminiscent of the France
before Syria gained independence in 1946.
Reuters
France warns Syria over chemical weapons use
27 August
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/27/us-syria-crisis-france-idUSBRE87Q0UH20120827
France Urges Syrian Opposition to Form New Government
By STEVEN ERLANGER Published: August 27, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/world/middleeast/rebels-claim-to-shoot-down-syrian-helicopter.html
World War 2 and Independence
….France was adamant in its demand that its cultural, economic, and strategic
interests be protected by treaty before agreeing to withdraw the Troupes
Speciales du Levant. In May 1945, demonstrations occurred in Damascus and Aleppo
and, for the third time in 20 years, the French bombed and machine-gunned the
ancient capital….
.
http://countrystudies.us/syria/10.htm
********************************************
Talk of FALSE FLAG operations against Syria
Analyst on Syria writes about the ‘false flag’ needed to start wars
Syrian False Flag Planned?
By Stephen Lendman
August 23, 2012 “Information
Clearing House”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32273.htm#.UDaZQb_1XH0.email
US conservative commentator
Tilling the Ground for the Seeds of Terrorism
By Rep. Dennis Kucinich
22 August 2012
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32261.htm#.UDXFSavxSHk.email
******************************************
The Los Angeles Times
U.S. has plans in place to secure Syria chemical arms
22 August
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-us-syria-20120823,0,6157005.story
**********************************************
The Telegraph
NHS doctor ‘led extremist cell in Syria’ 27 August 2012
An NHS doctor led a group of Islamic extremists who took a British photographer
hostage as he covered the conflict in Syria, the former captive has claimed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9501364/NHS-doctor-led-extremist-cell-in-Syria.html
************************************
GLOBAL RESEARCH – THE NAM SUMMIT, IRAN AND SYRIA; A COUP AGAINST THE WEST?
by Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya 26 August 2012
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=32501
***************************************************
RT interview with analyst, James Corbett, editor of the Corbett Report
http://www.corbettreport.com (James Corbett refers to the ‘rebel’ bombing in
Damascus which seemed directed at UN observers. )
‘Don’t expect West to condemn Syria terror attacks’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pISbxp8F2xM&feature=player_embedded
*******************************************
TURKEY AND SYRIA
Press TV News Analysis looks at Turkey’s role in the crisis in Syria
‘Turkey’s anti-Syria alliance with US, lethal embrace’
24 August 2012
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/24/257876/turkeyus-alliance-lethal-embrace/
An analysis by a Turkish commentator
The National Interest
Turkey’s Syria Conundrum
Sinan Ulgan, August 24 2012
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/turkeys-syria-conundrum-7385
***********************************************
Syrian media sources include the following:
SANA
http://sana.sy/index_eng.html
Libyan Terrorist Relates Details of How Terrorists are Trained in Libya with
Funding from Arab Gulf Countries and Sent to Syria
Aug 26, 2012
http://sana.sy/eng/21/2012/08/26/438111.htm
Syrian satellite TV
Chilling Crimes By Terrorist Jaber Mustapha Shihabi in Aleppo
22 August 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QUrhlmZzQY&feature=player_embedded
SYRIAN RADIO AND TV
http://www.syriaonline.sy/?
Friends of Syria report: US Continues to Wage War on Syria’s Media
… misleading sides have created a spoof email address named (sana@sana.sy)….
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/08/25/us-continues-to-wage-war-on-syrias-media/
***************************************************
NEW YORK TIMES
Concerns About Al Qaeda in Syria Underscore Questions About Rebels
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK 21 August 2012
What is Al Qaeda doing in Syria?
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/concerns-about-al-qaeda-in-syria-underscore-questions-about-rebels/
*********************************************
On THE MEDIA
Sultan Al Qassemi generally supports the mainstream narrative on the Syrian
government but says the bias of Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya is clear and
sinister.
Audio Interview:
In Foreign Policy, political commentator Sultan Al Qassemi made the case that Al
Jazeera and Al Arabiya are, for political reasons, misrepresenting the reality
on the ground in Syria. Bob speaks with Qassemi, who outlines what he sees as
the problems with the coverage of the region’s most important news sources.
GUESTS: Sultan Al-Qassemi
HOSTED BY: Bob Garfield
http://www.onthemedia.org/2012/aug/24/arabic_language_tv_and_covering_syria/
*********************************************
Matt Carr is a British blogger and writer to follow:
Damages
http://www.infernalmachine.co.uk/?p=1996
***************************************************
Neil Clark, British blogger and journalist. 12 August 2012 interview on his blog
page.
RT interview: Rebel atrocities turn Syrians away from the opposition
http://neilclark66.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/rt-interviewrebel-atrocities-turn.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQHr_ngLZgg
***************************************
SKY NEWS reporter Tim Marshall is currently based in Damascus
On twitter:
http://twitter.com/@Skytwitius
Assad’s Forces ‘Kill Over 200 In Syrian Town’
The Syrian army is accused by activists of killing hundreds of people in Daraya,
including many during house-to-house raids.
http://news.sky.com/story/977153/assads-forces-kill-over-200-in-syrian-town
******************************************
2012-08-22
ASIA/SYRIA – Over 12 thousand Christian faithful “starving” in the village of
Rableh: humanitarian law is invoked
…For more than ten days the village of Rableh is subject to a strict blockade by
armed opposition groups, which surround it on all sides. One of the leaders of a
local parish, B.K., who requested anonymity for security reasons, told Fides
that a few days ago three young men of the village were killed by snipers…
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=32078&lan=eng
************************************************
21 Century Imperialism:
Britain and US plan a Syrian revolution from an innocuous office block in
Istanbul
An underground network of Syrian opposition activists is receiving training and
supplies of vital equipment from a combined American and British effort to forge
an effective alternative to the Damascus regime.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9500503/Britain-and-US-plan-a-Syrian-revolution-from-an-innocuous-office-block-in-Istanbul.html
********************************************
An interview by Tim Marshall from Sky News with a Christian leader in Damascus
Patriarch Laham Exposes Terrorists Tactics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsScmtVDSv8&feature=player_embedded
**********************************************
The UN and Syria
A UN representative responds to questions about Christians in Syria (word
‘terror’ not used; there appear to be gaps in her knowledge about what is
happening on the ground)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hF8B0CXbyR8
UN report on Houla
Houla massacre: UN blames Syria and militia, 15 August 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2012/aug/15/un-inquiry-syrian-arab-republic
UN News Centre: Syrian Government and opposition forces responsible for war
crimes – UN panel
15 August 2012
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42687&Cr=syria&Cr1=
**************************************************
Press TV in NY
USA-West and Gulf dictators are arming the terrorists gangs with no mercy for
the Syrian people 23 August 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8YDTpBqbMY&feature=player_embedded
************************************
Indigenous Christians in Syria, Iraq and Egypt targeted by Islamists. Original
peoples
Yvonne Haddad 29 July 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7EyBmQHzYw
**************************************************
A Channel 4 documentary which sympathizes with the ‘FSA’ fighters in Homs, March
2012 (no reference to the 80,000 or so Christians forced to flee Homs by
Islamist fighters).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=2CRArDjblGU
Orthodox Church says 90 per cent of Christians have been expelled from Homs
By JOHN PONTIFEX on Monday, 26 March 2012
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/03/26/orthodox-church-says-90-per-cent-of-christians-have-been-expelled-from-homs/
**************************************************
DAILY STAR 26 AUGUST 2012
NEARLY 200 elite SAS and SBS troops are in or around Syria hunting for Assad’s
weapons of mass destruction, we can reveal… Men of the special forces units plus
1 Para are on the ground working alongside MI6 and the CIA plus American and
French troops…
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/268989/SAS-hunt-bio-arms/
*************************************************
BBC News HD – Syrian rebels try to use prisoner for suicide bombing 2012
SyrianGirlpartisan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fbxz6THXsf4
The New York Times
Life With Syria’s Rebels – The Lions of Tawhid
August 22 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgsI21x3ab0
NYT’s Article
Life With Syria’s Rebels in a Cold and Cunning War
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/world/middleeast/syrian-rebels-coalesce-into-a-fighting-force.html?_r=1
**************************************
American journalist missing in Syria
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/08/american-journalist-missing-in-syria/
***************************************************
Robert Fisk has spent some time in Syria embedded with the Syrian army in
Aleppo. He has therefore added another perspective to his usual reports on
Syria.
Robert Fisk:
‘No power can bring down the Syrian regime’
After gaining exclusive access to Bashar al-Assad’s army officers, our writer
reports from the Aleppo front line
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-no-power-can-bring-down-the-syrian-regime-8070029.html#disqus_thread
The bloody truth about Syria’s uncivil war
….Bashar al-Assad’s government faces a resourceful, well-armed and ruthless
enemy whose Islamist supporters are receiving help from the West – just as the
Islamist mujahedin fighters were funded and armed by the West when they fought
the Russians in Afghanistan during the 1980s. With up to 50,000 men under arms
and perhaps 4,000 battle tanks, the Syrian army, per se, cannot lose. But can
they win?
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-the-bloody-truth-about-syrias-uncivil-war-8081386.html
********************************
CounterPsyOps
Chechen Fighters Join Syrian Extremist Rebels
22 August 2012
http://counterpsyops.com/2012/08/22/chechen-fighters-join-syrian-extremist-rebels/
********************************
Wahhabism and Wahhabi Islam: How Wahhabi Islam Differs from Sunni, Shia Islam
Critics of Islam & Islamic Extremism Must Understand Wahhabi Extremist Beliefs
By Austin Clin
http://atheism.about.com/od/islamicsects/a/wahhabi.htm
*******************************************************
The Telegraph
Security services ‘failing’ to stop British jihadis heading to Syria
Fears are growing that a new generation of British jihadis may be cutting their
teeth in Syria, reports Andrew Gilligan 25 August 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/9499202/Security-services-failing-to-stop-British-jihadis-heading-to-Syria.html
ABC report on the death of a Sydney Sheik in Syria, evidence of locals going to
Syria for a jihad against the secular government.
**********************************************
Preparing The Public For The Attack On Hezbollah
By Dan Lieberman
August 23, 2012 “Information Clearing House”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32269.htm
********************************
Sydney sheik killed in Syria rocket attack
Updated Wed Aug 22,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-21/sydney-sheik-killed-in-syria-rocket-attack/4213460
Meeting in a Sydney bookshop of supporters of Sheik Majzoud
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TWDgTYI7eA
Reference to the death of Sheik Majzoud on an Indonesian web page with the flag
of Al-Qaeda in its mast-head
http://hizbut-tahrir.or.id/2012/08/22/kutipan-email-sheik-mustapha-al-majzoub-dari-sydney-yang-syahid-di-suriah/?utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed
*************************************************
LAND DESTROYER REPORT
TUESDAY, AUGUST 21, 2012
Amnesty International is US State Department Propaganda
Amnesty run by US State Department representatives, funded by convicted
financial criminals, and threatens real human rights advocacy worldwide.
by Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/amnesty-international-is-us-state.html
*************************************************
From the U.S., a view which challenges the mainstream narrative on Syria:
What if the Empire Project Fails in Syria?
By Michael Collins
http://www.themoneyparty.org/main/2012/08/what-if-the-empire-project-fails-in-syria/#more-4817
***************************************************
INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Syria is Only a Pretext
Re-engineering of the global balance of power. By Thierry Meyssan 14 AUGUST
2012
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32174.htm#.UCs69jzk7Zc.emailF
*******************************************************
Paul Craig-Roberts
Is Washington Deaf As Well as Criminal?
16 December 2012
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2012/08/16/is-washington-deaf-as-well-criminal/
***********************************************************
World Socialist Web Site
US proxy war in Syria spreads to Lebanon and Iraq
By Eric London
18 August 2012
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/aug2012/leba-a18.shtml
*********************************************************
COUNTER PUNCH 17-19 AUGUST 2012
Regime Change is About Establishing Sunni Dominance Not Democratic Freedoms
Syrian Australians Demand an End to Foreign Intervention
by CHRIS RAY
Sydney.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/17/syrian-australians-demand-an-end-to-foreign-intervention/
************************************************************
ANTI-WAR.COM
Libya Fighters Head to Syria’s Front-Line
Fighters Hope to ‘Export the Revolution’ to Damascus
by Jason Ditz, August 14, 2012
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/08/14/libya-fighters-head-to-syrias-front-line/
**************************************************************
NEWS.COM.AU
Syrian minister hints that Bashar al-Assad could step down
22 August 2012
….Mr Jamil rejected the idea of making Assad’s resignation the condition for any
future negotiations – a demand made not only by the armed opposition but also
Washington and several big European states.
But he said the president’s departure could be a topic of discussion….
http://www.news.com.au/world/syrian-minister-hints-that-bashar-al-assad-could-step-down/story-fndir2ev-1226455366698
***************************************************************
GLOBAL RESEARCH
WHO IS REALLY WAGING WAR ON SYRIA?
by Boris Volkhonsky 21 AUGUST 2012
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=32430
**********************************
LAND DESTROYER REPORT
MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2012
US Desperation Surfaces in Syria
Obama’s bizarre threats indicative of losing strategy and increasing
desperation.
by Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/us-desperation-surfaces-in-syria.html
****************************************
Editor: Does it matter whether the president of Syria is an Alawi Muslim? To
whom? Why?
This opinion piece makes no reference to the president of Syria, but it does
raise a similar question.
Opinion Phillip Jensen.com
Does It Matter Whether Catherine Is Protestant?
http://phillipjensen.com/articles/does-it-matter-whether-catherine-is-protestant/#
*****************************************************
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Hillary Clinton floats a Syria no-fly zone. How real an option for US?
13 August 2012
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Foreign-Policy/2012/0813/Hillary-Clinton-floats-a-Syria-no-fly-zone.-How-real-an-option-for-US
********************************************************
Interview on RT with British ME analyst
Historical amnesia taking place among Western leaders; they’d rather support
anyone; Assad has become a bogey man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHUi9wPeaw8&feature=player_embedded
*******************************************************
Rebel Dark Side: Syrian ‘charities’ mute on atrocity claims
Published on Aug 13, 2012 by RussiaToday
The embattled Syrian opposition has made a fresh plea for foreign action, as
activists claim people’s support for the insurgency is dwindling amid new
allegations of rebel atrocities.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX46rux2Hyo&feature=player_embedded#!
********************************
What if the Empire Project Fails in Syria?
By Michael Collins
August 14, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — — Al Jazeera’s weekend coverage
of the critical battle for Aleppo, Syria reveals a major obstacle for the United
States-NATO Empire Project. Hardly anyone in Aleppo is signing up to fight with
rebels….
….McNaught followed up: “Why now, when the Free Syrian Army was so quickly
consolidating its hold, were its ranks not being swelled by volunteers from the
city?”One of the rebels (gesturing in image) responded: “They are afraid of the
situation now. It’s new to them. It’s not like the countryside all around here
which has had time to get used to the fighting.” Trauma requires practice.
Al Jazeera is owned by the government of Qatar. Qatar partnered with NATO in
Libya by providing troops on the ground and cash to the Libya rebels. The built
in bias gives credibility to the claim of tepid local support. Like the people
of Damascus who also kept their distance from rebels, Syrians in Aleppo are not
consumed by anti-regime passion. That may have something to do with public
polling showing that “most Syrians are in favour of Bashar al-Assad remaining as
president.”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32179.htm#.UCtCZiZ5k4A.email
****************************************************
Syria and Middle East: The Fallacy of Missing the Forest for the Trees
Keeping the tragic transformation of ‘Arab Spring’ in historical perspective
by Jiwan Kshetry
August 15, 2012
…..Perkins gives the stark summary of those developments that the Saudi Royals
literally bartered the national interests, the regional interests and the
interests of the oil-producing countries for one thing: the U.S. support for the
autocratic regime in the pretext of transforming the Arabian deserts into plush
western-style cities. In chapters that follow, Perkins insinuates into the Saudi
behavior in the aftermath of the win-win arrangement with the U.S. when it tried
to compensate for the loss of moral and religious values in the kingdom brought
about by the western commercialism by exporting the Wahabbi ideological
fundamentalism to other countries…..
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/08/15/syria-and-middle-east-the-fallacy-of-missing-the-forest-for-the-trees/
******************************
SYRIA/ “Blessed are the peacemakers”
Editors
August Sun 12, 2012
A letter by Gregorios III, Patriarch of Antioch, on the Church’s attitude to the
widespread talk of arming Christians, and on the role of the Church and of her
bodies in supporting mediation and reconciliation in the country.
Damascus, 3 August, 2012
http://www.ilsussidiario.net/News/English-Spoken-Here/Culture-Religion-Science/2012/8/12/SYRIA-Blessed-are-the-peacemakers-/311409/
*************************************
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4, 2012
Massacres in Aleppo, Syria
“Responsibility to Protect” crumbles as Western-armed terror front slaughters
civilians while foreign sponsors attempt to tie hands of Syrian security forces.
by Tony Cartalucci
August 4, 2012 – For the people of Aleppo, their only hope is Syria’s security
forces restoring order. In the pockets of Syria’s largest city the so-called
“Free Syrian Army” (FSA) has dug into, a campaign of systematic detention,
torture, and mass murder has been carried out against “enemies of the
revolution.” Demonized as either “Shabiha” or “government supporters,” men have
been rounded up, lined up against walls, and gunned down en mass. Others await
barbaric “drumhead trials” where FSA warlords deal out arbitrary justice under
the guise of “Sharia law.”
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/massacres-in-aleppo-syria.html
*******************************************
After Aleppo: A Return to the Status Quo
By: Nicolas Nassif
Published Monday, August 13, 2012
The battle for Aleppo is not completely over, but it is almost there as far as
the Assad regime is concerned. Ending the presence of the military opposition
there may require a few more days. Reclaiming the strategic part of the city,
the Salaheddine neighborhood, made up for the morale blow that the regime and
President Bashar al-Assad received from the defection of prime minister Riad
Hijab…..
….this majority-Sunni army managed to fight the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist
militants, who are also Sunni, without disintegrating or collapsing…
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/after-aleppo-return-status-quo
**************************************
The NATION
Obama’s Regime-Change Policy in Syria
Robert Dreyfuss 13 August
http://www.thenation.com/blog/169367/obamas-regime-change-policy-syria
Regime Change in Syria: Part II
Robert Dreyfusson August 14, 2012 – 11:53 AM ET
…..Back in 2009, Obama was right not to intervene in Iran or to egg on the
Iranian Greens. Why did that change in Syria in 2011-2012? Politics, maybe? Does
the United States have the right to decide to force out of office anyone it
doesn’t like? Or only the ones that the Israel Lobby wants to get rid of, in an
election year?
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/robert-dreyfuss
******************************************************
Asia Times online
Covering Syria: The information war
By Aisling Byrne July 12 2012
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NG12Ak01.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
********************************************
Editor: It appears the US,UK and France now want to blame the Gulf states for
the presence of extremists fighting in Syria despite the warnings about the
terror from the beginning of the crisis and despite the calls from extremist
clerics in those Gulf nations since March 2011. The west imagines it (like a
benevolent god) can engineer a ‘clean’ war against a people who want neither an
armed revolution nor a war?
The Guardian
Syria crisis: west loses faith in SNC to unite opposition groups
US, UK and France seek to build more direct links with disparate rebels amid
fears that Islamists are getting Gulf donations
Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
The Guardian, Tuesday 14 August 2012
The US, Britain and France are scrambling to retain their influence with Syrian
opposition groups amid fears that most support from the Gulf states has been
diverted towards extremist Islamic groups.
Rising concern that an increasingly sectarian civil war could spread across the
region, combined with reports of brutality by some opposition groups, and
evidence that the best-organised and best-funded rebel groups are
disproportionately Salafist (militant Sunni fundamentalists), has triggered an
urgent policy change in western capitals.
Washington, London and Paris now agree that efforts to encourage a unified
opposition around the exile-led Syrian National Council (SNC) have failed, and
are now seeking to cultivate more direct links with internal Syrian groups.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/13/syria-opposition-groups-national-council
********************************
Foreign Policy Journal
The U.S. and Its Comrade in Arms, Al Qaeda
And other tales of an empire gone mad
by William Blum
11 August 2012
…So, if you want to understand this thing called United States foreign policy …
forget about the War on Terrorism, forget about September 11, forget about
democracy, forget about freedom, forget about human rights, forget about
religion, forget about the people of Libya and Syria … keep your eyes on the
prize … Whatever advances American global domination. Whatever suits their goals
at the moment. There is no moral factor built into the DNA of US foreign policy.
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/08/11/the-u-s-and-its-comrade-in-arms-al-qaeda/
******************************************
US is helping Israel and others to talk up a “horrible event” which might
precipitate action from West and Turkey which the ‘international community’ can
find acceptable in the circumstances.
Preparing For A ‘Horrible Event’; The U.S. And Turkey Plan For Syria’s Collapse
August 11 2012
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/08/11/158622467/preparing-for-a-horrible-event-the-u-s-and-turkey-plan-for-syrias-collapse
**************************************************
The Guardian newspaper has generally come out on the side of NATO, Saudi Arabia
and Qatar in regard to Syria. In a recent article, a representative of the
Muslim Brotherhood was given a chance to put an argument for regime change in
Syria. It is very unlikely the leader of secular Syria will be given a chance to
respond. Comments in response to the article suggest Guardian readers have a
more sophisticated understanding of the ME than the editors.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/06/syria-middleeast
*******************************************
This report refers to efforts by the US and UK to destabilize Syria in 1957.
Anglo-American Secret Plan to Assassinate the Syrian President. Déjà Vu?
By
Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
August 13, 2012 “Information Clearing House” –
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32164.htm#.UCnuoYA8crQ.email
**********
Macmillan backed Syria assassination plot
Documents show White House and No 10 conspired over oil-fuelled invasion plan
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/sep/27/uk.syria1
**********************************************************
PRESS TV
Israeli-US script: Divide Syria, divide the rest
By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya
What is happening in Syria is a sign of things to come for the region. Regime
change is not the sole goal of the US and its allies in Syria. Dividing the
Syrian Arab Republic is the end goal of Washington in Syria.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/14/256166/us-harbors-divisive-plots-on-global-scale/
*******************************************************
American Stingers’ First Casualty is Diplomacy: Syria’s Parallels with
Afghanistan
By Deepak Tripathi
August 13, 2012 “Information Clearing House” —
The revelation about President Barack Obama’s decision to provide secret
American aid to Syria’s rebel forces is a game changer. The presidential order,
known as an “intelligence finding” in the world of espionage, authorizes the CIA
to support armed groups fighting to overthrow Bashar al-Assad’s government. But
it threatens far more than the regime in Damascus.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32168.htm#.UCntEBnkYWo.email
************************************************
RT
US and Turkey to consider no-fly zones for Syria
11 August 2012
…..According to Middle Eastern history and politics Professor Jeremy Salt, the
opposition has little hope of winning the conflict without the help of its
Western allies.
“As of now, Damascus has mostly been cleared of rebels. Aleppo on its way to
being cleared. We can see that the army has a strategy here. It cleared out the
Salah al-Din district within two days, and now it’s working its way through
other suburbs. So unless the rebels get more support in terms of heavy weaponry,
they are very much fighting on the back foot. So that’s why Hillary Clinton is
in Istanbul. To ask the basic question, ‘What’s next?’” Salt told RT.
http://www.rt.com/news/clinton-turkey-syria-damascus-aleppo-437/
***************************************
Foreign-backed armed groups targeting Syrian history
Published on Aug 11, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews
Castle of Aleppo, is a large medieval fortified palace in the centre of the old
city of Aleppo. It is considered to be one of the oldest and largest castles in
the world. Usage of the Citadel hill dates back at least to the middle of the
3rd millennium BC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xStmV_ai_jY
***********************************
Qatar offered Syrian ambassador $5.8mn for defection – report
11 August 2012
Qatar’s ambassador in Mauritania allegedly offered his Syrian counterpart an
advance payment of US$1 million and a monthly salary of $20,000 over 20 years,
trying to convince the diplomat to defect and voice support for the opposition…
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-ambassador-qatar-defection-421/
****************************************
Secret Protocols of Putin’s Talks in Israel
Israel’s Plan for Syria: Somalisation
By Israel Shamir
http://www.israelshamir.net/English/PutNet.htm
Israel supports regime change in Syria: Israeli spy chief
8 August 2012
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/255109.html
**********************************************
GLOBAL RESEARCH
TERRORISM AS AN INSTRUMENT OF U.S. FOREIGN POLICY: UN-BACKED ROGUE STATES PLAN
SYRIA’S SLAUGHTER
By Felicity Arbuthnot
11 August 2012
Veteran Russian politician Yevgeny Primakov …
“Mercenaries and volunteers from other states are fighting (Assad) jointly with”
violent internal forces. Most Syria opponents are nonviolent. They want peaceful
conflict resolution. Washington has other ideas.
“President Obama has given a direct order to the CIA to support the Syrian
opposition.”
“That is flagrant interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state,
which does not endanger the United States or anyone else.”
“Saudi Arabia and Qatar are funding militants. Turkey is giving them active
support.” So are other regional countries (iv.)….
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=32301
**************************************************
Press TV
‘West plan to destroy Syria, decades-old
11 August 2012
Interview with Dr Randy Short (http://www.linkedin.com/in/drrandyshort )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ28ho-CxeM&feature=player_embedded
**********************************************
Editor: Much of the propaganda war against Syria has been based on video
‘evidence’ which is very difficult to verify. Therefore, in order to understand
the crisis in Syria it is important to go beyond that. Lives have been lost, no
doubt, to create such footage in the PR war against Syria.
However, in order to understand what Syrians mean when they talk about ‘terror’
in Syria, some footage perhaps needs to be presented. This is a very disturbing
video and is definitely not recommended for anyone under 18 or for the
faint-hearted. (To understand the terror to some extent at least without
viewing such shocking videos, it would help to see the interview with Sari
Saoud’s mother. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDUF72f0w2s )
Very disturbing video: FSA kills Syrian citizen
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151150681002667
**********************************************
PRESS TV
Iranian pilgrims are abducted soon after they arrive in Damascus
UNSC met on Syria kidnapping 9 August 2012
It was Monday that Press TV first asked Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s office
for a condemnation of the kidnapping. On Tuesday — it was made official — as
Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Akbar Salehi formally requested Ban’s help
in resolving the crisis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gd0diDNT-dg
************************
Los Angles Times
Professed Syrian rebel says Iranian hostages are militiamen
As Iran works with allies of the Syrian opposition to secure the release of
nearly 50 Iranians, the rebel commander appears in an ominous video.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
August 6, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-iranians-20120806,0,1990364.story
*********************************************
Editor: Reports on Syria in Los Angles Times appear to be more measured than the
mainstream reporting seen in Australian news outlets since the beginning of the
crisis.
Syria: Some in opposition fear rebels miscalculated in Aleppo
13 August 2012
The Syria activists fear that the Aleppo offensive may lead to a humanitarian
crisis and undermine the revolution by turning the city against them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-aleppo-20120814,0,4861280.story
*********************************************
US REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN RON PAUL – STRAIGHT TALK
Ron Paul: Interventionist Policies Make Us Less Secure
“… by promoting civil war in Syria, we end up supporting Al-Qaeda….This raises
the question as to whether the US is supporting the same people we are fighting
in Afghanistan…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxNnYrVgUpg
Another American with similar views to Ron Paul of the US foreign policy is
Laurence M. Vance. He presents what he views is a Christian perspective and
describes the U.S. foreign policy as ‘evil’.
War, Foreign Policy, and the Church
by Laurence M. Vance
by
“The greatest crime since World War II has been U.S. foreign policy.” (Former US
Attorney General, Ramsey Clark.)Laurence M. Vance
http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance114.html
***************************************************
PRESS TV
WG Tarpley “US downplaying Iran´s crucial role resolving Syrian Crisis”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ioCq1qlixg
Press TV
Uprising against Saudi monarchy to ruin NATO’s Syria plans: Tarpley
8 August 2012
“You’ve got again this whole archipelago of revolutions that could break out in
the [Persian] Gulf. This would I think shift many elements of power, not even in
the region but in the world,” American author and historian Dr. Webster Griffin
Tarpley said in a Press TV interview on Tuesday.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/255142.html
*********************************************
Editor: This is an analysis which challenges and raises disturbing questions.
Perfecting The Method of “Color Revolutions”
Western leaders slip back into
childhood
By Thierry Meyssan 7 August 2012
………A strange anomaly can be detected with regard to Syria. The CIA did not
locate groups of young Syrians willing to chant this slogan in the streets of
Damascus and Aleppo. So it is Barack Obama, François Hollande, David Cameron and
Angela Merkel themselves who repeat the slogan in chorus from their respective
foreign offices. Washington and its allies are trying out the methods of Gene
Sharp on the “international community”. It is a risky bet to imagine that
foreign ministries can be as easy to manipulate as youth groups! At the moment,
the result is simply ridiculous: the leaders of the colonial powers have been
stomping their feet like angry, frustrated children over a desired object that
the Russian and Chinese adults won’t let them have while ceaselessly wailing
“Bashar must go!“.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32110.htm#.UCH7IIbUtDM.email
**************************************
Jandar Resort Massacre in Homs
16 workers in a resort area killed by ‘rebels’; members of one Christian family
killed
7 August 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRI7Qs61IZs&feature=player_embedded
*************************************
FOR QATAR, IS IT ALL ABOUT GETTING ITS GAS CHEAPLY TO EUROPE
Analysis of the crisis in Syria on the blog of Italian journalist and writer
Silvia Cattori
Dismembering the Arab World
3 AUGUST 2012
by Dr Makram Khoury-Machool is a Palestinian scholar, based in Cambridge, UK
…..Through its orchestrated media campaigns transmitted over the decades to its
own public,Israel has constructed a concept of Syria as the major threat to its
existence in the Arab world. Arguably, the governmental vacuum that might be
created in Syria could be filled by al-Qaeda-like groups giving sufficient
justification for Israel’s actions (against Syria and/or Iran) and would also
promote the idea of a conflict between ‘civilized-democratic’ Israel and
‘savage’ Islamists…..
….In terms of gas reserves, Russia is number one, with Iran and Qatar in fourth
place and Saudi Arabia in sixth. With neighbouring Saudi Arabia as one of the
ten leading producers of gas in the world, it is clear why the export interests
of Qatar and Saudi Arabia are particularly important and this ranking should
give us a clear idea of the alliances that have formed in light of the Syrian
conflict.
….Qatar’s aim is to export its gas to Europe, compete with the Russians and gain
important political bargaining chips. In order for the export of Qatari gas to
Europe to be feasible and competitive, a gas pipe must be laid through Syria. As
Russia’s long-standing ally and with the precedents of numerous joint deals
dating back to the USSR era, Syria is unlikely to allow anything to threaten the
destabilization of Russia’s interests in their last strategic stronghold in the
Arab world. This is the main reason why Qatar and Saudi Arabia are supporting
the opposition’s struggle to topple the Syrian government……
http://www.silviacattori.net/article3487.html
**************************************
Al-Qaeda’s Specter in Syria
Author: Ed Husain, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
August 6, 2012
http://www.cfr.org/syria/al-qaedas-specter-syria/p28782
Note: Ed Husain was an Islamist in his student days in Britain. He is the
author of “Why I joined radical Islam in Britain, what I saw inside and why I
left: the ISLAMIST” Penguin Books.
Ed Husain and his wife spent some time working at the British Council in
Damascus. He writes this in his book: “My time in Damascus changed my perception
of the Christian faith forever. Arab Christians of all denominations freely and
with no qualms used the word Allah for God. At first this was extremely
difficult for me to digest. Allah, I thought, was the preserve of the Muslims.
Granted, I knew it was a translation of God, but did not realize that “Allah”
was an intimate part of lives of millions of Arab Christians. Everywhere in
Damascus, Muslims and Christians used phrases that I thought only Muslims used:
inshallah (God willing), mashallah (as God willed it), alhamdulillah (praise be
to God). There was no sense of religious zealotry or grandstanding in the name
of God…..” page 224.
*****************************************
Editor: The article below about Sunni Islam and Wahhabism indicates the
complexity of Islam (of any faith). This editor includes the article for
consideration only – I know too little about Islam to confirm the statements of
the author or deny them.
Sunnis are oppressed in Saudi Arabia, not in Syria
http://alazerius.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/sunnis-are-oppressed-in-saudi-arabia-not-in-syria/
For a deeper understanding of Islam, William Dalrymple could be consulted.
Dalrymple revisited (?) Syria recently to write this article (published in The
Australian 9 August 2012)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/fatal-lot-of-christianitys-homelands/story-e6frg6ux-1226446237488
Editor: While searching for information about Islam, I came across the following
views:
From Ibrahim’s point of view, “the Salafists believe God is separate from
creation, but we believe we can see God’s face everywhere”. He adds, “The split
within Islam is worse than that between the West and Islam”.
This is more or less exactly the phrase the writer William Dalrymple used in the
excellent Channel 4 TV film Sufi Soul (worth seeing, and available from World
Music Network) directed by Songlines editor Simon Broughton which has some
atmospheric footage of Fes music and the medina). When I met the Pakistani
Ambassador, she firmly disagreed. “The West exacerbated the split between the
Sunnis and the Shias, in Iraq they got on perfectly well until the war.” I
decided not to mention the Iran-Iraq war. But what about the Islamists who
destroy Sufi shrines? “They are not Muslims” she said, with some finality.
http://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/theartsdesk-fes-bjork-among-gnawas
********************************************************
This article relates to Iran and sanctions, but could apply to Syria.
ANTI-WAR.COM
Sanctions Will Kill Tens of Thousands of Iranians
by Muhammad Sahimi, August 09, 2012
http://original.antiwar.com/sahimi/2012/08/08/sanctions-will-kill-tens-of-thousands-of-iranians/
********************************************************
Monday, 13 August 2012
How defence spending ‘contributes to American
prosperity’
by Bernard Keane
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/08/13/how-much-our-defence-spending-contributes-to-american-prosperity/
*******************************************************
Editor: Australia’s foreign minister, Bob Carr, refuses to meet people from
community groups which support a peaceful political solution to the war in
Syria, yet he meets Tony Blair….
THOUGHTLINES WITH BOB CARR
Talks with Tony Blair on Middle East peace
AUGUST 8, 2012
http://bobcarrblog.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/talks-with-tony-blair-on-middle-east-peace/
*********************************************
Terror in Syria: family killed, child hanged.
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/hillarys-terrorists-hang-shiite-child-after-killing-family-members/
*****************************************
COUNTER PUNCH AUGUST 06, 2012
Persecution Complex
Syria’s “Liberated” Future
by SHAMUS COOKE
A fascinating shift has happened in the U.S. mainstream media: After a year of
anti-Syria war propaganda and lies, glimmers of truth are making their way into
the public’s view. This may be too little too late: the country is being torn at
the seams into the nightmare of ethnic-religious cleansing and massacres.
After non-stop war mongering, The New York Times took a second to wipe the blood
off its hands to report the true state of things in Syria. Apparently, the
previous, ongoing reports about the Syrian army indiscriminately massacring
citizens in the city of Homs was simply a lie, repeated over and over…..
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/08/06/syrias-liberated-future/
***************************************
NEW YORK TIMES
Writer Defends His Handling of Interview With Assad
By RICK GLADSTONE
Published: August 5, 2012
Even when his country was not convulsed by war, President Bashar al-Assad of
Syria rarely gave televised interviews to foreigners. His session with Barbara
Walters in December was a public relations disaster. So it seemed surprising a
few weeks ago when Mr. Assad granted another Westerner a face-to-face chat on
camera……..
Mr. Todenhöfer’s preoccupation with Syria reflects what he called his hatred of
war and a long fascination with the Middle East and Islamic cultures that began
when he traveled to Algeria at age 18. During the Russian invasion of
Afghanistan, Mr. Todenhöfer said, he visited Afghanistan three times, entering
on foot from Pakistan via the Hindu Kush frontier area….
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/06/world/middleeast/fallout-continues-over-germans-assad-interview.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha22_20120806
************************************************************
YOUTUBE
Syria; Protest in Support of Bashar Al Assad – Sydney 5/08/2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG_d05A0jkY&feature=player_embedded
SYDNEY RALLY – 5 August 6, 2012
7 NEWS
SYDNEY, Aug 5, 2012 (AFP) – – Hundreds of people rallied in Australia on Sunday
in support of the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, urging no
intervention by foreign powers in the conflict.
Organised by a group calling itself “Hands off Syria”, the demonstration began
with a short rally of several hundred people at Sydney’s town hall but numbers
swelled as the group, many of them families, marched through the city.
“I am here to show my support for the president and the people of Syria,” one
young woman draped in the Syrian flag told AFP.
“We have to expose the lies that have been (made) through the media.”
Protesters waving Syrian flags and carrying banners which read “Thank you Russia
and China 4 vetoes” and “Let the whole world hear: Syria is our nation, Bashar
is our leader”, the group marched to government offices in central Sydney.
Hanadi Assoud, one of the organisers of the event, said the protesters were
against the United States or NATO intervening in Syria, where the conflict has
reportedly claimed more than 21,000 lives since the uprising against Assad’s
regime erupted in March 2011.
She also accused the media of misrepresenting the conflict, saying that
opposition forces had been responsible for any killings that had taken place.
“Why would the government kill its own people?” she said.
She said those marching wanted to have their voices heard in Australia after
comments by Foreign Minister Bob Carr, who has condemned the Assad regime.
“We know that Bob Carr has got an agenda. He was saying that the Assad regime
must go. How can he be so biased?” Assoud told AFP.
Syria closed its embassy in Australia in late July, two months after Canberra
expelled the Syrian charge d’affaires along with one other diplomat over the
killings of more than 100 people in Houla.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/14466010/hundreds-rally-in-australia-for-syrian-regime/
***********************************************
SBS Radio Interview with Marlene, an organizer of the rally to support Syria on
5 August 2012
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/radio/episode/226888/Sydney-rally-supports-Syrian-government
Interview on ABC Triple J: Sophie McNeill interviewsa representative of the
Syria Australia Association which supports the armed opposition to the Syrian
government and Tim Anderson from Sydney University and a member of “Hands Off
Syria” which organized the Sydney rally on 5 August.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=6aa6b4fd16&view=audio&msgs=139010a2f2ae58fc&attid=0.1&zw
************************************************************
SYRIA 360
MASS RALLY HELD IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA IN SOLIDARITY WITH SYRIA
Posted on August 5, 2012 by Alexandra Valiente
http://syria360.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/mass-rally-held-in-sydney-australia-in-solidarity-with-syria/
*******************************************
Grandfather Attacked by Terrorist Supporters in Sydney
Posted on August 5, 2012
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/08/05/grandfather-attacked-by-terrorist-supporters-in-sydney/
*******************************************
PRESS TV
West attempts to destabilize the Syrian government: Analyst
Syrian security forces have clashed with foreign-sponsored insurgents in several
areas of the northwestern city of Aleppo.
Meanwhile, the Syrian state TV said the army has arrested a group of Turkish and
Saudi officers in Aleppo.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told the Turkish Cumhuriyet daily in an
interview in early July that Turkey “has supplied all logistic support to the
terrorists who have killed our people.”
Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the
turmoil in Syria that began in March 2011.
On August 5, US senators John McCain, Joseph Lieberman and Lindsey Graham said
Washington should “directly and openly” provide assistance, including weapons,
intelligence and training, to the insurgents in Syria.
On June 21, the New York Times reported that a group of CIA officers are
operating secretly in southern Turkey and that the agents are helping the
anti-Syria governments decide which gangs inside the Arab country will receive
arms to fight the Syrian government.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Professor Michael Chossudovsky,
Director of the Center for Research on Globalization, to further discuss the
issue.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/06/254815/west-attempts-to-destabilize-syria/
****************************
Cham Press: Explosive device blast inside Radio and TV Center causing minor
injuries 6th August
DAMASCUS- An explosive device on Monday exploded inside the building of the
General Organization of the Radio and Television in Damascus.
SANA reporter was informed that the explosion took place on the third floor of
the building and caused a number of injuries.
Information Minister: All Workers Are Safe
Minister of Information, Omran al-Zoubi, stressed to the Syrian TV by phone that
the explosion at the building was the result of an explosive device blast that
caused minor injuries and material damage only, assuring that all the workers
are safe.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/5480
****************************************
SYRIAN SATELLITE TV NEWS 6th August 2012 (in English)
http://friendsofsyria.wordpress.com/2012/08/06/real-syrian-news-for-today/
***************************************************************
The Telegraph
Muslim Brotherhood establishes militia inside Syria
The Muslim Brotherhood has established its own militia inside Syria as the
country’s rebels fracture between radical Islamists and their rivals, commanders
and gun-runners have told The Daily Telegraph.
By Ruth Sherlock, Richard Spencer in Beirut
6:48PM BST 03 Aug 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9450587/Muslim-Brotherhood-establishes-militia-inside-Syria.html
************************************
ANTI-WAR.COM
Syria Rebels Face Growing List of Crimes
Despite extra-judicial executions and torture, support from the US and its
allies continues
by John Glaser, August 04, 2012
The rebel militias fighting to topple the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad face
a growing list of accusations of executions, murder, and war crimes, but aid and
support from the US and its allies continues to flow.
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/08/04/syria-rebels-face-growing-list-of-crimes/
*************************************************************
Editor: This article points to the involvement of Al-Qaeda and other extremist
groups in Syria. However, the writer does not condemn the support of countries
to violently overthrow a government which has the support of the majority of its
people; he assumes ‘Assad will fall’ and suggests Washington should be
supporting ‘the right rebels’. Does that mean he believes international law
must be ignored? That it is acceptable in the 21 century for the whole world to
be deemed as the Wild West to be tamed by the US?
Increasing Evidence of Jihadists in Syria
By Patrick Brennan
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/312679/increasing-evidence-jihadists-syria-patrick-brennan
*********************************************************************
Editor: Two articles from The Los Angeles Times report the abduction of Iranian
pilgrims on the outskirts of Damascus. There seems to be a serious attempt at
balance in the articles. It is interesting to compare the reporting of the
kidnapping with that of the ABC (Australia).
Iranian pilgrims kidnapped on trip to Syria
Dozens are seized by gunmen in the Damascus area, prompting Iran’s foreign
minister to ask Turkey to intervene. Meanwhile, fighting continues in the Syrian
city of Aleppo.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
August 5, 2012
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-kidnap-20120805,0,7290703.story
Professed Syrian rebel says Iranian hostages are militiamen
As Iran works with allies of the Syrian opposition to secure the release of
nearly 50 Iranians, the rebel commander appears in an ominous video.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times
August 6, 2012
BEIRUT — Iran said Sunday that it was seeking the aid of Turkey and Qatar,
nations with close ties to the Syrian opposition, in securing the release of
dozens of Iranian citizens kidnapped the day before in Syria.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-iranians-20120806,0,1990364.story
********************************************
Australia’s ABC generally relies heavily on sources which support the fight
against the Syrian government (and people).
ABC Radio:The World Today
Regime intensifies bombardment of Aleppo
Barney Porter reported this story on Monday, August 6, 2012 12:30:00
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2012/s3561326.htm
*********************************************
However, this report from ABC’s Matt Brown who is in Aleppo embedded with the
rebels is an attempt at a more nuanced view of the rebels
Syrian rebels accused of public executions
By Norman Hermant and Matt Brown
Updated August 02, 2012 09:19:59
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-02/syrian-rebels-accused-of-rights-violations-in-aleppo/4171274
**************************
MATT CARR
Imperial Chaos: the Road to Domination
August 5, 2012
….Out of the broken shells of Syria, the US and its allies hope to create a new
kind of order that they can manipulate to their advantage, as they attempted to
do in Iraq, and more recently in Libya.
And behind the mask of humanitarianism and the sanctimonious concern for the
welfare of ‘the Syrian people’, you can bet that there are foreign policy
bureaucrats who, like the US envoy in Gaza ‘like this violence’ and are doing
everything they can to ensure that it gets a lot worse before – if – it gets
better.
http://www.infernalmachine.co.uk/?p=1961
********************************************************
‘Russia sends military warning to US on Syria’
Published on Aug 4, 2012 by PressTVGlobalNews
Russia is sending three military ships with hundreds of marines aboard to a
Moscow-leased naval facility in the Syrian port of Tartus. According to the
Russian military, the landing ships, each with up to 120 armed navy personnel on
board, will visit the Syrian port in coming days and spend a few days there.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Vyacheslav Maluzov, Middle East
expert, to further discuss the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm6HbsBRTu8&feature=player_embedded
***************************************************
Editor:
TOO CLEVER BY HALF
“A stupid person can make only certain, limited types of errors; the mistakes
open to a clever fellow are far broader. But to the one who knows how smart he
is compared to everyone else, the possibilities for true idiocy are boundless.”
— Vlad Taltos, Iorich
Robert Fisk continues his “too clever by half” approach to Syria. In the
article linked below, he presents information which is not highlighted in
Al-Jazeera or the western mainstream media, but which is very familiar to people
in the ME, as well as to those who have done their own research on the internet.
(But note, he exposes the tip of a tip of an iceberg only.) And he presents
‘left-wing’ views that many readers would warm to.
However, in the end, after taking the reader on a very circuitous route,
adopting the same basic assumptions of the #MSM about the Syrian government,
using the same rhetoric (eg ‘rebels’ vs ‘Assad’s brutal regime’) after avoiding
reference to other facts which would challenge stands he takes on Syria (eg what
is happening to Christians in Homs; who is being assassinated and killed; how
the lives of Syrians are affected by the ‘terror’ of ‘rebels’; what the Salafi
jihadists from Lebanon are doing in Syria; what Fisk’s Lebanese patron Walid
Jumblatt – a fairly safe assumption – and Jumblatt’s political allies, Samir
Geagea and Saad Hariri are doing to support the ‘rebels’ and why they support
them; what extremist clerics continue to say to foment violence in Syria; who
the majority of Syrians believe are responsible for massacres in Syria; etc
…….) , Fisk does not inform; he manipulates.
Fisk does not present anything more controversial or challenging than the
mainstream media line. He does not present views respectful of 22 Syrian people.
He does not present views and information that would lead to people marching in
the streets for peace. His articles are written for readers who want to be
informed but who are also comfortable with the thought that the “Arabs are at it
again” and that Fisk knows, so we know. Perhaps he is MI6’s man in the Levant,
(as one reader suggested in a comment recently) or is he just Walid Jumblatt’s?
A critical eye, not Robert Fisk’s nor any one person’s but your own, is needed
always.
Robert Fisk: SYRIAN WAR OF LIES AND HYPOCRISY
The West’s real target here is not Assad’s brutal regime but his ally, Iran, and
its chemical weapons
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-syrian-war-of-lies-and-hypocrisy-7985012.html
*************************************************************************************
While Australian reporters and others enter Syria via Turkey illegally in order
to join the ‘rebel’ fighters (= terrorists/Salafi
jihadists/Al-Qaeda/mercenaries/terrorised youth forced to kill or be killed
etc), the people of Aleppo are ignored. We rarely see their images unless they
support the ‘rebels’. Over many months the people of Aleppo were very vocal in
their support of the president and of peaceful reform the Syrian way, not the
Saudi Qatari US Turkish Israeli way.
VIDEO: Pro-government rally in Aleppo 19-10-201
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3f9QB_z-_Q&feature=youtu.be
****************************************************************************
VIDEO: Syrian Reporter is shot by ‘rebels’; later interviewed in hospital (in
Arabic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKmXbikJzQ&feature=share
******************************************************************************
VIDEO: GRAPHIC – Executing Berri Tribal Elders In Aleppo, Syria
https://www.youtube.com/verify_controversy?next_url=/watch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3DARV5LrK9S-k%26bpctr%3D1343814643%26skipcontrinter%3D1
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ON TWITTER:
RUSSIAN REPORTER IN DAMASCUS
Oksana Boyko
https://twitter.com/OksanaBoyko_RT
Oksana Boyko @OksanaBoyko_RT
Al-Nusra Front that carried out killing of Syrian TV presenter calls for Sunni
improvement in #Syria – all part of democratic uprising
Oksana Boyko @OksanaBoyko_RT
Syrian TV host Muhammed al-Saeed kidnapped by militants mid July found dead. His
killers said he was “shabih” so no need for trial #Syria
Oksana Boyko @OksanaBoyko_RT
3 Syrian Airways pilots ambushed by rebels on airport highway
in #Damascusystrd. 2 Sunnis let go, Alawi pilot killed #Syria
******************************************************************************
Kidnapped Syrian TV host executed
SYRIAN television presenter Mohammed al-Saeed, kidnapped from his Damascus home
in mid-July, has been executed, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
“The television presenter, a well-known figure on state TV, has been executed,
and the Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for the killing,” the
Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
(NB: Rami Abdel Rahman who fronts the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is
quoted as if he is a reliable source. He is quoted rather than a legitimate
Syrian sources. And there are no images of the reporter: that would be
humanizing him! )
http://www.news.com.au/national/kidnapped-syrian-tv-host-executed/story-fndo4eg9-1226442901484
Islamist rebels execute Syrian journalist
Published Saturday, August 4, 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/islamist-rebels-execute-syrian-journalist
******************************************************************************
REUTERS
Obama authorizes secret support for Syrian rebels
By Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON | Wed Aug 1, 2012 9:04pm EDT
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S.
support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his
government, sources familiar with the matter said.
Obama’s order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence
“finding,” broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support
that could help the rebels oust Assad.
This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still
circumscribed, support for Assad’s armed opponents – a shift that intensified
following last month’s failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher
sanctions against the Damascus government.
The White House is for now apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal
weapons, even as some U.S. allies do just that….
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/us-usa-syria-obama-order-idUSBRE8701OK20120802
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Obama Admits Funding Fake Revolutionaries to Attack Assad
By Susanne Posel
August 03, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Obama has signed a secret
order authorizing US support of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The CIA and other
agencies were empowered by Obama earlier this year to provide intelligence and
training. As the FSA’s efforts have intensified in the last few months, the
Obama administration is now admitting to arming them….
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32083.htm#.UBxZoG8C5PQ.email
******************************************************************************
Obama Does Syriana
By Pepe Escobar
August 03, 2012 “Asia Times” –It took Reuters quite a while to be allowed to
report that US President Barack Obama had approved an intelligence finding [1]
letting the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) loose in its support for the
weaponized “rebels” fighting for regime change in Syria.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32070.htm#.UBxaEdm9r0c.email
*******************************************
HUFF POST POLITICS UNITED KINGDOM
The West Should Not Support Syrian Rebels
Posted: 31/07/2012 12:12
By Charles Shoebridge
Security analyst, and former army and intelligence officer
Follow most mainstream media, and you’ll know even from its terminology the
situation in Syria is pretty straightforward – on one side a brutal dictatorship
killing its own people, on the other a popular rebel army fighting for justice
and freedom.
Given this portrayal, and that Bashar al-Assad actually is a dictator, and that
the armed insurrection grew from the violent suppression of initially peaceful
protest, it’s unsurprising that well-meaning, intelligent people have sympathy
for the rebels. But in doing so, many have assumed that those who oppose a
dictator also therefore support democracy.
Evidence to justify this presumptive mainstream narrative is hard to find.
Whilst the opposition includes democrats, many of the West’s preferred leaders
are of limited relevance inside Syria, having for years lived comfortably
abroad. Syria’s regional importance and sectarian complexity also render
unreliable superficially attractive comparisons to potential democratic outcomes
elsewhere.
To some extent, we can use our own senses to assess who those with power on the
ground in Syria are. Watch rebel videos, broadcast daily by our media, and
consider how often you’ve heard ‘Allahu Akbar’ shouting Sunni protesters or
fighters make any mention of democracy, tolerance, human or women’s rights – or
indeed women playing any role at all. The rebels’ agenda is to overthrow Assad.
Objective observations on the ground corroborate this assessment. Repeatedly,
the UN and others have documentedrebel abductions, torture and sectarian murder.
Unreported in the UK for example, AFP recently reported how Iraqi soldiers
witnessed FSA rebels dismember and murder disarmed Syrian border guards…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/charles-shoebridge/post_3720_b_1722772.html
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RT QUESTION MORE
UN adopts tough resolution on Syria
Published: 03 August, 2012, 21:01
The UN General Assembly has voted in favor of a non-binding resolution on Syria
pushed by several Arab states. Before the vote, Russia announced that it would
not support the resolution, calling it unbalanced.
The bill was passed with 133 votes in favor, 12 against, and 31 abstentions.
The resolution, authored by Saudi Arabia and actively supported by Egypt and
Bahrain, demands that President Bashar al-Assad transfer power to a transitional
government and that the Syrian Army ceases tank and helicopter attacks against
rebel forces.
It also demands that Syria refrain from using chemical and biological weapons.
This clause comes after a recent announcement from Damascus alleging that Syria
possessed chemical weapons, and would not hesitate to use them against an
invading army.
The General Assembly denounced the Syrian crackdown on rebel forces while
criticizing the Security Council’s inaction.
http://www.rt.com/news/syrian-resolution-un-assembly-711/
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CHAM PRESS 4 August 2012
Al-Jaafari: Draft resolution on Syria hysteric and misleading, violates
international legitimacy principles
NEW YORK- Syria’s Permanent Representative in the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari, on
Friday said that the draft resolution on Syria submitted by Saudi Arabia to the
UN General Assembly is hysteric and misleading, violating all international
legitimacy principles, primarily the principle of respecting national
sovereignty and non-interference in countries’ internal affairs.
In a speech before the UN General Assembly, al-Jaafari stressed that the
Qatari-Saudi-western draft resolution serves only the interests of Israel.
Al-Jaafari said that adopting the draft resolution sends a wrong message to
extremists and terrorists in Syria and elsewhere, since the terrorist acts these
people carry out as an alternative to dialogue and peaceful settlements are
encouraged and supported by UN member countries, which will only exacerbate the
situation, increase violence and strengthen terrorism in Syria and the entire
region, which will eventually cause terrorism to reach the very areas that
spawned it, including some of the countries that adopted the draft resolution……
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/5323
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AL-MANAR
Bashar Jaafari Receives Death Threats, Personal Attacks by Media 4 August 2012
As he stressed he was proud to defend his nation, UN envoy to the UN Bashar
al-Jaafari said he had death threats and personal attacks by media in the Saudi
Arabia and Qatar.
The envoy told the UN General Assembly he was “proud to defend the interests of
my nation against all conspiracies.”
But in countering a resolution condemning
his government, Jaafari hit out at the death threats and at personal attacks he
said had been made by the media in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
http://www6.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=63710&cid=56&fromval=1&frid=56&seccatid=68&s1=1#.UBy4AJ2CLGE.twitter
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ALAKHBAR – ENGLISH ONLINE
Syria: Shameful Performance of Western Media
By As’ad AbuKhalil – Mon, 2012-07-30 19:11- Angry Corner
The performance of the Western media (American, British, French and others)
regarding the Syrian conflict has been quite shameful. One does not expect much
from American media. Ill-informed foreign editors and correspondents and
political cowardice turn American media into tools of US foreign policy.
This is especially true when it comes to coverage of the Middle East, where
extra political courage and uncharacteristic level of knowledge and expertise
are rather rare, even though they are essential to challenging US foreign
policy. But when it comes to Syria, British media – including the
liberal Guardian which has often been brave in challenging Western foreign
policies and wars – have been indistinguishable from American media.
These media have failed their readers on many levels. Their shortcomings can be
summarized as follows:
1. Resorting to methods of documentations that are never accepted when covering
the Arab-Israeli conflict; like the reliance on accounts of people through Skype
and email whose names are not obtained through a random process, and the
reliance on Saudi or Qatari press media offices.
2. Hiding behind the cliché that “the Syrian government does not allow
journalists in” to justify the various anthologies of errors contained in media
reports. Many journalists have either been allowed in or have managed to sneak
in, so the general disclaimer used daily in the New York Times is inaccurate and
misleads readers. Such a disclaimer is never used against Israel, which imposes
rigid forms of censorship on reports emanating from Israel, especially when
Israel is perpetrating its regular war crimes and massacres.
3. The reliance on exile Syrian opposition reports without any scrutiny or
healthy skepticism….
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/syria-shameful-performance-western-media
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Reuters removed two or three stories from its pages.
REUTERS AND TRUE NEWS OR NOT?
Screen shots of the chemical weapons story that reuters took
down.#Syria pic.twitter.com/qEHsOvd3
https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/231671613039472640/photo/1
4 August 2012
Western Media Jump To Rescue Reuters Credibility
New York Times ‘Blogs’ have taken on their shoulders the mission to try to
rescue whatever is left of Reuters credibility compromised by the incident
yesterday, when the western News Agency, which is the source of all NATO aligned
media, have posted at least 2 reports on its blog site, one of them an interview
with the head of the Turkish (NATO members state) sponsored terrorist group the
FSA, Free Syrian Army, or to justify their terrorism call them ‘Freedom
Fighters’, this so called leader cries in the interview of being a victim to a
ploy by the Qataris and Saudis, the FSA’s main financiers and weapon suppliers,
that they’re leading his troops to their slaughter by the Syrian Army, and his
declaration of withdrawing from the city of Aleppo after sustaining heavy
losses, 1,000 FSA terrorists killed, over 1,500 arrested by the Syrian
authorities, and his intention to further withdraw from all other cities
…..And like this hit order where they place a picture of a target and all they
need to do is label him ‘an informant’ or a ‘Shabeeh’, and all his crime would
be a ‘Public Employee’ refusing to join their ‘peaceful revolution’:..
http://democratic-syria.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/western-media-jump-to-rescue-reuters.html
The link to one missing page:
http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2012/08/03/rebels-preparing-to-smuggle-ghaddafis-chemical-weapons-into-syria-via-turkey/
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FOREIGN POLICY
Breaking the Arab News
Egypt made al Jazeera — and Syria’s destroying it.
BY SULTAN AL QASSEMI | AUGUST 2, 2012
While civil war rages on the Syrian battlefield between regime loyalists and
myriad rebel factions, another battle is taking place in the media world. Al
Arabiya and Al Jazeera, the two Gulf-based channels that dominate the Arabic
news business, have moved to counter Syrian regime propaganda, but have ended up
distorting the news almost as badly as their opponents. In their bid to support
the Syrian rebels’ cause, these media giants have lowered their journalistic
standards, abandoned rudimentary fact-checks, and relied on anonymous callers
and unverified videos in place of solid reporting.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/08/02/breaking_the_arab_news
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Flipping The Script: The Western Media’s Syria Propaganda Is Falling Apart
What is written in the press is lies. What is hidden in plain view is the
truth.
By Saman Mohammadi
July 31, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Do
you remember this guy, Jason Russell? He was the frontman for the short-lived
and over-hyped “Kony 2012” propaganda campaign that exploited young people’s
emotions to popularize a U.S. military invasion of Uganda. After his lies
were exposed on the Internet he had a shocking meltdown in public. He ran around
naked near traffic lights, smashed his fists on the pavement, and screamed
bizarrely. The heavy spirit of Madness conquered his weak will.
The day before his freakish breakdown Russell was idolized in the mainstream
press as a saint on a mission to save the children of Africa. His war propaganda
documentary about the deceased CIA contractor Joseph Kony became hugely popular
on Facebook and other social media outlets. But as soon as his mask came down
and his craziness was captured by cameras, the media vultures forgot about his
crusade and quickly moved on to the next hot story.
The new story that captured the corrupt Western media’s attention was Syria. The
conflict was heating up, and the “international community” was being pressed to
take action against the country. “Assad is killing his own people,” they said,
without offering any evidence. “This is the next domino to fall in the Arab
Spring, the rebels must be supported and Assad has to step down,” so went the
propaganda. And yadda yadda. The media’s insane lies were repeated for months.
Major media channels were engaged in non-stop propaganda warfare to destroy the
independent Syrian state and reduce Syrians to slavery….
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32031.htm#.UBjKQq2x4cw.email
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Syria Picture Faked, Say Bloggers
By Austrian Times
August 03, 2012 “Austrian Times” — Newspaper bosses in
Austria have been accused of faking a dramatic photograph of a family fleeing
Syria’s civil war-torn city Aleppo.
….
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32073.htm#.UBxWxn9QDRI.email
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Letters to the Guardian on Syria
Time to end sabre-rattling and covert support in the Middle East
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 August 2012 20.59 BST
Your editorial calling for urgent diplomatic action on Syria (28 July) overlooks
the fact that the Syrian armed “opposition”, not the government, sabotaged
attempts at meaningful negotiation under Kofi Annan‘s UN peace plan. Taking
their cue from the US’s bellicose stance, shamefully parroted by our own foreign
secretary, these fragmented forces made clear their intransigence to anything
but the removal of President Assad from power. As they try to undermine the
regime, propped up by arms from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and
colossal Nato logistical support, we are subjected to inflammatory media
hysteria over the Syrian government’s alleged brutality – notably
unsubstantiated accusations of massacres. When the geopolitical agenda of the US
and its allies in trying to overthrow the Assad regime by force is so
transparent, can one blame Syria, a sovereign country, for doing all possible to
defend itself?
Peter Godfrey
Isle of Harris, Western Isles
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/02/sabre-rattling-support-middle-east?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Syria’s Crumbling Pluralism
Civil Disintegration and Ethnic Cleansing.
By KAPIL KOMIREDDI
August 03, 2012
“NY Times” — DAMASCUS — The day begins here with the call to prayer and ends
with the roar of gunfire. Syria’s pluralistic society, which once rose above
sectarian identity in a region often characterized by a homicidal assertion of
religious belief, is now faced with civil disintegration and ethnic cleansing….
Syria’s 2.3 million Christians, constituting about 10 percent of the country’s
population, have generally known a more privileged existence under the Assad
dynasty than even the Shiite Alawi sect to which President Bashar al-Assad
belongs. Yet their allegiance to Assad was never absolute. Some Christians
openly clamored for political change in the early months of the anti-government
uprising. But as the rebellion became suffused with Sunni militants sympathetic
to or affiliated with Al Qaeda, Christians recoiled.
A churchgoing Syrian told me that he used to see himself primarily as “Syrian”
and that religious identity, in political terms, was an idea that never occurred
to him — until an opposition gang attacked his family earlier this year in Homs.
“It’s a label they pinned on us,” he said. “If their revolution is for everyone,
as they keep insisting it is, why are Christians being targeted? It is because
what they are waging is not a struggle for freedom, and it’s certainly not for
everyone.”
As Saudi Arabian arms and money bolster the opposition, the 80,000 Christians
who’ve been “cleansed” from their homes in Hamidiya and Bustan al-Diwan in Homs
Province in March by the Free Syrian Army have gradually given up the prospect
of ever returning home.
The rebels’ conduct has prompted at least some Sunnis who had supported the
rebels and once-wavering Syrians to pledge renewed loyalty to Assad. Many who
once regarded the regime as a kleptocracy now view it as the best guarantor of
Syria’s endangered pluralism…
Washington is aware of the scale of the problem. As early as June 2011, Robert
Stephen Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, briefed his counterparts in Damascus
about Al Qaeda’s penetration of the opposition forces. By still ploughing ahead
with its support for Saudi Arabia’s effort to destabilize Syria, Washington, far
from assisting Israel or weakening Iran, is helping to fuel a humanitarian
crisis that will come back to haunt the United States.
Kapil Komireddi, an Indian journalist, has written from South Asia, Eastern
Europe and the Middle East.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32080.htm#.UBxYRsvO-oc.email
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SAUDI ARABIA, CONSERVATISM, WOMEN, AND THE OLYMPICS
Mixed reaction after Saudi Arabia’s 1st female in Olympics displays her fight to
the kingdom
By Associated Press, Saturday, August 4, 5:43 AM
CAIRO — There was no way Alaa al-Mizyen, a 22-year-old Saudi investment
consultant, was missing this Olympic match. While her family slept in late
Friday morning, she alone was awake nd glued to the TV…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/mixed-reaction-after-saudi-arabias-1st-female-in-olympics-displays-her-fight-to-the-kingdom/2012/03/03/gJQAQCJwUX_story.html?wprss=rss_social-world-headlines
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THE US, CONSERVATISM AND A LYNCH MOB MENTALITY
‘Assad better get the hell out’ – Panetta
Published: 31 July, 2012, 12:29
US Defense Sec. Leon Panetta has advice for Syria’s President Assad: “If you
want to be able to protect yourself and your family, you’d better get the hell
out now.” Panetta also warned that the US would not repeat the mistakes it made
in Iraq.
“The United States and the international community has made very clear that this
is intolerable, and have brought their diplomatic and economic pressure on Syria
to stop this kind of violence, to have Assad step down and to transition to a
democratic form of government,” he said in an interview with CNN during a visit
to Tunisia.
The international community has yet to reach consensus on the ongoing strife in
Syria. Russia and China oppose removing Assad, saying his government is
supported by a majority of Syrians.
http://www.rt.com/news/panetta-syrian-military-intact-458/
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AL-ARABIYA (SAUDI MEDIA OUTLET)
Christian Syrian famlies seek asylum in Lebanon
Friday, 03 August 2012
As cities of Damascus and Aleppo entered into the confrontation where the
Christians demographic weight is at its most, the number of Syrian Christian
families displaced to Lebanon is increasing significantly.
Refugees have been
distributed along the extended length of the coastline between Antelias and
Byblos area where residents are predominantly Christian.
George fled with his
family from Homs to Lebanon four days ago after the Syrian army destroyed their
home as a result of a violent artillery bombardment, causing the death of his
wife and his mother-in-law.
“We were displaced because the government forces
have fired artillery at our home, as a result my wife and my mother were killed.
I managed to save the rest of my family and we succeeded to flee Homs for
Damascus in a six-day journey until we reached Lebanon,” George said.
….
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/08/03/230209.html
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
The West and the Glorification of Terrorism
By Thierry Meyssan
August 03, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — The U.N. Security Council met
shortly after the July 18 attack that decapitated the command of the Syrian
security forces. The two sessions that followed addressed the Resolution
proposals submitted by the Western powers and Russia. It was incumbent upon the
Council to condemn terrorist action on principle, as it does in all similar
circumstances. The practice is to unanimously adopt a declaration and have it
read by the sitting president of the Council, in this case the Columbian, Nestor
Osorio. Protocol dictates that he present his condolences to the member state
under attack.
However, the Council remained silent. The Western members refused to apply to
the attack in Syria one of the most basic principles of international relations:
the condemnation of terrorism. Even worse, in their respective declarations
German, British, American and French leaders instead condemned the victims,
making them responsible for the violence they had been the targets of and
reaffirming support for the forces that perpetrated the attack. Immediately, the
Western media set about defiling the memory of the victims as if their deaths
were still insufficient to quench their thirst for Syrian blood.
No one doubts that terrorism in Syria is being sponsored by NATO and the GCC but
until now it was being carried out behind a veil of hypocrisy. Unable to bombard
and raze the country because of the Russian and Chinese double veto, the Western
powers and their Arab partners decided to bleed the country while setting it up
for an attack by mercenaries. Then on February 12 came the call to jihad issued
by Ayman al-Zawahiri. Suddenly, NATO, the GCC and al-Qaeda found themselves
pursuing the same objective. Notwithstanding, Brussels took the view that the
Egyptian sheik’s declarations were his alone and were therefore unworthy of
comment as if to underline that NATO doesn’t revise its positions in response to
such fatwas. This rationale remained unconvincing because it ignored the issue
of the common objectives shared by the self-proclaimed advocates of democracy,
on the one hand, and Islamism, on the other. It did allow appearances to be
preserved. The masks are now off. The Western powers have acknowledged their
links with terrorists.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32069.htm#.UBxXfnEQIs0.email
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Inside Syria: Aleppo’s Christians Arm Against Islamists
(NB: Such reports have been disputed by Christian leaders in Syria)
As foreign and local radicals rise amid the chaos of Syria’s civil war,
Christians are taking arms from the Assad regime.
By Hugh Macleod, Annasofie
Flamand and a reporter inside Syria
August 01. 2012 “Global Post” — ALEPPO,
Syria and BEIRUT, Lebanon — As evidence mounts that foreign Islamists are
fighting alongside Syria’s increasingly radicalized rebels, Christians in Aleppo
and elsewhere are taking up arms, often supplied by the regime…. INFORMATION
CLEARING HOUSE
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32050.htm#.UBoat0REtZk.email
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Only a Ceasefire will End the Nightmare in Syria
Unending violence, sectarian concerns and the geopolitics over Iran threaten
to destroy Syria’s territorial integrity and plunge the region into a bloody
conflict
By Patrick Seale
August 01, 2012 “Gulf News” — Once one of the most solid
states in the Middle East and a key pivot of the regional power structure, Syria
is now facing wholesale destruction. The consequences of the unfolding drama are
likely to be disastrous for Syria’s territorial integrity, for the well-being of
its population, for regional peace, and for the interests of external powers
deeply involved in the crisis.
..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32052.htm#.UBobpoXCeB0.email
******************************************************************
The Role of CIA-pampered Saudi Spymaster in Syria
By Ismail Salami
August 01, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — An enigmatic
personality who has periodically vanished from the scene of politics in
different junctures in time, Prince Bandar bin Sultan was appointed as the
Director General of Saudi Arabia’s main intelligence agency on July 19, an
appointment which took place at a critical time, namely when the unrest in Syria
was growing gravely worrisome thanks to the influx of the Saudi-funded rebels
infiltrating the Syrian soil…..
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32051.htm#.UBoYg6CeDfc.email
*********************************************************************
Editor: Al-JAZEERA REPORTS ON TERROR OF THE
MILITIAS/MERCENARIES/FSA/JIHADISTS/TERRORISTS, but …why? Al-Jazeera has taken a
very active role in the Syrian crisis since the beginning, supporting and
fomenting anti-government sentiments and activities. The militias may have
uploaded evidence of their terror to strike fear in the hearts of millions of
people in Aleppo who support the government.
Video – Syrian MP Executed Publicly by “Free Syrian Army” Firing Squad:
On
Tuesday, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) executed a member of parliament from Aleppo
named Zeino al-Barri.
By Al Jazeera, New York Times
August 01, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Video posted by antigovernment
activists showed more than a dozen men, some with bloodied faces and torn
clothing, who are said to be members or associates of the clan. Held in what
appeared to be the room of a school, they were made to give their names and
accused of being pro-government militiamen known as shabiha. The man sitting in
the center and said to be a leader of the group said his name was Ali Zein El
Abidin Barri, also known by the nickname Zeino.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32055.htm#.UBoaPA9mx_A.email
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Leave a Comment
July 6, 2012
JULY 2012 REFERENCE LIST
All images on this blog were taken by Susan D., unless otherwise stated. Most of
the photos were taken on trips to Damascus in 2009 and 2010. They present
pictures of people whom the photographer believes would not support the armed
opposition to the secular Syrian government. There is good reason to assume
that, along with the vast majority of people in Damascus, they would support
peaceful political reform in Syria.
Since the beginning of the crisis in Syria, images presented in the mainstream
western media have been mostly of anti-government ‘activists’, or of
‘refugees’ in Turkey fleeing the government and army, or of members of
anti-government militias. Editors choose not to present the everyday ‘face’ of
Syria; they seem to want Syria to be defined by the ‘opposition’ not by the
millions of vibrant warm-hearted secular Syrians you encounter in Syria. It
would appear that the west wants to present Syrians as either ‘victims’ or as
‘rebels’. They are objectified; they are not like us. This means there is
minimal empathy felt for them; there is limited questioning of what the ‘west’
and its Arab allies have planned for them.
Images in the mainstream:
http://www.theage.com.au/world/syria-is-stronger-troops-fight-to-regain-ground-in-aleppo-20120730-237nu.html
UPDATED July 30, 2012
The JULY REFERENCE LIST includes links to articles or press conferences from
other months, some may be on other posts on this blog, but the overwhelming
number of references on this page will be from July.
Editorial:
Every individual has a story and a reason for doing what they do or don’t do.
Their actions are not solely motivated by abstract high ideals or principles;
their path in life also takes them to where they stand today. That life story is
sometimes worth investigating especially if their actions can have serious
repercussions on the lives of many innocent people.
We are all cogs in one wheel or other. We should choose our wheels with care
and perhaps work harder to oil them and determine their path.
The references on this page are to offer some assistance in putting the puzzle
of Syria together. There are so many other pieces to the puzzle to search for,
and you may wish to discard some of the pieces presented here – for one reason
or another. Some of the key pieces to the puzzle may be elsewhere on this blog.
They all should be turned over and examined. For the world, the puzzle must
be worked at.
Interviews with members of Australians for Syria can be found on this link:
http://socratesandsyria.com/australian-voices-on-syria/
Note: there are excerpts only from articles on this page. For the complete
article, please follow link.
********************************************************
“…..I find the whole treatment of the Syrian situation abominable. Especially
disturbing is the implicit support for the rebels and the refusal to understand
that the government, just like any other government, has a legitimate reason for
opposing them. In the case of the situation in Aleppo and its possible ‘blood
bath’ I would expect that the international community, instead of condemning the
government for its actions, would argue that the rebels should lay down their
arms and submit themselves to the protection of the Red Crescent or Red Cross
(and the international community). Instead he international community seems,
by its actions, to be to advocating the very thing that they condemn the
government for instigating.”
Comment by a concerned Australian 29 July 2012
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Syria: Washington’s Latest War Crime
By Paul Craig Roberts
July 28, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — One wonders what Syrians are
thinking as “rebels” vowing to “free Syria” take the country down the same road
to destruction as “rebels” in Libya. Libya, under Gaddafi a well run country
whose oil revenues were shared with the Libyan people instead of monopolized by
a princely class as in Saudi Arabia, now has no government and is in disarray
with contending factions vying for power.
Just as no one knew who the Libyan “rebels” were, with elements of al Qaeda
reportedly among them, no one knows who the Syrian “rebels” are, or indeed if
they are even rebels (Antiwar.com). Some “rebels” appear to be bandit groups who
seize the opportunity to loot and to rape and set themselves up as the
governments of villages and towns. Others appear to be al Qaeda. (Antiwar.com)
The fact that the “rebels” are armed is an indication of interference from
outside. There have been reports that Washington has ordered its Saudi and
Bahrain puppet governments to supply the “rebels” with military weaponry. Some
suspect that the explosion that killed the Syrian Defense Minister and the head
of the government’s crisis operations was not the work of a suicide bomber but
the work of a US drone or missile reminiscent of Washington’s failed attempts to
murder Saddam Hussein. Regardless, Washington regarded the terror attack as a
success, declaring that it showed the rebels were gaining “real momentum” and
called on the Syrian government to respond to the attack by resigning.
(reuters.com)
The following is from a leaked intelligence document describing a previous
Western terrorist intervention in Syria just in case any reader is so naive as
to think that “our government would never do that.”
“In order to facilitate the action of liberative (sic) forces, …a special effort
should be made to eliminate certain key individuals. …[to] be accomplished early
in the course of the uprising and intervention, …
Once a political decision has been reached to proceed with internal
disturbances in Syria, CIA is prepared, and SIS (MI6) will attempt to mount
minor sabotage and coup de main (sic) incidents within Syria, working through
contacts with individuals. …Incidents should not be concentrated in Damascus …
Further: a “necessary degree of fear .. frontier incidents and (staged) border
clashes”, would “provide a pretext for intervention… the CIA and SIS [MI6]
should use … capabilities in both psychological and action fields to augment
tension.” (Joint US-UK leaked Intelligence Document, London and Washington,
1957) (globalreasearch.ca)
Obama has not said why his government is so desperate to overthrow the Syrian
government. The current president was an eye doctor in London who was brought
back to Syria to replace his father, who had passed away, as president of the
country. Washington is reticent about its real motives, which it masks with
high-sounding humanitarian rhetoric, but Washington’s motives are transparent.
One motive is to get rid of the Russian naval base in Syria, thus depriving
Russia of its only Mediterranean base.
A second motive is to eliminate Syria as a source of arms and support to
Hizbullah in order that Israel can succeed in its attempts to occupy southern
Lebanon and acquire its water resources. Hizbullah’s fighters have twice
defeated the Israeli military’s attempts to invade and to occupy southern
Lebanon.
A third motive is to destroy the unity of Syria with sectarian conflict, as
Washington destroyed Libya and Iraq, and leave Syria to waring factions to
dismember the country, thus removing another obstacle to Washington’s
hegemony…..
……..Far from bringing “freedom and democracy,” Washington brought endless mayhem
and death. And this is precisely what Washington is in the process of bringing
to Syria.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy
and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business
Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many
university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide
following.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32003.htm#.UBR6Bx82p4o.email
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The Telegraph
Amnesty International’s latest arms trade campaign is colonialism with a kindly
face
By Brendan O’Neill Politics Last updated: July 25th, 2012
If you needed any further proof that Amnesty International is to the 21st
century what rum-swigging bearers of the White Man’s Burden were to the 19th,
look no further than its current campaign for a global arms trade treaty.
Amnesty is basically agitating for the West, which it considers civilised and
responsible, to prevent the rest, or what Amnesty euphemistically refers to as
the “wrong” people, from getting their hands on guns and bombs. It is a call for
a colonial-style carve-up of the world, between those judged decent and grown-up
enough not only to own guns but also to determine who else may own them (us),
and those judged too infantile and brutal to be let anywhere near a gun lest
they unleash “the worst kind of atrocities” (them).
Given that America has used its vast armoury to cause more destruction around
the world than any other nation over the past 10 years, it is bizarre that
Amnesty should be pleading with it to lead the way on restricting the flow of
guns to the “wrong” countries. Amnesty wants Washington to give its blessing to
a treaty that would restrict the global sale of weapons if there is a
“substantial risk” that those weapons will be “used to commit serious human
rights violations”. (I’m not being funny, but what else would the weapons be use
for? To tickle people?) Amnesty says Washington should “demonstrate true
leadership” on the issue of arms trading and “send a clear message to other
world leaders” that it will not tolerate weapons falling into “the hands of
human rights violators”.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100172438/amnesty-internationals-latest-arms-trade-campaign-is-colonialism-with-a-kindly-face/
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US position on Syria directly endorses terrorism – Lavrov
RT 25th July 2012
Washington’s reaction to blasts in Damascus is a downright justification of
terrorism, slams Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. US State Department
announced that terror acts in Syria are not surprising in light of the Assad
regime’s actions.
“This is direct endorsement of terrorism. How are we supposed to understand
that?” Sergey Lavrov shared his astonishment at a press conference in
Moscow. “This is a sinister position, I cannot find words to express our
attitude towards that.”
Lavrov also expressed his surprise that the UN Security Council refused to
condemn acts of terror in Syria. The US permanent representative to the UN Susan
Rice has stated that terror acts in Damascus contribute to speeding up the
adoption of a resolution on Syria according to the Chapter 7 of the UN Statute,
which implies harsh sanctions, including resorting to force.
“In other words this means ‘We are going to support such acts of terrorism until
the UNSC does what we want’,”Lavrov commented on the US representative’s
actions.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said recently that there should be
closer work with opposition in Syria as it captures more and more territories to
prepare new actions of resistance to the government in Damascus……
http://www.rt.com/news/us-position-syria-terror-lavrov-006/
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Syria News 28 July 2012. Armed Forces Clear al-Hajar al-Aswad Liberate Two
Italian from Terrorists
This news report includes an interview with the two Italian engineers who were
abducted and held for two weeks by an armed group.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wfwtc8lgg4Q&sns=tw
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Syria: British Journalist John Cantlie Kidnapped With Jeroen Oerlemans Is
Released By Free Syrian Army
Huffington Post UK | By Felicity Morse
29 July 2012
A Dutch and British photojournalist who were kidnapped in Syria by Islamist
militants have been freed by members of the Free Syrian Army after a harrowing
ordeal.
John Cantlie, a British photojournalist who has worked for The Sunday
Times and The Sunday Telegraph, as well as the BBC, was held hostage alongside
Dutch photographer Jeroen Oerlemans. The two men are recovering in Turkey after
suffering gunshot wounds during their ordeal.
Oerlemans has been the first to describe their experience.
Speaking to Dutch media on Friday, Oerlemans said their captors were not
Syrians, but from Britain, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Estimating that between 30 to 100 held them captive, Oerlemans said some of the
gang that held them had “Birmingham accents”, he told Dutch newspaper NRC
Handelsblat.
At least one had a “heavy south London accent” reported the Sunday
Telegraph, quoting a source close to the incident.
Oerlemans described the men as “foreign jihadists,” who captured the men “almost
immediately” after they crossed the border from Turkey at Bab al-Hawa, on 19
July.
“In no time we had a circle of men around us with Kalashnikovs,” Oerlemans
told Business News Radio, according to Associated Press.
The journalists were accused of working for the CIA, before their captors
decided to hold them for ransom. Oerlemans’ account supports reports that
Islamist extremists are infiltrating the uprising in Syria.
“All day we were spoken to about the Koran and how they would bring Shariah law
to Syria. I don’t think they were Al Qaeda; they seemed too amateurish for
that,” Oerlemnas told The New York Times….
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/07/29/syria-john-cantlie-jeroen-oerlemans-free-syrian-army_n_1715827.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
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US Authorizes Financial Support to Free Syrian Army
By Laura Rozen
July 28, 2012 “Al-Monitor” — A US group that supports the Free
Syrian Army has received a waiver from the US Treasury Department authorizing it
to provide logistical and financial support to the armed Syrian resistance.
The waiver was received from the Treasury Department Office of Foreign Asset
Control (OFAC) last week, Brian Sayers, of the Syrian Support Group, told Al-
Monitor in an interview Friday.
“The OFAC decision is huge,” Sayers said. “It gets us the leeway to support the
Free Syrian Army in broad terms.”
The Syrian Support Group hired Sayers, who previously spent six years working in
NATO operations in Brussels and Kosovo, four months ago to be the Washington
agent for the group.
With backers from the Syrian exile community in the United States and Canada,
the Syrian Support Group’s goal “has always been to support the Free Syrian Army
in different ways,” Sayers said.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32011.htm#.UBR3jH1glWA.email
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‘World being readied for aggression against Syria’
RT 25 July 2012
World opinion is being orchestrated towards a military operation against the
Syrian regime, researcher and author F. William Engdahl told RT. Still, any
decisive action against Assad will be postponed until after the US presidential
election.
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-aggression-opinion-engdahl-989/
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CENSORSHIP OF NEWS OUT OF SYRIA
Champress, a Syrian news agency, provides updates on events in Syria. Champress
and other Syrian media outlets can help people outside Syria and dependent on
mainstream reports to make an intelligent, independent assessment of the crisis
there, as it is experienced by Syrians.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en
There are serious efforts afoot to close the outside world’s access to Syrian
news media. This editor is having difficulty accessing the webpage of SANA, the
Syrian Arab News Agency.
Syrian SANA News Agency website is under fierce attack 07-14-2012
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) website on Saturday was attacked by foreign
sides which try to prevent the Syrian national media from conveying the truth of
events and unmasking the conspiracy hatched against Syria. After the failure of
several attempts to hack the website and publish fabricated news on it, foreign
sides targeted the website with a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS
attack).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i0ATn0byF8
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Youtube
Syria – Dr. Bashar Al Jaafari speech 19 July 2012- Russia and China veto
resolution on Syria at UN
Published on Jul 19, 2012 by MrGeourg
Dr. Bashar Al Jaafari speech 19 July 2012- Russia and China veto resolution on
Syria at UN President Assad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hndl2IVgBu4
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Editor’s note: Spiegel Online generally presents the single narrative of
virtually all western mainstream media outlets, “the Syrian president is a
brutal dictator who is killing his own people and the west must do something to
save them”. As well as repeating this narrative, this article does present
the real fears and suffering of millions of people in Syria.
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL
07/25/2012
‘We’re Too Frightened to Talk’
Christians Flee from Radical Rebels in Syria
By Ulrike Putz in Qa, Lebanon
Thousands of Syrians are fleeing into neighboring Lebanon — not entirely due to
fear of the Assad regime. The country’s minority Christian population is
suffering under attacks waged by rebel troops. In the Beqaa Valley in eastern
Lebanon, Christian families are finding temporary refuge, but they are still
terrified…
…As a border town, Qa is a magnet for two types of refugees, says Mansour Saad.
“On the one hand, you have the Christians who are fleeing from the rebels,” he
says. “And then you have the refugee families of men who are fighting within the
ranks of the FSA.” The two enemy groups sometimes clash in Lebanese exile.
“There is a lot of tension between them,” says Saad. “We do our best to keep the
two groups apart.”
Like many Lebanese and Syrian Christians, Saad is also a supporter of the Assad
regime. As a religious minority in the Middle East, Christians don’t have much
choice other than to align themselves with a strong leader who can protect them,
Saad says. “The rebels haven’t managed to convince me they are fighting for more
democracy,” the mayor says.
And while there may be a number of open questions about the Assad regime, like
the fact that “there is certainly no freedom of expression in Syria,” he says
the rebels aren’t one bit better. There may have been respectable aims at the
start of the uprising, but the insurgency has since been hijacked by Islamists,
the mayor argues. “And we know the types of Muslims who have emerged at the head
of the rebellion: The ones who would like to lead the people back into the Stone
Age.”
* The names in this story have been changed in order to protect the identity of
the interview subjects.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/christians-flee-from-radical-rebels-in-syria-a-846180.html
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Editor: On the same page, there is reference to a Spiegel article on the Houla
massacre. It is from a Spiegel reporter who claims to have interviewed
witnesses to the massacre who accuse the government and its supporters of
carrying it out.
Questions to be asked when considering who was responsible for the massacre in
Houla:
1. Was the FSA in control of the towns in the Houla area? If so, how could
any pro-regime militias have entered the area without a serious battle between
two militias? If there was such a battle, was there evidence of it?
2. Who were the victims of the massacre? Were they supporters of the
government or not? If one family was related to a Syrian MP does that suggest
that they were killed because of this family connection with a member of
parliament?
3. If the FSA or other militia groups were responsible for the massacre, were
they the people who welcomed the UN observers and western reporters into the
area after the massacre? If so, what was the story they told? Who were the
‘witnesses’ they presented to the world?
4. When listening to the stories of ‘witnesses’ with conflicting statements,
which ‘witnesses’ sound most convincing?
5. How much would fear be a factor in determining the stories ‘witnesses’
tell… or the stories we don’t hear as ‘witnesses’ fear to tell them?
6. What would lead hundreds of men to kill women and children in such brutal
ways? It is necessary to consider both possibilities: What are the beliefs of
the ‘rebels’? What could motivate them to kill innocent people who support the
secular government? What motivates groups who support the government? What
‘ideology’ could lead them to kill women and children?
7. Who has benefitted from the killings in Houla, the Syrian government or
the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, NATO countries which want to take tough action
against the Syrian government?
8. How many witnesses have to present the story of Houla before we can
understand what really happened there?
9. What do the majority of Syrians believe is the truth behind the massacre
in Syria? Would they support the government if they believed it was covering up
the truth of Houla and that in fact pro-government militias committed this
heinous crime? Would it be possible to keep such information from a population?
07/23/2012
A Syrian Bloodbath Revisited
Searching for the Truth Behind the Houla Massacre
By Christoph Reuter and Abd al-Kadher Adhun
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/a-look-back-at-the-houla-massacre-in-syria-a-845854.html
This article should be read in conjunction with other reports on the massacre,
some of which can be found on the following link:
http://socratesandsyria.com/2012/06/08/terror-in-syria-mainstream-australian-views-vs-alternative-views/
One alternative voice to the mainstream narrative since the beginning of the
crisis in Syria has been Michel Chossudovsky, a professor at the Center for
Research of Globalization, Montreal. He is interviewed with other analysts in
this Real TV report.
Washington funded Houla-style massacres: Analyst
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/06/14/246228/washington-behind-houla-massacre/
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WASHINGTON POST
Turkey a hub for Syria revolution as illegal border crossing points abound
By Liz Sly, Published: July 26
….Turkey’s role in the revolt goes far deeper than helping refugees, though to
what extent it is actively aiding a war that has spun beyond the reach of world
diplomacy is unclear. Turkey seems to be groping for a strategy to address the
unfolding chaos on its doorstep, said Hugh Pope of the International Crisis
Group in Istanbul.
“Turkey wants to have a say in what happens in Syria,” he said. “But I’m not
sure it’s got any easy answers to what is going on. This is all new and
unexpected for Turkey.”
What is clear is that the Syrian conflict has already reached deep into Turkey.
The quaint and ancient city of Antakya, the preferred destination for most
Syrians crossing the border, pulses with the intrigue and gossip of the war next
door.
Free Syrian Army fighters stride through its narrow streets, sunburned and
sweaty from the battlefield, hoping to meet benefactors to provide them with
money and arms.
Salafi Muslims, who have come to offer help from the countries of the Persian
Gulf region, huddle over kebabs, their long beards and robes conspicuous in
secularist Turkey.
Men who identify themselves as representatives of rebel battalions rent cheap
hotel rooms and apartments, swelling the population of a city, once part of
Syria, where many still speak Arabic as their native tongue…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-a-hub-for-syria-revolution-as-illegal-border-crossing-points-abound/2012/07/25/gJQADKO29W_story.html
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Turkey ‘would abandon’ EU for Shanghai Five
ANKARA – Hürriyet
Turkey may discard its European Union bid if it is accepted by the Shangai Five,
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said jokingly, speaking of his
recent visit to Moscow, daily Hürriyet reported yesterday.
“I said to Russian President Vladimir Putin, ‘You tease us, saying “What [is
Turkey] doing in the EU?” Now I tease you: include us in the Shanghai Five, and
we will forget about the EU,’” Erdoğan said.
The Shanghai Five group was created April 26, 1996, in Shanghai by the heads of
state of Kazakhstan, the People’s Republic of China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and
Tajikistan. Turkey’s EUaccession talks are stalled, as the
rotating EU presidency is held by Greek Cyprus as of July 2012.
July/27/2012
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-would-abandon-eu-for-shanghai-five.aspx?pageID=238&nid=26455&NewsCatID=338#.UBPmqfzM_fU.twitter
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ANTI-WAR.COM
Al-Qaeda Infiltrating Syrian Opposition, With US Support
Russia slammed the US for ‘justifying terrorism’ in Syria
by John Glaser, July 25, 2012
Al-Qaeda militants and other Sunni extremists are becoming a greater and greater
part of the conflict in Syria, just as the US officially announced it was
abandoning any pretense of a diplomatic approach in favor of toppling the regime
through proxy rebel groups.
“The evidence is mounting that Syria has become a magnet for Sunni extremists,
including those operating under the banner of Al Qaeda,” reports the New York
Times. “The presence of jihadists in Syria has accelerated in recent days in
part because of a convergence with the sectarian tensions across the country’s
long border in Iraq.”
According to one US intelligence estimate, as many as a quarter of the 300 rebel
groups in Syria may be fighting under the banner of al-Qaeda, says Rep. Mike
Rogers (R-MI), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Strangely, the fact that Washington, in cooperation with its allies, is now
sending communication gear, military intelligence, and weapons to militias in
Syria with considerable – and growing – ties to al-Qaeda has not made the Obama
administration blink.
Russia on Wednesday criticized the US for not condemning the July 18 bombing in
Damascus, which they called an act of terrorism. ”This is directly justifying
terrorism. How can this be understood?” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
“In other words, to say it in plain Russian, this means ‘we (the United States)
will continue to support such terrorist acts for as long as the UN Security
Council has not done what we want’,” Lavrov added. The CIA is supposedly
employing a “vetting process” to avoid having the aid get into the hands of
Islamic extremists, but the process is made up of untrustworthy, third-party
sources and intelligence officials have recently told the Washington Post and
the Los Angeles Times that the truth is that the US doesn’t know who is getting
the money and weapons.
Apparently, even arming and strengthening al-Qaeda isn’t enough to
disrupt Washington’s plan to change the regime in Syria, in order to eliminate
Iran’s main ally in the Middle East and to gain an even stronger foothold in the
region.
But extremist infiltration of the Syrian opposition carries other problems. The
Obama administration runs the risk of helping to bring these extremists to power
if and when the Assad regime finally does collapse. Moreover, as happened in
Afghanistan after the US proxy war there with the mujihadeens, the potential
for deadly blowback is very real.
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/07/25/al-qaeda-infiltrating-syrian-opposition-with-us-support/
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Reuters
Exclusive: Secret Turkish nerve center leads aid to Syria rebels
27 July 2012
By Regan Doherty and Amena Bakr
(Reuters) – Turkey has set up a secret base with allies Saudi Arabia and Qatar
to direct vital military and communications aid to Syria’s rebels from a city
near the border, Gulf sources have told Reuters.
News of the clandestine Middle East-run “nerve centre” working to topple Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad underlines the extent to which Western powers – who
played a key role in unseating Muammar Gaddafi in Libya – have avoided military
involvement so far in Syria.
“It’s the Turks who are militarily controlling it. Turkey is the main
co-ordinator/facilitator. Think of a triangle, with Turkey at the top and Saudi
Arabia and Qatar at the bottom,” said a Doha-based source.
“The Americans are very hands-off on this. U.S. intel(ligence) are working
through middlemen. Middlemen are controlling access to weapons and routes.”
The centre in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 100 km (60 miles) from the
Syrian border, was set up after Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdulaziz
bin Abdullah al-Saud visited Turkey and requested it, a source in the Gulf said.
The Turks liked the idea of having the base in Adana so that they could
supervise its operations, he added.
A Saudi foreign ministry official was not immediately available to comment on
the operation.
Adana is home to Incirlik, a large Turkish/U.S. air force base which Washington
has used in the past for reconnaissance and military logistics operations. It
was not clear from the sources whether the anti-Syrian “nerve centre” was
located inside Incirlik base or in the city of Adana.
Qatar, the tiny gas-rich Gulf state which played a leading part in supplying
weapons to Libyan rebels, has a key role in directing operations at the Adana
base, the sources said. Qatari military intelligence and state security
officials are involved.
“Three governments are supplying weapons: Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia,” said
a Doha-based source…..
….Reuters has established that Obama’s aides have drafted a resolution which
would authorize greater covert assistance to the rebels but still stop short of
arming them….
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-syria-crisis-centre-idUSBRE86Q0JM20120727
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US Proxy Al Qaeda Death Squads in Syria
By Stephen Lendman
July 28, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Washington’s agenda involves death
squad diplomacy. Evidence mounts proving it. It’s standard practice in all US
direct and proxy wars. It’s how America treats its enemies.
Massacres and unspeakable atrocities are committed. Women are raped. Civilians
are treated like combatants. They’re indiscriminately killed.
Others are targeted for opposing US aggression. Children are harmed like adults.
Prisoners are tortured. No crime’s too gruesome to commit.
Lies, duplicity, and coverup follow. Media scoundrels bear direct
responsibility. Their hands are bloodstained like US officials, forces and proxy
killers.
Vietnam’s Operation Phoenix became a prototype for today’s wars. It included
intimidation, kidnappings torture, and mass murder. At issue was eliminating
opposition elements. Terrorizing people into submission was policy.
Southeast Asia tactics are replicated in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria.
Barbarism defines US policy.
On July 11, German writer Jurgen Todenhofer confirmed the presence of Al Qaeda
insurgents in Syria. He met with them, he said. He holds them and others like
them responsible for mass terror attacks…
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32004.htm#.UBR5RlvN9Oo.email
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Replacing government 101: Syrian rebels learn democracy in Germany
RT 28 July 2012
A group of top Syrian opposition figures took courses in governing a country in
Berlin. The training, partially sponsored by the US State Department, is meant
to come in handy after the Bashar al-Assad regime falls.
The group consisted of over 40 individuals, including Syrian defector generals
and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. They learned economics, law, security
practices and other areas of governance, which would be needed in the transition
period.
“We created a framework that basically made it possible for Syrian participants
to focus on the kinds of challenges that would emerge in the course of a
transition in each of those issue areas,” Senior adviser at the US Institute of
Peace, Steven Heydemann told ABC explaining the program….
http://www.rt.com/news/government-rebels-training-us-301/
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TIME Exclusive: Meet the Islamist Militants Fighting Alongside Syria’s Rebels
By Rania Abouzeid / Idlib Province | @raniaab | July 26, 2012
As foreign jihadists rally around the cause of Syria’s rebels, TIME meets two
factions of Islamist fighters seeking to overthrow the Assad regime and set up a
political state in their image
…… There has been much speculation about whether Islamic radicals have gained a
foothold in the chaotic battlefield that is Syria today. They have, albeit a
small one. While there are jihadists, both foreign and local, inside Syria,
their presence should not be overstated. At this stage, they remain a minor
player in the conflict. But as Karl Vick’s story in the Aug. 6 issue of
TIME (subscription required) relates, should the conflict spiral out of hand,
their role may grow exponentially……
Read
more: http://world.time.com/2012/07/26/time-exclusive-meet-the-islamist-militants-fighting-alongside-syrias-rebels/#ixzz223UE5S1q
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Press TV
US, Israel taking revenge for 22-, 33-day war defeats on Syria: Jalili, 29
July 2012
Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili says
Washington and Tel Aviv are targeting the Syrian nation in revenge for the 22-
and 33-day war defeats.
“Today, they (US and Israel), with the help of terrorists and regional
dictators, want to take revenge on the Syrian nation for the 22- and 33-day war
failures,” Jalili said in a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
al-Muallem in Tehran on Monday.
The US and Israel have long-standing enmity toward the Syrians, Jalili added.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/29/253386/us-israel-avenging-defeats-on-syrians/
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Press TV 29 July 2012
Israel ex-minister of military affairs says Iran strike ‘catastrophic’
Israel’s former minister for military affairs Shaul Mofaz has warned of the
“catastrophic” consequences of a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“We need to ask ourselves… two questions,” he Mofaz said in an interveiw with
Israel’s Channel 2 on Saturday.
“Will an early attack by Israel change Iran’s strategic situation regarding the
nuclear program. My answer is no. And the second question is, will an early
strike by Israel, in the current circumstances, in the existing situation in the
Middle East…will an early attack lead to war?” Mofaz questioned.
“My answer is that the probability for this is very high,” he stated….
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/29/253273/iran-attack-catastrophic-shaul-mofaz/
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THE NEWYORKER
July 27, 2012
SYRIA: GUESTS OF THE WARLORD
Posted by Jon Lee Anderson
…. The source of Abu Ibrahim’s power is a curious matter. In our first
encounter, several days ago, in the former Syrian customs office on the border
that he also controls, I asked him whether he had received weapons from foreign
countries. He said he had not, and that his men’s arms had been acquired either
on the black market or as war booty, in battle. But he said that he had received
some foreign financial assistance; thus far, a total of 1.3 million euros in
cash from the government of Qatar, which, along with Saudi Arabia and, to a more
ambiguous extent, Turkey, has openly backed the anti-Assad rebel forces…
Read
more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/07/syria-aleppo-rebel-bashar-assad.html#ixzz223WAdzop
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“My god, we need everything. We are dying. We don’t have bread to eat. There is
nothing. No communications. No weapons. No medicine.”
(Not to mention NO Support from Syrians for foreign serial killing
mercenaries–JCProletariat)
The Newsweek/Wall Street Journal based rag “The Daily Beast” laments the failure
of NATO’s FSA Death Squads. Will Amy Goodman, al-Jazeera, Pacifica, FSTV, &
Link_TV follow?
JCProletariat
THE DAILY BEAST
Syrian Rebel Leader Mustafa al-Sheikh Says Victory Against Assad Not in Sight
by Mike Giglio Jul 26, 2012 4:45 AM EDT
The general who heads the Free Syrian Army says his forces are dangerously
divided and underfunded, al Qaeda is gaining a foothold in the conflict, and a
major win that could topple the regime, like seizing Aleppo, is still out of
reach….
…“Into this mess come more conservative Islamist groups who are able to get
greater access to weapons from places like the Gulf,” he says. “Then there’s
this difficult problem: They’re not al Qaeda, but they are radicals. That’s hard
for the West to parse out. Where do we put these guys on a spectrum?”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/07/26/syrian-rebel-leader-mustafa-al-sheikh-says-victory-against-assad-not-in-sight.html
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The article below has been featured on this blog already, but attention is drawn
to it again because it may help to better understand the complexity of the
current situation in Syria and the local vs the international response to it.
OPINION MAKER
U.S. Ambassador to Syria in charge of recruiting Arab/Muslim death squads
12 September 2012 by Wayne Madsen
WMR has been informed by reliable sources that the U.S. ambassador to Syria,
Robert S. Ford, is the key State Department official who has been responsible
for recruiting Arab “death squads” from Al Qaeda-affiliated units in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and Chechnya to fight against Syrian military and
police forces in embattled Syria. Ford served as the Political Officer at the
U.S. embassy in Baghdad from 2004 to 2006 under Ambassador John Negroponte, the
U.S. ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to 1985. Negroponte was a key figure in
the covert U.S. program to arm the Nicaraguan contras and his support for
vicious paramilitary units in El Salvador and Honduras earned him the nickname
of “Mr. Death Squad.”
Negroponte tasked Ford with implementing the “El Salvador option” in Iraq, the
use of Iraqi Shi’a irregulars and Kurdish Pesh Merga paramilitary forces to
target for assassination and kidnapping/torture Iraqi insurgency leaders in Iraq
and across the border in Syria. The operation was named for Negroponte’s death
squad operation in Central America in the 1980s.
Ford has become the point man in the recruitment of Arabs and Muslims from the
Middle East and beyond to battle against the security forces loyal to Syrian
President Bashar Assad. The U.S.-backed terrorists have not only carried out
attacks on Syrian security forces but have also massacred civilians in “false
flag” operations later blamed on Syrian government forces. WMR has been informed
that Ford’s operations in Syria are being carried out with the assistance of
Israel’s Mossad.
The “El Salvador” option has also been used in Libya, where Al Qaeda irregulars,
drawn from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen, have been carrying out murders of
Libyan civilians, especially black Libyans and African guest workers, on behalf
of the Libyan rebel government. Some of the murders of civilians have been
blamed on pro-Muammar Qaddafi forces but they have, in fact, been carried out by
Al Qaeda units fighting with the rebels and which are being directed by CIA and
MI-6 advisers. Ford has been providing advice to the Libyan rebels on how to
carry out their death squad attacks…..
http://www.opinion-maker.org/2011/09/u-s-ambassador-to-syria-in-charge-of-recruiting-arabmuslim-death-squads/
About the authorWikipedia: Wayne Madsen (born April 25, 1954) is a Washington,
D.C.-based investigative journalist, author and columnist specializing
in intelligence and international affairs.[ He is the author of the blog Wayne
Madsen Report.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Madsen
*******************************************************
German intelligence: al-Qaeda all over Syria
By John Rosenthal
German intelligence estimates that “around 90” terror attacks that “can be
attributed to organizations that are close to al-Qaeda or jihadist groups” were
carried out in Syria between the end of December and the beginning of July, as
reported by the German daily Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). This was
revealed
by the German government in a response to a parliamentary question.In response
to the same question, the German government admitted that it had received
several reports from the German foreign intelligence service, the BND, on the
May 25 massacre in the Syrian town of Houla. But it noted that the content of
these reports was to remain classified “by reason of national interest”, Like
many other Western governments, Germany expelled Syria’s ambassador in the
immediate aftermath of the massacre, holding the Syrian government responsible
for the violence.Meanwhile, at least three major German newspapers – Die Welt,
the FAZ, and the mass-market tabloid Bild – have published reports attributing
responsibility for the massacre to anti-government rebel forces or treating this
as the most probable scenario.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NG24Ak02.html
*********************************************************************************************
MEDIA LENS
THE RIGHT KIND OF TERROR
23 July 2012 By David Cromwell and David Edwards
When is an act of terrorism not terrorism? When the victims are officially
sanctioned state enemies. This was clear from the political and media response
to the assassinations of senior ministers of the Syrian ‘regime’.
On 18 July, a bomb attack on the national security headquarters in Damascus
killed three top Syrian ministers: Defence Minister Daoud Rajiha, President
Bashar al-Assad’s brother-in-law Assef Shawkat and General Hassan Turkomani.
Two days later, Syria’s national security chief, Hisham Ikhtiari, died from
injuries he received in the attack.
Reuters reported U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta saying that the situation
in Syria was ‘spinning out of control’. For good measure, he added that
President Bashar al-Assad’s government would be held responsible if it failed to
safeguard its alleged chemical weapons sites. The brazen echoes of the
propaganda campaign against Iraq a decade ago could be heard reverberating
around the world’s news media.
UK defence minister Philip Hammond, standing alongside Panetta at a Pentagon
news conference, said that the bomb attack demonstrated Syria’s growing
instability:
‘I think what we’re seeing is an opposition which is emboldened, clearly an
opposition which has access increasingly to weaponry, probably some
fragmentation around the edges of the regime as well.’
Neither men described the bombing as a terrorist attack…..
http://www.medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=691:the-right-kind-of-terror&catid=25:alerts-2012&Itemid=69
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the Washington Post NATIONAL SECURITY
IN SYRIA CONFLICT, U.S. STRUGGLES TO FILL INTELLIGENCE GAPS
BY GREG MILLER AND JOBY WARRICK, TUESDAY, JULY 24, 9:07 AM
Sixteen months into the uprising in Syria, the United States is struggling to
develop a clear understanding of opposition forces inside the country, according
to U.S. officials who said that intelligence gaps have impeded efforts to
support the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. spy agencies have expanded their efforts to gather intelligence on rebel
forces and Assad’s regime in recent months, but they are still largely confined
to monitoring intercepted communications and observing the conflict from a
distance, officials said
Interviews with U.S. and foreign intelligence officials revealed that the CIA
has been unable to establish a presence in Syria, in contrast with the agency’s
prominent role gathering intelligence from inside Egypt and Libya during revolts
in those countries.
With no CIA operatives on the ground in Syria and only a handful stationed at
key border posts, the agency has been heavily dependent on its counterparts in
Jordan and Turkey and on other regional allies.
The lack of intelligence has complicated the Obama administration’s ability to
navigate a crisis that presents an opportunity to remove a longtime U.S.
adversary but carries the risk of bolstering insurgents sympathetic to al-Qaeda
or militant Islam.
The administration is exploring ways to expand non-lethal support, officials
said.
“But we’ve got to figure out who is over there first, and we don’t really know
that,” said a U.S. official who expressed concern over persistent gaps and who,
like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was
discussing intelligence matters. “It’s not like this is a new war. It’s been
going on for 16 months.”…..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-syria-conflict-us-struggles-to-fill-intelligence-gaps/2012/07/23/gJQAW8DG5W_story_1.html
********************************************************************
(This article from Al-Akhbar presents the CIA and Al-Qaeda with a common cause:
trying to topple the Syrian government. )
GERMANY REVEALS AL-QAEDA ACTIVITY IN SYRIA
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-intelligence-struggling-syria
**********************************************************************
**********************************************************************************************
An important article:
24 Reflections and observations on the current situation in Syria 16/07/2012
His Beatitude Patriarch Gregorios III (Laham), of the Melkite Greek Catholic
Church in Syria,
https://melkite.org/patriarchate/24-reflections-and-observations-on-the-current-situation-in-syria
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From a Facebook page:
#Syria: Dr. Makdissi’s speech deliberately taken out of context by the
agressorsDamascus, SANA / The Foreign and Expatriates Ministry issued a
statement commenting on how some negative media outlets dealt with its previous
statement delivered by spokesman Dr. Jihad Makdissi, deliberately taking it out
of context and portraying it as a declaration of possessing non-traditional
weapons by Syria.The Ministry said that the goal of the statement and the press
conference wasn’t to declare but rather to respond to a methodical media
campaign targeting Syria to prepare world public opinion for the possibility of
military intervention under the false premise of weapons of mass destruction
(similar to what happened with Iraq) or the possibility of using such weapons
against terrorist groups or civilians, or transporting them to a third party.The
statement affirmed that such allegations are completely false, noting that
nonetheless they are dangerous allegations as they are made by the same sides
that are rallying against Syria in mass media and international circles, noting
that these are the same sides that fabricated lies about Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction which turned out to be false later.The Ministry said that Makdissi’s
statements were meant to explain the state’s general defensive policies in
response to false media speculations and allegations, stressing the need to
commit to precision and professionalism in news related to Syria and putting
them in the proper context.
http://www.facebook.com/handsoffsyria/posts/269540356492713
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This NYT article doesn’t seem to question the US plan to ‘remove Assad’, no
matter what the cost to Syria and Syrians. (And America? It expects no costs?
There is no karma for countries? )
NEW YORK TIMES
STYMIED AT U.N., U.S. REFINES PLAN TO REMOVE ASSAD
By ERIC SCHMITT and HELENE COOPER 21 JULY 2012
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has for now abandoned efforts for a
diplomatic settlement to the conflict in Syria, and instead it is increasing aid
to the rebels and redoubling efforts to rally a coalition of like-minded
countries to forcibly bring down the government of President Bashar al-Assad,
American officials say.
Administration officials have been in talks with officials in Turkey and Israel
over how to manage a Syrian government collapse. Defense Secretary Leon E.
Panetta is headed to Israel in the next several days to meet with Israeli
defense counterparts, following up on a visit last week by President Obama’s
national security adviser Thomas E. Donilon, in part to discuss the Syrian
crisis.
The White House is now holding daily high-level meetings to discuss a broad
range of contingency plans — including safeguarding Syria’s vast chemical
weapons arsenal and sending explicit warnings to both warring sides to avert
mass atrocities — in a sign of the escalating seriousness of the Syrian crisis
following a week of intensified fighting in Damascus, the capital, and
the killing of Mr. Assad’s key security aides in a bombing attack.
The administration has had regular talks with the Israelis about how Israel
might move to destroy Syrian weapons facilities, administration officials said.
The administration is not advocating such an attack, the officials said, because
of the risk that it would give Mr. Assad an opportunity to rally support against
Israeli interference.
Administration officials insist they will not provide arms to the rebel forces.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already financing those efforts. But American
officials said that the United States would provide more communications training
and equipment to help improve the combat effectiveness of disparate opposition
forces in their widening, sustained fight against Syrian Army troops. It’s also
possible the rebels would receive some intelligence support, the officials
said…….
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/world/middleeast/us-to-focus-on-forcibly-toppling-syrian-government.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
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BARAK: ISRAEL MAY SEIZE ADVANCED WEAPONS IN SYRIA
By HERB KEINON, REUTERS
07/20/2012 23:15
DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS MILITARY PREPARED FOR OPERATION SHOULD SYRIAN GOV’T HANDS
MISSILES, CHEMICAL WEAPONS TO HEZBOLLAH.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak made clear over the weekend that Israel would take
military action if needed to ensure that Syria’s advanced weapon systems and
chemical weapons do not fall into Hezbollah’s hands.
“Syria has advanced antiaircraft missiles, surface-tosurface missiles and
elements of chemical weapons,” Barak said on Friday in a Channel 2 interview. “I
directed the IDF to prepare for a situation where we will need to consider the
possibility of an attack.”
http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=278314
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(Imagine if the title of the article below were, “Islamic fighters flocking to
Australia”; or “Islamic fighters flocking to the U.S.”. The response of people
in those countries would be very similar to that of the vast majority of
Syrians.)
ISLAMIC FIGHTERS FLOCKING TO SYRIA
PATRICK MARTIN
The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Jul. 20 2012,
In the 1980s, it was Afghanistan to which international Islamic fighters came,
helping the mujahedeen successfully take on the Soviet army and its puppet
regime in Kabul. Then came Bosnia in the 1990s and Iraq in the 2000s, in both of
which veteran jihadists fought a sectarian war on behalf of outgunned Sunni
minorities.In 2012, they’re flocking to Syria.
With funding from private organizations in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait, they
are making their way across the frontiers from Iraq and Jordan, hooking up with
opposition elements in Syria and taking the battle to Damascus and the heart of
the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Money from Qatar is helping finance the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the
fledgling Free Syrian Army (FSA). And United States CIA operatives are
reportedly helping distribute weapons andmatériel to the mainstream opposition
forces. However, the international jihadists, many of them
so-called Salafists linked to al-Qaeda, have agendas of their own that don’t
stop at forcing Mr. al-Assad from office. To them, the real target is Shiism,
the religion of Iran, and the crescent of Shia forces that Tehran has promoted
that stretch from Iran to the Mediterranean.
Many Sunni Muslims, and certainly Salafi jihadists, view Shia Muslims as
heretical and the Alawite sect of Shiism, (the sect to which the al-Assads and
many other powerful Syrians belong) as positively diabolical. As such, it is not
out of the question that ethnic massacres of Alawites would take place in the
aftermath of an Islamist victory in Syria. To escape such a fate, many Alawites
would take refuge in the sect’s heartland in the northwest of the country where
the al-Assads have built up defences……
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/islamic-fighters-flocking-to-syria/article4432160/
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For voices of Syrians:
Syrian Army Evacuating Citizens – Damascus
Published on Jul 22, 2012 by SyriansWorldwide
The Syrian Army entered al-Midan district in Damascus and helped evacuate
citizens after armed terrorist groups had infiltrated.
These are the citizens giving their accounts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucA34_DcnBY
Video interviews of Syrian soldiers fighting militias in Damascus this month
(July 2012). As different articles on this page attest, their enemy includes
groups linked to Al-Qaeda and Salafi jihadists from various countries, and some
of them are committing the most heinous crimes against Syrian people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMvEx8GpbVw&feature=youtu.be
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“Progressive” Journalism’s Legacy of Deceit
by Prof. James F. Tracy GLOBAL RESEARCH 20 July 2012
Progressive-left media persist in acting as propaganda outlets for the US-NATO
destabilization of Syria, thus placating a politically conscious audience that
might otherwise be mobilized against acts of imperialism and violence. The
historical record suggests how this is not the first time “Progressive
publicists” were used to sell a war.
A recent report in the UK Guardian by Charlie Skelton explains that Western news
outlets remain willing victims (or accomplices) in a propaganda campaign for US
-NATO led Syrian intervention being carried out by skilled and well-financed
public relations practitioners. According to Skelton, “the spokespeople, the
‘experts on Syria’, the ‘democracy activists’ … The people who ‘urge’ and ‘warn’
and ‘call for action’” against the Assad regime are themselves part of a
sophisticated and well-heeled public relations effort to allow NATO forces to
give Syria the same medicine administered to Libya in 2011. “They’re selling the
idea of military intervention and regime change,” Skelton reports,
> “and the mainstream news is hungry to buy. Many of the “activists” and
> spokespeople representing the Syrian opposition are closely (and in many cases
> financially) interlinked with the US and London – the very people who would be
> doing the intervening. Which means information and statistics from these
> sources isn’t necessarily pure news – it’s a sales pitch, a PR campaign.”[1]
If one thinks that a revelation of this magnitude would be cause for other major
Western news media to reassess their reportage of the Syrian situation they
would be greatly mistaken. Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now is a case in point. Since
the beginning of the “Arab Spring” color revolutions the foremost broadcast
venue of “independent” progressive-Left journalism in the United States has used
its reportage to obfuscate and thereby advance the campaign for regime change in
Egypt, Libya, and now Syria. The tactics of disinformation and death squads
employed in Libya and Syria should be easily recognizable since they were
refined against popular Central American moves toward popular enfranchisement by
the Reagan administration during the 1980s.
As Finian Cunningham recently observed [2] Democracy Now’s adherents look to
Goodman on a regular basis because of her perceived credibility; she is the
self-avowed “ exception to the rulers”—a tireless crusader against the
restrictive corporate media where there remains a “deafening silence … around
the issues—and people—that matter most.”[3] Today Goodman’s vaunted program is
contributing to the very violence being committed by Western-backed mercenaries
against the Syrian people.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31996
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DEMOCRACY NOW
SYRIAN ACTIVIST IN HIDING: “WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR INTERVENTION, WE’RE LOOKING
FOR SUPPORT”
Syria’s 16-month uprising has entered uncharted territory after Wednesday’s
bombing that killed three members of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle,
including his defense secretary, interior minister and brother-in-law. Fighting
between government troops and opposition rebels has been reported across
Damascus, including locations within sight of the presidential palace. We’re
joined from Syria by an activist who requested anonymity to protect her safety.
“They’re losing control,” she says of the regime. “A lot of people were glad
about [the bombing] yesterday, but it just makes us, deep inside, scared. What
is the regime going to do next?”
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/19/syrian_activist_in_hiding_were_not
RESPONSE TO DEMOCRACY NOW INTERVIEW WITH ACTIVIST
The list of questions below are ones Amy Goodman from “Democracy Now” could have
asked an anonymous female Syrian ‘activist’ interviewed by DM. …..
* If the FSA and other armed fighters kill more leaders and soldiers it could
seriously undermine Syria’s defense capabilities. Does it concern you that
it could make it very difficult for Syria to successfully defend itself from,
for example, an attack from Israel?
* There are signs that the Syrian army is still strong and united. To topple
the government it would be necessary to kill tens of thousands of loyal
soldiers. What belief or ideology can justify such large scale killing? If
the army is destroyed, Syria could become a terrorist stronghold; bloody
fighting could continue for decades. Is this a concern for you? ……..
http://socratesandsyria.com/2012/07/22/socrates-syria-amy-goodman-and-democracy-now/
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FP
THE FOG OF CIVIL WAR
WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON IN SYRIA IS TOO COMPLICATED TO FIT IN A HEADLINE
BY STEPHEN STARR | JULY 23, 2012
In the midst of recent fighting in Damascus, activists asked for God to elevate
the city to the status given to Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. I wonder what
Syria’s Druzes and Christians think of this. I also wonder what Sunnis think of
the Christians who quietly root for the regime to wipe out the protesters.
But there is an even deeper division opening up in Syria that has been
overlooked because of the difficulties of reporting the conflict. It is the
division between the activists and rebels who are hammering away at the Assad
regime and those who simply want a quiet life — regardless of who is in
government. The complexity of the situation was perhaps best summed up by a
28-year-old dentist I spoke to in Damascus last January: “We hate the regime,
but we want peace,” he said more than once. “The regime is better than civil
war.” …..
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/23/the_fog_of_civil_war?page=0,2
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“War Child”, another NGO which is naive and/or which is cynically cashing in on
the Syrian crisis, so it presents a well-trodden ‘truth’ which won’t rock any
boats…despite its not presenting the reality as it’s lived by the vast majority
of ordinary Syrians? Or is there a political agenda, too? Does funding depend
on a certain ‘narrative’?
Research needed.
http://www.warchild.org.uk/news/syria-war-childhood-report-published
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‘TIME TO END SYRIAN REGIME,’ SAY REBELS NEAR DAMASCUS
23 July 2012
The BBC’s Paul Wood accompanied rebel fighters as they slipped into Syria from
neighbouring Lebanon, to a rebel-held town close to the capital, Damascus.
A line of smugglers and fighters move up the side of a mountain in the dark.
It is steep – our legs are aching, our lungs screaming – and there’s three more
days of this.
But it’s the only illicit route into Syria from Lebanon at the moment. The
Syrian regime, fighting for its life, has managed to close all the others…..
The men showing us around are with the Free Syrian Army (FSA). There is another,
rival armed group here: the Salafis – hardline Islamists. They are the biggest
group in this town, because they are getting guns and money from outside while
the FSA is relatively poor…..
..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18950700
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EXPRESS.CO.UK
20,000 RUSSIANS ‘WON’T BE RESCUED IN SYRIA
By Marco Giannangeli 22 July 2012
…A British Army source revealed last night that former SAS soldiers are training
Syrian rebels in Iraq in military tactics, weapons handling and communications
systems.
More than 300 have passed through a base just inside the Iraq border, while a
command course is run in Saudi Arabia.
Groups of 50 rebels at a time are being trained by two private security firms
employing former Special Forces personnel. “Our role is purely instructional
teaching tactics, techniques and procedures,” said a former SAS member.
“Some of these guys are shopkeepers and schoolteachers who have lost everything.
“If we can teach them how to take cover, to shoot and avoid being spotted by
snipers it will hopefully help.”
In Britain, military commanders have drawn up contingency plans to evacuate UK
passport holders from Lebanon and Jordan if violence spills over from Syria.
A joint naval exercise with France, codenamed Exercise Cougar 12, would be
headed by a Royal Naval assault ship, HMS Bulwark, and carry 650 Royal Marines
from 45 Commando.
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/334406/20-000-Russians-won-t-be-rescued-in-Syria–20-000-Russians-won-t-be-rescued-in-Syria-
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A reminder of the victims of the Iraqi war; the humiliation and destruction of a
country and millions of people by ……
Inside Iraq – The Mystery Behind Margaret Hassan Murder
by grtv
Margaret Hassan was an Irish aid worker who had worked in Iraq for many years
until she was abducted and murdered by unidentified kidnappers in Iraq in 2004,
at the age of 59. A look at her murder case and the mystery behind solving her
abduction and murder case.
http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2010/05/inside-iraq-mystery-behind-margaret-hassan-murder
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What Is Really Happening in Syria?
By Patrick Seale
July 19, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — It is undeniable that President
Bashar al-Asad’s Syrian regime has, over the past 15 months, made many mistakes
and committed many crimes. An early example was the savage punishment of a dozen
children who had scrawled anti-regime graffiti on a wall in the southern city of
Daraa in March 2011. This ugly incident was soon made far worse by the use of
live fire against peaceful protesters……
There are now said to be about 100 armed rebel groups engaged in urban guerrilla
warfare against the Syrian regime. Money is flowing in from Gulf States and from
Syrian businessmen abroad, fuelling a brisk black market in weapons. Large
numbers of jihadis, armed Islamic extremists, have crossed into Syria from
neighbouring countries — and also from Kuwait, Tunisia, Algeria and Pakistan —
to swell the ranks of the fighters. Muslim clerics in several Arab countries are
inciting young men to go to Syria to fight. Rebel groups conduct ambushes,
attack check-points, destroy public property, kill government troops — about 250
were killed in ten days in late May and early June. They also kidnap, rape and
slaughter pro-regime civilians…
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31921.htm#.UAjotoRiYWo.email
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THE DEATH OF THE WEST
Nikolai MALISHEVSKI | 19.07.2012 | 00:00
…..Carving up the South Slavic statehood in the 1990ies, the US and Great
Britain opened a sweeping campaign aimed at building a partnership with Muslim
extremists and establishing control over their organizations. Several centers of
Wahhabism in the Saudi Arabia were nominated as the West’s new allies, and Great
Britain started to undisguisedly host a widening network of Muslim extremist
groups. Provided with new opportunities, those took to publishing dozens of
newspapers and promptly acquired their own broadcasters. In no time, Germany’s
BND was also patronizing a conglomerate of Wahhabi formations.
Over 700 Wahhabi groups functioned freely in West Europe by the spring of 1999.
Internationally, they were given a key role in funding and supplying Albanian
extremists, who were known to be deeply involved with the drug mafia and were
instrumental in unleashing the war against Yugoslavia.
As for London, it gradually evolved into a global terrorist hub. These days, the
city is home to a cohort of “Muslim dissenters” like the notorious Akhmed
Zakayev, a Chechen terrorist envoy charged in Russia with kidnapings and the
murders of over 300 people in October, 1995 – December, 2000……
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/07/19/the-death-of-the-west.html
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Robert Fisk is someone seen by many in the West as THE ME expert. (Could a
Japanese, Colombian, or Indian etc etc be “the Australian expert” – to the
neglect of Australian voices?) In the article referenced below, Fisk not only
quotes his ‘favourite dinner host’ Walid Jumblatt directly, but presents him as
a hero. To understand Fisk, one must know Jumblatt.
For reference to Jumblatt and Fisk, check:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-dinner-in-beirut-and-a-lesson-in-courage-403844.html
https://australiansforsyria.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/march-2012-updates/
Druze clergy and Walid Jumblatt:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-druze-clergy-jumblatt-not-our-name
General ME view of character of Walid Jumblatt, a skit from Lebanese TV
presenting Jumblatt as an opportunist seduced by Saad Hariri’s
money: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F6lXMFa04M
THE INDEPENDENT
ROBERT FISK: IF ALAWITES ARE TURNING AGAINST ASSAD THEN HIS FATE IS SEALED
The Long View: There seems to be a Baathist pattern of destroying Sunni villages
on the edge of the Alawite heartland
ROBERT FISK 23 JULY 2012
……………Take the faint outline of the old French mini-state of the Hauran where
Syria’s Druze communities now live in growing disharmony with the Assad regime.
This month, there was a dangerous outbreak of kidnapping in the region –
resolved only after Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader, made a series of
phone calls to prominent Druze in Syria. Jumblatt himself has had a
friendly-hostile-friendly-hostile-relationship with the Assad family – I may
have left out a couple of ‘friendlys’ and ‘hostiles’ there – but there is no
doubt where he now stands.
Last week, he urged the Druze as well as the Alawites in Syria to join the
revolt against the Assad regime. He has even attacked his allies in Moscow,
calling Russia’s support for Assad “no longer acceptable, morally or
politically.”
And not without reason does he speak thus. Three Syrian Druze have died in the
revolution this month. Majd Zein, a Druze Free Syrian Army member, was killed
during an attack on Rastan. Shafiq Shuqayr and Yasser Awwad were executed by the
Syrian army when they were discovered to be helping government soldiers to
defect in the area of Lajat. Now Jumblatt is calling upon all Alawites to join
the rebellion instead of allowing themselves to remain a minority dependent on
Assad for their survival. “I say to them that they must say they are Syrians
before they are Alawites.”
And a final statistic to explain the revolution outside Damascus. Latest figures
show that 58 per cent of Syrian’s population under 24 years old are unemployed
(higher, even, than Egypt), while 48 per cent of the 18-29 year-old age range –
a statistic only beaten by Yemen – have no jobs. They do now, of course. Most
have joined the Syrian revolt.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-if-alawites-are-turning-against-assad-then-his-fate-is-sealed-7965154.html
ROBERT FISK: SECTARIANISM BITES INTO SYRIA’S REBELS
The deathwish of fighters in Damascus terrifies many who oppose Assad
22 July 2012
……Now, of course, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, where al-Jazeera is based, make no
secret of the funds and weapons they are running into Turkey and Lebanon for the
resistance – without apparently caring very much who the “resisters” are. The
Lebanese army managed to stop one out of five shiploads of guns, but the others,
carried on Sierra Leone-registered vessels, were able to unload.
One of the two organisations that claimed responsibility for last week’s
Damascus bombing, Liwa Islam – the Islam Brigade – raises again the Salafist
element in Syria’s armed opposition. One newly arrived refugee from Syria told
me last week that they have forbidden alcohol and openly say they intend to die
fighting in Damascus. Given the savage response of the Syrian regime, they may
get their last wish.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-sectarianism-bites-into-syrias-rebels-7964251.html
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‘Don’t be duped by Western humanitarian rhetoric on Syria’ – Russia’s UN
ambassador
By RT
July 20, 2012 “RT”
In an exclusive interview with RT, Vitaly Churkin gave his explanation of what
is going on in Syria and why he thinks the conflict has spread beyond that
country’s borders.RT: Russia’s decision to veto this latest resolution has
caused consternation and widespread criticism of Moscow’s stance – is Russia
supporting the Assad regime?Vitaly Churkin: Of course not. It is all about what
needs to be done in order to settle the crisis. Unfortunately, the strategy of
our Western colleagues seems to be to try to whip up tensions in and around
Syria at every opportunity. And this time they took the occasion of the need to
extend the mandate of the monitoring mission in Syria and attached a number of
unacceptable clauses to their draft resolution. So, we needed to veto together
with China that unacceptable draft to allow Kofi Annan more space to work on the
document which was adopted by foreign ministers of a number of countries of the
so-called “action group”, which calls for setting up transitional national body
and that requires of course the dialogue between various parties. So, in this
context, to introduce a resolution which would only entail pressure and almost
inevitable sanctions on the Syrian government did not look like a good idea to
us at all and we blocked the decision, which in our view was
counter-productive.RT: So, Moscow is not supporting the Assad regime, but
America, Britain and France say Russia’s failed the Syrian people – how do you
react to that?….
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31933.htm#.UApczf-TeDQ.email
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The body which the Syrian opposition in Australia gets their statistics
regarding those killed, imprisoned etc is the SRCC. The director, Ausama
Monajed, can be seen in a photo shoot with president Bush in September 2008.
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/09/images/20080923-13_d-0552-2-513h.html
AUSAMA MONAJED, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Mr. Monajed founded the centre in 2010 and continues to develop it. He is widely
quoted in and interviewed by prestigious international media outlets. He
previously worked as a communication consultant in Europe and in the U.S. and
formerly served as the director of Barada Television, a Syrian broadcast
station, as well as served as an economist and projects manager with the
European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP. Mr.
Monajed holds a postgraduate degree in politics and communications from the UK
and an undergraduate degree in economics and management from Syria.
STRATEGIC RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION CENTRE
http://www.strescom.org/briefings/daily-round-ups/item/235-round-up-of-day-496-sunday,-22-july-2012.html
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Iran and Syria are not a threat to the United States
Wag the Dog Arrives at Last
By Philip Giraldi
The Passionate Attachment
July 18, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Few commentators have taken note
of the truly significant shift in the Israel-United States relationship. To be
sure, Israel has for many years been able to control many aspects of
Washington’s policy in the Middle East while simultaneously drawing on the US
taxpayer to sustain its military predominance. But even as recently as 2003,
when the United States invaded Iraq in part because Israeli interests called for
such action, Tel Aviv was not able to bring about a war without marshaling
additional arguments. Tel Aviv arguably enabled the Iraq war in that the Israeli
Lobby had the power to stop it, but there were also other elements to include
George W. Bush’s seeking revenge for the alleged assassination plot against his
father, the fact that Iraq is a major oil producing country and the war would
“pay for itself,” and the totally false claim that Iraq had somehow been
involved in 9/11. Israel alone, acting in its own interests, could not force
America to go to war. George W. Bush, for all his faults, would not have gone to
war solely for Israel and it has even been reported that he was strong enough
to block a subsequent Israeli bid to attack Iran.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31917.htm#.UAeb1D7vBXw.email
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STRATEGIC CULTURE FOUNDATION
USA AND AL QAEDA: HOLY ALLIANCE
Igor IGNATCHENKO | 17.07.2012 | 00:24
Syria is flooded by terrorists of all kinds. Al Qaeda has committed a number of
terrorist acts. According to former Commander of Turkish Naval Academy Admiral
Turker Erturk it gets support from the USA. He says that the West and its Arab
allies have decided to repeat the “Salvadorian scenario” counting on terrorist
groups stepping in instead of the opposition. The suicide bomber raids in
Damascus corroborate the fact. Let me remember the operation aimed at
destabilization of Salvador with the help of suicide bombers was headed by John
Negroponte, who later became US ambassador to Iraq, and would be US ambassador
to Syria Robert Ford.
Peter Oborne, a Daily Telegraph commentator, confirmed that the USA and Great
Britain have intensified clandestine cooperation with Al Qaeda recently joining
efforts in fight against the Syrian government. In its article Syria’s Crisis is
Leading Us to Unlikely Bedfellows he points out that the terror acts committed
in Damascus before the New Year had all earmarks of the ones committed by the
terrorist organization in Iraq. According to the British journalist the Al Qaeda
militants had come to Syria from Libya across the “Turkish corridor”. Peter
Oborne sees “the triple Washington-London-Al Qaeda alliance” as a great menace
for the UK.
Omar Al-Bakri, a religious extremist residing in Lebanon, confessed in an
interview to the Daily Telegraph that Al Qaeda militants supported by Al
Mustaqbal headed by Saad al-Hariri have already infiltrated into Syria from
Lebanon. At a press-conference held in Baghdad Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar
Zebari confirmed the fact that Al Qaeda does infiltrate into Syria across the
Iraqi border in order to commit terror acts and bring in weapons.
The Guardian has recently published an article called Military
Interventionin Syria Would Be Disastrous for Its People. The author Sami
Ramadani points out the fact an alliance between the USA and Al Qaeda has taken
shape. The USA and Turkey intensively destabilize Syria using the oil funds
provided by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. While Hillary Clinton is trying to persuade
the world community an intervention in Syria is a necessary step, the CIA is
actively involved in providing support and training to the militants. As is
known the USA and NATO allies have recruited heads of terrorist organizations
and common criminals from different countries of the world as mercenaries to
make them go through special drilling course in the training camps located in
Turkey and Lebanon. For instance, while in Homs a member of the League of Arab
states observer mission working for Iraqi special services was very much
surprised to see Pakistani, Iraqi and Afghan mercenaries. Especially striking
was the fact that some of them had been his kidnappers in Iraq. It’s important
to note that over a hundred of hirelings from Arab and other countries,
including a significant number of French legionaries, were captured by Syrian
authorities after freeing Homs.
Hala Jaber, a Sunday Times correspondent, is sure religious extremists and
foreign mercenaries infiltrating Syria from the territories of adjacent
countries contributed to the exacerbation of violence to make international
observers terminate their mission. Hala Jaber emphasized the calls of Saudi
sheikhs to cross the Syrian border were followed by dozens of people coming from
Lebanon, Tunisia, Algiers, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait full of
fanatic aspiration to create an Arab caliphate in Syria and the region. …….
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/07/17/usa-and-al-qaeda-holy-alliance.html
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TREMSEH KILLINGS TARGETED REBELS – UN MONITORS
15 July 2012
The attack on the Syrian city of Tremseh, widely condemned by the West as
civilian murder, actually targeted rebels and army defectors, says a UN
investigation. The findings contradict opposition claims of civilian killings by
Assad forces.
A team of monitors visited the site of the killings on Saturday. After a
preliminary examination they concluded that “the attack on Tremseh appeared
targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists.”
“A variety of weapons were used in an attack on the Syrian village of Tremseh,
where more than 150 people were killed this week, with the homes of rebels and
activists bearing the brunt,” the UN mission said.
However, the mission said the death toll was still unclear. Damascus says 37
fighters and two civilians were killed in their “military operation,” while the
activists are talking of around 220 civilians dead after “clashes with
opposition protesters.”
The UN monitors plan to return to the area and continue the investigation, many
conclusions of which so far appear to coincide with Damascus’s claims that the
attack on Tremseh was part of a counter-terrorist operation in the area.
“Armed forces units on Thursday morning carried out a ‘special operation’ in
Tremseh … that targeted the gatherings of terrorist group members,” said Syrian
state news outlet SANA, quoting a military source.
The Syrian government said the operation was launched in response to civilian
pleas for help in the area, claiming that they had been victims of “criminal
acts at the hands of armed terrorist groups.”
At the same time, the Syrian Foreign Ministry rejects Kofi Annan’s claims that
helicopters and tanks were involved in the Tremseh “clashes”.
“Government forces did not use planes, or helicopters, or tanks or artillery.
The heaviest weapon used was an RPG (rocket propelled grenade),” the ministry’s
spokesman Jihad Makdissi told reporters in Damascus.
Earlier, both the UN observers and opposition activists said they saw attack
helicopters firing at targets in Tremseh. Having entered the town in the Hama
province, the UN mission concluded artillery, mortars and small arms had been
fired, but did not make any further comments on the use of helicopters or tanks.
Following reports of the killings, the international community was quick to
condemn the Assad government for the “massacre”, with Washington branding Syrian
leaders as murderers.
UN leader Ban Ki-moon said that the reports cast doubt over President Bashar
al-Assad’s commitment to UN envoy, Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
Meanwhile, the International Committee for the Red Cross has changed the status
of the Syrian crisis to “non-international armed conflict” which amounts to a
civil war. The new status can lay grounds to prosecute war crimes, such as
murder, torture, rape, or use disproportionate force against civilian areas.
MEDIA WAR RAGES ON
Author and historian Gerald Horne said that anti-Assad rhetoric immediately
triggered by the Tremseh killings was indicative of a media “blame game.”
“First of all it’s very curious that just before important UN meetings we hear
reports about massacres.” He added that speculation over the number of victims
and whether or not women and children were involved undermined the credibility
of media reports on the killings.
Horne went on to stress that there were many interests at play in the Syrian
conflict and that “regime change is the name of the game with Syria.”
He told RT that some parties involved “would like to see a replay of the Libyan
misadventure when cries for humanitarian aid were really just a mask for regime
change.”
http://www.rt.com/news/tremseh-massacre-un-rebels-215/
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NEW YORK TIMES
DETAILS OF A BATTLE CHALLENGE REPORTS OF A SYRIAN MASSACRE
Published: July 14, 2012
BY NEIL MACFARQUHAR
BEIRUT, Lebanon — New details emerging Saturday about what local Syrian
activists called a massacre of civilians near the central city of Hama indicated
that it was more likely an uneven clash between the heavily armed Syrian
military and local fighters bearing light weapons….
Although what actually happened in Tremseh remains murky, the evidence available
suggested that events on Thursday more closely followed the Syrian government
account. But Syrian officials colored that account with their usual terminology
of blaming “foreign terrorist gangs” for all violence. The government said the
Syrian Army had inflicted “heavy losses” on the “terrorists.”
The picture emerging is that there was a large group of fighters from the town
and the local area bivouacked in Tremseh. The Syrian Army moved in early
Thursday, blocking all exits and blasting away with machine guns, tank shells
and rockets fired from helicopters, laying waste to the town.
“Whenever the Syrian Army knows there are fighters concentrated in an area, they
attack,” said the leader of the Observatory, who goes by the pseudonym Rami
Abdul-Rahman for safety reasons. “The majority of people killed in Tremseh were
either rebel fighters from the village or from surrounding villages.”…….
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/world/middleeast/details-of-a-battle-challenge-reports-of-a-syrian-massacre.html?smid=tw-share
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ADDENDUM TO “WHENEVER UN MEETING ON SYRIA STARTS…” –
RT’S FULL INTERVIEW WITH SHARMINE NARWANI
Published on Jul 14, 2012 by forestgamertube
BREAKING UPDATE: Syria ‘massacre’ dead mostly rebels: activist,
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/new-syrian-massacre-hama-province
Addendum to “Whenever UN meeting on Syria starts, there’s a massacre” – RT’s
full interview with Sharmine Narwani. (Read main article
onhttp://youtu.be/v-wMr_7xUEg)
Sharmine Narwani, a political analyst and specialist in the Middle East affairs
from St. Antony’s College at Oxford University, agrees with his point. “These
so-called massacres have taken place before critical [UN] Security Council
meetings,” she said in an interview with RT.
Narwani points out two important events that accompany the Tremseh Massacre. The
first one is the return of the UN special Syria envoy Kofi Annan from his visits
to Syria and Iran.
“The Western GCC [Gulf Corporation Council of the Arab States] do not want Iran
involved in any collaborative efforts on the resolution. So [it] comes out of
Syria with the new energy about continuing the mission and agreeing with Assad
how this could be done to reduce violence,” she explained.
The second important factor that completes the picture is that the current UN
observer mission will have its mandate expired on July 20. The possible
extension is already being discussed in the United Nations, and any
“perception-building activities on the ground that [those interested] can use
for propaganda purposes” will affect the final decision.
“There are people who will want to spoil this mission from going forward… This
mission is a very important venture. It is collaborative, it works with all
parties — regional, external and internal, it is fact-finding, and its mission
is to reduce violence. There is no other option right now,” Narwani said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d1mlAjFhnc
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Twitter by William Hague, 16 July 2012
William Hague @WilliamJHague
I’m urging Libya’s new leaders to support tough sanctions on #Syria. Syrian
people are enduring what they endured, on a greater scale
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Editor: Unless you refuse to open a newspaper or turn on the TV, it is
difficult to avoid the mainstream narrative on Syria. It is a very seductive
one; it requires little to no thinking…. if you accept it.
SYRIAN OPPOSITION TO OBAMA: WAITING FOR ELECTION DAY TO ACT IS ‘UNACCEPTABLE’
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 16, 2012 —
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/15/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Editor: Below is a link to an article from February this year by John Pilger,
who is sometimes like the boy who saw that the emperor had no clothes on. And he
said so. (Pilger encourages thinking; he is so controversial.)
LET’S LEARN FROM BLAIR’S CRIMES, SO WE DON’T REPEAT THEM IN SYRIA
BY JOHN PILGERPUBLISHED 16 FEBRUARY 2012The warmongering and human rights abuses
of the New Labour years seem forgotten by all but ….
……..a media salivating for “intervention” in Syria that the civil war in that
country requires skilled and patient negotiation, not the provocations of the
British SAS and the familiar bought-and-paid-for exiles who ride in
Anglo-America’s Trojan horse.
http://www.newstatesman.com/global-issues/2012/02/pilger-blair-syria-iraq
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Hillary Clinton’s Iraq war speech on the Senate floor in October 2002. Hillary
Clinton explains why she is voting to go to war in
Iraq.http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DkS9y5t0tR0
> In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that
> Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons
> stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also
> given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including Al Qaeda members…
>
> It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to
> increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep
> trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he
> could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as
> we know all too well, effects American security.
>
> This is a very difficult vote, this is probably the hardest decision I’ve ever
> had to make. Any vote that might lead to war should be hard, but I cast it
> with conviction.”
>
> Senator Hillary Clinton (Democrat, New York)
> Addressing the US Senate
> October 10, 2002
HILLARY CLINTON: EVERY NATION MUST BE WITH US OR AGAINST US
Uploaded by BoogieWithStew on Oct 24, 2007
Remarks from Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) on September 13, 2001, during an
interview on CBS Evening News with Dan Rather
“Every nation has to either be with us, or against us. Those who harbor
terrorists, or who finance them, are going to pay a price.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DbYGYiGjpUs
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LAND DESTROYER
JULY 15, 2012
HILLARY CLINTON MUST RESIGN (OP-ED)
Cites false reports regarding Syria “massacre” to call for UN Chapter 7.
Irresponsible warmongering leaves American credibility irrevocably damaged.
editorial by Tony Cartalucci
Image: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has attempted on numerous occasions
to leverage fabricated atrocities to stampede UN resolutions through the
Security Council to allow the same destructive, tragic military campaign against
Syria that was waged against Libya. Her latest outburst was so overtly
fraudulent and patently false, her continuation as Secretary of State risks a
permanent and exponentially accelerating decline in US legitimacy worldwide.
….
July 14, 2012 – The unhinged state of US foreign policy is exemplified best by
this week’s Tremseh, Syria “massacre.” Before any confirmations could be made,
and based solely on “activist” accounts, Hillary Clinton penned a US State
Department statement that read:
> I was deeply saddened and outraged to learn of reports of yet another massacre
> committed by the Syrian regime that has claimed the lives of over 200 men,
> women, and children in the village of Traymseh. Credible reports indicate that
> this unconscionable act was carried out by artillery, tanks, and helicopters –
> indisputable evidence that the regime deliberately murdered innocent
> civilians. Syria cannot be peaceful, stable, or democratic until Assad goes
> and a political transition begins. We call for an immediate ceasefire in and
> around Hama to allow the UN observer mission to enter Traymseh. Those who
> committed these atrocities will be identified and held accountable.
>
> As long as the Assad regime continues to wage war against the Syrian people,
> the international community must keep increasing the pressure on the regime to
> halt the violence and allow for a political solution to go forward. The
> Security Council should put its full weight behind the Annan plan for an
> immediate ceasefire and a political transition and make clear to the Syrian
> regime that there will be consequences for non-compliance. History will judge
> this Council. Its members must ask themselves whether continuing to allow the
> Assad regime to commit unspeakable violence against its own people is the
> legacy they want to leave.
The Security Council of course would be putting its “full weight” behind Kofi
Annan’s “peace plan” with Chapter 7 provisions in place – meaning that sanctions
and military intervention, as it was in Libya, would be subsequently
implemented.
What US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attempted to do, was propose a UN
Security Council resolution authorizing military intervention (and by
consequence, long sought after regime change), then used fabricated reports to
sell the resolution in the court of global public and diplomatic opinion. It
constitutes an overt crime against peace, and conspiracy to wage aggressive war
-both Nuremberg offenses.
Tremseh was a Battle, Not a Massacre
As the facts emerge as to what really happened in Tremseh, Syria, it becomes
evidently clear the US State Department, along with its British, French, German,
and Australian counterparts, has attempted to sell yet another NATO war of
aggression based on a patently false pretext. The New York Times in their
article, “New Details of a Battle Challenge Reports of a Syrian
Massacre,”reported that “activists,” the so-called “Free Syria Army” (FSA), and
the Western-backed “Syrian National Council” (SNC) all gave conflicting reports.
What could be verified by UN monitors who arrived at the scene, is that the vast
majority of those “massacred” were men of fighting age, with some opposition
figures conceding that they were indeed militant fighters. The number “200” that
Clinton cited, was actually the number of militants that had gathered in Tremseh
to plot the next leg of their terrorist activities. Locals had passed the
information on to the Syrian Army who surrounded the area and neutralized the
fighters during a pitched battle the FSA ultimately lost.Not only that, but the
UN confirms that Syrian security operations targeted “specific” rebel locations
rendering Clinton’s accusation that government forces “deliberately murdered
innocent civilians” a bold-faced lie.
In other words, Hillary Clinton falsified her statement, given before the entire
“international community,” claiming “200 men, women, and children” were
deliberately massacred, when in reality it was the Syrian military restoring
order in the face of armed terrorists. After the military secured the Tremseh
area, they put on display a vast cache of weaponry found in the area, as well as
captured FSA militants including both Turkish and Libyan fighters – meaning that
those not killed in the fighting, were not “executed” as earlier reports falsely
stated…….
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.ca/2012/07/hillary-clinton-must-resign-op-ed.html
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LAVROV: WE OPPOSE ANY TENDENCIES AIMED AT DOWNFALLING THE SYRIAN STATE, REFUSE
EXTORTION AND PAVING THE WAY FOR MILITARY INTERVENTION IN SYRIA
16 July 2012
MOSCOW_ Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said that the Russian
suggestions towards solving the crisis in Syria are right ones and they should
be listed in the draft resolution at the UN Security Council.
In a press conference in Moscow, Lavrov said that violence should be stopped by
all the Syrian sides, adding that “We oppose any tendencies aimed at downfalling
the Syrian state and refuse extortion and paving the way for military
intervention in Syria.”
He stressed that Moscow’s foreign policy is “firm and based on the international
legitimacy and laws,” adding that the participants in Geneva meeting started to
distort the results of this meeting.
Minister Lavrov said that some international sides are asking Syria’s leadership
to stop violence and at the same time, they are not practicing any influence on
the Syrian opposition that is seeking power.
He stressed that Moscow agrees on any decision made by the Syrian people
regarding their future, adding that “After Syria agreed on Annan’s plan, we
started to hear strange words on its failure and an escalation of violence on
the ground and we have documented that in Geneva statement.
After the final approval of President al-Assad on the appointment of an envoy
for negotiation, our partners began to put conditions, demanding the use of
Chapter VII at the UN Security Council.
“We should implement Annan’s plan. Our international partners should practice
influence on the armed groups to take constructive procedures. Moscow will not
allow a UN Security Council’s resolution under Chapter VII,” Lavrov said.
He warned against great risks in destabilizing the whole region, including the
Gulf states, adding that “We don’t want the Gulf states to be destabilized. It
is legal for us to express concern over the human rights issue in Saudi Arabia,”
Lavrov stressed that there are no attempts to ask the armed groups to cease
fire, adding that all pressures are being exerted on the Syrian government only.
He pointed out that the needed resolution from the UN Security Council is
extending the authorities of the UN observer mission, adding that there is no
need to terminate the work of the mission in Syria.
HTTP://WWW.CHAMPRESS.NET/INDEX.PHP?Q=EN/ARTICLE/VIEW/4188
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MAKDISSI : WHAT HAPPENED IN AL-TREIMSEH A MILITARY OPERATION BETWEEN THE ARMY
AND GUNMEN WHO TERRORISED CIVILIANS
DAMASCUS_ Foreign and Expatriates Ministry spokeman, Dr. Jihad Makdissi,
stressed what happened in al-Treimseh village in the countryside of Hama
province was not a massacre but a military operation and armed clashes between
the army forces and armed groups that do not believe in dialogue or the
political solution.
In a press conference held on Sunday, Makdissi said the army forces did not use
any heavy weapons upon entering the village in response to the resident’s
pleads, adding that damage due to the clash was caused to only five buildings in
which the terrorists were positioned along with their weapons.
Makdissi: Annan’s Letter Is Hasty and Not Based on Reality
He referred to a letter received by Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid
al-Moallem form the UN envoy Kofi Annan regarding the events in al-Treimseh,
which Makdissi described as “hasty to the furthest extent” and not based on the
reality of what happened in the village.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/4135
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THE TELEGRAPH
AL-QAEDA TRIES TO CARVE OUT A WAR FOR ITSELF IN SYRIA
AL-QAEDA HAS INFILTRATED INTO SYRIA AND IS WORKING TO ESTABLISH FOOTHOLDS IN THE
WAR-TORN NORTHERN PROVINCES.
By Ruth Sherlock, Idlib Province
7:52PM BST 12 Jul 2012
Whilst the militant Islamic organisation’s influence remains small, home-grown
jihadist groups that are linked with, or sympathetic to the ideals of movement
are growing.
The Daily Telegraph has seen al-Qaeda’s flag flying openly in some areas of
Idlib and Aleppo provinces that straddle the borders with Turkey and Iraq and
fighters in the rebel Free Syrian Army have told how representatives of the
militant group have tried in past months to win control of towns and villages.
“An al Qaeda group led by a man who called himself Abu Saddiq took control in
Der Tezzeh,” said one FSA rebel speaking on condition of anonymity.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9396256/Al-Qaeda-tries-to-carve-out-a-war-for-itself-in-Syria.html
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All Roads Lead To… Iran? ‘War At Core of MidEast Turmoil’
Saudi Arabia is sending additional troops to its Eastern region of Qatif – with
the government fearing riots. Public anger is rising in the area – with reports
of more marches planned in support of two local activists, killed at a rally on
Sunday. The demonstration was in response to the violent arrest of a prominent
Shia cleric. The deaths brought tens of thousands onto the streets of the city
of Qatif – for marches that have continued throughout the week. Discontent is
fueled by a lack of political and civil freedoms and ongoing detentions of
dissidents. The clampdown has been ignored by the west which unconditionally
supports the regime. For more RT talks to Dan Glazebrook, a political analyst
from UK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pccrEYSMJ_0&feature=player_embedded
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TIKUN OLAM
ISRAEL INVENTS SYRIAN WMD THREAT, IDF COMMANDERS THREATEN INTERVENTION
by RICHARD SILVERSTEIN on JULY 13, 2012 · 13 COMMENTS
in MIDEAST PEACE
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2012/07/13/israel-invents-syrian-chemical-warfare-threat-rattles-sabers-regarding-possible-intervention/
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INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Two Faces
The Most Successful Terrorist Of The 20th CenturyBy Uri AvneryJuly 14, 2012
“Information Clearing House” — TWO FORMER Prime Ministers of Israel are in the
news these days. They represent two of the many faces of Israel.They also raise
a universal question: which is preferable – an honest fanatic or a corrupt
pragmatist?YITZHAK SHAMIR died two weeks ago and was buried in the cemetery of
the “Great of the Nation” in Jerusalem. He was 97 years old and had been
vegetating for years in a state of dementia. Most Israelis did not know that he
was still alive.When I described him on TV as “the most successful terrorist of
the 20th century”, the interviewer raised his eyebrows. But it was an accurate
description.Shamir was not a great thinker. In his teens he joined the
right-wing Zionist youth organization of Vladimir Jabotinsky in Poland, and
since then he did not change his world-view one iota. In this respect he was
absolutely immovable. He wanted a Jewish state in all of the historical country.
Period. No nonsense about Arabs and such.We both joined the Irgun underground at
the same time. I was too young to take part in actual terrorist actions, he,
eight years my senior, carried them out. At the time, the Irgun killed scores of
Arab men, women and children in attacks on Arab markets, in retaliation for Arab
attacks on Jewish civilians. We defied the policy of “self-restraint” ordered by
the Zionist leadership.
……..SHAMIR, THE dead honest fanatic, has many followers. Olmert, the living
corrupt pragmatist, has very few. Netanyahu, their current successor, has the
vices of both and the virtues of neither.
Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. A
member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat in the Knesset from 1965–74 and
1979–81
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31861.htm#.UAH_ZYlR1dI.email
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SYRIA – THE TRUE STORY
Published on Jul 11, 2012 by docolovers
What are the forces at play in the world today? A question that remains
unanswered by those entrusted to communicate to us, the truth.
Yet we ourselves fall short from attaining it, not for lack of access, but
because of an unbroken fear that has obscured our vision.
This documentary is the true story behind Syria.
HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=HRTND5H2L_Q&SNS=EM
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RUSSIA TODAY
‘WMD’ + ‘ETHNIC CLEANSINGS’ = CASE TO BOMB SYRIA?
Get short URL
email story to a friend print version
Published: 13 July, 2012, 14:08
US officials say Damascus is moving parts of its chemical weapons arsenal, an
allegation denied by Syrian authorities. Some in Washington imply that the
weapons may be used for “ethnic cleansing”.
Syria is believed to have a large arsenal of chemical weapons, including sarin
nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide, which is undeclared due to the country not
being a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention.
The Wall Street Journal cites unnamed US officials as saying that parts of the
arsenal are being relocated from their storage facilities.
The Syrian government denied the alleged move when asked for comments.
“This is absolutely ridiculous and untrue,” said Syria’s Foreign Ministry
spokesman, Jihad Makdissi. “If the US is so well-informed, why can’t they help
[UN envoy] Kofi Annan in stopping the flow of illegal weapons to Syria in order
to end the violence and move towards the political solution?”
The White House, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon declined to
comment.
But WSJ sources insist that it is happening, although they differ on the reasons
for the claimed relocation. Some believe Damascus is doing it to secure from
being taken over by the armed opposition. Others say it is a veiled threat
against potential supporters of the rebels – both inside the country and abroad.
The most pessimistic say the Syrian military are preparing to use the chemical
weapons against the rebels and civilians.
“The regime has a plan for ethnic cleansing, and we must come to terms with
this,” one US official said. “There is no diplomatic solution.”
“This could set the precedent of WMD [weapons of mass destruction] being used
under our watch,” another one said.“This is incredibly dangerous to our national
security.”
The source did not specify which of the many ethnic groups mixed in Syria the
government may wish to attack with the highly indiscriminate weapons in a move
which would doubtlessly provoke international condemnation.
HTTP://WWW.RT.COM/NEWS/SYRIA-CHEMICAL-WEAPONS-MOVED-110/
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SYRIA CRISIS: WHERE SYRIAN FIGHTERS GET THEIR WEAPONS FROM
Reuters | Posted: 07/13/2012 8:43 am
By Jonathan Saul and Mariam Karouny
LONDON/BEIRUT, July 13 (Reuters) – Syrian rebels are smuggling small arms into
Syria through a network of land and sea routes involving cargo ships and trucks
moving through Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq, maritime intelligence and Free Syrian
Army (FSA) officers say.
HTTP://WWW.HUFFINGTONPOST.COM/2012/07/13/SYRIA-CRISIS-REBELS-WEAPONS_N_1670780.HTML?UTM_HP_REF=WORLD
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LAND DESTROYER
SATURDAY, JULY 14, 2012
LATEST SYRIA “MASSACRE” – GOEBBELSESQUE PROPAGANDA
Claim “UN blames regime forces for Syria massacre ,” admits “neither activists’
claims nor the videos could be independently verified.”
by Tony CartalucciJuly 14, 2012 – Surely if nothing “activists” have so far
said about latest so-called “massacre,” in Tremseh, Syria can be verified, it is
impossible to “blame” anyone for the alleged deaths that are said to have
occurred. Nevertheless, the Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, and many other
mainstays of the West’s corporate-run media machine ran with titles such as, “UN
blames regime forces for Syria massacre” (AP), “Syrian regime condemned for
Tremseh massacre” (Reuters), “Syria crisis: Tremseh ‘massacre’” (Guardian), and
“Syria unrest: Kofi Annan shocked at Tremseh ‘atrocities’” (BBC)
HTTP://LANDDESTROYER.BLOGSPOT.COM.AU/2012/07/US-BRITISH-CAUGHT-PEDDLING.HTML
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LAND DESTROYER
SATURDAY, JULY 14, 2012
BOMBSHELL: DEFECTED SYRIAN AMBASSADOR ADMITS ROLE IN KILLING US TROOPS
In Telegraph interview, Western-coddled Nawaf Fares admits he organized “Jihadi
units” to fight US troops in Iraq.
by Tony CartalucciJuly 14, 2012 – Nawaf Fares, former Syrian Ambassador to Iraq
who just recently defected and is now harbored in Qatar, admitted in an
interview with the London Telegraph that he personally organized “Jihadi units”
to fight US troops in Iraq. Fares maintains that he did so under orders by the
Syrian government, and that a recent string of bombings in Syria were carried
out by “Al Qaeda” in coordination with Syrian security forces.
Unfortunately for Nawaf Fares, who has just admitted to being an international
terrorist, not only does he fail to provide any actual evidence to suggest the
Syrian government had ordered or condoned his terrorist activities during the US
occupation of Iraq (as even the Telegraph notes), nor provide any evidence at
all that “Al Qaeda” had coordinated its bombing campaigns with Syrian security
forces, but a myriad of confirmed reports and evidence already exist
contradicting entirely Fares’ statements.
That President Bashar al-Assad is a “collaborator” with Al Qaeda is farcical at
face value. The following headlines help illustrate the absurdity of Fares’
claims: “Al Qaeda head calls for fall of Assad” (AP), “Top US official: Al Qaeda
in Iraq joining fight against Syria’s Assad” (McClatchy), “Al Qaeda’s Zawahiri
calls for war to oust Syria’s Assad” (AP), just to name a few. Additionally it
was reported by Seymour Hersh in a 2007 New Yorker article titled, “The
Redirection,” that not only was Al Qaeda being arrayed against the Syrian
government since as early as 2007, but it was in fact the United States, Israel,
and the Gulf States that were organizing, funding, and arming them. ….
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/bombshell-defected-syrian-ambassador.html
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Russia Today
DEADLY DESCENT: NEW MASSACRE BLAME GAME IN SYRIA
Published on Jul 13, 2012 by RussiaToday
France is leading calls for more UN Security Council action to stop the carnage
in Syria – where over 200 people have reportedly been killed in a massacre in
the central province of Hama. Both government and rebel forces are blaming each
other for the slaughter – while the world body remains paralyzed on whether to
extend its observer mission, or impose sanctions. Maria Finoshina reports.
And, Jeff Steinberg from the Executive Intelligence Review, believes it’s the
foreign backing of the rebels that’s the main obstacle to peace in Syria.
RT LIVE http://rt.com/on-air
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0YhNtUs7Ns&feature=player_embedded
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Asia Times
Covering Syria: The information war
By Aisling Byrne
12 July 2012
The narrative that has been constructed by the Western mainstream media on Syria
may seem to be self-evident from the scenes presented on television, but it is a
narrative duplicitously promoted and coordinated so as to conceal and facilitate
the regime-change project that is part of the war on Iran.What we are seeing is
a new stage of information war intentionally constructed and cast as a
simplistic narrative of a struggle for human rights and democracy so as
deliberately to exclude other interpretations and any geo-strategic
motivation.The narrative, as CNN puts it, is in essence this: “The vast majority
of reports from the ground indicate that government forces are killing citizens
in an attempt to wipe out civilians seeking [President Bashar] al-Assad’s
ouster” – the aim being precisely to elicit a heart-wrenching emotional response
in Western audiences that trumps all other considerations and makes the call for
Western/Gulf intervention to effect regime change.
But it is a narrative based on distortion, manipulation, lies and videotape….
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NG12Ak01.html
******************************************************
NEW AMERICAN
AFTER U.S. UPROAR, ANOTHER SYRIAN “CIVILIAN MASSACRE” STORY FALLS APART
14 JULY 2012 by Alex Newman
Yet another alleged “massacre” of “civilians” by the Syrian regime was in the
establishment-press headlines this week, supposedly a brutal killing spree by
dictator Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the village of Tremseh that left up to 250
people dead. As has become typical, Western governments and mainstream media
outlets — the New York Times, the BBC, and others included — parroted anonymous
“opposition activists” for the claims. But within days, after foreign powers
seeking regime change had their chance to beat the war drums even louder, the
carefully constructed tale was already falling apart.U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton, one of the top defenders of the dangerous “rebel” coalition
operating in Syria at American taxpayer expense, immediately claimed there was
“indisputable evidence that the regime deliberately murdered innocent civilians”
— “over 200 men, women and children,” in fact. She did not present or cite any
of the alleged evidence, but vowed to punish those responsible amid more calls
for immediate regime change. Other Western leaders and financiers of the
violence in Syria issued similar condemnations and more threats.Despite
hysterical reporting and wild statements by political leaders, however, even
“opposition activists” were conceding early on that most of the dead were
actually armed combatants who had staged attacks on the regime’s military
forces. More recent reports, even those based on anonymous “opposition
activists,” also suggest that closer to 100 people had died. Almost all of the
dead were military-aged men, too — a far cry from Clinton’s “over 200 men, women
and children.” ……..
Both sides — the barbaric Assad regime and the anti-Assad foreign powers backing
the rebels — are undoubtedly using propaganda to advance their narratives.
However, a disturbing pattern has emerged over the last year: numerous massacres
blamed on the dictatorship’s forces were actually conducted by the
Western-backed rebels. Christians in particular, who have found one of the last
Middle Eastern refuges in Syria under Assad and therefore largely support the
regime, are being exterminated by the foreign-financed Islamist opposition in
what observers have called a real example of “ethnic cleansing.”Of course, none
of the information presented here is meant to defend the barbarian tyrant ruling
over Syria. The point is that there is much more going on than Western
governments and the mainstream press would like citizens to realize — and people
are dying based on gross deceptions perpetrated by the highest levels of the
establishment. More will undoubtedly die in the coming months.Instead of
presenting the truth, powerful establishment forces are using lies and
deception, as well as taxpayer money, in an effort to impose a new regime on the
Syrian people by force of arms if necessary. And unfortunately for the
populations of Syria and maybe Iran next, more than a few analysts worry that
the new rulers — if and when the bloodshed ever stops — might be even worse than
the current situation. Only time will tell.
http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/asia/item/12079-after-us-uproar-another-syrian-“civilian-massacre”-story-falls-apart
********************************************************
> ‘SYRIAN REBELS CREATE MAYHEM TO BLAME IT ON ASSAD REGIME’
>
> 13 July RT Interview with Tariq Ali
>
> Moscow says those behind the latest massacre in Syria want to unleash
> sectarian violence and ignite full civil war. Over two hundred people are
> believed to have been killed in the central province of Hama. Both government
> and rebel forces blame each other for the slaughter – while the UN remains
> paralysed on whether to extend its observer mission, or impose sanctions. RT
> talks to author and Middle East expert Tariq Ali who joins me now from London.
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLdJEWqU6ME
A video of rebels/mercenaries/terrorists celebrating after some sort of victory.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RUPTQPrN6U&feature=player_embedded
********************************************************
GLOBAL RESEARCH CANADA
Western Media Report New Syrian Massacre as US Pushes For Military Intervention
by Finian Cunningham
13 JULY 2012
Here we go again. More high-flown Western mainstream media reports of “another
massacre” in Syria – once again blamed on the government forces of President
Bashar Al Assad.
The latest alleged atrocity occurred Thursday morning in the village of Tremseh,
in Hama Province. CNN, BBC, Financial Times, Guardian, Daily Mail, among a
clatter of Western media outlets, claim that over 200 civilians were massacred
by the Syrian army and pro-Assad militia in what is said to be the
single-biggest atrocity in the 16-month conflict.
The reports bear the same formula of previous massacres in Syria, such as in the
villages of Houla and Qubair on 24 May and 6 June, when 108 and 78 people were
reportedly slaughtered.
Strident headlines rush to accuse the Syrian army of the killings; but the text
of the articles contains scant details that can be verified on who carried out
the attacks.
A recurring feature is that all the reports rely on ubiquitous, unnamed
“opposition activists” for their claims. A closer look at the individual media
outlets’ sources shows a preponderant use of one or two news agencies, Reuters
or Associated Press.
In its reporting of the latest massacre, Britain’s Guardian claims that there
are many narratives coming out of Tremseh all saying the same thing, that it was
the result of regime forces, and therefore this must be credible. The fact is
that the “many narratives” that the Guardian is referring to are actually coming
from the same source of unnamed opposition activists whose allegations are being
relayed by one or two news agencies, which are then picked up and amplified by a
plethora of outlets, such as the Guardian. This is not independent
corroboration; it is simply repetition of unverified claims.
CNN, a multi-billion-dollar corporation, in its account of the Tremseh killings
takes the standard of news reporting to a new low.
It reports: “Activists in the city of Hama told CNN that witnesses inside
Tremseh told them by telephone that Syrian military forces had launched a
full-scale attack against the opposition Free Syrian Army inside the town, which
was surrounded by government tanks and artillery.”
In other words, CNN, a supposedly world-class news service, is getting its
information third hand from faceless, unnamed voices down a remote phone line.
Typically, in the Western media reportage, buried beneath several paragraphs,
comes the usual disclaimer: “We are not able to independently verify these
claims”. But, by then, the damage of biased reporting has been done. The reader
is liable to be inculcated with the headlined assertion that the Syrian armed
forces have committed another atrocity.
Admittedly, these reports do give a line or two to the government version of
events that the killings are the work of foreign-backed armed terrorists. But
the government’s line is always put in quotation marks that imply “this is
unreliable hogwash”. It is also telling that, despite the consistency of such
government claims, there is no follow-up investigation by the Western mainstream
media into what are alarming implications, that is that Western governments and
their allies are supporting terrorist subversion in a sovereign country. That is
a war crime on multiple counts.
All the Western mainstream media outlets claim that the village of Tremseh was
subjected to hours of artillery shelling and fire from helicopter gunships. Then
the unknown pro-government militia, referred to as Shabiha, are said to have
allegedly moved into the village to kill civilians “execution style”.
This same scenario was reported for the earlier massacres at Houla and Qubair.
Yet careful follow-up reports published by the German newspaper, Frankfurter
Algemeine Zeitung and Russia Today, among others, have found that the
perpetrators of such atrocities were in fact Western and Arab-backed
mercenaries. This has been corroborated independently by Catholic Church sources
and other civilian sources in Syria.
Another significant factor is the timing of these atrocities. The massacre at
Qubair happened just as the UN/Arab League Special Envoy Kofi Annan was about to
submit a report to the Security Council on violations of the 12 April ceasefire.
The ceasefire was dismissed from the outset by Washington and London as being
“flouted by Assad” even though the Syrian government had signed up to it and the
violations being reported at the time were by the Western-backed armed groups.
The West’s Qatari ally – and arms supplier of the opposition – Shaikh Hamad bin
Khalifa Al Thani said that the proposed Annan truce “had only a three per cent
chance of succeeding”. Why was such pessimism expressed so confidently?
Conveniently for the Western powers, a massacre allegedly committed by Assad’s
forces should occur at that sensitive moment.
This latest outrage comes hours before another sensitive meeting of the Security
Council members in which the US, Britain and France are pressurizing Russia and
China to vote on a resolution that would pave the way for a NATO-style military
intervention in Syria.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31893
*******************************************************
THE ARMED FORCES CARRY OUT “QUALITATIVE OPERATION” IN AL-TREISMEH AND CAUSES
HEAVY LOSSES AMONG TERRORISTS
HAMA COUNTRYSIDE- A military source on Friday stated that some of the armed
forces units on Thursday morning carried out a “qualitative operation” in
al-Treimseh town in the countryside of Hama province that targeted the
gatherings of terrorist groups’ members as well as a number of their
leadership’s whereabouts and dens which they used as a springboard for their
criminal acts and a base for torturing kidnapped citizens.
The operation, the source said, came in response to the pleads of the
inhabitants of al-Treimseh town who had been exposed to various forms of
criminal acts at the hands of armed terrorist groups including acts of killing
and terrorizing in addition to exploding a number of houses……
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/3991
RUSSIA, CHINA VEHEMENTLY CONDEMN AL-TREIMSEH MASSACRE AGAINST CIVILIANS IN HAMA
COUNTRYSIDE
MOSCOW/BEIJING_ Russia on Friday vehemently condemned the bloody crime committed
against civilians in al-Treimseh town in Hama countryside, stressing that this
crime serves the forces that don’t seek peace.
“Without anticipating the results of the investigation of the crime, on which we
insist, we would like to stress that we have no doubt that this atrocity
benefits the forces that do not seek peace but obstinately keep trying to sow
the seeds of sectarian strife and civil conflict in Syria, and those for whom
the grief and suffering of the Syrian people mean nothing, ” Russian Foreign
Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
He added that Moscow, with great pain, had received the news of this new
massacre against the Syrian citizens who were shot point blank by unidentified
monsters….
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/4010
********************************************************************
KOFI ANNAN is often quoted in the mainstream media to support Western narrative
on Syria. But he is quoted very selectively. To know what he really views is
necessary to bring about peace in Syria, it helps to get as much of his original
text as possible and to be prepared to read between the lines.
ANNAN TO SYRIANS: CEASE FIRE OR FACE CONSEQUENCES
12 July 2012 RT
The UN special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, has urged the Security Council to
warn Assad and the opposition of “consequences” if they do not comply with the
ceasefire plan. Meanwhile, the Western members and Russia came up with two rival
resolutions.
http://www.rt.com/news/annan-consequences-syria-sanctions-979/
UN NEWS CENTRE
SECRETARY-GENERAL, UN-ARAB LEAGUE ENVOY CONDEMN LATEST ATTACKS ON SYRIAN
CIVILIANS
13 JULY 2012
“I condemn these atrocities in the strongest possible terms. It is yet another
reminder of the nightmare and the horrors Syrian civilians are being subjected
to,” Mr. Annan said. “It is desperately urgent that this violence and brutality
stops and more important than ever that governments with influence exert it more
effectively to ensure that the violence ends – immediately.”
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42463&&Cr=Syria&&Cr1=
************************
WHOSE SIDE IS THE UN ON?
07.02.2012
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
After reading the statement on Syria by UN SG Ban Ki-Moon, the notion arises
that far from being impartial, the United Nations Organization is in fact two
organisms – one, a humanitarian institution to pull the wool over our eyes and
the other, to pander to the geo-political caprices of its master, in whose house
it is a guest and a hostage.
http://wrongkindofgreen.org/2011/02/13/whose-side-is-the-united-nations-on/
********************************************************
NEW YORK TIMES
Syria General’s Absence Raises Questions on Defection
By DAN BILEFSKY and MAÏA de la BAUME
Published: July 12, 2012
PARIS – Nearly one week after the commander of one of Syria’s elite Republican
Guard units defected, he has not been seen in public or tried to contact the
opposition, raising questions about his motives and intentions, senior officials
and opposition members said.
The mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the commander, Gen. Manaf Tlass, has
dampened some of the enthusiasm that first greeted news of his decision to
abandon President Bashar al-Assad. The United States and other governments
critical of Mr. Assad pointed to the general’s departure as a promising sign
that the Syrian government was cracking under the pressure of an unrelenting
uprising.
At the time, the French Foreign Ministry described his defection as a “hard
blow” to the Syrian government and said he was on his way to France. On
Wednesday the Foreign Ministry had to concede it did not know his whereabouts.
Senior Turkish officials said they, too, were unaware of his location, or even
if he was in Turkey.
Friends who have been in recent contact with his family in Paris said that
General Tlass planned to make a public announcement next week.
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/world/middleeast/syrian-general-manaf-tlass-fails-to-surface-after-defecting.xml
********************************************************
This link is to a critique of Democracy Now’s coverage of the Syrian crisis. It
should be noted that Democracy Now did present some of the recent interview with
President Assad juxtaposed with an interview with an ‘opposition’ spokesperson.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31874
“Democracy Now” and the “Progressive” Alternative Media: Valued Cheerleaders For
Imperialism and War
by Finian Cunningham
The major Western mainstream media outlets have been running a “shock and awe”
propaganda offensive against the Syrian government of President Bashar Al Assad
for nearly 16 months. The misinformation has been unrelenting, monolithic,
unverified, one-sided and, frankly, increasingly preposterous.
With the suppression of mounting facts that Western governments are waging a
covert war of aggression in Syria, the Western public is right to treat the
conventional media sources with skepticism and outright contempt. Such media are
seen as “politicized” and “unreliable”, serving a naked imperialist agenda for
Western regime change. In a word, they are damaged goods.
This is where a segment of the so-called alternative media can play a valuable
propaganda function for Western powers. Because such media are supposed to be
independent, critical, non-corporate, the public tends to consider their reports
as objective and unbiased. One such “alternative” news service is “Democracy
Now” hosted by Amy Goodman. Goodman is seen as something of a campaigning
critical journalist shedding the light of truth on the depredations of the US
government, corporations and the Pentagon. But a closer look at what Goodman’s
“Democracy Now” is reporting on Syria shows that the purported critical
broadcaster has become a purveyor of Western government propaganda. While the
mainstream media’s propaganda function is obvious to the informed public,
Goodman’s Democracy plays a more subtle role. Camouflaged with the trappings of
critical, independent journalism, “Democracy Now” serves to sow powerful seeds
of misinformation in a way that the “compromised” mainstream media cannot.
This misinformation from “Democracy Now” is valuable to the ruling elite because
to many of its readers it is not seen as misinformation.
Rather, the “news” on “Democracy Now” is viewed as reliable and representing the
views of the anti-war, anti-imperialist constituency. In this way, Goodman is a
valuable asset to Washington and Wall Street because her broadcasts can serve to
disorient and undermine a constituency that is normally opposed to Western
warmongering and imperialism. Many of the subscribers to “Democracy Now” may see
through the misinformation. Many, though, may not, and therefore will become
embedded with the imperialist agenda. The fact that Democracy Now ratings appear
to be holding up would indicate that a lot of its followers are oblivious to the
insidious effect of such misinformation. As such, Democracy Now is more valuable
to the powers-that-be than, say, the New York Times or the Financial Times.
“Democracy Now” ensures that the agenda of the powerful becomes infiltrated in a
constituency that would otherwise be opposed to that agenda…..
**********************************************************
DANGEROUS PARTNERSHIP: Private Military and Security Companies and the UN
The United Nations is increasingly hiring Private Military and Security
Companies (PMSCs) for a wide array of security services. The UN’s leadership
says these services are needed to protect the organization’s staff and worldwide
operations from growing threats and unprecedented dangers. But many reports from
governments, NGOs and the media have shown how PMSCs have committed serious
human rights abuses, killed or injured innocent civilians, engaged in financial
malfeasance and committed many other breaches of the law. Given the track record
of these companies, serious questions arise as to whether PMSCs are appropriate
UN partners for the complex task of creating a secure, just and lawful world.
http://www.globalpolicy.org/images/pdfs/GPF_Dangerous_Partnership__Executive_Summary.pdf
*****************************************************
SYRIAN BLOGGER AND REPORTER MAYA NASER
Sanctions hurt ordinary Syrians
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/13/250643/sanctions-hurt-ordinary-syrians/
4 July 13, 2012 HOMS, THE UNDERWORLD CITY
http://syriapolitics.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/part-i-homs-underworld-city.html
8 JULY
Damascus, Syria
Maya Naser wrote:
To begin my article, I’d like to ask my readers to examine the following
paragraph quoted from the National newspaper.
“CAIRO // An Egyptian university student was fatally stabbed as his girlfriend
looked on after three suspected Islamic militants confronted the couple in a
park and said they should not be together if they were not married, security
officials said yesterday.”
Syria; the Cradle of Contradictions
In Syria we are the result of a Maroni marriage of a Mediterranean cultures, our
society can be described as anything except being one color community, or even
two… we have the Muslims of all cults and factions (Sunni with at least 4
factions, Shiia, Alawites with at least 3 factions, Ismaili, Murchidis, Druze…),
Christians are no exception when it comes to Syria, (Maronites, Jacobins,
Nestorians, Protestant. Catholics, Romans…)
In my country, you can’t kill two people for walking in the street under Shria
law, unless of course you divided the state into cantons and separated
communities the same as the west did in Lebanon, or displace all the Christians
and other Muslim minorities into other states, similar to the Iraqi case.
In my country; most of us still enjoy dancing, singing, gatherings, and
discussing life matters of all kinds without killing each other or expiation
each other.
So far; all attempts to transform Syria to another Iraq, or Libya or even Saudi
Arabia have failed, and no matter how much the west sends Al Qaeda fighter to my
country, apparently we will continue enjoying our life and I will keep holding
my girlfriend’s hands in the streets, I will not be anyone but this Syrian Man
who shares his life with Syrians no matter what gender or religion they are.
http://syriapolitics.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/syria-cradle-of-contradictions.html
******************************************************
A report by the German writer who interviewed President Assad. In this piece,
he refers to visits to hotspots in Syria and interviews with ‘rebels’.
Report by Jurgen Todenhofer, a German journalist in Syria.
Syria: The rebels of the Syrian city Homs
Syria in April. Omar is a rebel of the “Free Syrian Army” (FSA). My son Frederic
and I have met him in a dark back room in Damascus. On 27 February, he fled with
his comrades from Baba Amr, the district of Homs, which was their stronghold for
months. He wants to return to Homs. In order to avenge his younger brother, who
has died in his arms.
Omar had joined the rebels early. He has seen how the army had fired on peaceful
demonstrators. Even children were killed. Not specifically, but that doesn´t
matter. He estimates the number of his comrades in Baba Amr to about 2000. Ten
percent were deserters. Also Frenchmen, British, Americans and Iraqis were
there. As consultants and trainer.
I have asked him about the open letter of “Human Rights Watch” (HRW), which
accuses the rebels of torture, taking hostages and killing of Syrian civilians.
Omar replied that the FSA only kidnaps people, to have a tool for pressure to
demand the release of prisoners.
They normally do not kill civilians, but only traitors. You will not be
tortured, but “hard interrogated”. Once they are convicted, they are executed.
In his presence, 20 Alawite collaborators were “executed”. By headshot or by
the cutting through the throat.
Although he had heard from relatives that Assad still has 50 to 60 percent
behind him in the rest of the country. But he does not care about the majority.
Assad is a man of Israel. He will always fight him.
http://www.juergentodenhoefer.de/presse/english-articles-interviews/
****************************************************
INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT ASSAD 8/7/2012 (transcript and video)
Das Gespräch mit Baschar al Assad (englisch)
Jürgen Todenhöfer: Mr. President, members of the opposition and western
politicians say, that you are the main obstacle for peace in Syria. Would you be
ready to step down as president if this could bring peace to your country and
stop the bloodshed?
Baschar al Assad: The president shouldn’t run away from challenge and we have a
national challenge now in Syria. The president shouldn’t escape the situation,
but from the other side you can stay as president, stay in this position only
when you have the public support. So, answering this question should be answered
by the Syrian people, by the election not by the president. I can nominate
myself, I can run for the election or not run, but to leave or not to leave,
this is about the Syrian people.
http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/gespraech-assad-englisch100.html
******************************************************************************
A very interesting article, which presents some of the arguments of those who
believe that it is necessary to fight ‘the brutal dictator’ at home first even
if this means an alliance with the “evil empire”.
FIGHTING THE BIGGER OPPRESSOR FIRST
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/fighting-bigger-oppressor-first
**************************************
This is an article to pay particular attention to:
THE GUARDIAN
The Syrian opposition: who’s doing the talking?
The media have been too passive when it comes to Syrian opposition sources,
without scrutinising their backgrounds and their political connections. Time for
a closer look …
THE GUARDIAN article by Charlie Skelton 12 July 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/12/syrian-opposition-doing-the-talking
******************************************
This is old news, but news which is remains relevant.
WASHINGTON POST
U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition groups, cables released by WikiLeaks show
By Craig Whitlock, Published: April 18, 2011
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.
The London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, began broadcasting in April 2009
but has ramped up operations to cover the mass protests in Syria as part of a
long-standing campaign to overthrow the country’s autocratic leader, Bashar
al-Assad. Human rights groups say scores of people have been killed by Assad’s
security forces since thedemonstrations began March 18; Syria has blamed the
violence on “armed gangs.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-secretly-backed-syrian-opposition-groups-cables-released-by-wikileaks-show/2011/04/14/AF1p9hwD_story.html
*********************************
Syrian National Council in Moscow for first-ever talks
RT 11 July 2012
In an effort to pave the way for a peaceful resolution to the Syrian crisis,
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with the head of a major Syrian opposition
group in the Russian capital.
It was the first time Russia has engaged directly with the major opposition
movement, the Syrian National Council (SNC).
In the course of the two-hour meeting, Lavrov forwarded Russia’s position that
the most effective way for the Syrian government and opposition groups to
resolve their longstanding conflict is to follow the Annan Plan.
“By having backed the (Annan) peace plan, we confirmed a commitment (by both
sides in the conflict) to immediately cease violence and enter into a
dialogue,” the Russian minister said following talks in Moscow. “This will allow
the Syrians themselves to decide on their fate.”
Seyda described his talks with Lavrov as “constructive.”
“Moscow has put forth the draft that we will discuss,” he said. “We agreed to
continue the contacts.”
Meanwhile, the Syrian opposition remains adamant about not wanting to start a
national dialogue until President Bashar al-Assad resigns, a position that seems
to have helped perpetuate the violence in the Arab country.
http://rt.com/politics/syria-russia-lavrov-moscow-talks-912/
*********************************************************
THE AUSTRALIAN report below suggests mainstream media outlets are as
irresponsible as ever in regard to reporting on Syria. The Australian via AFP
presents the “Syrian Observatory for Human Rights” as a reliable source while
eschewing serious analyses.
Reports say new Syria massacre has left more than 100 people dead.
From:AFP July 13, 2012 8:33AM
SYRIAN troops using tanks and helicopters have killed more than 100 people in
the central province of Hama, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.
“Government troops bombarded the village using tanks and helicopters,”
Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said, putting the death toll in the village
of Treimsa at more than 100.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/reports-say-new-syria-massacre-has-left-more-than-100-people-dead/story-e6frg6so-1226425059737
*******************************
A blog to recommend for those keen to research the media war against Syria:
SYRIA – THE MEDIA WAR
http://syriathemediawar.blogspot.com.es/2012/07/syria-opposition-and-us-puppets-who.html
****************************
Journalists and Family of Martyr al-Buni escort his body to final Resting place
DAMASCUS- Syrian journalists and the family, friends of martyr, professional
cameramen in al-Thawra Daily, Ihsan al-Buni on Thursday escorted his body to his
final resting place in Damascus.
Al-Buni was martyred on Wednesday by an armed terrorist group in Daraya,
Damascus countryside while he was returning from his work to his house.
Al-Buni in his fifth decade, was a field cameramen in al-Thawra Daily.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/3967
**************************
Is Israel Inciting Genocide Against Alawites as Prelude to Creation of
Kosovo-style Enclave in Syria?
By Maidhc Ó Cathail
July 12, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Within the past week, fellows at
the Foundation for Defense of Democracies have used rather unfortunate analogies
to describe the plight of Syria’s besieged Alawite minority. The comparison of
the Alawites to two of the region’s least popular interlopers in Arab and Muslim
memory was hardly calculated to endear them to an already resentful Sunni
majority.
Writing in the neoconservative flagship Weekly Standard on July 6, Tony Badran
claimed:
Bashar al-Assad’s campaign against his Sunni adversaries recalls the strategy
employed by the Crusaders, as invading European armies fortified themselves
against various Muslim coalitions in the Levant, from the 12th to the 13th
century. Indeed, the Crusader castles dotting the Western part of Syria may give
us some sort of insight into the regime’s military thinking, and perhaps a
preview of its future.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31838.htm#.T_6lplsWQWo.email
******************************
Alain Juppé accused by his own Administration of having falsified reports on
Syria
VOLTAIRE NETWORK | 22 MARCH 2012
http://www.voltairenet.org/Alain-Juppe-accused-by-his-own
*******************************************************************
ASG’S COUNTER-HEGEMONY UNIT
RETHINKING THE WIKILEAKS’ SYRIA FILE
Disclaimer: I stand corrected; My comrades were right, the Wikileaks Syria File
is very suspicious. This is what happens when you are pressed for time and you
end up reading excerpts of a statement in the media rather than reading it in
the original source…
First of all, I wasn’t aware mainstream media also had publishing rights to the
files,I thought Akhbar had exclusive rights as was often the case in the past.
So even if Al-Akhbar’s reports balance out the coverage, they will be drowned
out by the information warlords who will play up the mails which “embarrass” the
regime and downplay the others . Second, I didn’t see this: “WikiLeaks’ Sarah
Harrison told journalists that the emails reveal interactions between the Syrian
government and Western companies”. This better not be the only Western hypocrisy
they are referring to. In fact this charge of “hypocrisy” derives from Empire’s
hegemonic view that nobody should do business with the demonic Syrian
regime.
Surely there are hundreds of thousands of documents out there which, if
obtained and released, would expose the mega-conspiracy against Syria. If
Wikileaks is pursuing genuine balance or neutrality in coverage, they should
have focused their efforts on obtaining such documents and used them as a
counterbalance to mails which expose the Syrian regime. This would constitute
true balance between two parties to a conflict, not the publication of material
which amounts to little more than an indictment of the West for not being more
consistent in its isolation and sanctions policies.
And most importantly, how on earth did Wikileaks manage to amass over 2.4
million POLITICALLY RELEVANT mails from 680 different domain names and 678,000
individual email addresses over 6 years? How is that even possible? The State
Department cables covered the entire world and only amounted to a quarter of a
million….This isn’t looking good at all, though I am still hopeful some of the
documents will incriminate US/NATO/GCC’s involvement in Syria.
http://resistance-episteme.tumblr.com/post/26637468789/rethinking-the-wikileaks-syria-file#.T_0X7Zvcw3l.twitter
**************************************************
INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Syria, the United States and The El Salvador Option
By Ibrahim Kazerooni and
Rob Prince
July 12, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Every day the news from Syria is
more and more somber as the country and the region continue their journey to
unknown and more dangerous realms. Syria appears headed for “beyond
explosion”, for implosion and NATO foreign military intervention that could
result in unpredictable dangerous consequences.
The most recent news reports are alarming. A curious person asking about the
situation would get the following predictable reply: Syria is on the verge of
civil war; it is run by a ruthless leader that violates human rights on a
biblical scale and needs to be removed so that the `peace loving’ Syrian people
can live in harmony and tranquility and it appears the only way to achieve this
goal is through yet another NATO-led military `humanitarian’ intervention under
the auspices of the United States.
Stepping back from the official (and Fox’s) version of the Syrian analysis, and
remembering a few historical facts, changes the picture considerably.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31826.htm#.T_0heFqUOoM.email
************************************************************
INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE
Anonymous Group Says It Gave Syrian E-mails to WikiLeaks
By Kim Zetter
July 11, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Days after WikiLeaks began
releasing a trove of more than 2 million e-mails stolen from Syrian officials,
ministries and companies, members of an Anonymous group have claimed
responsibility for the hacks and document dump to Wikileaks.
In a press release published Saturday, a group calling itself Anonymous Op Syria
disclosed that its members hacked into multiple domains and dozens of servers
inside Syria on Feb. 5 to obtain the e-mails, which it then gave to WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks began publishing the e-mails on July 5, working with several media
partners outside the United States, but didn’t disclose its partnership with
Anonymous.
In its intro to the e-mail cache, WikiLeaks indicated that they came from
678,000 individual e-mail addresses and 680 domains, including ones belonging to
Syria’s Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance,
Information, Transport and Culture. At least 400,000 of the e-mails are in
Arabic and 68,000 are in Russian.
The documents range from “the intimate correspondence of the most senior Baath
party figures to records of financial transfers sent from Syrian ministries to
other nations,” according to WikiLeaks.
The Anonymous team, composed of members of three groups known as Anonymous
Syria, AntiSec, and the Peoples Liberation Front, says it had been assisting
activists in Syria since protests began against the Syrian regime more than a
year ago, and that the team worked round-the-clock shifts to hack the servers.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31815.htm#.T_0j5OGYDPw.email
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This CNN report shows CNN is not interested in good journalism, just in pressing
a point.
CNN
U.N. report- Syrian children tortured, used as human shields
JUNE 2012
https://www.youtube.com/watcåh?v=Jd5Sni09HWM&feature=related
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This report of the recent meeting between Special Envoy Kofi Annan,
Major-General Mood and President Assad is very informative.
ALAKHBAR ENGLISH
ASSAD AND ANNAN: BACK TO SQUARE ONE
By: Jean Aziz
Published Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Special envoy Kofi Annan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met on Monday and
agreed to initiate another ceasefire plan between the government and the
opposition. The following is an account of what was said at the meeting.
The meeting between Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and the international envoy
to Syria Kofi Annan on Monday began with the usual pleasantries. They were
joined by the [Head of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria] General
Robert Mood and Annan’s political advisor Martin Griffith.
The international envoy began by indicating that he had followed the recent
media appearances by the Syrian president, from the German television to the
Turkish Cumhuriyet newspaper.
“It seems, Mr. President, that you are intensifying your media appearances in
this period,” he remarked…..
….
Getting ready to leave, Annan asked his host, “How long do you think this crisis
will continue?”
“As long as the […] regime funds it,” Assad replied. But Annan was not surprised
by the answer. “Do you think they are behind all the funding?” he inquired.
“They are behind many things that happen in our region. They believe they will
be able to lead the whole Arab world today and in the future,” Assad said.
The international envoy concluded by remarking, “But it seems to me that they
lack the population needed for such an ambition.” This made everyone laugh.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/assad-and-annan-back-square-one
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RT
IN SEARCH OF PEACE: ANNAN ARRIVES IN IRAN FROM DAMASCUS
Published: 09 July, 2012, 19:31
http://www.rt.com/news/annan-damascus-talks-iran-740/
***********************************************************
RT
The following Russia Today article includes interviews with Syrian people
expressing their fears for the future. It juxtaposes these interviews with
announcements by Cameron, Hollande, and Clinton who attended the most recent
“Friends of Syria” meeting.
SYRIAN OPPOSITION & CO – FREEDOM FIGHTERS OR UNRESTRAINED CRIMINALS?
RT 9 July 2012
Since Syria first became embroiled in an armed rebellion, the West has seemingly
taken on the opposition’s cause by consistently calling on President Assad to
step down. But what will become of Syria if the armed rebels take control of the
country?
Prominent western politicians have been advocating the interests of the Syrian
opposition since the onset of the conflict, brushing aside the arguments of the
Syrian government.
US intelligence operatives and diplomats have reportedly established contacts
with Syrian rebels to help organize their ramped up military operations against
President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
The CIA and the State Department have both been helping the Free Syrian Army
develop logistical routes for moving supplies into Syria from Turkey and
providing communication equipment, senior US officials have revealed.
Meanwhile, Turkey has reportedly been hosting units of the Free Syrian Army,
providing material and technical support.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar for their part have admitted to paying salaries to the
Syrian rebels for several months now.
And the desecration of Christian churches in Syria some two weeks ago was also
linked to Western-backed rebels….
http://www.rt.com/news/syrian-rebels-professional-terrorists-694/
**************************************************************
It is interesting to juxtapose the claims of the outside opposition which
supports the armed ‘rebellion’ and military intervention in Syria with those of
many commentators and analysts represented on this blog. Below is reference to
a 9 July DEMOCRACY NOW interview.
As well as the interview with an opposition spokesperson outside of Syria,
Democracy Now presents some footage of a recent German reporter’s interview with
President Assad.
DEMOCRACY NOW
SYRIAN OPPOSITION SPOKESPERSON: ANY TRANSITION DEAL SHOULD ENTAIL ASSAD’S
PROSECUTION FOR WAR CRIMES
Monday 9 July
Amy Goodman’s guest is Rafif Jouejati, Syrian ‘opposition’ representative in
Washington.
Rafif Jouejati, the English-language spokesperson for the Syrian Local
Coordination Committees, a network of activists throughout the country. She’s
based in the Washington, D.C., area.
Editor: Note Rafif Jouejati’s response to the following question:
Amy Goodman, “Where do you see President Assad going and his family?” Jouejati,
“I would like to think that we will proceed with full prosecution at the
International Criminal Court. I think the longer this issue goes on and the more
violence he commits, the more likely he will wish to have a fate such
as Gaddafi’s”.
What can she mean? Is it the ethos of the American Wild West which is
determining the discourse on Syria in the U.S.?
> The Wild West and the American Psyche, by Clarence Henderson
>
> Moral simplicity: On the frontier you don’t waste time in existential debates
> about right and wrong.
> http://www.apmforum.com/columns/orientseas57.htm
Link to Democracy Now interview:
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/7/9/syrian_opposition_spokesperson_any_transition_deal
FYI: An article by Rafif Jouejati, opposition spokesperson, in Washington
http://wagingnonviolence.org/author/rafifjouejati/
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ALAKHBAR ENGLISH
SYRIAN GENERAL MANAF TLASS: NEITHER HERE NOR THERE
By Sharmine Narwani – Sun, 2012-07-08
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/syrian-general-manaf-tlass-neither-here-nor-there
**************************************************************
NB: The BBC article referenced below includes some video footage of the press
conference Kofi Annan held in Damascus after the meeting, as well as the German
interview with President Assad (in English).
BBC NEWS MIDDLE EAST 9 JULY 2012
ANNAN HOLDS ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ TALKS WITH SYRIA’S ASSAD
UN and Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, has said he has held “very candid
and constructive” talks with President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
He told reporters they had “agreed an approach” to end the violence, and he
would share this with rebel groups.
The former UN secretary-general later arrived in Iran to discuss the crisis with
leaders there.
On Saturday, Mr Annan admitted his plan to find a political solution to the
escalating violence had not succeeded.
A ceasefire was supposed to begin in mid-April as part of his six-point peace
initiative.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18764789
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‘BLOODY BANDITS AND WESTERN LIES: WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON IN SYRIA’
RT 8 July 2012
Everything you’ve heard about Syria is a lie says Ankhar Kochneva, a Russian
journalist who has seen first hand the realities of the Syrian civil war.
Kochneva told RT she has proof a Western invasion of Syria will be launched by
summer’s end.
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-lies-invasion-reality-interview-671/
*****************************************
This is a May interview with President Assad, but it wasn’t referenced on this
blog in May, and remains relevant so is presented on this post.
WE CAN’T WIN MEDIA WAR WITH WEST BUT IT’S NOT BATTLE THAT COUNTS – ASSAD
RT 17 May 2012
The media war with the West was lost the day the Syrian uprising began,
President Assad told a Russian broadcaster. The authorities appear ready to
start another round by showing to the world the foreign mercenaries captured in
Syria.
A number of key questions have arisen since Assad gave his last interview over
half a year ago. Assad answered them all in a new interview with Rossiya-24 TV
channel.
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-media-battle-assad-429/
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RUSSIA AND IRAN MUST PARTICIPATE IN SYRIA SOLUTION – ANNAN
RT
Published: 08 July, 2012
Annan emphasized that western criticism of Russia and China was
senseless “competition”, impeding a process which cannot move forward without
international consensus. Annan clearly implied that there was “no
alternative” to proceeding without Russia.
“The Russians, like many other countries implicated in this matter, have
interests in Syria and the region. Once we agree in principle that there are
also common interests, medium and long term, the question becomes: how can we
protect these interests?” Annan stated.
Annan also alluded to governments around the world holding olive branches with
one hand at the diplomacy table, but handing out aid and weapons to various
sides in the Syrian conflict with the other.
“Little is known about other countries sending arms, money being spent, and the
situation on the ground,” Annan said.“All these countries claim to want a
peaceful solution, but they take individual and collective initiatives that
undermine the resolutions of the Security Council.”
Washington has criticized Russia for selling arms to Assad, taking particular
issue with a shipment of refurbished assault helicopters that was set to be
delivered to Syria in June. The US, on the other hand, has continued to provide
monetary “non-lethal aid” to rebels, which critics say is being used to buy
weapons and arm the insurgency.
“Shouldn’t the countries [involved] find ways to work together to ensure that
Syria does not rip itself apart, not spread problems to its neighbors, and to
avoid a situation that creates instability in the region and for the world? Or
will these countries continue on the path on which they have embarked, leading
to a destructive competition in which everyone will eventually lose?” Annan
asked.
“More than anything, we must think of the suffering of the Syrians and people of
the region. I hope that reason will prevail, at least in regards to the defense
of the interests of the concerned states. In this case, it is in the interest of
Russia as well as other countries find a way to work together.”
http://www.rt.com/news/russia-iran-syria-annan-664/
********************************************************
MILITARY INTERVENTION IN SYRIA WOULD BE DISASTROUS FOR ITS PEOPLE
Syrians opposed to intervention are ignored by a de facto alliance against the
‘Shia crescent’ between the US, Saudi Arabia, Israel and al-Qaida
by Sami Ramadani
> Sami Ramadani is a senior lecturer in sociology at London Metropolitan
> University and was a political refugee from Saddam’s regime
The Guardian 3 July 2012
……..But what goes unreported in relation to Syria is that democratic opposition
organisations, at the receiving end of decades of regime repression and probably
representing the will of majority of Syrians, strongly opposed the
militarisation of the protests. They argued that militarisation weakened the
growing mass movement for radical democratic change, left the door wide open for
foreign intervention, threatened the social fabric of Syrian society and helped
Israeli forces occupying the Syrian Golan Heights, where Israeli tanks are an
hour’s drive away from Damascus. They also draw lessons from the destruction of
Iraq and the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who fled Iraq’s fires to
Syria after the US-led invasion.
However, the media here and in the Arab world, especially the influential
al-Jazeera TV, owned by the Qatari ruling family, act as the cheerleaders for
the pro-intervention factions of the SNC and the FSA, founded in and
logistically backed by Nato member Turkey.
All this sadly reminds me of the drums of the Iraq war and the media circulation
of made-up stories peddled by Blair, Bush and pro-intervention Iraqi factions,
while the anti-Saddam but anti-war Iraqiswere marginalised.
There was the WMD big lie of course. But also the lies that Iraqi soldiers
tossed away babies from their incubators, and that Saddam usedpeople-shredding
machines. Murdoch’s Sun newspaper editor boasted: “Public opinion swung behind
Tony Blair as voters learned how Saddam fed dissidents feet first into
industrial shredders”.
Those who want Nato to “humanely” intervene say that Syria is not Iraq. They are
right, Syria will be much worse. They need to tell us what will happen to
Syria’s 25 minority ethnic and religious groups, including the 10% Christians
and 10% Alawites, if some of the Saudi-Qatari-backed bloodcurdling clerics come
to power? Or to millions of Syrian women, who have immeasurably more rights than
in absolutist Saudi Arabia? Or to the Iraqi refugees still in Syria?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/03/military-intervention-syria-disastrous-people
Another highly recommended piece by Sami Ramadani is one from 2007 about media
complicity in the Iraq war. It informs about the current situation in Syria and
Iraq, as well.
http://www.mwaw.net/2007/12/09/ramadani/ Media complicity in the Iraq War
*******************************************************
EVERYTHING THEY’RE TELLING US ABOUT SYRIA….IS FALSE?
WhoWhatWhy | Jul. 8, 2012, 2:50 PM
Friday, we read in the New York Times and elsewhere about one of Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad’s most important supporters and allies having
defected. The impression one gets is that Assad’s government is in a state of
collapse— and this gives credibility to those pushing for Assad to turn over
power.
But what the media are not mentioning is that Brigadier General Manaf Tlass did
not defect directly from the Assad inner circle. He had already fallen into
disfavor early in the uprising and lost his command in May 2011—14 months ago.
If you had that additional piece of information, you would interpret the news
reports in a totally different way.
When a piece of evidence that contradicts the overall impression is absent from
the reportage, the reportage itself is almost worthless……
Read
more: http://whowhatwhy.com/2012/07/08/everything-theyre-telling-us-about-syria-is-false/#ixzz208DgeGn2
http://www.businessinsider.com/everything-theyre-telling-us-about-syriais-false-2012-7?utm_source=twbutton&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=politics-contributor
******************************************************
DEFIANT PRESIDENT NOT AFRAID TO MEET SIMILAR FATE AS OTHER DEPOSED LEADERS
NEWS.COM.AU AP 09 July 2012
…in the interview, the 46-year-old Assad who has ruled Syria since taking over
from his father in 2000, accused the U.S. of fueling the uprising, saying that
Washington ultimately bears responsibility for the deaths of innocent civilians
in the Middle Eastern nation.
The U.S. is partnering with those “terrorists … with weapons, money or public
and political support at the United Nations,” Mr Assad said.
“They offer the umbrella and political support to those gangs to … destabilize
Syria.”
Mr Assad rejected responsibility of his security forces for the violence,
claiming that “supporters of the government, the victims from the security and
the army” far outnumber those among civilians.
Instead, he told ARD that an opposition made up of terrorists, gangs, “a
mixture, an amalgam of Al Qaida (and) other extremists” is responsible for the
violence….
http://www.news.com.au/world/defiant-syrian-president-not-afraid-to-meet-similar-fate-as-other-deposed-leaders/story-fndir2ev-1226421031084
*****************************************************
KOFI ANNAN ATTACKS RUSSIA AND WEST’S ‘DESTRUCTIVE COMPETITION’ OVER SYRIA
UN envoy calls for end to mutual recriminations and answers critics of his
cautious approach in exclusive Guardian interview
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/06/kofi-annan-syria-destructive-competition
********************************************************
FIDES SERVICE
> 2012-07-10
>
>
> ASIA/SYRIA – TOWARDS RECONCILIATION: MORE THAN 300 FIGHTERS READY TO SURRENDER
> IN HOMS
>
> Homs (Agenzia Fides) – More than 300 fighters in the various armed factions of
> the Syrian opposition in Homs have agreed to surrender, to come under the
> protection of the interfaith People’s Committee “Mussalaha” and continue an
> “unarmed political opposition.” This is the result of a historic agreement
> promoted by the movement “Mussalaha” (“Reconciliation”), born spontaneously
> from Syrian civil society, which is gaining the confidence of all the warring
> parties, families, clans, communities, sectors of the government and armed
> opposition. The more than 300 armed are mostly young people who are barricaded
> in several streets in the old town of Homs such as Khalidiye, Jouret al
> shiyah, Qarabis, Hamidiyah, Bustan Diwan and surrounding areas, still besieged
> by the forces of the Syrian army. Overall, it is estimated that the armed
> fighters in that area of the old city are more than 1,000.
> The Committee of “Mussalaha” in Homs, which includes the Syrian Catholic
> priest Fr. Michel Naaman, and other Muslim religious leaders and several civil
> society leaders and community representatives, after a lengthy mediation
> effort, managed to achieve something unthinkable until yesterday. “The 300
> young people ready to lay down arms are young teenagers who had decided to
> fight, due to the spirit and ideals of the revolution. Among them are
> relatives, children, friends, people that are part of Mussalaha and this has
> greatly facilitated dialogue and agreement. They are the children of the
> Syrian people,” the priest of Homs told Fides. ….
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=31895&lan=eng
*********************************************************
President al-Assad to Cumhuriyet Newspaper: Base of Syrian-Turkish Relations is
the Relation between the two Peoples
Jul 03, 2012
Damascus, (SANA) – The Cumhurieyt Turkish daily today published part of an
interview it conducted with H.E. President Bashar al-Assad about the events in
Syria and regional and international developments. A group of Turkish media,
including Cumhurieyt, represented by Utku Cakirozer, Kanal D, CNN Turk and Posta
newspaper, represented by Mehmet Ali Birand, and Hurriyet newspaper represented
by Ertugrul Ozkok, and Radikal newspaper represented by Fehim Tastekin, and
Haberturk newspaper represented by Amberin Zaman, requested interviews with
President al-Assad. Based on Syria’s policy of opening up to the mass media, it
was agreed to grant an interview to the abovementioned media organs. However,
four of the representatives of these organs were not able to come to Syria to
conduct the interview after they were contacted by the director of the office of
the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, asking them not to conduct the
interview.
http://sana.sy/eng/21/2012/07/03/429127.htm
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Syria should not be isolated from the rest of the world and from history.
Occasionally it is important for there to be reminders of events elsewhere in
the world to put what is happening in Syria into a broader context.
For example…..
U.S. Helicopter Strike Blasts an Afghan Man to Pieces… As The Pilot Sings ‘Bye,
Bye Miss American Pie’
By Daniel Bates
July 06, 2012 —- It is the horrific moment an Afghan man is blown apart by a US
missile.
But in a moment of twisted inspiration an American helicopter pilot decided to
give it a impromptu soundtrack – by singing ‘Bye, bye Miss American pie.’
He belted out the most famous line of the Don McLean classic at the moment of
impact when a fireball consumed at least one man.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31780.htm#.T_joPcJ7ep0.email
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Also…
Israel plans to be brutal in next Lebanon war
July 07, 2012 01:34 AM
BEIRUT: The Israeli army said that it is preparing for the possibility of
another war with Lebanon, one which it expects to be much more destructive than
the 2006 conflict, according to Israeli media.
“The [Israeli army] is preparing seriously and professionally for another
Lebanon war. The response will need to be sharper, harder, and in some ways very
violent,” said Brigadier-General Hertzi Halevy in comments published Thursday by
Haaretz newspaper.
Should another war erupt, Israel will “strike with full force,” Halevy was
quoted as saying by YNet, adding that attacking civilian bases would be
necessary because that was where Hezbollah placed its bases.
“We will have to go inside [Lebanon] and wreak havoc – not as punishment, but
because that is where the enemy is,” he was quoted as saying……..
Read
more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Jul-07/179679-israel-plans-to-be-brutal-in-next-lebanon-war.ashx#ixzz20C2Ew2du
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
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Also..
‘THUGS, ISLAMISTS & CHAOS’ – WELCOME TO NEW LIBYA?
Published on Jul 9, 2012 by RussiaToday
After a national election marred by violence and boycotts, vote counting is now
underway in Libya. The election marks the beginning of a new, weak Libya,
political analyst Richard Spencer told RT. Official results for the historic
parliamentary election are not expected to be released for about a week, but the
country’s liberal Islamic coalition has already claimed an overall lead,
contradicting predictions that hardline Islamist parties would sweep the poll.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uUUmGG2r_w
Furthermore…
BOMBING CAMBODIA – NIXON, KISSINGER, AND THE KHMER ROUGE
John Pilger introduces the bombing of Cambodia: illegal and secret US bombing of
a country back to the Stone Age.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccm-QlOxvPg (Pilger and Cambodia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFJF6smKykg&feature=relmfu (Pilger and Cambodia)
Link below: Youtube – images related to US involvement in the Vietnam War and
the anti-war protests back in America. The ‘revolution’ was a response to the
war and U.S. aggression; it was not a war.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hQhPYBXb_g&feature=fvwrel
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Going Rogue: America’s Unconventional Warfare in the Middle East
by Sharmine Narwani 5 July 2012
> “The intent of U.S. [Unconventional Warfare] UW efforts is to exploit a
> hostile power’s political, military, economic, and psychological
> vulnerabilities by developing and sustaining resistance forces to accomplish
> U.S. strategic objectives…For the foreseeable future, U.S. forces will
> predominantly engage in irregular warfare (IW) operations.”
So begins the 2010 Unconventional Warfare (UW) Manual of the US Military’s
Special Forces. The manual attached here (TC 18-01) is an interim publication,
developed to address the definition of Unconventional Warfare and some other
inconsistencies in UW Doctrine. The new UW document (ATP 3-05.1) is in the
initial draft and not yet available, though sources tell me it is unlikely to
differ much from TC 18-01.
But most of us have not had the pleasure of leafing through this truly
revelatory blueprint that shows how America wages its dirty wars. These are the
secret wars that have neither been approved by Congress, nor by the inhabitants
of nations whose lives – if not bodies – are mauled by the directives on these
pages.
A quote from President John F. Kennedy in 1962 opens the document. These few
lines illustrate a core Washington belief that US forces have the right to
destabilize, infiltrate, assassinate, subvert – all in service of questionable
foreign policy objectives, with no evident consideration of a sovereign state’s
preparedness or desire for change:
> There is another type of warfare—new in its intensity, ancient in its
> origin—war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins; war by ambush
> instead of by combat, by infiltration instead of aggression, seeking victory
> by eroding and exhausting the enemy instead of engaging him. It preys on
> unrest.
Target: Middle East
The Bush Doctrine paved the way for the mainstreaming of unconventional warfare
by establishing the principle of pre-emptive actions against a state
that may one day pose a threat to American interests. It didn’t offer any
specific criteria to gauge those threats, nor did it attempt to explain why
anyone outside the United States should be held accountable for US “interests” –
be they commercial, security or political.
The doctrine went largely unchallenged, and has been played out with disastrous
results throughout the Middle East in the past decade. The prime targets of UW
have traditionally been nations and groups that oppose US primacy in the region
– mainly the Resistance Axis consisting of Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas –
but UW has been carried out to some degree in virtually any nation where this
Axis carries some influence.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31766
*****************************************************
WIKILEAKS SYRIA EMAILS – NATO’S FINAL MEDIA CARD
Wikileaks Syria Files have been introduced on this page below. However, more
responses and relevations will appear over coming weeks and months, so some of
those will be presented as they are brought to the editor’s attention.
The link below is to a response from “Syria Girl”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vud1qFrG1qU&feature=youtu.be
**************************************************************************
IF THE US LOSES SYRIA, THE US LOSES ITS EMPIRE
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31781.htm#.T_djIC8XU5Q.email
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6 July 2012 A protest letter to Amnesty regarding its double standards and an
official response from Amnesty International
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2012/emersberger060712.html
************************************************************
Syria Debate: “Should there be military intervention in Syria” Melbourne June 14
2012. Participants include Arthur Dent (formerly Albert Langer), two members of
Australians for Syria, a member of the Syrian opposition in Australia, and a
Melbourne University philosophy teacher.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0CknF9II1U&feature=youtu.be
************************************************************
On 6 July, the UN issued another report on the crisis in Syria. It is
interesting for what it fails to mention. For example, the arming of fighters in
Syria by Saudi Arabia and Qatar; the use of Turkey as a base; the training of
fighters by the CIA; the recent massacres – investigative reports point to
anti-government fighters being responsible; the expulsion of over 50,000
Christian Syrians from Homs by Islamist militia; the use of children as human
shields by the anti-government fighters (ref: BBC report of Navi Pillay’s press
conference)
http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-syria UN Syria Report
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42409&Cr=Syria&Cr1=
There was a link given on this page earlier to the press conference with Navi
Pillay on 2 July. That link no longer seems to take you to the press conference.
This is unfortunate as Pillay presented some contradictions in regard to Syria.
There is the BBC report of one or two comments she made only:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18684351
A short excerpt of Pillay’s presentation to press on 2 July. (It doesn’t capture
the point she made about children being used as human shields by anti-government
rebels).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A6J6pMkyjQ&feature=youtu.be
There is a suggestion by a UN reporter in NY that Navi Pillay gets most of her
information from the newspaper.
http://www.innercitypress.com/pillay1syrsudpal062812.html
For more on Navi Pillay and Syria, see link below to a March 2012 Al-Jazeera
interview with her.
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2012/03/201232144352254346.html
************************************************************
CHILDREN
A link to a video of a child brigade formed to defend ‘freedom’ in Syria. (Not
clear if they are holding real or toy guns.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXuI00fzizU&feature=related
A reference to a young boy led away to join the Syrian Free Army.
http://syria-tribune.com/e/index.php/eye-on-the-media/18-daily-mail-child-soldier
Public Relations companies have been hired to promote war before today. Could
this be the work of one? It is a fairly slick but simple video of a “Syrian
Boy” calling for “Freedom” . The boy presents the story of the killing of his
brother and the returning of the body in a bag to the family. Many Syrian
Australians have been telling these stories for a year or more, but they point
the finger to Islamist militias or ‘terrorists’ for such killings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOM3VTc4_sY
The above video clip may have been inspired by the one below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkNn3Ei-Lg Jonah Mowry “Whats going on…”
(nearly 10 mill hits)
An interview with the mother of Sari Saoud, the young boy killed by armed men in
Homs in November 2011, has already featured on this blog. It points to the
targeting of children in Syria for propaganda purposes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDUF72f0w2s
A Syrian boy angry with Qatar and the emir of Qatar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26-C0v2oYEA&feature=related
************************************************************
Kofi Annan was interviewed by Le Monde on Saturday 7 July about Syria. It is one
week since the meeting in Geneva and just a few days since the ‘Friends of
Syria’ meeting in Paris, which Kofi Annan did not attend. It is interesting to
read in reports from different sources how much of the interview is quoted
directly, what is quoted and what other material is chosen to pad the quotes and
determine the line of the article.
The Sydney Morning Herald presented an article from The Guardian.
> INTERNATIONAL divisions over Syria have been laid bare as Kofi Annan issued a
> blunt warning that world powers must end their ”destructive competition” over
> the future of the Assad regime even as Hillary Clinton demanded that Russia
> and China support the Syrian people.
>
> Mrs Clinton, the US Secretary of State, used a conference of the Friends of
> Syria group in Paris to demand that Russia and China join the three Western
> members of the UN Security Council to pressure Syrian President Bashar
> al-Assad over a conflict that has left 15,000 dead and is inflaming the wider
> region.
>
> But Mr Annan, the UN envoy to Syria who conspicuously stayed at his Geneva
> headquarters and sent two deputies to Paris, said the bickering had to stop.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/annan-calls-for-halt-in-bickering-over-syria-20120707-21nz1.html#ixzz1zzorhaQL
*****************************************************************************************
ARTICLES OF INTEREST (editing on this section to be completed soon):
http://www.infowars.com/shocking-videos-reveal-truth-behind-syrian-freedom-fighters/
Info Wars: Shocking videos reveal truth behind Syrian Freedom fighters
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/homs-opposition-al-farouq-battalion-killing-us
Homs Al-Farouq Battalion
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
NYT CIA steering arms into Syria via Turkey.
http://counterpsyops.com/2012/07/07/wikileaks-syrian-files-obtained-by-flame-to-set-up-assad/
Critique of Wikileaks release of the Syria Files, with the press conference of
their release.
http://www.rt.com/news/fsa-boycott-opposition-talks-syria-204/ FSA boycotts
Cairo
http://www.rt.com/news/clinton-russia-china-syria-569/ Clinton says in Paris
that Russia and China must pay a price
http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/majority-of-people-in-turkey.html
Majority of people in Turkey oppose government’s stand on Syria.
*******************************************************************************************************************
A critical examination of the media response in the UK to the Houla massacre as
well as to the UN Report released on Friday 29 June 2012.
MEDIA LENS 5 JULY 2012
Houla Massacre Update – The UN Report
By: David Edwards
In two alerts on May 31 and June 13, we noted how the UK corporate media system
instantly found, not just the Syrian government, but its leader Bashar Assad,
responsible for the May 25 massacre of 108 people, including 49 children, in
Houla, Syria.
Numerous cartoons depicted Assad smeared with blood or bathing in blood. Just
two days after the massacre, the Independent on Sunday’s front cover wanted to
know what its readers were going to do about it:
‘There is, of course, supposed to be a ceasefire, which the brutal Assad regime
simply ignores. And the international community? It just averts its gaze. Will
you do the same? Or will the sickening fate of these innocent children make you
very, very angry?’ (Independent on Sunday, May 27, 2012)
Quite what readers were supposed to do, other than gaze, was unclear. After all,
one of the great triumphs of modern politics is the near-complete insulation of
US-UK foreign policy against democratic pressures.
http://www.medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=687:houla-massacre-update-the-un-report&catid=25:alerts-2012&Itemid=69
*****************************************************
Navi Pillay’s July 2 press conference at the UN is significant and should be
examined together with other resources, particularly claims which have come from
her office over many months. Are they consistent? Can they be trusted? Where is
the support for them? Who contradicts them and what support do they have for
their counter claims? Navi Pillay makes reference to the UN Report on Houla
when questioned.
Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Syria (2 July 2012) –
Security Council Media Stakeout
2 Jul 2012 – Informal comments to the media by Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights on the situation in Syria.
http://webtv.un.org/search/navi-pillay-un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights-on-syria-2-july-2012-security-council-media-stakeout/1719773329001?term=navi%20pillay
BBC report on Navi Pillay’s 2 July press conference
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18683208
*****************************************************
Australian academic and writer, Dr Jeremy Salt’s 4 July article from EURASIA
REVIEW; it first appeared in PALESTINE CHRONICLE
Straight Talking: The Syrian Cauldron –
4 July 2012, by Dr Jeremy Salt
Tension between Turkey and Syria along their border is edging closer to
flashpoint. Last week a Turkish air force jet was shot down after violating
Syrian air space. The Syrian government said the plane was hit while inside
Syrian air space. Turkey says it had already left Syrian air space and was hit
in international air space.
What the plane was doing inside Syrian air space is another matter. Turkey’s
President, Abdullah Gul, said it had ‘strayed’ off course. Other accounts
suggest that it was there to ‘light up’ Syria’s radar system or test its missile
defences. Turkey immediately sent troops and armor to the border and invoked
Article 4 of the NATO Charter, calling for consultation with its partners in the
alliance. They immediately endorsed the Turkish version. Hillary Clinton called
the shooting down of the plane ‘brazen’ while William Hague thought it was
‘outrageous’, words, one cannot help noting, that they have never used to
describe the missile attacks by their armed forces that have killed civilians in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya. Another ‘incident’ might lead
to Turkey invoking Article 5, the common defence article of the NATO Charter,
which regards an attack on one member as an attack on all. War between Syria and
Turkey would be then become war between Syria and all NATO members, leading in
turn to confrontation between the NATO/Gulf state bloc on one hand and Russia,
China, Iran and their allies on the other…..
http://www.eurasiareview.com/04072012-straight-talking-the-syrian-cauldron-oped/
REPORT: SENIOR ASSAD GENERAL DEFECTS
Published Thursday, July 5, 2012
A friend of President Bashar al-Assad and a brigadier in his Republican Guard,
was reported on Wednesday to have fled to Turkey.
If Manaf Tlas, whose father Mustapha was defense minister under Assad’s father
for 30 years, were confirmed to have defected it would be the most high-profile
defection from the inner circle of the Syrian leadership.
Several sources among the Syrian rebels told Reuters he had quit Damascus and a
news website close to Assad’s security services quoted a Syrian official saying
Tlas was now in Turkey.
The Syriasteps website, which quoted a “high-level security source” confirming
his flight, also quoted a security official playing it down: “His desertion
means nothing,” he said. “If Syrian intelligence had wanted to arrest him it
would have.”
But a source in the exiled opposition to Assad, who said a relative of Tlas had
confirmed his defection to him, said: “It’s a very important defection. His
brigade is very attached to their general, so we can say the true defection has
started.”
That source said Tlas had fled Damascus on Tuesday and was in Turkey en route
for Paris, where Western and Middle Eastern sponsors of the rebel cause are
meeting as the “Friends of Syria” on Friday. The French capital is also the home
of Tlas’s sister, widow of a billionaire Saudi arms dealer.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/report-senior-assad-general-defects
*****************************************************************
WIKILEAKS PUBLISHING SYRIA EMAILS AS ECUADOR SAYS ASSANGE CHARGES ‘HILARIOUS’
* AAP
* From: AAP
* July 06, 2012 7:39AM
* UPDATE: WIKILEAKS has begun publishing more than two million emails from
Syrian political figures as Ecuador declares charges against founder Julian
Assange to be “hilarious”.
WikiLeaks says it is publishing emails from Syrian political figures dating back
to 2006 but also covering the period of the crackdown on dissent by Syria’s
regime.
“Just now … WikiLeaks began publishing the Syria files, more than two million
emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and associated companies dating
from August 2006 to March 2012,” said spokeswoman Sarah Harrison.
The latest disclosures could illuminate the workings of the Syrian regime and
its interactions with allies in the run-up to and during the 16-month conflict,
which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says has claimed more than 16,500
lives.
The first wave of emails released claimed Italian defence giant Finmeccanica
continued to supply support for communications equipment to the Syrian regime
after the unrest began in March last year…
…WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a written statement: “The material is
embarrassing to Syria but it is also embarrassing to Syria’s external opponents.
“It helps us not merely to criticise one group or another but to understand
their interests, actions and thoughts. It is only through understanding this
conflict that we can hope to resolve it.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/wikileaks-publishing-millions-of-syria-emails-as-ecuador-says-assange-charges-hilarious/story-e6frf7jo-1226418507756
*****************************************************
WikiLeaks begins releasing millions of documents, emails linked to Syria regime
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says in statement that the released data ‘is
embarrassing to Syria, but it is also embarrassing to Syria’s opponents.’
By Haaretz
July 05, 2012 “Haaretz” — The WikiLeaks website began publishing what it said
was millions of documents linked to the inner workings of the Syria regime on
Thursday, amid continued sectarian violence that has torn the country apart for
over a year.
According to a statement released by WikiLeaks, the more than 2.4 million files
are derived “from 680 Syria-related entities or domain names, including those of
the Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information,
Transport and Culture.”
WikiLeak’s founder Julian Assange said in the statement that the released “is
embarrassing to Syria, but it is also embarrassing to Syria’s opponents.”
“It helps us not merely to criticize one group or another, but to understand
their interests, actions and thoughts. It is only through understanding this
conflict that we can hope to resolve it,” Assange added.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31761.htm#.T_ZyfnVS0JI.email
**************************************************************************
LAND DESTROYER
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2011
WIKILEAKS’ ASSANGE: DEFYING COMMON SENSE
by Tony CartalucciWhile there may be highly dedicated, honest, and upright
people involved with Wikileaks, and certainly amongst many who believe in it, so
would there be in any globalist plot where the vast majority of the people
involved are managed through careful compartmentalization and disinformation.The
corporate owned media releasing the Wikileaks publicly – do so with a great
amount of spin, distortion, careful timing, and irresponsible representations.
They are overtly and continuously abusing the cables in a globalist-serving
manner. One must wonder why Assange, seeking transparency and to balance an
equation he claims as unjust, has “partnered” as he calls it, with the very ones
who have done the unbalancing and obfuscating of transparency all along.
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/wikileaks-assange-defying-commonsense.html
*****************************************************
JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS, SYRIA PAPERS, AND GEOFFREY ROBERTSON
Editor: Over many months, high-profile Australian UK based lawyer, Geoffrey
Robertson has supported Julian Assange in his court appearances as well as in
the media. The political views of Geoffrey Robertson in regard to Syria and
Iran are well-known as he is not shy to write and speak on both subjects. Do
they influence Julian Assange?
The GUARDIAN
War crimes: Charles Taylor now, Bashar al-Assad next 30 May 2012
Geoffrey Robertson
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Justice has a momentum, and as Liberia’s ex-leader is jailed, he’s certain to be
followed by other despots
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/30/war-crimes-taylor-now-assad-next
Britain must end its sordid treatment of the Chagossian people now
by Geoffrey Robertson 8 June 2012
That the US could use the Chagos Islands to bomb Iran is another good reason why
the UK must restore them to Mauritius
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/08/britain-end-sordid-treatment-chagossian-people
On Australian television, George Negus interviewed Geoffrey Robertson about
Syria on 27 April 2011. NB: Geoffrey Robertson claims that pictures posted on
Youtube by ‘activists’ are sufficient evidence….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZdy-kYOIQ0
*****************************************************
A critical response to Wikileaks’ release of the Syria Papers.
nsnbc – no spin news English
When “Wiki Leaks”. Assange Syria Papers: Cover-Up of the Continued Illegal War
on Syria
Dr Christop Lehmann questions Julian Assange’s motives for publishing the Syrian
Papers and wonders if there is a link between Julian Assange and George Soros.
…. A young US American soldier, Private Bradley Manning is getting a hold on the
video and sends it to WikiLeaks. Wikileaks published the video, and if WikiLeaks
was what it is claiming to be, there would have been two things that would have
been very much different from how the related events transpired.
For one, private Bradley manning would most probably not have been arrested. For
the other, if rather than directing all media attention on WikiLeaks, on the
discussion whether private Manning is a hero or a traitor, attention would have
been directed where it should have been, it is most likely that journalists
world wide would have focused on having the shooter as well as the commanding
officer sentenced for war crimes. But that is not so, and it is not so because
WikiLeaks either has been established as a Western Intelligence
Hang-Out-Function, or it has been co-opted and is being used as such….
http://nsnbc.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/when-wiki-leaks-assange-syria-paperscover-up-of-the-continued-illegal-war-on-syria/
For more articles by Dr Lehmann, go to http://nsnbc.wordpress.com
or http://www.4thmedia.org/category/christof-lehmann/
*****************************************************
THE MEDIA WAR
Who killed Father Bassil Nassar?
Comment by Alan Lonegan on ABC Late Night Live page which refers to the killing
of Father Nassar:
Ever since the killing on January 25th last of Fr. Basil Nassar I have been
concerned at the way in which the crises in Syria has been reported. Gunned down
in the street while helping a dying parishioner. CNN said he was the victim of
the Government’s armed forces but his own Church confirmed that he died at the
hands of armed terrorists. Following this I encountered the tragic story (as so
many stories are on all sides) of the young Christian boy Sari Saoud, filmed by
the “Free” Syrian Army as he lay dying in his mother’s arms and quickly uploaded
to the Al Jazeera and Al Arabia the child death was reported as a victim of the
regime. In interviews after the event the mother, aunt and uncle of the boy
confirm he was killed by a rebel sniper and that if the army had been present
her child would still be alive. I have long wondered how many more misreported
deaths have occurred. Video of Sari’s story as told by his mother is here with
subtitles http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIuWsV79Uok
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/mother-agnes-mariam/4105266#comments
A report on the killing of Father Nassar on a blog:
http://saintjamesprayforme.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/new-martyr-basil-nassar/
One report of Father Nassar’s death.
Syrian TV news of Father Bassel’s funeral (in Arabic) with interviews of people
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9JSTA7_ATo
Young boys at a rally in Melbourne organised by people opposed to the Syrian
government wear the head-dress of rebel fighters and carry the photo of Father
Basil Nassar. Presumably they want passers-by to assume anti-government ‘rebels’
killed him. (Picture from Facebook page of local Melbourne opposition activist)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151115772048508&set=a.10150736051733508.491177.676988507&type=3&theater
************************************************************************
WEEKEND EDITION JUN 29-JUL 01, 2012
“A Cowardly Escape From the Problems of Peace”
Syria Through the Looking Glass
by RON JACOBS
When wading into the ever muddied waters of the West’s never ending war against
the people and states of the Middle East, it is useful to have some kind of
mechanism if one is trying to find a bit of clarity. The mechanism I prefer is
that of history. While not infallible, the fact of its existence tends to
create a template of events that ultimately provides a sequence of events that,
while often different, provide a context that makes sense out of what might
otherwise seem to be random occurrences without connection. When examining the
history of imperial relations, the context is most often the ongoing attempts of
the powerful nations to subjugate others.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/06/29/syria-through-the-looking-glass/
*****************************************************
Syria: President Assad is ready for the change
BY
JERRY DANDRIDGE
– JUNE 30, 2012 – POSTED IN: SIDEVIEWS
Interview with the German Middle East expert Günter Meyer about the situation in
Syria.
Question: Do you think that an internal political solution is possible under the
prevailing circumstances?
Mr. Meyer: After all, parliamentary elections, in which the people had for the
first time the choice between several parties, have taken place in May. Although
this information can not verify with certainty, they document, however, that
there is still a relatively strong support for Assad’s reforms, especially in
the cities of Damascus and Aleppo.
Question: The elections and the new government, that was set up by Assad on
Tuesday are more than just pro forma reforms?
Mr. Meyer: In the election, various opposition groups were chosen, which have
criticized the regime for years, and whose exponents were also in prison. Some
of them have now received ministerial posts. I see this as a sign that Assad is
ready to some political change. The fact that the radical opposition does not
accept this, and that the Western media barely reports about this, is
significant.
http://www.syrianews.cc/syria-president-assad-is-ready-for-the-change/
*****************************************************
‘Saudi Arabia fueling unrest in Syria’
Press TV Tues 3 July 2012
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay says the flow of arms into Syria is “fueling
the violence” in the Arab country, calling for an end to the militarization of
the ongoing conflict.
Pillay did not specify where the arms are coming from, but UN diplomats believe
that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been supplying weapons to the armed Syrian
rebels.
The UN official claimed that the situation in Syria is “a non-international
internal armed conflict,” the legal term for a civil war, saying “there is a
risk of escalation.”
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/03/249203/saudi-arabia-fueling-unrest-syria-abroad/
*****************************************************
Paul-Craig Roberts, like US Congressman Ron Paul, is very critical of the US
policy on Syria. (view his blog)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Craig_Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts (born April 3, 1939) is an American economist and a columnist
for Creators Syndicate. He served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in
the Reagan Administration earning fame as a co-founder of Reaganomics.[1] He is
a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week,
and Scripps Howard News Service who has testified before congressional
committees on 30 occasions on issues of economic policy.
Roberts is a critic of Israel, calling Gaza “the world’s largest concentration
camp” populated by people who were “driven out of Palestine so that Israel could
steal their land.” Roberts has been a critic of both Democratic and Republican
administrations. Although Roberts praised Ronald Reagan, he has compared
supporters of George W. Bush to “brownshirts with the same low intelligence and
morals as Hitler’s enthusiastic supporters.” He has opposed the War on Drugs and
the War on Terror stating it has “made widows and orphans of millions of
Muslims”. He believes the official explanation for the events on 9/11 is a
“scientific impossibility”.
*****************************************************
Wall Street Journal
Doubts Cast on Turkey’s Story of Jet
U.S. Intelligence, Contradicting Ankara, Indicates Aircraft Was Shot Down by
Syria in Its Own Airspace, Officials Say
By JULIAN E. BARNES, ADAM ENTOUS and JOE PARKINSON
U.S. intelligence indicates that a Turkish warplane shot down by Syrian forces
was most likely hit by shore-based antiaircraft guns while it was inside Syrian
airspace, American officials said, a finding in tune with Syria’s account and at
odds with Turkey.
The Turkish government, which moved tanks to the Syrian border after the June 22
incident, says the debris fell in Syrian waters, but maintains its fighter was
shot down without warning in international airspace. Ankara also has said the
jet was hit too far from Syrian territory to have been engaged by an
antiaircraft gun.
Damascus has said it shot down the plane with an antiaircraft battery with an
effective range of about 1.5 miles.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304830704577497081567553846.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
*****************************************************
How the Corporate Media is Snookering You on Syria
By Russ Baker
July 01, 2012 “WhoWhatWhy” — For those versed in the black arts of propaganda,
the hijacking of Arab Spring must be a beauteous thing to behold.
First came evidently spontaneous uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Then some
up-and-comer in Washington or London or Paris had a brainstorm, a new twist on a
very old idea: if you can’t beat em, join em. Or even better, co-opt them, and
use them for your own purposes.
The old way of getting rid of “inconvenient” leaders was so 20th-century—in the
case of Saddam Hussein, a monstrous lie followed by a massive bloodletting on
both sides. Tahrir Square suggested how to bring down a regime in a manner far
less costly and far more palatable to the public: lots of medium-sized and
little lies, war through Twitter, war through expendable proxies. Provide
financial incentives to key figures to publicly renounce the old leadership,
create a steady stream of heart-rending moments and photos and allegations,
generate endless “human rights violations” by baiting the government into a
military response, then very publicly petition international bodies for redress
of humanitarian concerns.
Muammar Qaddafi, a fiercely independent, quasi-socialistic African
transnationalist, was the guinea pig. A brilliant disinformation
campaign isolated him, authentic domestic grievances were encouraged, and
a whole war was conducted on behalf of the West with nary a Western soldier
putting boots to ground…….
Russ Baker. For more than two decades I have been an investigative journalist,
doing what I believe journalists are supposed to do – provide information
crucial to a well-informed citizenry in democracy. Over the years, however, I
have noted a growing gap between what I have uncovered and what I see reported
elsewhere. I have become exasperated with what I do not hear, the questions
never asked and the stories never told. whowhatwhy.com
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31745.htm#.T_KPZ_FWRU0.email
*****************************************************
Does Israel Really Fear Jihad Terrorism from a Post-Assad Syria?
By Maidhc Ó Cathail
June 29, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — According to an article yesterday
in Ynet, the Israeli military fears that “global Jihad terrorists will launch
attacks from Syria” if President Bashar Assad’s regime falls. The Israeli
newspaper reported:
Army officials are not ruling [sic] a situation whereby terrorists will take
advantage of the chaos that may follow a regime change in Damascus to seize
control of the border region, as was the case in the Sinai Peninsula after
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown.
Over the past few months the 36th Armored Division (Ga’ash), which is in charge
of security along the border, has been gearing for a number of possible
scenarios, including a cross-border attack by global jihad, which is operating
in Syria against Assad’s regime.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31727.htm#.T_KC178WWUg.email
*****************************************************
NATO Proxies Turkey and Saudi Arabia Move to War Footing on Eve of Syrian ‘Peace
Summit’
By Finian Cunningham
June 29, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — The NATO-backed covert aggression
against Syria could be reaching a tipping point for all-out war involving state
forces. That should be no surprise. For the past 16 months, NATO and its
regional proxies have been steadily increasing the violence and turmoil inside
and outside Syria, while the Western corporate-controlled media maintain the
ridiculous fiction that the bloody chaos is largely due to the government forces
of President Bashar Al Assad cracking down on “peaceful protesters”.
Ironically, the crisis is culminating at the same time that the United Nations
convenes an emergency summit on Syria in Geneva this weekend. The meeting, which
is ostensibly aimed at “reviving the Kofi Annan peace plan”, will be attended by
the five permanent members of the UN security council and other “invited”
regional states. The irony is that leading NATO members, the US, Britain and
France, as well as their Turkish and Arab allies who will also be attending the
crisis conference, are the very parties that have deliberately created the
precipice for all-out war in the Middle East.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31729.htm#.T_KB09sGVJc.email
****************************************************
‘Israel: master of puppets in Syria unrest’
Published on Jul 2, 2012 by ravenise00
Israel is the “ultimate outside power” that is behind the Syrian crisis and
foreign countries’ pushes to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s
government, says an analyst.
The assertion comes as the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain, France,
Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, and Iraq, as well as the UN Secretary-General, Ban
Ki-moon, the Arab League Secretary-General, Nabil El-Araby, and the secretary of
state of the United States attended a meeting on the situation in Syria at the
United Nations office in Geneva on Saturday.
Press TV has conducted an interview with political commentator Mark Dankof to
further discuss the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPjdwhdEQt8
******************************************************
45 minutes President Bashar Al-Assad interview with Barbara Walters from ABC
News on 07-12-2011
The complete 45 minutes without Editing President Bashar Al-Assad interview with
Barbara Walters from ABC News on 07-12-2011
The full interview, which was obfuscated to hide the reality of what the
President Bashar
al-Assad talked with Barbara Walters ABC Channel broadcaster
NOW we present the FULL interview of President Bashar Al-Assad with Barbara
Walters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8P6860vIiA
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PRESS TV
‘Assad trying hard to bring about peace’
Published on Jun 28, 2012 by FullNewsTV
Three staff members of the Al-Ikhbariya satellite television channel in Syria
and four guards have been killed in a “terrorist attack” on the headquarters of
the television in the capital Damascus. The official Syrian news agency, SANA,
said the assailants also ransacked the offices of the television station in the
attack that was carried out during the early hours of Wednesday.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Haitham Alsibahie, with the Syrian
Social Club, to further discuss the issue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBtfWkMJ-ZU
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Two responses in the media to the final outcome of the Action Group Xinhua.net
(China) Action group reaches key agreement on Syrian-led transition
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/01/c_131687466.htmGENEVA, June
30 (Xinhua) — An action group comprising of world powers that met Saturday in
Geneva has agreed upon a roadmap that ushered the way for a Syrian-led
transition, to end the country’s 16-months’ long conflict.A joint communique
after the meeting said that the global community wished to see “an end to the
violence and human rights abuses” and that the Syrian people enjoyed rights to
“independently and democratically determine their own future.”The meeting
specified the steps and measures to secure full implementation of Special Envoy
Kofi Annan’s call for an immediate cease of violence in all forms.The key steps
for transition, as the meeting concluded, include the establishment of a
transitional governing body that includes members of the present government and
the opposition, an inclusive national dialogue process, and a review of the
current constitution and legal system.Once the new constitutional order is
established, free and fair multi-party elections for new government offices will
follow, the communique said.The meeting also agreed that the political
transition should comply with the aspiration of the Syrian people.Any political
transition must offer a future that can be shared by all Syrians, the document
said.The communique stressed that the future of Syria should give space to
established and newly-emerging political actors to compete fairly and equally in
elections.”This also means that the commitment to multi-party democracy must be
a lasting one, going beyond an initial round of elections,” it said.The
agreement was widely hailed as a major step forward toward resolving the
crisis.British Foreign Secretary William Hague represented the five permanent
members of the UN Security Council to welcome the outcome.”I think the result is
a step forward, it is only a step forward but it is a step forward that is worth
having,” he said.Foreign ministers of the Security Council’s five permanent
members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – attended the
meeting, along with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and delegates from Turkey,
Kuwait, Qatar, the Arab League, and the European Union.Representatives of the
Syrian government and opposition were absent.In his conclusion remarks to the
meeting, Kofi Annan said the international community has taken its cooperation
to a stronger level, by being clearer and more specific and therefore have laid
out a path that the Syrian people can embrace and work with.The special envoy at
the same time cautioned about inaction that might destroy the fragile
outcome.”Today’s words must not become tomorrow’s disappointments,” he warned,
urging all relevant parties to start working immediately and calling for all
Syrians to embrace what has been laid out and work together to stop the killing
and build a better future.Though the agreement was built on more consensus and
less divergence, some differences remain unabridged, in particular between
Moscow and Washington.The rift was apparent when the two countries both gave
their own interpretation of what have been agreed just minutes after the
endorsement of the communique.The United States still holds pressurizing and
subsequently toppling the government led by President Bashar al-Assad as its
primary objective.”Assad will still have to go,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton said, plainly expressing the United States saw no room for the current
president and government in and after the transition.”The text also makes clear
that the power to govern is rested fully in the transitional governing body
which strips him (Assad) and his regime of all authority if he and they refuse
to step down and leave,” she said.Russia, a long-time ally to Damascus, insisted
that no changes should occur unless the Syrians first agreed, in other words,
the process should be Syrian-led.”We consider it to be of key importance that
there is no attempt in the document to impose upon the Syrian side any kind of
transition process,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.He stressed
that the process should not exclude the participation of any group, as was
written in the communique, denying preconditions to the transitional process and
the national dialogue.Related:
Crisis talks produce little hope for peace in Syria
http://www.smh.com.au/world/crisis-talks-produce-little-hope-for-peace-in-syria-20120701-21as7.html
WORLD powers have failed to reach a consensus on calling for the removal of
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad from power, agreeing instead on a plan for a
political transition with little chance of implementation.
The weekend meeting of nine nations in Geneva to try to end the bloodshed in
Syria ended in a now-familiar division, with Russia and China blocking the rest
from calling for Dr Assad’s ouster.
Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League mediator who convened the action group, tried
to put the best possible spin on the agreement, which calls for the formation of
a national unity government that would oversee the drafting of a new
constitution and elections. The agreement, he said, provided ”a perspective for
the future that can be shared by all in Syria, a genuinely democratic and
pluralistic state”.
But the plan appeared to lack support from either side in the conflict.
”The action group on Syria just gave Assad licence to kill for another year,”
said Rafif Jouejati, a spokesman for the Local Co-ordination Committees, a
Syrian opposition group.
A pro-government Baath Party analyst in Damascus, who spoke on the condition of
anonymity, said the Assad government had its own plan for political transition:
the previously scheduled presidential elections in 2014. ”This is the only way
to solve the country’s crisis,” he said. Syria is a one-party state and its
elections are widely viewed as neither free nor fair.
The diplomatic developments were marked by another particularly bloody day in
Syria, as by one estimate more than 100 people were killed, most of them
civilians caught in shelling, and opposition activists posted videos of mass
deaths online.
The worst took place at a funeral on Saturday for an opposition activist, Abdul
Hadi al-Halabi, in the Damascus suburb of Zamalka. A car bomb exploded, killing
20 to 50 people, according to activists.
The plan agreed to in Geneva essentially repeated Dr Annan’s earlier six-point
peace plan, which had collapsed after both sides ignored it, leading to the
suspension of a UN monitoring mission on June 16.
The new plan demanded that all parties prepare for a democratic transition that
could include opposition figures as well as current government officials chosen
by ”mutual agreement”. It is unclear what the new agreement can offer any of the
parties to persuade them to stop fighting, and it included no enforcement
measures.
The action group, which included the five permanent Security Council members and
four Middle Eastern countries, had considered excluding from the proposed unity
government those ”whose participation would jeopardise stability and
reconciliation,” understood to be a reference to Dr Assad. That language was
dropped from the final agreement after Russia, Dr Assad’s strongest ally,
objected.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the omission would make no difference
in practice. ”Assad will still have to go,” she said.
”He will never pass the mutual-consent test given the blood on his hands.”
In return for these semantic concessions, she said, the US and its allies had
”made clear to Russia and China that it is absolutely incumbent on them to make
clear to Assad that the writing is on the wall”.
”What we have done here is to strip away the fiction that he and those with
blood on their hands can stay in power.”
Russia, however, did not seem to see it that way. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said there was no requirement that Dr Assad step down.
”There is no attempt to impose any kind of a transition process,” he said.
NEW YORK TIMES
Read
more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/crisis-talks-produce-little-hope-for-peace-in-syria-20120701-21as7.html#ixzz1zPICqMtu
Read
more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/crisis-talks-produce-little-hope-for-peace-in-syria-20120701-21as7.html#ixzz1zPEoU9B1
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30 Jun 2012 –
Final declaration read by Kofi Annan, the Joint Special Envoy of the United
Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syrian Crisis following the meeting
of the Action Group for Syria
William Hague UK Foreign Minister on behalf of the P5 member
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/conferencessummits/rio20-13-22-june-2012-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/press-conferences/watch/final-declaration-read-by-kofi-annan-the-joint-special-envoy-of-the-united-nations-and-the-league-of-arab-states-on-the-syrian-crisis/1714086833001
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30 June 2012 UN Webcast in Geneva: Kofi Annan answers questions after meeting
of Special Group on Syria
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/conferencessummits/rio20-13-22-june-2012-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/press-conferences/watch/kofi-annan-the-joint-special-envoy-of-the-united-nations-and-the-league-of-arab-states-on-the-syrian-crisis-press-conference/1714099038001
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30 June 2012 UN Webcast press conference; Sergey Lavrov reports on meeting of
Special Group and answers questions. Draws attention to refusal of FSA to
respect Annan Peace Plan.
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/conferencessummits/rio20-13-22-june-2012-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/press-conferences/watch/sergey-lavrov-foreign-minister-of-the-russian-federation-press-conference/1714179474001
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30 June 2012 UN Webcast press conference: Hillary Clinton reports on meeting of
Special Group and answers questions.
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/conferencessummits/rio20-13-22-june-2012-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/press-conferences/watch/hillary-clinton-united-states-secretary-of-state-press-conference/1714099043001
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22 June 2012: UN Webcast press conference:
Briefing by the Joint Special Envoy for Syria and the head of the UN Supervision
Mission in Syria
22 Jun 2012 – Mr. Kofi Annan, Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the
Arab League for Syria
Major-General Robert Mood, head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria and Chief
Military Observer
http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/conferencessummits/rio20-13-22-june-2012-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/press-conferences/watch/briefing-by-the-joint-special-envoy-for-syria-and-the-head-of-the-un-supervision-mission-in-syria/1702484353001
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Leave a Comment
June 5, 2012
JUNE 2012 REFERENCE LIST
NOT ALL THE ARTICLES OR VIDEOS REFERENCED ON THIS POST ARE FROM JUNE 2012;
HOWEVER, THEY ARE ALL CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL READING FOR AN IN-DEPTH UNDERSTANDING
OF THE CURRENT CRISIS IN SYRIA. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT SOME LINKS WHICH WERE ON THE
MAY REFERENCE LIST ARE REPEATED HERE. THAT MAY ENCOURAGE READERS TO REFER TO THE
MAY PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
The images on this page will include pictures of Syrians taken before the crisis
so they may be acknowledged as a people with dignity, deserving as anyone of
peace and the freedom to choose the destiny for their country themselves.
Syrians will not be the victims of others.
**************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31712.htm#.T-q4ISyb67Y.email
The Evil of Humanitarian Wars
Iraq, Libya, Syria: We have no right to play God
By Jonathan Cook
Few can doubt that Syria is next on the West’s hit list. And this time, the
script-writers in Washington seem to believe that the task of turning a
functioning, if highly repressive, state into a basket case can be achieved
without the West’s hand being visible at all. This time the white hat has been
assigned to our allies, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, who, according to the
latest reports, are stoking an incipient civil war not only by arming some among
the rebels but also by preparing to pay them salaries too, in petro-dollars.
The importance to Western governments of developing more “complex” narratives
about intervention has been driven by the need to weaken domestic opposition to
continuing Middle East wars. The impression that these wars are being inspired
and directed exclusively from “inside”, even if by a heterogeneous opposition
whose composition remains murky to outsiders, adds a degree of extra legitimacy;
and additionally, it suggests to Western publics that that the cost in treasure
and casualties will not be born by us.
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http://www.counterpunch.org/
COUNTERPUNCH
JUNE 27 2012
What Did Turkey Think Syria Would Do?
SYRIA AND THE PHANTOM
by CONN HALLINAN
What was that Turkish F-4 Phantom II up to when the Syrians shot it down?
Ankara said the plane strayed into Syrian airspace, but quickly left and was
over international waters when it was attacked, a simple case of carelessness on
the part of the Turkish pilot that Syrian paranoia turned deadly.
But the Phantom—eyewitnesses told Turkish television that there were two
aircraft, but there is no official confirmation of that observation—was hardly
on a Sunday outing. According to the Financial Times, Turkey’s Foreign Minister,
Ahmet Davutoglu, told the newspaper “the jet was on a test and training mission
focused on Turkey’s radar defense, rather than Syria.”
Translation: the F-4 was “lighting up” a radar net. It is a common—if dangerous
and illegal—tactic that allows one to probe an opponent’s radar system. Most
combat radar is kept in a passive mode to prevent a potential enemy from mapping
out weaknesses or blind spots that can be useful in the advent of an attack. The
probes also give you valuable information on how to neutralize anti-aircraft
guns and ground to air missiles.
“Lighting up” radar was what the US Navy EP-3E Aries II was doing near China’s
Hainan Island when it collided with a Chinese interceptor in 2001. Nations
normally take a very dim view of warplanes entering their air space,
particularly if there is tension between the countries involved….
Even if Syria identified the plane as a Phantom, they could have taken it for an
Israeli craft. Israel was the number one foreign user of F-4s, although they
retired them in 2004. Indeed, the Turkish Phantom might even have begun life as
an Israeli warplane.
If the Syrians are on hair-trigger alert, one can hardly blame them. The US, the
European Union (EU), and NATO openly admit they are gunning to bring down the
Assad regime. Turkey is actively aiding the Free Syrian Army organize
cross-border raids into Syria, and it is helping Saudi Arabia and Qatar….
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UN Webcast 15 June Major-General Robert Mood (Head of the UN Supervision Mission
in Syria) – (part 2 & 3) Questions and Answers from the Press on Syria
Major-General Mood says it is important to have reporters on the ground in Syria
so there is reporting which can take note of the complexity and nuances. He
speaks of the many agendas involved in the Syrian crisis, which makes it very
complicated. He makes it clear that which parts of his reports are disclosed to
the public is up to the UN offices in NY and Geneva. He explains that the
mission is solidly committed to the welfare of the Syrian people, and he urges
“those with weapons to prove that they have that agenda as well ,and to take
their fingers off the triggers”. He states that from the sophistication of the
bombings in Damascus etc it is possible to conclude that a ‘third party’ is
involved. Syrians make it clear to him it is a Syrian problem that has to be
solved by Syrians. Those feeding the violence with more arms must stop. He
continues that “We shouldn’t focus too much all the time on weapons.” The issue
to address is the attitude of the human beings using the weapons.
http://webtv.un.org/search/major-general-robert-mood-part-ii-questions-answers-from-the-press-on-syria/1691921783001?term=mood
http://webtv.un.org/search/major-general-robert-mood-part-iii-questions-answers-from-the-press-on-syria/1691973917001?term=mood
UN Webcast 19 June 2012 Dr Bashar Jaafari, Syrian Ambassador to the UN responds
to Major – General Mood’s report to the UN on Syria (General Mood is the head of
the UN observers in Syria)
http://webtv.un.org/watch/bashar-jaafari-syria-on-syria-19-june-2012-security-council-media-stakeout/1697595604001
UN Webcast 22 June 2012 Briefing by the Joint Special Envoy for Syria (Kofi
Annan) and the head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (Major-General Robert
Mood)
http://webtv.un.org/search/briefing-by-the-joint-special-envoy-for-syria-and-the-head-of-the-un-supervision-mission-in-syria/1702484353001?term=mood
UN Webcast 30 May 2012 Dr Bashar Jaafari, Syrian Ambassador to the UN presents
some of the results of the preliminary investigation into the Houla massacre.
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/05/bashar-jaafari-syria-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-7.html
UN Webcast 30 May 2012 SUSAN RICE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. SPEAKS AT UN ABOUT
SYRIA – The scenarios for Syria
http://webtv.un.org/watch/susan-rice-usa-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-30-may-2012/1663936214001
UN Webcast 7 June Susan Rice at the UN on Syria and the Annan Plan
http://webtv.un.org/watch/susan-rice-usa-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-7-june-2012/1679132820001
UN Webcast 7 June Vitaly I. Churkin (Russian Federation) on Syria – Security
Council Media Stakeout
http://webtv.un.org/watch/vitaly-i.-churkin-russian-federation-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-7-june-2012/1679164313001
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THE DAILY BEAST
SYRIA’S PROPAGANDA CLOUD: HOW THE WEST IS FALLING FOR MISINFORMATION
by Riad al-Khouri 22 JUNE 2012
Having just returned from Syria a few days ago, I can confirm that the situation
on the ground there is very disturbing, though perhaps not in the way that many
might assume. As it stands, the government remains in control over most of the
country—including the economy—despite the best efforts of propagandists to say
otherwise. Yet if the Syrian economy worsens, and if the crisis there comes to
involve more and more groups—both inside and outside the country—there is a
growing possibility that what started as a conflict between the Syrian
government and a ragtag group of rebels will become a powder keg that could
escalate into a regional war and possibly even an international
confrontation………These days, unfortunately, this oversimplification is all that
seems to make it into the newspapers or on the airwaves. The fatuity of
21st-century media and the blinkered ignorance of audiences, especially Western
viewers and readers who are under the illusion that they are well-informed, mean
that this circus of disinformation will likely continue. My message in this
tawdry mess is for people in the West to be wary of propaganda (especially that
coming out of their own countries), which is helping to escalate the Syrian
crisis into this season’s geo-strategic summer blockbuster.
Riad al Khouri, a Jordanian political economist who lives and works in the
Middle East, is a strategic adviser to the William Davidson Institute at the
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/06/22/syria-s-propaganda-cloud-how-the-west-is-falling-for-misinformation.html
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“Floor Speech, Syria 19 June 2012” US Republican Congressman Ron Paul speaks in
Congress against military intervention in Syria.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8rCvfwoRGMg
http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2012/06/20/ron-paul-speaks-in-opposition-to-intervention-in-syria-on-house-floor/
20 June 2012
Foreign Policy Journal “Ron Paul Speaks in Opposition to Intervention in Syria
on House Floor”
“We are already too much involved in supporting the forces within Syria anxious
to overthrow the current government. Without outside interference, the
strife—now characterized as a civil war—would likely be non-existent ……
It’s time the United States tried a policy of diplomacy, seeking peace, trade,
and friendship. We must abandon our military effort to promote and secure an
American empire…..Falsely blaming the Assad government for a so-called massacre
perpetrated by a violent warring rebel faction is nothing more than war
propaganda. Most knowledgeable people now recognize that the planned war against
Syria is merely the next step to take on the Iranian government, something the
neo-cons openly admit”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsjAoJfmkuA&feature=related “War with Syria? Not
in our Name” Audio: Ron Paul speech in US Congress on 19 June 2012 Visuals:
images of US soldiers.
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http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2012/martinez210612.html Carlos Martinez,
“Interview with Ammar Waqqaf Regarding the Crisis in Syria” 21 June 2012
> Ammar Waqqaf is an independent Syrian political analyst based in England.
Q: Why do you think the western powers are so keen to see regime change in
Syria?
A: Western powers would be fools not to exploit such an opportunity to turn a
key regional player from an opposing side into an allied one. Achieving such a
target would seriously upset the current balance in the Middle East and lead to
the total isolation and subsequent fall of Iran. This would mean a long-term
total grip on the region for these countries.
Such dominance is not only vital in securing long-term stability in the energy
resources markets, but it is also important in beating competitor powers to such
resources.
Q: Do you think that Syria needs political changes, and do you feel that such
changes can occur under Ba’athist leadership?
A: I do believe that Syria needs significant political changes, or reforms so to
speak. As for whether they can be achieved under the Ba’ath rule, I can assure
you that many would prefer this happening under a progressive secular party than
under an Islamic or ethnic one.
The Ba’ath party needs much reform itself, as well, and it is its ability to
carry out such reform in a meaningful way that would determine whether people
would eventually entrust it with the much-needed overhaul of the political
system in Syria.
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http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/sergei-lavrov/russia-syria-on-the-right-side-of-history_b_1596400.html?utm_hp_ref=uk
“Sergei Lavrov: On the right side of history” HUFFPOST IMPACT 15 June 2012, /
Russian Foreign Minister: “Only by acting in this way we can keep the Middle
East from sliding into the abyss of wars and anarchy and thus stay, as it has
become fashionable to say, on the right side of history. We are sure that other
formulas that involve external intervention in Syria – ranging from blocking TV
channels that do not satisfy someone, to increasing arms supplies to opposition
groups, to airstrikes – will not bring peace either to that country or to the
region as a whole. And that means that those formulas will not be justified by
history.”
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http://www.rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-exclusive-394/ 21 June 2012 Interview
with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovabout Russia’s policy not changing and the
helicopters shipped to Syria. He confirmed that a Russian ship bound for Syria
was carrying 3 Syrian helicopters that had been repaired in Russia.RT: The
Western media this week has been frenzied about Russia sending warships and
helicopters to Syria. How do you react to that?Sergey Lavrov: It was part of
a campaign and not a very decent campaign, I would
say.*********************************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.rt.com/news/cia-officers-turkey-syria-378/“Revealed: CIA secretly
operates on Syrian border, supplies arms to rebels” 21 June 2012American
secret service operatives are distributing illegal assault rifles, anti-tank
rocket launchers and other ammunition to Syrian opposition, the New York Times
reports. But due to some rebels’ links to Al Qaeda, the CIA’s task is
precarious.The paper reports that for weeks now, officers based in southeast
Turkey have supervised the flow of illegal arms to numerous opposition factions
ready to fight the regime of President Bashar Assad. The only problem is some of
the rebel groups have links with terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, so
the CIA mission must be careful not to arm proven terrorists by mistake.
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http://www.rt.com/news/syria-rebels-us-arms-028/
“Not ‘if’ but ‘when”: US intervention in Syria on countdown” 17 June 2012
“A delegation from Syrian opposition is reportedly in talks with US officials
over the targets they want to attack to weaken the Syrian government and the
arms they want America to provide to do it. A “Libya lite” operation in Syria
may be imminent.
The unnamed US official reportedly said that “the intervention will happen. It
is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.”
The delegation from the Syrian Free Army is meeting with US Ambassador to Syria
Robert Ford and the State Department’s expert on Syria, Fred Hof, according to a
report by debkafile, an Israeli news website, which is considered to have strong
ties with the intelligence community.
The Syrian rebels have brought with them two lists for American approval. One is
that of targets in Syria they want to attack to hurt President Assad’s
government. The second is a list of heavy weapons they need to carry out the
attacks, which they want to get from the US, the report says.”
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http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/tensions-between-uk-and-russia-soared-over-syriabound-helicopters-7869850.html
The Independent “Tensions between UK and Russia soared over Syria – bound
helicopters” by David Usborne 21 June 2012 “Britain came alarmingly close to a
dangerous clash with Moscow when David Cameron was asked to consider giving an
order to forcibly board a ship headed towards the English Channel carrying three
Russian-made helicopters for delivery to the regime in Syria, it emerged today.
Any seizure would have been carried out by members of the Special Boat Service,
SBS, the only military unit authorised to performing opposed embarkations at
sea. The helicopters are believed to be the same ones that prompted US Secretary
of State, Hillary Clinton, recently to berate Russia for sending military
hardware to Syria.”
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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31643.htm#.T-Fkj0Qm3sU.email
“U.S. Implementing Afghanistan, Kosovo Models for Syria” June 19, 2012
“Information Clearing House” — In a feature entitled The ‘Kosovo Road’ to
Syria in The Gulf Today, a website based in the United Arab Emirates, author
Hichem Karoui succeeded in identifying the template being employed by the U.S.
to effect the overthrow of the Syrian government through the time-tested
combination of supporting armed insurgents on the ground while plotting a
concomitant air war.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO1HxPyvaEA&feature=related
Rare footage from inside Syria of the ‘rebel’ fighters Footage shot by David
Enders May 2012 (14:36 mins)
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http://bachmann.house.gov/uploadedfiles/ig_letter_odni.pdf
A letter written by 5 members of the US Congress dated 13 June 2012. The
Congressmen express their concern that the US government is cooperating with
individuals within the Muslim Brotherhood, an organisation which – they say the
US government has established in a federal court – is set on destroying
“Western civilisation from within”.
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http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com.au/
“Penny for your Thoughts”, a blog which asks the penetrating questions regarding
news reports on Syria, the questions you would expect the best of investigative
journalists to ask.
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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/20/syrian-christians-feel-vulnerable-in-besieged-homs/
Washington Times, “Christians feel vulnerable in besieged Homs neighbourhoods”
http://al-bushra-updates.blogspot.ie/2012/06/mother-agnes-miriam-reports-from-syria.html
Mother Mariam reports from Syria. Link to Mother Mariam’s interview on an Irish
radio station. “On June 8, 2012, Irish Radio interviewed a Melkite Catholic nun,
Mother Agnes Miriam of the Cross, live from the Monastery of St. James at Qara
in the Diocese of Homs, Syria.” She refers to the expulsion of Christian
Syrians by the ‘rebels’, or terrorists, as she prefers to call them.
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This ABC BTN report for a primary school audience is very disturbing as it
encourages a very simplistic view of events in Syria, denying the terror faced
by the people of Syria. It seems to encourage a people’s ‘revolution’ and
military intervention. Unfortunately it is a reflection of the level of
reporting and commentary in the mainstream media of Australia.
http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3525259.htm The Behind the News report on
SYRIA CRISIS 19 June 2012
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http://www.rt.com/news/houla-massacre-un-syria-635/
RT report, 31st May “UN Commissioner report on Houla? But they only talk to
Syrian opposition – by phone’ “The Houla Massacre is to be brought before a
rare gathering of the UN Human Rights Council. But what kind of findings will be
presented? Anti-war campaigner Marinella Corregia worries the HR commissioner
talks only to its sources: the opposition. “
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/hostile-territory/1863
“Set up to be shot in Syria’s No-Man’s Land”, UK Channel 4’s Alex Thomson June
8, 2012 “I’m quite clear the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot by the
Syrian Army. Dead journos are bad for Damascus.”
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http://www.silviacattori.net/article2898.html
“FROM MISURATA WE CAME TO FREE SYRIA!” “Homs in the hell of armed groups” by
Silvia Cattori , “Homs, now, is nothing but a sinister battlefield where
government soldiers face armed groups which, according to independent witnesses
about the true nature of the rebellion, are blindly firing cannon shots to sow
terror and death, then pretending that only government forces are bombarding the
city.” (an older article that has slipped into the June list. Still relevant.)
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31488.htm#.T8qo7xzVrTA.email
“Wars kill people ….as do lies by U.S. and Western Interventionists”
by Michael Scheuer, June 2, 2012 “Washington’s threat mongering about Syria for
a long time had to do with both parties’ readiness to earn campaign donations by
towing the anti-Syria propaganda line put forth by Israel and its AIPAC-led
fifth column of U.S. citizens….As the Syrian civil war lengthens and deepens as
the result of the support of U.S.-Western interventionists for the Saudis’
funding and arming of the mujahedin already in Syria and those on the way there
form other battle fronts, we will no doubt here more lies about the Syrian
threat to the United States.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/06/new-faz-piece-on-houla-massacre-the-extermination.html#more
“New FAZ piece on Houla Massacre: “The Extermination” June 2012 . Analysis of
Houla massacre with reference to investigation by a German newspaper’s
investigation. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ..”reported that the civilians
killed were Alawites and Shiites. They were deliberately killed by armed Sunnis
in Taldou, a town in the plains of Houla, while fierce fighting between the
regular army and Free Syrian Army was taking place at checkpoints around the
village. Our report was taken up by many media outlets worldwide and was
rejected by many as implausible. We have therefore to ask four questions: Why
did the world opinion so far followed a different version? Why does the context
of the civil war makes the doubted version plausible? Why are the witnesses
credible? What other facts support the report?”
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http://anti-imperialism.com/2012/03/31/death-squad-coordinator-robert-ford-keynotes-amnesty-international-annual-meeting/
“Death Squad Coordinator Robert Ford Keynotes Amnesty International Annual
Meeting” 31 May 2012, “Between 2004 and 2006 Ford worked closely under US
Ambassador John Negroponte at the US embassy in Baghdad. During his previous
tenure as ambassador to Honduras, Negroponte devised and implemented the policy
of funding and training death squads to combat leftist insurgencies in the
region. In Iraq, Negroponte charged Ford with a similar task: funding and
training militias to carry out sectarian violence aimed at a largely Sunni
resistance. In late January of 2011, during the same time that the first
protests in the country occurred, Ford arrived in Syria to serve as the
newly-appointed ambassador. Since, violence has racked the country and Ford has
been accused of recruiting and arming foreign fighters from the region to
destabilize and possibly overthrow the Syrian government.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/amnestys-shilling-us-wars
“Amnesty’s Shilling for US Wars” by By Ann Wright and Coleen Rowley 19 June 2012
The new Executive Director of Amnesty International USA – Suzanne Nossel – is
a recent U.S. government insider. So it’s a safe bet that AI’s decision to seize
upon a topic that dovetailed with American foreign policy interests, “women’s
rights in Afghanistan,” at the NATO Conference last month in Chicago came
directly from her.
Nossel was hired by AI in January 2012. In her early career, Nossel worked for
Ambassador Richard Holbrooke under the Clinton Administration at the United
Nations. Most recently, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for
International Organizations at the U.S. Department of State, where she was
responsible for multilateral human rights, humanitarian affairs, women’s issues,
public diplomacy, press and congressional relations.
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http://indrus.in/articles/2012/02/14/syria_the_price_of_russias_support_14834.html#.T-Alok76n8g.email
Russia and India Report “Syria: The price of Russia’s Support” February 14, 2012
Yevgeny Satanovsky
There is an Arab saying: “It is dangerous to be America’s enemy, but it is twice
as dangerous to be its friend.” Flirting with Islamists will not bring anything
but another 9/11, although their sponsors in the Gulf monarchies are
demonstrating how “the Arab tail wags the American dog.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://extremeprejudiceusa.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/russias-diplomatic-solution-in-syria-defending-peace/
“Russia’s Diplomatic Solution in Syria – Defending Peace” 13 June 2012 By
Thierry Meyssan “ The nature of the Syrian crisis has changed. The process of
destabilization that was to open the path for legal military intervention by the
Atlantic Alliance has failed. Removing its mask, the United States has publicly
announced the possibility of attacking Syria without the approval of the
Security Council, as it also did in Kosovo. Washington must be pretending not to
have noticed that the Russia of Vladimir Putin is not that of Boris Yeltsin.
After being assured of Chinese support, Moscow literally fired two warning shots
in the direction of Washington. The continuing violations of international law
by NATO and the GCC threaten to unleash a global conflict.”
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http://www.just-international.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5548:the-next-revolution-islamists-in-tunisia-take-their-jihad-to-syria&catid=45:recent-articles&Itemid=123
“The Next Revolution: Islamists in Tunisia take their Jihad to Syria” by
DOMENICO QUIRICO 18 June 2012 ”
Yusef is set to leave for Syria to fight Bashir al-Assad’s unholy regime. Other
young Tunisians have already joined the jihad, recruited in the city’s most
radical mosques, and given a ticket to Turkey, along with directions on how to
reach the army of rebels. “There are many other brothers: Egyptian, Libyan,
Algerian,” says Yusef. Similar international Muslim brigades fought in
Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia.
Yusef doesn’t look at us as he lays out his life story: poverty, the school,
petty crimes to survive — and finally the revolution.
He is one among many other “ street thugs” from the slums who have kept the
revolution alive in the streets, under the blows and tear gas. When asked if he
is scared of a war which, at the end of the day is not his own, the boy suddenly
comes to life: “ You don’t know anything,” he says. “Fear, courage… My strength
is not in weapons. It is inside. I am an instrument. Muslims had become
dependent on the things that you gave and taught us. This is our rebirth. How
can we be afraid of a tyrant’s army? Don’t you see that God is helping us? God
moved the Americans’ minds. The Americans are helping, arming and funding us.
They are an instrument of the holy cause.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://wrongkindofgreen.org/2012/03/12/argentinian-journalist-stella-calloni-denounces-avaaz-latin-american-unions-follow-her-lead/“ARGENTINE
JOURNALIST STELLA COLLONI DENOUNCES AVAAZ; LATIN AMERICAN UNIONS FOLLOW HER
LEAD” March 12, 2012 “You lie. You know that hundreds of mercenaries have
entered Syria, and special operations troops (the worst and dirtiest within the
armies of United States, United Kingdom, France, Israel), and what they have in
mind with this story about repression is to do the same as they did in Libya,
first sending in these groups and mercenaries to create ‘focus’, so as to later
say, when the government under attack defends itself, this it is attacking a
rebellious people. You lie, as did Goebbles, who now looks small next to you.
…..”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://carnegie-mec.org/publications/?fa=48503 “Saudi Arabia Reins in its
Clerics on Syria”, Frederic Wehrey, 13 June 2012. “A column in the daily
newspaper al-Jazirah obliquely condemns senior clerics who use their prestige
and reputation to extract money from their constituents for uncertain purposes.
It goes on to warn that “history will repeat itself,” citing parallels between
the Syrian crisis and the Saudi experience in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Iraq.
There, ostensibly charitable donations proved a slippery slope for the
recruitment of Saudi youth to fight in these conflicts and also ended up in the
hands of al-Qaeda militants who later attacked the Kingdom.” …On June 7, (the
regime) followed up on its ban on donations with an edict from the Senior Ulema
Council that expressly prohibited calls for jihad in Syria outside of official
channels. A clerical member of the Supreme Judicial Council asserted that
support to the Syrian people had to be “consistent with state policy” and that
unauthorized calls for jihad were an “embarrassment to the state.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://news.sky.com/home/video/world-news/video/16246685 SkyNews “SYRIAN NUN
TALKS OF PERSECUTION” 14 June 2012, Mother Agnes Mariam tells Sky why she
thinks armed rebels were responsible for the Houla massacre.
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2vRa-HkuXk Youtube video: “Priest Basilias
Nassar Killed by an Armed Terrorist Group in Hama” January 2012 The priest was
killed while he was giving first aid to a man.
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDUF72f0w2s “Interview with the Mother of Sari
Saoud” Uploaded Monday 11 June 2012. (Sourced from Syrian TV) Sari Saoud was
killed in late November 2011. His mother was with him in a street near their
home in Homs when he was shot. In this interview, she relates what happened. She
explains that the people she believes were responsible for his death were intent
on videoing her grieving over his body so they could send the video to
Al-Jazeera. Al-Jazeera was very quick to broadcast the footage and claim Sari
had been killed by soldiers.
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-chemical-weapons-plot-532/ 10 June 2012 “Syrian
rebels aim to use chemical weapons, blame Damascus- report”. “The armed Syrian
opposition has got their hands on chemical weapons, which they acquired from
Libya, a media report claims. They allegedly plan to use it against civilians
and pin the atrocity on the Bashar al-Assad regime. The report by DamPress
claims the opposition group in possession of the weapons is being trained in its
use inside Turkey. No further detail on the alleged conspiracy is given. “
***************************************************************************************************************************
Editor’s note: The following two articles are included to indicate the level of
debate in the U.S.
http://theweek.com/article/index/229107/should-the-us-assassinate-syrias-assad “Should
the U.S. Assassinate Syria’s Assad” 12 June 2012 “Last month, President Obama
vetoed a proposal by France and Saudi Arabia to wipe out Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad and his inner circle with a massive airstrike on Syria’s presidential
palace, the Israeli intelligence siteDebka File recently reported. While leaving
military intervention on the table, Obama reportedly said that targeting Assad
would only “increase the carnage.” But the United Nations says thousands of
Syrians have been killed since Assad’s military began trying to forcefully put
down a pro-democracy uprising last year, and now observers say government forces
are attacking opposition strongholds using helicopter gun ships. Is a surgical
strike against Assad and Co. needed to end the violence?”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.inquisitr.com/252775/solving-the-syria-conflict-we-should-assassinate-president-bashar-al-assad-op-ed/ “Solving
the Syrian Crisis: We should Assassinate President Bashar Al-Assad” 11 June 2012
“The best way to solve the Syrian conflict would be to assassinate President
Bashar al-Assad. Harsh, yes, but consider this: in the last 15 months, more than
13,000 people have died in Syria in a bloody attempt to overthrow him, and any
uprising by the Free Syrian Army has resulted in the deaths of innocent women
and children.”
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31586.htm#.T9rFyCwqLLg.email “Syria:
NATO Plans New Sykes – Picot, Middle East Chaos” by M.D. Nalapat June 14, 2012
“Information Clearing House” — On May 16, 1916, in the middle of World War I,
Paris and London approved a secret agreement to dismember the Ottoman Empire and
divide the Middle East between themselves.
The Sykes-Picot agreement set new boundaries for many countries in the region,
and began a period of direct control of the Middle East that the West has sought
to perpetuate to the present.
Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the US and Iraq’s former colonial master, the
UK, NATO has been transparent in its desire to once again exercise direct
control over the countries in the region. The few regimes that are opposed to
NATO hegemony are being faced with a concerted effort by NATO and its regional
backers to overthrow them.”
**********************************************************************************
This link is to a blog of Aussie ‘revolutionaries’
http://strangetimes.lastsuperpower.net/?page_id=2 Local Aussie ‘left’ blog
includes contributions by Arthur Dent (formerly Albert Langer) and supports US
intervention in the ME: “the war in Iraq: the left has always fought against
fascism. We therefore supported the overthrow of the fascist Baath Party in
Iraq. The United States currently has no choice but to drain the swamps and
support the democratisation of the Middle East. We are glad about that!”
**********************************************************************************
This report on the Houla massacre by Addounia TV in Syria should be examined by
people interested in assessing the truth in Syria. It should be compared with
the witness accounts presented by the ‘opposition’. (The Australian media and
government could have done well to employ forensic scientists and experienced
magistrates and judges to examine what accounts are available before they
rushed to accuse the Syrian government and its ‘militias’. A lynch mob
mentality can lead to greater tragedies. Is it ever too late to consider
reassessing a situation? Egg on one’s face is better than more tragedy for
Syrian families, surely?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2_owegdPms&feature=related Houla Massacre an
Inside Job by FSA (Addounia report)
http://sabinachiaburu.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/hulahoms/ 30 May Interview by
Russian reporter with female witness from Taldao re massacre there and in Houla
***************************************************************************************************************************
Ron Paul responses to the recent events in Syria with the wisdom of a statesman,
something which appears to be a rare commodity in the Western world today. If he
can talk peace and sense, why can’t Australian politicians? Is it because they
don’t have the same resources to do the research? No time for Peace?
War Drums for Syria
http://paul.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1980:war-drums-for-syria&catid=62:texas-straight-talk&Itemid=69
*********************************************************************************************************************************
WEST DESPERATELY ATTEMPTS TO SPIN SYRIAN CRISIS
SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2012
HTTP://LANDDESTROYER.BLOGSPOT.COM.AU/2012/06/WEST-DESPERATELY-ATTEMPTS-TO-SPIN.HTML
***************************************************************************************************************************
The Houla Hoaxsters
Another “Benghazi moment” – This Time in Syria
By Justin Raimondo June 4, 2012
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31502.htm#.T822VPqVjWI.email
***************************************************************************************************************************
It is extraordinary that Australia, a predominantly Christian country, is
ignoring the plight of Christians in Syria. The Gareth Evans’ Responsibility to
Protect apparently doesn’t extend to them, i.e. over two million people. The
current crisis could potentially drive Christians out of the Middle East, or at
least out of Syria and away from Straight Street, the Street spoken of in the
Bible, where Christians have lived for nearly 2,000 years.
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=31658&lan=eng 4 June
2012 ASIA/SYRIA – “The desolation of Homs and the war of information “: the
words of a greek-catholic Bishop
Below is a reference to Mother Agnes Mariam, an activist nun in Syria and
Lebanon, who has travelled around Syria with foreign journalists and spoken out
against the terrorists.
http://www.fanoos.com/society/mother_agnes_mariam_of_the_cross.html Introduction
to Mother Agnes Mariam
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HTTP://MRZINE.MONTHLYREVIEW.ORG/2012/SALT140112.HTML WHO IS KILLING WHOM IN
SYRIA? INTERVIEW WITH JEREMY SALT
by Maria Finoshina 14 Jan 2012
**************************************************************************************************************************
A reminder of the nationalities of the majority of the 9/11 hijackers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijackers_in_the_September_11_attacks nationalities
of 9/11 hijackers
An article missed on previous posts refers to two ex-US Senators wanting to take
the case against Saudi Arabia in regard to its alleged role in 9/11 to court.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/us/graham-and-kerrey-see-possible-saudi-9-11-link.html Saudi
Arabia may be tied to 9/11 former US senators say
There is evidence that suicide bombers from Saudi Arabia are now destined for
Syria. Why? Has the misinformation on Syria in our media created a ‘cancer’?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMkpa9guxSM RT report on suicide bombers ‘for
sale’ in Saudi Arabia
Sheik Qaradawi is most prominent cleric who inspires fighters in Syria. Those
same fighters justify their killings with their cry for ‘freedom’, a call
repeated by Western commentators as if it is a call for freedom from a foreign
invader. Again, the media is seriously remiss in its duties to inform by not
writing about Qaradawi. Will he and his followers bring ‘freedom’ to the women
of Syria?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPXmNXLbuxY Sheik Qaradawi speaking about the
dangers of female masturbation 2009
Qaradawi, who issued his first fatwa against the Syrian government in March
2011, has said on Al-Jazeera that if it is necessary to kill 1/3 of the
population of Syria in order to topple the ‘heretical’ government, then that is
OK. When are the UN, the mainstream media, Western governments and going to
face up to their responsibility to protect those 7 million plus people?
Presumably they are ‘heretics’ in Qaradawi’s eyes as well as peace-loving
people who bravely stand up to such a blood-curdling ideology.
There is no sign of the US challenging the ideology of Qaradawi; presumably the
ideology of neo-cons, hawks, the Pentagon and extremist clerics are feeding each
other.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31451.htm#.T8cYGIGxafo.email
‘Military Option’ for Syria: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
By MACKENZIE WEINGER 29 May
***************************************************************************************************************************
http://photobusinessforum.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/citizen-journalism-fails-viewers-at-bbc.html
Citizen Journalism Fails Viewers at the BBC (post Houla)
***************************************************************************************************************************
Patrick Seale is a Middle East expert who has written extensively on the ME
,including Syria. This article in The Guardian challenges most of the
hysterical response to the Houla massacre in the Australian mainstream media.
Will people be nodding their heads in agreement with Seale in some months time
after hundreds or thousands more Syrians have been killed by mercenaries hired
by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and trained, perhaps, by the CIA?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/27/syria-no-plans-peace Patrick
Seale in The Guardian
***************************************************************************************************************************
Australian Foreign Minister, Mr Bob Carr, writes on his blog about his decision
to expel the Syrian Charge D’Affaires.
http://bobcarrblog.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/expulsion-of-syrian-charge-daffaires/ Bob
Carr’s blog: expulsion of Syrian Charge D’affaires
An introduction to the President of Syria who has been demonised in the
Australian media and by our politicians since March 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBxdUyX9yCk&feature=fvwp President Bashar’s
interview with Sunday Times Nov 2011
*******************************************************************************************************************************
War Kills People … As Do Lies By U.S. And Western Interventionists
2012-06-04 By Michael Scheuer
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31488.htm#.T8qo7xzVrTA.email
********************************************************************************************************************************
Responses to the #Houla massacre by people in the diaspora.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngUJsfr5rrA&feature=related Syrian Girl responds
to al-Houla massacre
http://newmatilda.com/2012/06/04/australias-naivety-syria Joseph Wakim on
naivety in Australia re Syria
********************************************************************************************************************************
A reminder of the bigger picture from an interview with John R. Bradley, ME
expert rarely consulted by local Australian media.
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-nato-iran-russia-149/ Syria on its knees; prelude
to invading Iran RT interview with John R. Bradley (31 Jan 2012) Bradley
points out that two Arab states play a particularly important role in NATO’s
plans for Syria. These are Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“Saudi Arabia is financially and politically backing the civilian opposition [in
Syria], and Qatar has been widely reported to be funding and arming the jihad
rebels who were leading this insurrection,” he said. “We can be absolutely sure
that this is nothing to do with human rights when it comes to the West’s
concern, and even more sure when it comes to the concern of Saudi Arabia. This
is how preposterous the Western media coverage is, of this uprising.”
********************************************************************************************************************************
ABC Australia reports on Syria, 3 June 2012. Does this report show an
understanding of the complex nature of the crisis in Syria?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-03/un-rules-out-amnesty-for-syrias-assad/4048994
ABC News 4 June UN rules out amnesty for Syria’s Assad
*********************************************************************************************************************************
Two excellent webcasts from the UN. They were referenced on the previous post.
But they are highly recommended for an understanding of the ‘other side’: the
Russian and the Syrian.
http://unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/05/russian-federation-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout.html UN
webcast with Alexander Pankin, Russian rep in UN speaking post Houla massacre
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/05/bashar-jaafari-syria-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-7.html
BASHAR JA’AFARI (SYRIA) ON SYRIA – SECURITY COUNCIL MEDIA STAKEOUT
30 May 2012
Leave a Comment
May 15, 2012
MAY 2012 REFERENCE LIST
Image: Young woman killed in a taxi on her way to work when bombs exploded in
Damascus on Thursday 10 May 2012.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES OF VICTIMS OF MASSACRES
MAY 31 UN OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGE ARMED GANGS’ ROLE IN SYRIA UNREST
http://counterpsyops.com/2012/05/31/un-officials-acknowledge-armed-gangs-role-in-syria-unrest/
*********************************************************************************************************************************Eye
witness account of massacres ( this account should be read together with the
ones published in the mainstream media which point the finger at the govt and
‘Alawite gangs’ – a recipe for civil war.)
http://sabinachiaburu.wordpress.com/2012/05/30/hulahoms/
*********************************************************************************************************************************Amnesty’s
links with Robert Ford and his possible links with death squads
http://anti-imperialism.com/2012/03/31/death-squad-coordinator-robert-ford-keynotes-amnesty-international-annual-meeting/
*********************************************************************************************************************************
UN Webcast 30 May Bashar Jaafari Jaafari presents some of the results of the
preliminary investigation into the Houla massacre.
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/05/bashar-jaafari-syria-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-7.html*********************************************************************************************************************************
” In Syria, there is no Plan for Peace” Patrick Seale, ME expert and author
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/27/syria-no-plans-peace
*********************************************************************************************************************************Auction
in hotel in Saudi Arabia to raise money for suicide bombers and fighters to go
to Syria. Seems as though money for suicide bombers will go to their family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ha94Xz59dg&feature=player_embedded
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Israeli views on
Syriahttp://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/israels-perspective-on-syria/4045926
Earlier this year Israeli academic and journalist Jonathan Spyer was smuggled
across the Turkish border into Syria. On horseback, with local help, he made his
way to Idlib and spent a week with rebels from the Free Syrian Army. Two weeks
after he returned home, the Syrian Army took the town. He speaks on the regional
implications of the conflict in Syria.
*********************************************************************************************************************************Russian
views expressed in UN
VITALY I. CHURKIN (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) ON SYRIA – SECURITY COUNCIL MEDIA
STAKEOUT
30 May 2012
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/05/vitaly-i-churkin-russian-federation-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout-5.html
ALEXANDER A. PANKIN (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) ON SYRIA – SECURITY COUNCIL MEDIA
STAKEOUT
27 May
2012http://unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/05/russian-federation-on-syria-security-council-media-stakeout.html
*********************************************************************************************************************************
Note: ME experts you rarely hear in the Australian media include: Jeremy Salt,
Alastair Crooke, Sharmine Narwani, and John R. Bradley. Fiona Hill has written
several articles for The Drum, New Matilda, and The Conversation. There are
references to their articles on these posts, but they can be accessed with a
quick google.
*********************************************************************************************************************************
SYRIAN REBELS, GETTING TOP TREATMENT IN TURKEY, EYE QUICK HOMECOMING (PHOTOS)
14 May 2012
http://rt.com/news/syria-rebels-turkey-camps-121/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Net+News+Global&utm_term=Net+News+Global&utm_content=News+von+Net+News+Global
There are officially no Syrian refugees in Turkey – only “visitors from Syria.”
Well-accommodated and enjoying Turkey’s hospitality, they return home,
contradicting the “evil Assad regime scares its own people away” narrative sold
by Western media.
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ABC RADIO NATIONAL COUNTERPOINT
After The Arab Spring
Interview with John R. Bradley 30 April 2012
John R. Bradley is a foreign correspondent who has written on the Middle East
for The Washington Quarterly, The New York Post, The New Republic, The London
Times and The Spectator and author of “After the Arab Spring”
Ref: http://johnrbradley.wordpress.com/
The Arab Spring put the Arab world firmly on the path to democracy and a better
future, didn’t it? Well, maybe not. It was certainly led by liberals and they
rallied the Arab masses but then they were drowned out by the slogans of the
better organised and more popular radical Islamists.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/counterpoint/arab-spring/3976176
*********************************************************************************************************************************
NB: this is from March, but always worth referencing
ASIA TIMES MARCH 9 2012 Syria: Straining credulity?
By Alastair Crooke
The UN Secretary General was reported on March 3 saying that he had received
“grisly reports” that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing,
imprisoning and torturing people in Homs after retaking control of the Baba Amr
district from insurgents. Did he really believe this; or was he just “saying
it”?
“One of the defining bifurcations of the future will be the conflict between
information masters and information victims” the US officer assigned to the
Deputy Chief of Staff (Intelligence), charged with defining the future of
warfare, wrote in the US Army War College Quarterly in 1997.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NC09Ak03.html
Alastair Crooke speaks at debate some years ago on “Time to Quit Iraq is now”
making some pertinent points for today, e.g. re need for diplomacy and
dialogue.
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/the-time-to-quit-iraq-is-now?SQ_PAINT_LAYOUT_NAME=chapter&start=1300&end=1716&sgmt=33728
*********************************************************************************************************************************
There is confirmation from various sources that an extremist group linked to
Al-Qaeda has been responsible for recent suicide bombings in Syria.
ISLAMIST GROUP CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR DAMASCUS BOMBINGS 12 May 2012
Al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group unknown before the Syrian revolt, released a
video on Saturday claiming responsibility for twin suicide bombings in Damascus
that killed 55 people.
The video said the bombings on Thursday, the deadliest since the uprising
against President Bashar Assad’s regime erupted in March 2011, were “in response
to regime bombing of residential areas in Damascus, Idlib, Hama, Daraa provinces
and others.”
Al-Nusra Front, which does not give a precise date for the attacks, says it has
launched a “military operation in Damascus against the regime strongholds,
targeting the Palestine branch of the security services.”
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/islamist-group-claim-damascus-bombings
*********************************************************************************************************************************
BBC PROFILE: SYRIA’S AL-NUSRA FRONT
12 May 2012
The al-Nusra Front has said it was behind Thursday’s bomb attacks in the Syrian
capital, Damascus, the latest and deadliest since the uprising in the country
began in March 2011. The BBC News website here profiles the shadowy jihadist
group.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18048033
INTELLIGENCE CHIEF CONCERNED ABOUT AL QAEDA IN SYRIA CONFLICT
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified before Congress today
that al Qaeda and Sunni extremists were seeking to gain influence in Syria,
possibly infiltrating some of the fragmented opposition groups engaged in
fighting there.
“Another disturbing phenomenon that we’ve seen recently, apparently, is the
presence of extremists who have infiltrated the opposition groups,” Clapper
told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“The two bombings in Damascus in December … and then the two additional bombings
in Aleppo, both of which were targeted against security and intelligence
buildings … had all the earmarks of an al Qaeda-like attack. So we believe
that al Qaeda in Iraq is extending its reach into Syria.” Clapper said.
“The state of the opposition, which is quite fragmented, it’s very localized —
the Syrian National Council really doesn’t … command and control these
oppositionist groups,” Clapper said.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/intelligence-chief-concerned-about-al-qaeda-in-syria-conflict/
DAILY STAR: Militants claim deadly Syria bombings in video12 May 2012
BEIRUT: A video posted online in the name of a shadowy militant group late
Friday claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the Syrian capital
this week that killed 55 people.
In the video, a group calling itself the Al-Nusra Front says the bombing was in
response to attacks on residential areas by the regime of President Bashar
Assad.
http://m.dailystar.com.lb/Article.aspx?id=173173
5. This is a very important article, and deserves attention. What is covered
by its writer concerns the manner in which the UN is to tackle the violence in
Syria if it is serious about establishing peace in the region. For some reason
(perhaps because it raises deep concerns about the approach of the UN to
Syria?), it is difficult to provide a link which will take you to the original
article. However, it can be accessed from some blogs.
CRUNCH TIME IN SYRIA: THE UN PROTOCOL’S JIHADIST LOOPHOLE
By Sharmine Narwani 9th May 2012
We have arrived at a determining moment in the Syrian crisis. The choices are
startlingly simple:
1) Cautious, incremental movement toward political reconciliation and reform
spearheaded by the Syrian government and closely monitored by Kofi Annan’s UN
mission, Moscow, Tehran and Beijing.
2) Dangerous escalation of violence and militarization that will increasingly
include foreign jihadists and is likely spill to over into the broader Middle
East.
After only one week of observing events in Syria first-hand, United Nations
Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) commander Major-General Robert Mood
spelled out the dwindling options……….
The 600-pound gorilla in the room is the growing presence of Al-Qaeda and other
jihadists operating inside the Syrian theatre.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/crunch-time-syria-un-protocol’s-jihadist-problem
http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/crunch-time-in-syria-un-protocols.html
6.
HOMS OPPOSITION: AL FAROUQ BATTALION IS KILLING US
by Sharmine Narwani 13 May 2012
It is extremely rare to have a direct peephole into events on the ground in
Syria. The hard-fought battle over narratives often leaves truth in the dust.
But among the cache of recently leaked emails (exclusive to Al Akhbar) from
Syrian National Council (SNC) President Burhan Ghalioun’s inbox, comes this gem
– important information that further highlights the glaring loophole in UN Envoy
Kofi Annan’s demilitarization plans for Syria: rogue fighters.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/homs-opposition-al-farouq-battalion-killing-us
7.
CONFIRMED: OPPOSITION EXTREMISTS BEHIND DAMASCUS BOMBINGS
US “officials” admit Al Qaeda running loose in Syria, fail to mention 2007 US
plan to put them there.
by Tony Cartalucci
Editor’s Note: The term “Sunni extremist” refers specifically to terrorists who
have been approached by, manipulated, and used to carry out violence across the
Arab World, as specified in Seymour Hersh’s 2007 article, “The Redirection.” It
by no means indicates that Sunni Muslims as a sect are behind the violence – as
many Sunnis have been targeted by the West’s terrorist proxy forces as well.
May 12, 2012 – Regarding the recent, devastating bombings in Damascus, Syria, an
Associated Press report, “Syria opposition: Assad trying to destroy UN peace,”
featured the “chief of Syria’s major opposition political group Syrian National
Council,” Burhan Ghalioun, baselessly claiming “the relationship between the
Syrian regime and al Qaeda is very strong.” Also included was the comments of a
“Free Syrian Army” commander who claimed, “the Syrian regime wanted through
these terrorist explosions to support its silly story of the presence of armed
and terrorist gangs.”
However, not even a day passed before another AP report has now confirmed that
the terrorist Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for the deadly blasts
that ripped through Damascus this week, killing scores and injuring hundreds,
and shattering opposition claims that the Syrian government was behind them. The
Al-Nusra Front has been at the center of several acts of violence across Syria,
as part of a wider Sunni-extremist led, NATO and Gulf State-backed, militant
campaign to destabilize and overthrow the Syrian government.AP’s “Militant video
claims responsibility for deadly Syria blasts,” also states that, “Western
officials say there is little doubt that Islamist extremists, some associated
with al-Qaida, have made inroads in Syria as instability has spread since the
start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad 14 months ago.” What AP
fails to mention is that the West, in coordination with Israel and Saudi Arabia,
have been building up an extremist, militant Sunni front since at least 2007,
according to a 2007 New Yorker report by renowned journalist Seymour Hersh
titled, “The Redirection: Is the Administration’s new policy benefiting our
enemies in the war on terrorism?.”
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/confirmed-sunni-extremists-behind.html
8. Dr Franklin Lamb presents questions here, very pertinent ones, regarding
the weapons found on board the Lutfallah. They had originated from Libya.
Questions for investigative reporters, but where are the reporters or the media
outlets who will print their disclosures?
THE LUTFALLAH ARMS SMUGGLING SCANDAL
by Dr Franklin Lamb 5/5/12
….On 5/2/12, Syria’s ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdel-Karim, following a meeting
with Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, accused Gulf countries, including
Qatar and Saudi Arabia, of being behind the Syria-bound arms shipments.
“The ship was bound for the Syrian opposition; this is sure given that the
political and security leaderships in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries
are behind these acts, which undermine the security of Syria, Lebanon and the
region.”
Many questions remain in need of answers. Any serious first year law student
would ask the questions that presumably Lebanese investigating judges and the
media will ask. A few of the more obvious ones would include:…..
http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/18686-lutfallah-ii.html
ARTICLES AND INFORMATION TO BE ADDED TO THIS PAGE INCLUDE:
Questions about the visit of Donatella Rovera,Amnesty’s ME investigator, to
Idlib in April. Did she enter Syria illegally? If so, why and who helped her?
How would that colour her reporting? Who is she? She speaks Arabic, but what
is her employment history? Is that relevant when assessing the veracity of her
reporting? (NB Suzanne Nossel, US Amnesty director, used to work for US State
Department and wrote ‘Smart Power’, which has been referenced by Hilary
Clinton.) Rovera’s report based entirely, it seemed to this editor, on the
claims of anti-government sources, was published in The Guardian just 2 or 3
days before the Turkish PM, Erdogan, visited the camps across the border to give
hope to the armed struggle of the ‘rebels’. Why do Amnesty reports on Syria
differ so much from Amnesty reports on Libya, which do expose the violence and
subterfuge of rebels and anti-government forces, to some extent at least.
For a critique of the work of Amnesty, there will be reference to an article by
Dr Franklin Lamb as well as criticisms of Amnesty by US professor of law,
Francis Boyle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Boyle
Leave a Comment
April 2, 2012
APRIL 2012 REFERENCE LISTS
Updates: April 30
This page presents links to videos and articles mostly published or noted in
April 2012. However, for an understanding of what is occurring in Syria, there
is excellent analyses on other pages of the blog which date back to almost the
beginning of the crisis. Hard work is needed to understand the Middle East,
especially now when there is a ‘propaganda and humanitarian war’ being waged
against Syria and there is the ‘fog of war’.
Excerpts from articles will be presented. It is hoped that visitors to the blog
will have the time to check out the complete article.
Note it may be necessary to copy and paste the link in order to access it.
On this page, there are more images of Syrians taken from Syrian satellite TV.
Much discussion and debate is taking place in Syria in regard to how to move the
country forward peacefully. It can be assumed the overwhelming majority of
Syrians want a peaceful transition to democracy without the interference of
outsiders. (Which is what any population would want, isn’t it?) Many of the
people in the images are involved in the efforts to take the country forward.
**************************************************************************************
For an indication of the effects of terror on ordinary people in Syria, it is
really necessary to see the faces and hear the voices of the people themselves.
This can be done by going to Syrian TV. But below are links which indicate what
Syrians are confronting.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/116913
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOq-0ZGk1qk
Revolution Racketeers: Industrial terrorism in Syria
> Russia – which is a major backer of Kofi Annan’s peace plan – has again
> criticized Syria’s government and its rebels for breaking the ceasefire. The
> Foreign Ministry in Moscow also accused some opposition fighters, who refuse
> to lay down arms, of resorting to outright terrorism. And, as Oksana Boyko
> discovered, those still at large have little patience for neutrality.
***************************************************************************************
ABC RADIO NATIONAL COUNTERPOINT 30 April 2012
Interview with John Bradley, ME expert, fluent Arabic speaker, author and
correspondent. In this interview, Bradley talks at length about the ‘revolution’
in Tunisia and ‘democracy’ in Egypt.
> http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/counterpoint/arab-spring/3976176
>
> The Arab Spring put the Arab world firmly on the path to democracy and a
> better future, didn’t it? Well, maybe not. It was certainly led by liberals
> and they rallied the Arab masses but then they were drowned out by the slogans
> of the better organised and more popular radical Islamists.
Interviews with John Bradley have been noted on this blog previously:
The World Today – How Islamists hijacked the Arab Spring 20/02/2012
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2012/s3434650.htm
***************************************************************************************
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/26/us-syria-russia-idUSBRE83P14S20120426
Russia accuses Syrian rebels of using “tactics of terror”
By Thomas Grove and Steve Gutterman MOSCOW | Thu Apr 26, 2012 1:51pm EDT
> bel attacks and accused foreign states of arming the rebels. “Many Western
> governments, and not just Western … are helping the Syrian opposition with
> weapon
>
> (Reuters) – Russia accused Syrian rebels on Thursday of using terror tactics
> and suggested they were more to blame for ceasefire violations than President
> Bashar al-Assad’s troops.
>
> The remarks by the foreign ministry differed from assessments by Western
> states which have been calling on government forces to end attacks and
> withdraw from cities and towns under a U.N.-backed truce.
>
> “We call upon the Syrian side to carry out in full its obligations…” Foreign
> Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told a weekly briefing. “Nonetheless
> … there is another side in Syria, opposition groups, which have in essence
> shifted to tactics of terror on a regional scale.”……
***************************************************************************************
The ABC, for example, relies heavily still on the figures and claims of
anonymous ‘activists’. Little attention is paid to credible reports in Syrian
news in regard to the killings of security personnel and civilians. An
Australian lost his brother just this week; he was killed by a sniper in Homs.
This is unlikely to be reported in our media and Australians generally will
remain oblivious to the horrors that Syrians have been facing for one year. The
recent suicide and car bombs are spreading even more fear and terror.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/116742
> Law-enforcement martyrs of al-Midan terrorist blast laid to rest…16 army and
> law-enforcement members escorted to final resting place
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/117578
> Armed groups assassinate physician, Lieutenant Colonel in Daraa, a Colonel and
> Warrant Officer in Hama
> DARAA, HAMA- In the framework of targeting the national and scientific
> expertise and intellectuals, an armed terrorist group on Monday assassinated
> Doctor Adnan Tawfik al-Samitt in Daraa.SANA reporter quoted a source at Daraa
> Province as saying that the armed terrorist group shoot dead Dr. al-Samitt
> with their machineguns near his house at al-Qusour Neighborhood in Daraa
> city.In the same context, the source added that another armed terrorist group
> randomly opened fire in al-Na’emeh village in Daraa countryside with the aim
> of intimidating the citizens and preventing them from going to their jobs.
>
***************************************************************************************http://lizzie-phelan.blogspot.ca/2012/04/how-information-warlords-define-concept.html
How the information warlords define the concept of terrorism in the case of
Syria
by Amal Saad-Ghorayeb
> So after today’s suicide bombing by opposition forces (most likely the same
> al-Qaeda linked/inspired groups that have claimed responsibility for previous
> terrorist attacks), here’s how the news wires covered the attack:
> Associated Press: “The regime blamed Friday’s attack on unspecified
> “terrorists” – the term it uses to describe opposition forces that it says are
> carrying out a foreign conspiracy.”
> AFP: “The report blamed “terrorists,” the term used by President Bashar
> al-Assad’s regime to refer to the armed opposition…Assad’s regime has
> repeatedly blamed “armed terrorist groups” for the violence, and for failing
> to abide by a putative ceasefire that went into force on April 12.”
> First of all, there is the ever-present, and borderline sarcastic, reference
> to how the regime perceives the armed opposition as carrying out a “foreign
> conspiracy”. So Turkey’s hosting and arming of the opposition and FSA, and the
> US and other “Friends of Syria’s” declared intent [if not after-the-fact
> acknowledgement] to arm these groups, should not be interpreted by the regime
> as a foreign conspiracy to overthrow it, nor should Israeli officials’
> admissions of meeting with elements in the Syrian opposition, or France’s
> saber-rattling for military intervention. By extension, groups receiving this
> aid are not involved in this conspiracy and the regime’s depiction of them as
> such is surely delusional. Well, to some extent it is injudicious of the Assad
> regime to continue to refer to what is an openly belligerent
> US-western-Turkish-Arab-Israeli-al-Qaeda war against it as a hidden
> conspiracy. It is anopenly declared foreign war on Syria, and not an
> ill-concealed foreign conspiracy………
***************************************************************************************
A very feisty Malalai Joya, a former member of the Afghan parliament, was
interviewed by ABC’s Lateline program. The interviewer seems nonplussed as Joya
condemns NATO, the US, and even Australia for occupying her country.
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1335605330.html
***************************************************************************************
Al-Akhbar English
Damascus: The Protocols of Annan’s Plan By: Nicolas Nassif
Published Tuesday, April 24, 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/damascus-protocols-annan%E2%80%99s-plan
> According to close observers, Damascus’ response to the peace plan proposed by
> the UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan is proving to be
> positive. When asked, government officials express a willingness to provide
> the necessary support for the plan, as long as there is a commitment to work
> with the Syrian state.
>
> Damascus’ cooperation is based on several factors:……
*********************************************************************************************
Editor’s note: It took a brave Julian Assange to interview Hassan Nasrallah.
Yet, it seems extraordinary that others haven’t sought his opinions before
today. People across the Middle East have been well aware of Nasrallah’s views
for many years. Why are they virtually ‘censored’ in the West? Do we need
protection from them? Are we as infantilized as any population, just more
cheerily so? Does everything have to be interpreted and filtered for us?
(Robert Fisk has used the term ‘infantalized‘ in regard to the ME and also US
politics. In 2008, he spoke about the media in the US not being willing to
challenge power:
http://current.com/groups/politics/89376159_the-deadly-infantilization-of-american-politics-robert-fisk-and-patricia-degennaro-on-grittv.htm
NB: Robert Fisk, himself, seems reliant on the swinging views of his friend
Walid Jumblatt for his public opinions on Syria, but for many he continues to
get enough credit for his criticism of the US, Israel etc, for him to be
considered a trusted source on any issue. )
Julian Assange’s The World Tomorrow: Hassan Nasrallah (E1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GDLXPpooA18
> Published on Apr 17, 2012 by RussiaToday
>
> Hezbollah urged the Syrian opposition to engage in dialogue with Assad’s
> regime, but they refused. Hezbollah leader Sayyid Nasrallah confirmed this in
> his first interview in 6 years, the world premiere of Julian Assange’s ‘The
> World Tomorrow’ on RT.
***********************************************************************************************
Editor: Another interview you are unlikely to see on Australian TV. Would it
be treason to present the views of “Syrian Girl” on Australian TV?
James Corbett – Love Bombs for Syria – Syrian Girl on Intervention and
Hypocrisy, April 15 2012
http://information-machine.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/james-corbett-love-bombs-for-syria.html
*********************************************************************************************
Editor: Stephen Lendman doesn’t mince words in this article below. It may seem
partisan and unacceptable to many, but for Syrians who confront the fear of
bombs, abduction and death on a daily basis while the world is silent, or at
best ignorant, Lendman’s expression is tame. We should all be shouting “Stop
this madness” from roof tops.
Media Scoundrels Promote War on Syria By Stephen Lendman
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31166.htm#.T5dcrR6DYvI.email
> April 23, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Syria’s a battle zone. Western
> generated violence is to blame, not Assad. America’s media scoundrels claim
> otherwise. They want him ousted by any means, including war.
>
> An April 9 Wall Street Journal commentary said “Syrian government forces
> (keep) bombing and killing….” Assad “reneged on (his) promises to end the
> bloodshed.”
>
> Washington “and its allies (are) doing little or nothing to depose (his)
> regime. (The) illusion of diplomatic progress serves as cover for the Assads
> of the world to do more killing. Your move, President Obama.”
>
> Like all scoundrel media commentators, Journal contributors blame victims, not
> villains. Their readers are betrayed, not informed.
**********************************************************************************************
Editor: In the Australian media, there is rarely serious reference to SANA or
other official news from Syria, while there is increasing reliance on refugees
in Turkey for their assessment of what is occurring in Syria. But there are
news reports coming out of Syria which demand attention. As there were one year
ago. 22 million people still live in Syria. Their stories demand telling.
Armed Criminal Groups Shot and Mutilated Army Officer and His Family Apr 19,
2011
Syrian Inventor Issa Abboud Martyred by Criminal Armed Gangs
http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2011/04/19/342253.htm
And today:
Armed groups assassinate physician, Lieutenant Colonel in Daraa, a Colonel and
Warrant Officer in Hama April 25 2012
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/117578
> DARAA, HAMA- In the framework of targeting the national and scientific
> expertise and intellectuals, an armed terrorist group on Monday assassinated
> Doctor Adnan Tawfik al-Samitt in Daraa.
>
> SANA reporter quoted a source at Daraa Province as saying that the armed
> terrorist group shoot dead Dr. al-Samitt with their machineguns near his house
> at al-Qusour Neighborhood in Daraa city.
>
> In the same context, the source added that another armed terrorist group
> randomly opened fire in al-Na’emeh village in Daraa countryside with the aim
> of intimidating the citizens and preventing them from going to their jobs.
**********************************************************************************************
Monitoring or spying mission to Syria 25 April 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-5vqveOlDs&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Net+News+Global&utm_term=Net+News+Global&utm_content=News+von+Net+News+Global
> They were in the closed Council chambers for hours first taking in Annan’s
> briefing and then working on the situation in Sudan. When the UN Security
> Council emerged acting President for April Susan Rice offered pure statistics
> from UN Peacekeeping boss Herve Ladsous.
>
> The 300 monitors to be sent to Syria were mandated by Security Council
> resolution last Saturday. The ink was hardly dry when Rice threatened Syria
> with “further measures” if the Assad government doesn’t comply with Annan’s
> six-point plan.
>
> Syrian ambassador Bashar Ja’Afari has spoken repeatedly of states working for
> the failure of that plan and on Tuesday Rice again indicated she was ready for
> Syria to fail.
*********************************************************************************************
Editor: You would expect it to be headlines in Australia: “50,000 Syrians forced
from their homes by extremists”. Imagine if it were 50,000 Sydneysiders, or
Londoners? Note, everyone is a potential victim of extremist violence. The
clerics who incite it encourage their followers to kill anyone who gets in the
way of destroying the ‘heretical’ Syrian government. So victims include people
taking part in council elections, doctors, professors, imams; if they can be
described as being ‘pro-regime’ their sect is irrelevant. (Where is the West’s
support for ‘moderate’ Muslims?)
Israel Today Magazine
Syrian Christians: The Revolution’s Unsung Victims April 5th 2012
http://www.israeltoday.co.il/tabid/178/nid/23182/language/en-US/Default.aspx
> The international community and global media are focusing a lot of attention
> of late on the brutal tactics being employed by the forces of Syrian dictator
> Bashar Assad as he battles a year-long insurgency that has recently blossomed
> into full-scale civil war. In the process, the Syrian opposition forces,
> collectively known as the Free Syrian Army, have been primarily portrayed in a
> positive light.
>
> But a trickle of reports from sources in embattled Syrian towns reveal that
> the Sunni-led revolutionaries are guilty of at least as many war crimes as
> Assad, especially against the country’s Christian minority.
>
> In the latest issue of Israel Today, we wrote about how Syria’s minority
> communities actually prefer Assad, who is himself from the small Alawite
> Muslim minority. They fear the alternative, which is rule by a Sunni majority
> that will likely align itself with the Muslim Brotherhood and other regional
> radicals.
>
> Their fears appear increasingly justified.….
Islamists force 50,000 Christians to flee from Syrian city of Homs by OCP on
April 17, 2012
http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/2012/04/islamists-force-50000-christians-to-flee-from-syrian-city-of-homs/
> ….. Christians in Homs were reportedly told that if they did not leave
> immediately, they would be shot. Then, pictures of their bodies would be sent
> to the pro-Syrian-regime-change Al Jazeera — a media broadcaster controlled by
> the dictatorship ruling Qatar — with a message claiming that forces loyal to
> Assad had murdered them.….
*********************************************************************************************
Editor: Sharmine Narwani deserves attention in the Australian media. But gets
none. We live in a village; we don’t want anyone to point out the village may be
wrong in its assumptions about the world outside.
Al-Akhbar English
Western Journalist: Visa Denied By Sharmine Narwani – Sat, 2012-04-21
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/western-journalist-visa-denied
> ……right now, I honestly cannot think of a group of people less capable of
> verifying things in Syria than western journalists. And it is not because they
> aren’t physically there or can’t string together more than two words in
> Arabic. It is largely because they feast at the trough of their own
> governments’ narratives on All Things. Western journalists are heady with a
> sense of righteousness leached from the oxymoronic “western values” shoved
> down our collective throats. Those same western values that demand
> “accountability” and “transparency” from all nations – while offering cover
> for western governments to hack their way through Muslim and Arab bodies in
> endless “national security” wars.
>
> …..With the exception of a few proud holdouts, western media has made a
> beeline for the sexy story in Syria – which is essentially the fairytale of
> the “Arab Spring” with a little twist: Bad regime, good activists – but kick
> out this dictator and it’s a three-for-one, with Iran and Hezbollah tossed in
> as a bonus.
>
> There are only three guiding rules for most western journalists inside or
> outside of Syria: 1) only quote anti-regime populations, 2) do not seek out
> independent domestic opposition figures, 3) evidence is unimportant, as long
> as you loosely “source” it:
>
> They head straight for the Syrian activist, the anti-regime demonstration, the
> man with the gun in a “hot spot.” These are one side of the Syrian story, for
> sure. But you will not find mainstream western journalism broadcasting a
> pro-regime rally of tens of thousands, the national flag painted on the faces
> of Assad supporters – young and old – waving posters of their president.
> Pro-regime Syrians, a majority of whom voted in a national referendum in
> February to adopt constitutional reforms, are never interviewed by these
> reporters.
*********************************************************************************************
STOP THE WAR COALITION
Will sheep fly in Syria if imperial princess Hilary Clinton gets her way? By
Saul Landau
20 April 2012
http://stopwar.org.uk/index.php/middle-east-and-north-africa/1359-will-sheep-fly-in-syria-if-imperial-princess-hilary-clinton-gets-her-way
> The Syrian conflict continued to boil — or boil over — when Syrian troops
> fired across the Turkish border on April 9, apparently killing either fleeing
> refugees or armed combatants.
>
> Then the UN team entered and began monitoring a shaky ceasefire – shaky
> because the Syrian National Council in exile and their backers in Saudi
> Arabia, Qatar, Washington and western capitals don’t want the fighting to
> stop. They want to overthrow the Assad government by force and violence.
>
> However, despite continued words of caution from the Pentagon and White House
> about getting into another messy Middle East war, Secretary of State Hilary
> Clinton pressed for more intervention.
*********************************************************************************************
Know secular Syria through seeing and hearing the voices of Syrians
This video is in Arabic, but that should not prevent an understanding of the
‘life pulse’ of it. It a video of a Maronite church service in Damascus
attended by imams. There are interviews with an imam, priest, and members of
the congregation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNCw11nQSwE&feature=youtu.be
****************************************************************************************
Sharmine Narwani has been referenced regularly on this blog. She is making a
courageous and committed effort to analyze the crisis in Syria from many
perspectives and (this editor believes) with integrity. She was in Damascus in
January and reported on conversations she had with members of opposition groups
within Syria.
This interview is relatively short but an excellent summary of some of the key
issues around Syria today.
Information and misinformation on Syria
12 April 2012
http://www.english.rfi.fr/middle-east/20120412-events-syria-and-medias
> By Rosslyn Hyams
>
> Sharmine Narwani, a senior associate at Saint Anthony’s College, Oxford, and
> contributor to the English edition of Al-Akhbar, an online arabic newspaper
> questions the way that information has been circulating about what’s been
> going on in Syria for the past 13 months. And the effect that it has had on
> the situation.
One article by Sharmine Narwani referred to previously on this blog is
Questioning the Syrian “Casualty List” Feb 28 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/questioning-syrian-%E2%80%9Ccasualty-list%E2%80%9D
It may help to read that in conjunction with this short report from Dr Bashar
Ja’afara.
30 March 2012 A Letter from Syrian Ambassador to the UN presenting figures of
those killed by ‘armed terrorist groups’ in Syria.
http://www.syrianyouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Bashar-Al-Jaafari-Letter-to-UN.pdf
****************************************************************************************
Unfortunately, Australian investigative reporting in regard to Syria is almost
non-existent. There is reporting, but it is generally not balanced or seriously
investigative. Therefore, reporting of any substance often needs to be sourced
from outside Australia.
Syria: Saving or Sinking-News Analysis-04-12-2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlvuGdgiYb8&sns=tw
> 600 A.M. Syrian time: All appeared quiet in Syria: UN Arab League Envoy Kofi
> Annan’s ceasefire deal seemed to have worked. Hours later: 2 incidents of
> violence: One officer dead, 24 others, injured, with a number of law
> enforcement officers injured in another incident, blamed on an armed terrorist
> groups with explosive devices. The Assad government has time and again blamed
> these groups for being part of the problem: Groups armed by some Arab
> countries, like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with financial support from both Arab
> and Western countries, like the US and France.
>
> This edition of News Analysis discusses the situation in Syria
****************************************************************************************
War photographer Paul Conroy refers to a video clip presented by ‘activists’ in
Syria which was of a Mexican drug cartel.
Reporters ‘have to go in’ to Syria – injured photographer
BBC HardTalk
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9712785.stm
****************************************************************************************
John Bradley, an expert on the Arab Spring, appears to have only been
interviewed once on ABC Australia.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2012/s3434650.htm Is this because his
expert opinion differs from the single narrative of many established
commentators? (Two of these interviews are from January, but were not published
on this blog at till now.)
This first interview is just over 5 minutes long. Another must-listen to
interview.
John R. Bradley / Russia Today — Syria and the Wahhabi Counterrevolution
http://firstpost.com/topic/place/syria-john-r-bradley-russia-today-syria-and-the-wahhabi-coun-video-nPoIskYLjXY-15-30.html
JOHN R. BRADLEY / Fox News – After the Arab Spring
26 January
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9HFxTrt-VI
> Interview with John R. Bradley on Fox & Friends about his new book After the
> Arab Spring: How Islamists Hijacked the Middle East Revolts (Palgrave
> Macmilan, 2012). More info: http://johnrbradley.wordpress.com/
‘Syria on its knees – prelude to NATO invading Iran’
21 January 2012
http://rt.com/news/syria-nato-iran-russia-149/
> The idea of the Syrian opposition dancing to a foreign tune has been floated
> by John R. Bradley, author of the book, After the Arab Spring. He says NATO
> members are committed to toppling the regime and will make Iran their next
> target.
>
> “[Syrian opposition is] under huge pressure from outside powers who want
> these talks [between the Assad regime and the opposition] to fail even before
> they begin – most obviously NATO,” he told RT. “NATO is determined to bring
> the Assad regime to its knees as a prelude to invading Iran.”
>
> Bradley points out that two Arab states play a particularly important role in
> NATO’s plans for Syria. These are Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
>
> “Saudi Arabia is financially and politically backing the civilian opposition
> [in Syria], and Qatar has been widely reported to be funding and arming the
> jihad rebels who were leading this insurrection,” he said. “We can be
> absolutely sure that this is nothing to do with human rights when it comes to
> the West’s concern, and even more sure when it comes to the concern of Saudi
> Arabia. This is how preposterous the Western media coverage is, of this
> uprising.”
****************************************************************************************
This blog is recommended for an alternative analysis of news reports.
MOON OF ALABAMA
The Live Videos Of The “Shelling Of Homs” Are Staged
April 14, 2012
http://www.moonofalabama.org/
****************************************************************************************
SIX WAYS THE MEDIA HAS MISREPORTED SYRIA
19 March 2012
http://www.syrianyouth.com/495_six-ways-the-media-has-misreported-syria.html
****************************************************************************************
Faux-Feminist’s Ridiculous “Women Under Siege” Syria Map
CIA Asset Gloria Steinem’s “Women Under Siege” Joins Syrian Propaganda Campaign.
by Tony Cartalucci
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/faux-feminists-ridiculous-women-under.html
> April 14, 2012 – Ironically, faux-feminist Gloria Steinem’s “Women Under
> Siege’s” latest campaign to demonize the Syrian government in tandem with the
> US State Department and its vast stable of media and intelligence assets,
> stands to set the stage for extremist ideologues to overrun Syria, ending its
> secular society and entirely stripping away the “women’s rights” Steinem
> claims to have spent a lifetime fighting for…..
****************************************************************************************
‘Syrian ‘opposition’ – West-controlled proxy paramilitary’
13 April 2012
http://rt.com/news/syria-opposition-proxy-paramilitary-948/
> With Syria halting military operations as part of a UN-brokered ceasefire,
> Western powers have been saying they do not trust the government to uphold the
> armistice. Experts believe the US and its allies are pursuing their own
> agenda: regime change.
>
> Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Center for Research on Globalization,
> noted that Susan Rice, the US Ambassador to the UN, was wrong in saying that
> Russia and China had blood on their hands.
>
> “NATO has blood on their hands,” he told RT. “The United States has blood on
> their hands. Why? Because they have supported an armed insurgency from the
> onset in March 2011. It is known and documented that this so-called opposition
> is, in fact, a proxy paramilitary formation, which is supported by the Western
> military alliance.”
>
> He also noted that there is well-documented evidence to support the fact that
> most civilian casualties were attributable to terrorist acts by opposition
> gunmen and paramilitary forces.
****************************************************************************************
Free Syrian Army Terrorists Expose Each Other, Murder, Rape and Pillage
published on April 12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkgwBGXQXRw&feature=youtu.be
> An interesting clip showing a free Syrian Army commander denouncing the rape,
> pillage and murder of other Free Syrian Army members. Later he is killed by
> Free Syrian Army commander. This reminds me of the mysterious murder of Libyan
> rebel commander Abdel Fatah during NATO’s intervention into Libya. But is
> obvious that it just Al Qaeda acting as Al Qaeda both in Libya and Syria.
****************************************************************************************
Syrian Australians react to latest fighting 10 April 2012
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/210781/Syrian-Australians-react-to-latest-fighting
This SBS radio program presents short interviews with two locals:
> Groups representing the Syrian community in Australia have widely different
> reactions to the latest fighting in Syria.
****************************************************************************************
Armed men violating Syria’s ceasefire: Report
> http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/04/13/armed-men-violating-syria-ceasefire-report.html
> News | 13.04.2012 | 05:50
>
> Reports from Syria say that anti-government armed groups are violating a
> ceasefire brokered by the joint UN-Arab league peace envoy Kofi Annan.
>
> Syrian state TV reported on Thursday that armed men assassinated a local
> government official in al-Mazareeb town.
>
> Meanwhile, armed terrorists also killed an army officer and injured 24 others
> after they targeted a military bus with an explosive device in Syria’s second
> largest city of Aleppo.
>
> In a similar incident, armed terrorists targeted a law-enforcement vehicle
> with an explosive device at Wadi Haj Khaled region in Idleb on Thursday,
> injuring a number of officers.
****************************************************************************************
What’s goin’ on at the Turkish-Syrian border?
By Pepe Escobar April 11, 2012
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31052.htm#.T4ZzWvA4uZU.email
> There is a video [1] that could be loosely translated as “Terrorist Turkish
> border opening fire on the Syrian side” that pretty accurately sums up what’s
> going on at the ultra-volatile geopolitical hotspot of the moment.
>
> The voice over says, “This is the Syria-Turkey border, and this is an
> operation of the Free Syrian Army [FSA] … The Gate [that would be the Syrian
> side of the border, housing the Gate checkpoint] is going to be seized.”
>
> What this means is that Turkey is sheltering the FSA right on the border, only
> a few meters – and not kilometers – away from Syrian territory. Way beyond
> hosting a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) command and control center
> in Iskenderun for months now – a fact already reported by Asia Times Online –
> Turkey has now advanced right to the border, enabling a back-and-forth by
> heavily weaponized guerrillas/mercenaries to attack a sovereign state.
>
> Imagine a similar scenario happening, say, at a Mexican-US border in Arizona
> or Texas.
>
> This can be seen as a very peculiar Ankara interpretation of “safe havens” and
> “humanitarian corridors” as outlined by what can be seen as the prime
> blueprint for regime change in Syria: a report [2] by the Saban Center at the
> Brookings Institution, authored by the usual cocktail of Israeli firsters and
> Qatar-affiliated Middle East “experts”.
The truth about what happened on the Syrian-Turkish borders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyPPmuhliy8&feature=youtu.be
****************************************************************************************
This news report is a reminder of the assassinations which have been taking
place across Syria for up to 12 months, but which are rarely reported in the
Australian media. An imam, teachers, doctors, candidates in council elections,
members of political parties are just some of the people who have been
assassassinated in Syria.
Terrorists confess to assassinating Grand Mufti’s son Saria Hassoun, looting and
stealing private properties
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/117732
> Terrorists Ahmad al-Maloul and Ghassan al-Maloul on Friday confessed to
> assassinating Saria Badreddin Hassoun, son of Syria’s Grand Mufti Ahmad
> Badreddin Hassoun.
>
> In confessions broadcast by the Syrian TV, the two terrorists also confessed
> to killing Dr. Mohammad al-Omar, History professor at Ebla University and
> committing several acts of looting and robbery.
****************************************************************************************
Although this article by Paul Roberts is not specifically related to Syria, it
is a reminder of the divisions within the American public arena in regard to the
US role in the world and its war mongering.
Washington Leads World Into Lawlessness
By Paul Craig Roberts
> April 13, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — The US government pretends to
> live under the rule of law, to respect human rights, and to provide freedom
> and democracy to citizens. Washington’s pretense and the stark reality are
> diametrically opposed.
>
> US government officials routinely criticize other governments for being
> undemocratic and for violating human rights. Yet, no other country except
> Israel sends bombs, missiles, and drones into sovereign countries to murder
> civilian populations. The torture prisons of Abu Gahraib, Guantanamo, and CIA
> secret rendition sites are the contributions of the Bush/Obama regimes to
> human rights.
>
> Washington violates the human rights of its own citizens. Washington has
> suspended the civil liberties guaranteed in the US Constitution and declared
> its intention to detain US citizens indefinitely without due process of law.
> President Obama has announced that he, at his discretion, can murder US
> citizens whom he regards as a threat to the US.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy
and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business
Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many
university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide
following. http://www.paulcraigroberts.org
****************************************************************************************
Turkish opposition slams government over Syria “warmongering”
14 April 2012
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-277303-turkish-opposition-slams-government-over-syria-warmongering.html
> “The Turkish Republic has never done as much warmongering as it has today,”
> leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal
> Kılıçdaroğlu said at a CHP party meeting on Thursday. He said his party
> doesn’t endorse interfering in the domestic affairs of another country and
> said they reject intervening in a struggle between authorities and opposition
> in a foreign nation.
>
> ………Criticizing Turkey’s Syrian policy, Kılıçdaroğlu asserted that the Turkish
> government was beating the war drum. He added that Turkey’s relations with
> Iraq, Iran and Syria have worsened because of the government’s interference in
> the domestic politics of these countries and that this in turn has downplayed
> Turkey’s ambition to become a regional power. The CHP leader accused the
> government of taking sides in the conflict and urged the ruling party to
> invite Iran, Russia and groups from Syria to Turkey for talks if it wants
> peace not war.
****************************************************************************************
McCain and Lieberman Meet With the Free Syria Army
By Josh Rogin
April 10, 2012
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article31050.htm#.T4U-5Hly-fg.email
Cowboys in Turkey fomenting war and supporting the propaganda necessary for it.
> Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) are on a surprise trip to
> the Turkish-Syrian border to meet with leaders of the Free Syria Army and
> visit Syrian refugees, who have been under attack by Syrian government forces.
>
> The senators’ trip was not associated with the efforts of U.N. envoy Kofi
> Annan, whose cease-fire agreement seems to have failed to stop the violence.
> McCain and Lieberman said in a statement that Syrian President Bashar al Assad
> has violated the terms of Anann’s cease-fire and that the only practical way
> forward is to arm the Syrian opposition.
>
> “We respect Mr. Annan’s desire to find an end to the killing in Syria.
> Unfortunately, Bashar al-Assad does not share this goal. That fact has been
> clear to many of us for months, but it should now be undeniable for everyone,”
> the senators said. “Indeed, reports indicate that Assad has used the time
> provided by the recent diplomatic initiative to kill up to 1,000 additional
> men, women, and children in Syria. And just yesterday, Syrian forces fired
> across the border with Turkey, killing and wounding people in a refugee camp
> on Turkish territory.”
****************************************************************************************
The Anti-Empire Report
http://killinghope.org/bblum6/aer104.html
April 6th, 2012
by William Blum
http://www.killinghope.org
> Putting Syria into some perspective
>
> The Holy Triumvirate — The United States, NATO, and the European Union — or an
> approved segment thereof, can usually get what they want. They wanted Saddam
> Hussein out, and soon he was swinging from a rope. They wanted the Taliban
> ousted from power, and, using overwhelming force, that was achieved rather
> quickly. They wanted Moammar Gaddafi’s rule to come to an end, and before very
> long he suffered a horrible death. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was democratically
> elected, but this black man who didn’t know his place was sent into distant
> exile by the United States and France in 2004. Iraq and Libya were the two
> most modern, educated and secular states in the Middle East; now all four of
> these countries could qualify as failed states.
>
> These are some of the examples from the past decade of how the Holy
> Triumvirate recognizes no higher power and believes, literally, that they can
> do whatever they want in the world, to whomever they want, for as long as they
> want, and call it whatever they want, like “humanitarian intervention”. The
> 19th- and 20th-century colonialist-imperialist mentality is alive and well in
> the West.
****************************************************************************************
Syrian rebels ‘using Turkish refugee camps as base’
10 April, 2012,
http://rt.com/news/rebels-refugee-camp-attack-665/
****************************************************************************************
Syrians talk of their lives and futures — They invite Americans to Syria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwDGKV8LIOA
This is a short video uploaded on Youtube before the crisis in Syria. It is an
interview with Syrian university students in a cafe in downtown Damascus. War
in Syria would transform their lives completely, the young men’s and the young
women’s. People who imagine they know what is best for Syria should ask
Syrians. If that is not possible, then the next best thing is to look at them,
listen to them, and imagine their responses.
****************************************************************************************
Arm the Free Syrian Army Now
9:15 AM, Mar 8, 2012 • By DAVID SCHENKER
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/arm-free-syrian-army-now_633315.html?page=1
This is a writer who is direct in his support of a war in Syria. It was written
more than one month ago but this editor has only recently been directed to it.
It helps show how enormous are the efforts of good men and women to bring peace
to Syria when cowboys only want war and more of it. David Schenker is Aufzien
fellow and director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy. He writes as if a US led war is a clean, good war, and
assassinations of leaders is a good thing.
> Rather than leading from behind and delegating the task of equipping of the
> FSA to less-discriminating states, like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the Obama
> administration should take a lead role in supplying the FSA and mitigate
> potential leakage of weapons to nihilistic Islamists. At the same time, by
> providing materiel to these forces in a systematic manner, Washington can help
> transform these disparate franchise opposition units into a more disciplined
> and united force tied to a centralized command. Moreover, working closely with
> the FSA now will establish relationships that can help avoid a Libya
> scenario—where independent militias continue to run amok—and potentially
> enable Washington to better shape the post-Assad environment.
****************************************************************************************
Tragedies of liberal interventionist thinking in Syria and elsewhere
Posted by Helena Cobban
April 6, 2012
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004257.html
This article asks some questions of those who support US,NATO views on Syria.
Here’s an excerpt:
> ….I truly do not understand how liberal universalists in the west, whose
> views, representations, and analyses of what is happening in Myanmar/Burma in
> these months are so uniformly calm and supportive of the wrenchingly
> negotiated transition to greater democracy there absolutely never stop to ask
> whether a similar process may not also be the best thing for Syria today (as
> it was for South Africa, 20 years ago.)
>
> Why is Syria’s current government uniquely picked out by these so-called
> liberals as worthy of their rage, anger, and militarized “intervention” when
> those other authoritarian regimes, actually, committed far worse abuses
> against their citizens over the course of many decades?
>
> Why the racism that is deeply embedded in these kinds of judgments?
>
> And yes, “Avaaz”, I am speaking about you, too.
****************************************************************************************
UN Blacks Out Syria’s Speech, Ban’s Amateur Hour & Minute of Silence?
5th April 2012
Editor’s note: The new President of the General Assembly is the Qatari
ambassador to the UN. This is very unfortunate timing when it is Qatar in
particular (with Saudi Arabia and Turkey) which is pushing hard to topple the
Syrian government by supporting armed groups and by giving a voice on Al-Jazeera
to calls from extremists such as Sheik Qaradawi (recently banned from France and
the UAE) to ‘good Muslims’ to overthrow the ‘heretical’ government. Here is a
report from Press TV about the 5 April suppression of Bashar Ja’afari’s speech
in the UN General Assembly, as well as Kofi Annan’s enunciation of Syria’s
problem in dealing with continuing militant assaults and its willingness to
support his plan for peace:
Syria adopts Kofi Annan’s six-point plan, west and allies still seek regime
change
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/234821.html
> Syrian ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja’Afari worked all day at the UN Thursday
> trying to convince the world of his government’s commitment to Special Envoy
> Kofi Annan’s six-point plan.The problem he says is that many countries don’t
> like Annan’s plan because they want regime change in Syria.
>
> Ja’Afari is referring to an informal meeting Thursday morning called by the
> President of the General Assembly Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar a
> country that’s bankrolling armed gangs in Syria.
>
> The meeting began in an open format with cameras rolling with Special Envoy
> Annan appearing from Geneva via closed circuit TV and saying that the Assad
> government has given its full cooperation on all points.
>
> Annan added that the Assad government had reassured him that no new forces
> would be sent into those areas.
>
> Nasser and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon then spoke placing most of the
> responsibility for peace on the government without much regard to armed
> groups.
>
> As Ambassador Ja’Afari tried to respond Nasser closed the meeting and threw
> out reporters.
Inner City Press journalist alerted the world to the media black out so press
corps at UN couldn’t view the speech of the Syrian ambassador:
http://innercitypress.com/syria1blackout040512.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRaRV4hc_wA&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz2tGiTxHBc&feature=relmfu
For Dr Ja’afari’s complete press conference at the UN after the end of the
meeting at the General Assembly:
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2012/04/press-conference-bashar-jaafari-syria-on-the-situation-in-syria.html
LAVROV: ANNAN PLAN SHOULD NOT BE FOILED WITH THREATS AND ULTIMATUMS
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/117116
> MOSCOW- Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, declared Thursday that
> whatever steps related to the Syrian issue should be directed as to contribute
> to making a success of the UN Envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan’s plan.
>
> In a statement in capital of Kirghizia, Bishkek, Minister Lavrov pointed out
> that Annan’s plan, already accepted by the Syrian Government, and which
> started implementing it, should not be foiled with threats and ultimatums.
>
> The veteran Minister criticized the calls made by the so-call ‘friends of
> Syria’ participants on the opposition as to take stances contrary what Annan’s
> plan stipulated.
>
> Minister Lavrov announced that Russia might vote for a UN Security Council
> statement on Syria, in case such a statement was not to include threats or
> ultimatums and if it were to contribute to the implementation of Annan’s plan.
>
> Bogdanov:Calls to Arm the Opposition Unacceptable, Inappropriate and Contrast
> Entirely with Annan’s plan
*********************************************************************
AL-AKHBAR
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/surprise-video-changes-syria-timeline
SURPRISE VIDEO CHANGES SYRIA “TIMELINE”
by Sharmine Narwani 4 April 2012
> Of all the myths obstructing the honest portrayal of events in Syria this past
> year, none has been more fiercely guarded by regime-change advocates than this
> one stark falsehood:
>
> Myth – the Syrian regime has only been shooting unarmed, peaceful protestors
> until very recently when opposition groups finally decided to arm themselves
> in self-defense.
>
> On the contrary, there is clear evidence that armed groups have targeted and
> killed security forces and civilians from within weeks of the first small
> protests in March 2011. An earlier investigative piece I wrote on the Syrian
> casualty lists identifies the shooting deaths of nine Syrian soldiers in
> Banyas on April 10, 2011 as one important timeline marker for premeditated
> opposition violence.
>
> Ignoring this vital piece of information about the security landscape has
> helped shape a fundamentally flawed narrative of events in Syria. Furthermore,
> this false storyline has directly contributed to the escalation of the crisis
> by inciting rage against the “one-sided” violence of the regime, and
> emboldening opponents with a misplaced “righteousness” that kills legitimate
> debate on Syria…………….
(Support for the thesis of this article can be found at
http://pool.abc.net.au/media/syria-questions-must-be-asked-and-answered )
****************************************************************************************
This is a long, detailed analysis of the crisis in Syria with particular focus
on the President. It is worth the work. Like most serious analyses of the
‘propaganda, humanitarian and religious war’ against Syria, it is not in the
mainstream media. Shame. (Didn’t regular reporters read Orwell or ‘The Quiet
American’, Chomsky or ‘Catch 22’, or war poets; or listen to Bob Dylan and Joan
Baez? Weren’t they inspired by their English teacher to do great things when
they grew up? )
http://creativesyria.com/syriapage/?p=150
THE REAL BASHAR AL-ASSAD
MONDAY, APRIL 2ND, 2012 | A POST BY CAMILLE OTRAKJI
> Among the main pillars of the case for a revolution against President Assad is
> the assumption that he has little support among his people, he is not
> compatible with moral standards shared by other members of the international
> community and he does not have what it takes to lead Syria anyway.
>
> Yet, many journalists who visited Syria admit that Assad still enjoys
> significant popular support and his qualities and his job performance over the
> years received over the top, bi-polar reviews. In the words of his
> adversaries, Assad is “internationally respected“, “charming“, “attractive“,
> “fascinating“, “skilled“, “triumphant“, “most popular“, and in total control …
> or not in control, “weak“, “delusional“, most hated, “evil moron“, or even
> Hitler-evil
>
> There is much more material to choose from. Google search returned tens of
> millions of results for “Bashar al Assad”, higher than Egypt’s “Hosni
> Mubarak”, “King Abdullah” of Saudi Arabia, long-time Israeli Prime Minister
> “Benjamin Netanyahu”, or Turkish Prime minister “Erdogan”.
>
> United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said “We all have a
> responsibility to work for a resolution of this profound and extremely
> dangerous crisis that has potentially massive repercussions for the region and
> the world.” The crisis in Syria could quickly escalate into civil wars in
> Syria and a number of its neighbors, a massive regional war between the Sunni
> and Shia alliances, or the return of the cold war. All of which will severely
> impact global economy.
****************************************************************************************
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/ngos-not-beyond-reproach-6719
UNMASKING THE DEMOCRACY PROMOTERS
by Robert W. Merry
This article is a critical look at the shutting down of US NGO offices in Egypt
and the UAE.
> ….The Steven Lee Myers article in the Timesreflects the general view that
> these NGO activists are merely doing what comes naturally to those who believe
> American democratic structures represent universal values that should be
> embraced universally throughout the world.
>
> But the arrogance of many of these people is almost guaranteed to be
> incendiary in target countries. Consider the words of Michael McFaul, once the
> NDI’s representative in Russia. “We’re not going to get into the business of
> dictating [Russia’s] path [to democracy],” he said. “We’re just going to
> support what we like to call ‘universal values’—not American values, not
> Western values, universal values.” Who, one might ask, is the arbiter of such
> universal values, and how does one get appointed as crusader in their behalf?
> To get an answer you would have to travel to Russia, where McFaul now serves
> as U.S. ambassador.
>
> One contrarian voice on this issue is Patrick J. Buchanan, the conservative
> commentator (and member of the TNI advisory council), who argues that such
> activity is not only wrong but harmful to American interests. He asks: “Does
> the United States interfere in the internal affairs of nations to subvert
> regimes by using NGOs to funnel cash to the opposition to foment uprisings or
> affect elections? Are we using Cold War methods in countries with which we are
> not at war—to advance our New World Order?” He replies: “So it would seem.”
> ….
****************************************************************************************
There must be an examination of the role and intent of Saudi Arabia and Qatar in
arming groups to cause civil strife in Syria, to kill. People in Syria have so
many more social and political freedoms than people in Saudi Arabia do in those
two countries. So what is their justification for their desire to destroy the
Syrian government and why do Western countries, notably the US, the UK and
France, ally themselves with these countries?
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ND06Ak01.html
Saudi Arabia’s Syrian jihad
By Joshua Jacobs
> If there was any doubt as to Saudi intentions in Syria, that veil was ripped
> away on Sunday at the Istanbul “Friends of Syria” conference. The Saudis and
> their Gulf allies spearheaded an effort to create a formalized pay structure
> for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and privately ruminated on the possibility of
> setting up official supply conduits to forces fighting Syrian President Bashar
> al-Assad. This decision went much further than what the West, or even
> neighboring Turkey, seemed willing to embrace.
Arour Adnan is one extremist cleric broadcasting from Saudi Arabia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwz8i3osHww&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk1-tA2HvM8&feature=related
*****************************************************************************************
Editor’s note: Articles which can further the discussion on Syria are presented
on these pages; this does not mean that the arguments of their writers is
necessarily accepted by the editor. For example, this writer is critical of US
policy regarding Syria, but, nevertheless, plays safe by sticking to the
mainstream media mantra as far as President Assad goes.
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/04/syria-america-steps-onto-the-slippery-slope/255372/
SYRIA: AMERICA STEPS ONTO THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
by Robert Wright, 2 April 2012
> Today’s award for the most euphemistic lead paragraph goes to the New York
> Times. Paraphrasing Hillary Clinton, the Timessays the U.S. has agreed to
> “send communications equipment to help rebels organize and evade Syria’s
> military.”
>
> It might be nice if there were communications equipment whose use is
> inherently confined to evasive maneuvers. But I’m not aware of any.
> Inevitably, the equipment we’re giving the rebels will help them organize as
> they attack Syria’s military, not just as they retreat. It may even help them
> attack Syrian civilians who share the Alawite ethnicity of Syrian president
> Bashar al Assad. (Rebel attacks on Alawite civilians took place during the
> siege of Homs.) What’s more, according to the Syrian National Council, this
> “communications equipment” is going to include night-vision goggles–and I
> doubt it’s just nighttime evasions that the rebels have in mind.
****************************************************************************************
A lengthy analysis of the recent “Friends” of Syria meeting. The author has been
to Syria very recently, so his article is well worth reading.
http://www.voltairenet.org/The-Syrian-debacle
SECOND “FRIENDS” OF SYRIA CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL
THE SYRIAN DEBACLE
by Thierry Meyssan 5 April
> On 27 March 2012, President Bashar al-Assad traveled to Homs where he visited
> the district of Baba Amr, the location where Syrian Takfirists [1] and foreign
> fighters had set up for one month an independent Islamic Emirate. He promised
> the displaced residents that the State would rebuild their homes “much better
> than before,” and they could soon return home. Thousands of people, mostly
> Sunni, had been forced to escape to avoid falling under the Islamists’
> dictatorship. In their absence, the houses were pillaged and hundreds of them
> were blown up by rebels, when not already destroyed during the fighting.
>
> Bashar al-Assad, who continues to be the most popular head of state in the
> Arab world, met with Homs dwellers, but refrained from the traditional
> walkabout due to the likely presence of isolated terrorists.
****************************************************************************************
THE GUARDIAN
THE ARAB SPRING HAS SHAKEN ARAB TV’S CREDIBILITY
Ali Hashem, Tuesday 3 April 2012
> Their biased coverage is undermining viewers’ faith in the Middle Eastern
> satellite channels that sprang up in the 1990s and 2000s
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/apr/03/arab-spring-arab-tv-credibility?CMP=twt_gu
Ali Hashem was interviewed by Russia Today in March soon after he resigned from
Al-Jazeera. That interview was most revealing about the propaganda war against
Syria and Propaganda and War in the 21st Century.
http://rt.com/news/hashem-al-jazeera-resignation-523/
*****************************************************************************************
Editor’s note: It seems the US believes the crude “media and humanitarian” war
against Syria has had its desired effect; the US and its allies are now going
public with their support to fighters who will spread fear and terror in Syria,
and kill. They trust people outside Syria will do nothing more than watch, turn
their heads away or simply tutt tutt. They plan to manufacture a full-blown
civil war in Syria hoping the world will not notice their contribution to the
violence and terror. They plan to dismember Syria.
For an analysis of the April 1st ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in Istanbul, the
blog AMERICAN EVERYMAN (see link) is recommended over mainstream media:
OBAMA TAKES A PAGE FROM REAGAN – FREE SYRIAN ARMY ARE NOW HIS CONTRAS
http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/obama-administration-takes-a-page-from-reagan-free-syrian-army-are-now-his-contras/
Posted on April 2, 2012 by willyloman
by Scott Creighton
> Out of control warmonger Hillary Clinton is stepping up her efforts to force
> regime change in yet another country despite the horrific results of her
> previous “victory” in Libya. The silence from the antiwar fauxgressives is
> deafening.
>
> In spite of the fact that Assad has agreed to a new peace plan with the
> so-called “rebels” in Syria, with a smile on her face reminiscent of the
> crazed glee she showed after Gadhafi was brutally murdered in Libya, Hillary
> Clinton answered questions dutifully read by an ABC “reporter” after her
> Orwellian named “Friends of Syria” conference yesterday.
>
> She made it perfectly clear that the Obama administration’s position was
> regime change no matter what. Don’t forget, Syria just implemented serious
> reforms in the country a few months ago and are holding free elections in a
> couple weeks. None of that matters to the democracy hating Clinton crew. The
> LAST thing they want to see is the people of Syria vote for keeping Assad
> after all their propaganda and terrorist mercenary efforts to destabilize the
> country………..
Regarding the ‘Free Syrian Army’ there is almost no critical analyses of them in
the mainstream media. This blog has referred to their crimes before. Here are
two articles not presented which bring attention to them.
Syria: Free Syrian Army accused of displacing Lebanese
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=21759
ETHNIC CLEANSING OF SYRIAN CHRISTIANS
http://frontpagemag.com/2012/03/29/ethnic-cleansing-of-syrian-christians/
And there need to be reminders of the ‘media war’ against Syria. This is one
analysis not presented on this blog previously:
MAINSTREAM MEDIA SELF-CENSORSHIP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmlu_4ptswQ
***********************************************************************************************
US MOVES TOWARDS INTERVENTION IN SYRIA, 60 NATIONS PLEDGE TO PAY, SUPPORT
SYRIAN REBELS
-Published on Sunday, April 1, 2012 by Common Dreams
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/04/01
> The United States has pledged to provide money and communications assistance
> to rebels in Syria, who have been clashing with the Syrian government.
>
> World leaders gather to discuss the clashes in Syria (Photo: Associated Press)
> At least 60 nations, including the US, have pledged $100 million to pay
> opposition fighters in Syria, according to the New York Times. The Obama
> administration has also agreed “to send communications equipment to help
> rebels organize and evade Syria’s military.”
>
> This would mark the second time since Arab nations began uprisings against
> their governments in early 2011 that the US has taken such a direct role in an
> Arab conflict. The United States took an interventionist role in Libya last
> year — who like Syria had a testy diplomatic relationship with the US.
>
> The United States has not intervened on behalf of pro-democracy activists in
> countries where they have strong geopolitical relationships with the
> government, such as Yemen and Saudi Arabia. This has led critics to allege
> that the United States intervenes in the name of geopolitical self-interest,
> and not a commitment to democracy or human rights in the region. Many have
> expressed opposition to US intervention in Syria.
************************************************************************************************
FRIENDS OF SYRIA CALL FOR TIMETABLE ON CHANGE
In this report from the ABC’s THE WORLD TODAY, there is no reference to the
armed ‘ opposition’ needing to put down their arms and sit at the peace table.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2012/s3468715.htm
> RACHAEL BROWN: Addressing the summit of more than 80 nations Mrs Clinton said
> it’s unlikely president Assad will ever implement the peace plan he agreed on
> with the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
>
> HILLARY CLINTON: Bashar al-Assad has so far refused to honour his pledge.
> There is no more time for excuses or delays, this is a moment of truth.
>
> WILLIAM HAGUE: Everything the Assad regime has done looks like stalling for
> time.
***********************************************************************************************
Editor: Is the country which produced Tolstoy and Solzhenitsyn producing more
balanced journalism now than the West?
FRIENDS OF SYRIA RECOGNIZE SNC AS ‘LEGITIMATE REPRESENTATIVE’
http://rt.com/news/friends-syria-istanbul-meeting-966/
> ………. Moscow, which opted not to attend the conference, views the gathering as
> one-sided and questions its ability to push for dialogue.
>
> There have also been charges that talks of arming the Syrian opposition
> discourage the peace process.
>
> Moscow has pointed out that whatever the conference decides, it cannot speak
> on behalf of the international community or judge the implementation of
> Annan’s plan. Nor, the Kremlin says, can it be a replacement for the UN
> Security Council.
>
> This means that without the support of the UN Security Council, any
> substantial decisions on Syria are highly unlikely.
************************************************************************************************
What should receive prominence in this discussion is Iraq’s stand. Iraqis know
better than most what war brings to a country and the deceit of the US and its
allies. It also knows that a war in Syria will impact on the whole region.
Maliki uses Syria to slam Qatar, Saudi Arabia
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=51523
> Iraq’s prime minister on Sunday slammed Sunni-ruled Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s
> stance on arming Syrian rebels, as Doha hosted Baghdad’s fugitive vice
> president who is accused of running a death squad.
>
> Nuri al-Maliki’s remarks were the latest in a dramatic cooling of ties between
> Qatar and Iraq, which have sharply disagreed on how to respond to President
> Bashar al-Assad’s year-long deadly crackdown on dissent in Syria.
>
> The United Nations says that more than 9,000 people have been killed since the
> crackdown began in mid-March last year.
>
> The Syria issue has split the Arab world, with hardline states including Qatar
> and Saudi Arabia advocating arming Syrian rebels and calling for Assad’s
> departure, while others including Iraq want to see a political solution.
>
> “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,”
> Maliki said at a news conference.
>
> “The stance of these two states is very strange,” he said in apparent
> reference to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
>
> “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,” the Iraqi leader
> added.
***********************************************************************************************
For an analysis of the complex reality of Syria, go to this most recent article
by Dr Fiona Hill. It is on an ABC site, so hopefully ABC journalists will have
access to it and it may lead to some balance in reporting and commentary on
Syria.
THE DRUM OPINION, 2 April 2012
WHOSE REVOLUTION IS THIS, ANYWAY?
by Dr Fiona Hill
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3926840.html
> Just as the villages of Damascus countryside and suburbs of Homs and Idlib
> were commandeered for the past several months by armed opposition, with
> appalling consequences, now Damascus suburbs have roadblocks by armed militia.
> Fear casts a long shadow across Syria now that not even the capital is safe
> from such dangerous scenarios.
>
> There have been many acts of terror in Syria this past 12 months by
> revolutionaries who identify themselves variously as the ‘Free Army’,
> Salafists, Takfiris, or Al Qaeda. They are joined in their abductions,
> extortions, destruction of infrastructure and killing of soldiers, police, and
> civilians who defy them – as reported to me by trusted sources and as
> confirmed by the Arab League Observer Mission by smuggling rings ruthlessly
> defending their territory and by a rag-tag of common criminals and
> mercenaries.
>
> Members of the international alliance called ‘Friends of Syria’ refuse to
> acknowledge this element in Syria’s crisis and, more disturbingly, continue to
> provide arms and guerrilla trainers on the ground.
>
> Instead they remain wedded to the evil dictator – good democracy protester
> motif, conflating the armed opposition with the many and varied active
> political opponents of the Syrian government who do not carry arms. Indeed to
> mention atrocities committed by the ‘Free Army’ is to attract accusations of
> being slavishly pro-Assad or a government lackey.
>
> This outdated motif, and simple-minded attitude, is an insult to the Syrian
> people in all their political orientations.
IMAGES OF SYRIANS (nearly all the images have been taken from Syrian TV, April
2012 )
Leave a Comment
March 19, 2012
FACES AND VOICES OF SYRIA
All images taken from Syrian TV. Syrians comment on the March bomb attacks in
Damascus and Aleppo. For a view of the rallies across Syria on 15 March to
support peaceful reform in Syria, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3IXzg7r62M&feature=related
2 Comments
March 10, 2012
SYRIANS ASK: WHY NOT GIVE DEMOCRACY A CHANCE?
by Dr Fiona Hill, Honorary Fellow at Deakin University
http://theconversation.edu.au/syrians-ask-why-not-give-democracy-a-chance-5776
from THE CONVERSATION academic rigour,journalistic flair;expert news and views
Last Monday, Syria’s Interior Ministry announced the results of a referendum on
a new constitution.
Of the 57.4% of eligible voters who went to the polls on 26 February 2012, 89.4%
agreed to pass the new Constitution, 9% disagreed, and 1.6% cast invalid votes,
presumably in protest.
It is quickly apparent that Syria’s long-ailing economic situation combined with
the current unrest and international sanctions effectively disenfranchised a
large portion of the eligible voting population.
Syrians working or travelling abroad were unable to vote because the government
could not ensure the timely arrival of required documents at Syrian Embassies.
In Syria many stayed away from voting centres in locations where opposition
fighters engage in sporadic but often fierce fighting with the Syrian army. Some
of my friends in Homs report being stopped in the street on referendum day by
the “Free Army” who confiscated their identity cards so they could not cast a
vote.
Many are asking why, in a state of near civil war, the referendum was not
postponed until after a cessation of violence. The answer must lie, at least in
part, in the effects of intense internal and external pressures on both
government and citizens.
Internally, the armed opposition presents as a disparate and ever-splintering
collection of local “big men”, Salafists, defected military opponents to the
Assad government, and Al Qaeda, along with the inevitable opportunists. They
terrorise the Damascus countryside, Homs, Idlib and surrounding roads with
roadblocks, kidnapping, and killing at several points along the Damascus-Aleppo
arterial road. They destroy key infrastructure, causing heating fuel, petrol,
electricity, and food shortages.
According to official Syrian sources, which are seldom cited in the media, armed
groups regularly attack hospitals, health centres and ambulances.
Until recently a close friend of mine worked in a health centre in Damascus
countryside. Months ago she saw her clinic trashed and robbed by armed men who
later told her that she would not be harmed as long as the centre continued to
stock medicine.
As a Christian who commuted daily from Damascus to this regional town, my friend
realised the odds were against her when the militia began to boast that those
who did not act in accordance with their cause were killed, along with their
wives and children. Since no-one had the courage to transport medicinal supplies
to her clinic anymore, her family finally convinced her to stop going to work.
With this sort of opposition posing as the alternative to the current
government, some Syrians are anxious to contribute to political reform. Others,
like the under-employed taxi driver who drove my friend in Damascus two days
ago, ask “What’s the point?”
The physical and psychological hardships now endured by most Syrians, and the
biting poverty of many, are a direct consequence of the travel and economic
sanctions and threatened militarily intervention by the Western and Gulf Arab
governments that have effectively halted most business activity in and out of
Syria.
Western and Gulf Arab governments call for President Bashar Al Assad to step
down, but at the same time sanction and even support a dissident “army” and
violent insurgency which no government, nor citizenry, would countenance within
its own borders. Some are lately even considering a call to arm the already
militant opposition directly.
Syrian army and civilian deaths are mounting, although the inordinately high
death toll of soldiers and police is somehow of least concern in the West.
When we add to this the fact that not all opposition fighters are Syrian, with
Libyan, Egyptian, and reportedly even French fighters captured by the Syrian
government, and the several Western journalists who “sneaked into Syria
illegally” and “found themselves trapped inside the besieged Homs neighbourhood
of Baba Amro”, Syrians say it becomes apparent that the Western world is unified
against a democratic solution for Syria.
The Syrian Red Crescent in coordination with the International Red Cross report
making three failed attempts to retrieve the bodies of Western media killed in
Baba Amro. The opposition’s claim that the government deliberately killed them
is scarcely credible given that the foreigners were smuggled into Syria and
therefore unknown to authorities, but their corpses and the tragic deaths of
activists assisting some of the reporters to flee certainly became items of
propaganda for government and opposition.
The combination of all these pressures, and their intense distaste for the
failings of the government, has galvanized the resolve of the Syrian majority,
regardless of their differing political views, to protect Syria from outside
interference and to plough onwards with political reform.
Like it or loathe it, the referendum was the result of several months of
consultations in a “national dialogue” that took place all over Syria. Given the
turnout on polling day, against so many odds, it seems safe to say that Syrians
for whom Syria is home generally support the political reform process and accept
the Referendum as a first step in Syria’s political evolution.
Within this, many opponents of the Assad-led government consider a seven-year
term for presidency too long (Article 88 of the new constitution), fearing the
incumbent will stand for, and win, a general election.
Others are less concerned, believing President Bashar plans to hand over control
as soon as is practicable. Many find Article 3, stating the President shall be a
Muslim, problematic in a country that cherishes its secular government and
encompasses the rights and obligations of all faith groups. One party of
political agitators staged a sit-in outside the People’s Assembly in protest of
this specific Article. But not all accept this as a sticking point, particularly
in the face of such dire alternatives. And they are willing to say so.
There is a plurality of voices in the political discussion in Syria, not just
the violent fallout of armed opposition in a few locations in Syria, as the
Western media would have us believe.
The liberal democracies of the West present two opponents – the Syrian
government and “the opposition”. The latter are characterised by our government
and mainstream media as peaceful and brave pro-democracy protesters. More
recently, in recognition of their extensive armory, they are described as
“rebels”.
Arabic speakers and those knowledgeable about the region notice the call of
“Allahu akbar” before every shot that is fired by the “rebels”. They notice that
acquiescent residents in the few locations held by the Free Army, examples of
whom can be seen in Associated Press photojournalist Rodrigo Abd’s portraits of
life in Kafar Taharim, are highly conservative Sunni Muslims.
They know the rebels in villages and suburbs seeing the greatest fighting
against the Syrian army refer to their strongholds as “Islamic Emirates”. No-one
who knows or has visited Syria, even fleetingly, could see any of this as a
reflection of broader Syrian society.
Contrary to popular Western reporting, the Syrian National Council (know in the
Syrian street as the “Istanbul Council”) is not the main opposition group in
Syria. In fact the opposition movements in Syria are many and varied, and the
heretofore-silent majority of Syrians are both exhilarated by the new freedom to
talk politics and disenchanted with what has been, and is, on offer –
particularly from violent insurgents and long-term expatriates. Surely this
diversity of voices is what makes a democracy, and a majority have voted to give
it a chance.
***********************************************************************************************************
Australians who have no chance to travel to Syria to discover for themselves
what is happening on the ground there should try to find the opportunity to
check out Syrian satellite TV, even if it is for the faces of Syrians and for
their concerns expressed to the wandering reporter in the streets of Syria. But
it should also be for the images of ‘rebel’ fighters and their armory. Seeing
steely fighters, the captured lethal armory, and imagining the view through the
eyes of an ordinary peace-loving, perhaps politically apathetic person in
secular Syria may give the ‘revolution’ in Syria a new perspective.
http://wwitv.com/tv_channels/7044.htm (copy and paste this link for Syrian TV)
The images below were taken from a TV screen showing Syrian TV over two days:
11/3/12 and 12/3/12. They include images of the bodies of people (possibly
those kidnapped over some period) found in Homs. (NB: The man with the newspaper
was taken some years ago near the old city, Damascus.)
Leave a Comment
March 7, 2012
MARCH 2012 UPDATES
Images: Many of the 150 plus images in the slideshow are of people interviewed
on Syrian TV in March 2012, as well as some photos of Syria pre-crisis.
UPDATED 29th MARCH 2012
There have been some significant news items as well as analyses this month which
has rarely made it into the mainstream Australian media. Note the recent
Wikileaks cables, both significant, particularly in regard to US, UK, and French
interference in Syrian affairs.
Highlighted near the beginning of this update page are some links which present
reminders of the horrors of war. (29/2/12) There are also several articles on
Al-Jazeera and its new approach to ME politics, apparently determined very much
by the politics of the emir of Qatar (and the US base there?).
On this page, there is also reference to older articles which help with an
understanding of what is presented here, or which have not been published on
previous pages of this blog.
There will be updates put onto the page during the month.
It is hoped that the information and analysis presented on these pages can help
ensure the media in Australia in its reports on Syria is held to a higher
standard.
********************************************************************************************************
TACKLING ROBERT FISK AND WALID JUMBLATT’S STAND ON SYRIA
For many Australians, Robert Fisk is the most credible commentator on the Middle
East, so views which differ from his are not likely to be taken seriously in
Australia by such people. Fisk has been based in Beirut for decades and has
written on the ME for at least that long. However, one person should never
represent the voice of a nation of people and Fisk certainly does not present in
his articles the views of most Syrians; instead, it is contended, he presents
those of his friend, Walid Jumblatt, a Druze leader notorious for his fickleness
and political opportunism. (Walid Jumblatt is examined on this page in an
article about the Druze clergy distancing themselves from him.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-druze-clergy-jumblatt-not-our-name
And in one of many skits on Lebanese TV presenting his erratic politics over the
years: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F6lXMFa04M )
Robert Fisk referred to his friendship with Jumblatt in a September 2009
article, “Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze and my favourite nihilist
(and dinner host)” :
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fiskrsquos-world-not-even-a-civil-war-could-stop-the-old-bookbinder-of-beirut-1786167.html
In the following recent Independent article (29 March 2012), Fisk is a
mouthpiece for Jumblatt.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-living-on-the-edge-of-syrias-bloody-war-7594922.html
And it is a mealy-mouthed Jumblatt that he quotes:
> “Long live free Syria,” he proclaimed. “A sane person cannot but support a
> political solution because the other options are a long civil war and a
> continuing attrition at all levels which do not befit the Syrian people who
> are demanding freedom, dignity and democracy… experience with the Syrian
> regime has taught us that it is skilled at the game of procrastination and
> stalling… The Syrian people will not back off after all their sacrifices… Only
> a transitional political solution that leads to the departure of this regime
> can end the crisis… The life of tyrants is short.”
Editor: Now that Jumblatt seems to have realigned himself with the March 14
group in Lebanon, with Geagea and Hariri, political figures who are reputedly
arming and funding the opposition with support from outside, what can we expect
from Fisk but misinformation, bias and disingenuous reporting. But if a ‘fan’
of Fisk is to take such claims seriously, he/she will have to do quite a lot of
independent research. Most of the analysts presented on these pages are
recommended. But it is the Syrian people who should be heeded.
There is much that Fisk conveniently ignores today. For example, in his article
on 30 March 2012 (see link below) about Christian refugees crossing into
Lebanon, he fails to comment on reports that Christians have been forced out of
some Homs neighborhoods by Islamist militia.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-on-lebanons-border-silent-syrians-are-flocking-to-an-unknown-future-7601133.html#disqus_thread
This article from 20 Feb 2012 refers to kidnappings and murders of Lebanese who
live close to the border with Lebanon:
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=21759
Excerpt:
> Armed militants also shot a young man last week named Muhammad Abdeh from the
> town of Meterbe and a woman from the Assaf family killing both of them
> immediately. According to Zaiter, armed groups have also engaged in
> kidnappings. Last week, an armed group kidnapped a two young men.
In this editor’s view, Fisk is following Jumblatt, so is conveniently blind to
the terror faced by Syrians as well as Lebanese on a daily basis and blind to
the support given the president of Syria by a majority of Syrians, who want
their secular nation to survive. Fisk is very much an ‘activist’ in the
propaganda war against Syria.
*************************************************************************************************
One day, there will be a serious critical examination in the Australian media of
Sheik Qaradawi, one of the clerics recently banned from entering France and also
warned not to travel to the UAE by the police chief there. (Qaradawi issued a
fatwa against Syria in March ’11. ) But until that day comes, few Australians
will realize how culpable he is in contributing to the terror and violence
across Syria for the past year.
AL-AKHBAR
YUSUF AL-QARADAWI AND POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM
By As’ad AbuKhalil – Wed, 2012-03-28 15:27- Angry Corner
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/yusuf-al-qaradawi-and-political-opportunism
> For some reason, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is the guru of Islamists in the Arab world.
> In fact, the reason is obvious: there is such a dearth of leaders in the
> movement that this man has become widely influential.
>
> It would be unfair to say that his influence stems solely from the exposure
> that he is provided by Qatar through his weekly TV program on Al Jazeera.
> Qaradawi is a prolific author and he uses simple language to issue his
> declarations and rulings about interpretations of Shariah.
>
> He also knows what the basic Muslim reader is looking for. His book The
> Permissible and That Prohibited (Religiously) in Islam has sold well over the
> years. But Qaradawi is also a political figure.
>
> Qaradawi fled Egypt when Nasser figured out that he could not allow the Muslim
> Brotherhood (MB) to remain as a fifth column inside Egypt. It was no secret
> that while Nasser was aligned with the socialist camp, the MB served as a tool
> of the US and Gulf regime during the Cold War. There is no question that the
> MB did in fact try to assassinate Nasser, and there is no question that the
> Brotherhood was aligned against the forces that were working on a plan for the
> liberation of Palestine.
********************************************************************************************************
This analysis of Bishop Rai in Lebanon indicates how difficult it must be for
public figures in the ME to manage the pressures from many different sides.
THE MARONITE PATRIARCH: STAYING THE COURSE ONE YEAR AFTER HIS ELECTION
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/maronite-patriarch-staying-course-one-year-after-his-election
By Nicolas Nassif Published Thursday, March 29, 2012
> After establishing himself as a major player in the Christian political arena,
> Bishara Rai is reaching out to other religious figures in Lebanon while
> standing firm in his outlook on the region.
********************************************************************************************************
As Kofi Annan, BRICS and Syrians work for peace through diplomacy, discussion
and the cessation of fighting, McCain and friends have other ideas.
MCCAIN RESOLUTION CALLS FOR SAFE ZONES AND ARMING THE SYRIAN OPPOSITION
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/03/28/mccain_resolution_calls_for_safe_zones_and_arming_the_syrian_opposition
POSTED BY JOSH ROGIN WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012
> Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and five like-minded lawmakers unveiled a new
> resolution on Syria Wednesday that calls for establishing safe zones inside
> Syria for civilians and support for arming the opposition against the regime
> of Bashar al Assad.
>
> The non-binding resolution stops short of calling for direct U.S. military
> intervention in Syria, which McCain supports, and is meant to create a
> consensus on increasing U.S. support for the Syrian opposition that the
> greatest number of lawmakers can rally around. As of now, the resolution has
> six sponsors, mostly Republicans. In addition to McCain, they are Sens.
> Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Kelly Ayotte
> (R-NH), and John Hoeven (R-ND).
********************************************************************************************************
ANALYSIS
There is some optimism in this interview with three analysts in Syria and
Lebanon. Peace is possible, they believe. But not around the corner, yet. (A
transcript is available.)
Press TV March 28, 2012
‘West retreats from aggressive stance on Syria’
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/233525.html
> Syrian government has accepted the international peace plan in an effort to
> put an end to the yearlong unrest inside the country.
>
> Press TV talks with Taleb Ibrahim, a political analyst in Damascus, to further
> discuss the issue.
>
> The program also offers the opinions of two additional guests: Dr, Issa Chaer,
> with the Syrian Social Club in London, and professor of international
> University, Jamal Wakim from Beirut.
***************************************************************************************************
Another good resource for analysis which is not easy to find in the mainstream
media is Strategic
Culture Foundation ONLINE JOURNAL. These articles might be on a reference list
for political science students.
http://www.strategic-culture.org/authors/boris-dolgov.html
Also: Kofi Annan’s plan – way to peace or utopia?
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/03/29/kofi-annan-plan-way-to-peace-or-utopia.html
The article’s conclusion:
> Experts say that Kofi Annan’s plan does have some chances to be implemented,
> but only under certain conditions. The main condition is that no force from
> abroad should support or encourage the Syrian opposition’s attempts to
> overthrow the Assad regime. Otherwise, all the efforts to bring peace to Syria
> will remain noble but utopian.
***************************************************************************************************
SBS DATELINE: Saving Syria By Yaara Bou Melhem 25th March 2012
http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/about/id/601429/n/Saving-Syria
Editor: This story by Yaara Bou Melhem is interesting in that it exposes some of
the wheeling and dealing of people funding and supporting the
militia/terrorists/rebels. It focuses on Haitham Al Maleh who has broken away
from the Syrian National Council, ostensibly because it is not ‘democratic’.
(Al Maleh, on the other hand, apparently has bona fide democratic credentials,
and he plans to be Syrian president through a violent revolution to prove it!)
The Dateline introduction:
> Haitham Al Maleh is preparing himself to be the next Syrian president, but he
> says he’s also number one on the Syrian regime’s hit list for assassination.
>
> Al Maleh is a leading figure in Syria’s opposition, known as the country’s
> father of human rights, who’s spent many years in prison for his work.
>
> Yaara Bou Melhem gets close-up access to him in exile in Cairo, as he works to
> arm and finance the Free Syrian Army in its fight against the Assad regime and
> its violent crackdown on opposition.
>
> But at the age of 81 and constantly fearing for his life, will he ever see a
> free Syria?
A Comment from a viewer:
> Shame on SBS for promoting terrorists
>
> As you so willfully cheered on the destruction of Libya,Im not surprised by
> your lopsided coverage of what is essentially a repeat of criminal civil war
> in Syria. When the Arab League observers report certified that armed terror
> gangs were responsible for civil strife in Syria,Qatar very conveniently [
> being chair of AL] forgot to attach copy of Report and as it exposed their
> lies.Majority of Syrians are happy with their regime and new constitution.Stop
> misleading with such shallow reporting.
Editor’s comment: It is unfortunate that ABC and SBS reporters based in the
Middle East seem to be reliant on ‘stringers’ who support the armed opposition.
To take the side of the armed opposition and their supporters outside Syria must
automatically rule out a reporter’s chance of entering the country. (Mark Davis
showed in his Dateline report that it is not necessary to take sides to
inform.) It is a great pity, for example, that the views of Syrian women are
not being heard. Yaara Bou Melhem, knowing Arabic and being a young Lebanese
Australian woman, would be a perfect person to present their views if she
weren’t so committed to presenting just one side, the side that supports male
war games. One question to ask the women of Syria is: What do you think of an
armed ‘revolution’ in your country which is led by fighters (including many
from Libya, Iraq, northern Lebanon etc) who are funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
the US, and many of whom are inspired by the fatwas of extremist clerics?
US reporter, Reese Erlich was able to interview quite a few women in Syria last
December.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/syria/3709714#comments
And Sharmine Narwani interviewed many within the opposition inside Syria when
she was in Damascus in January.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/syrian-snapshot-i-view-capital
‘Anatomy of a Massacre’ Dateline 25 March 2012
On the same Dateline program, there was a report from Afghanistan. It is a
reminder of the horror of war and the atrocities that can be committed by
soldiers on ‘our’ side. Yalda Hakim, the SBS reporter who presents it, gives
the people of Afghanistan, her country of origin, a voice.
http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/comments/id/601431/n/Anatomy-of-a-Massacre
LIBYA EVIDENCE: REBELS USING RAPE AS A WEAPON
An interview with a fighter in the war in Libya. He admits to some of the
atrocities he committed, particularly against women.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kge4lhq4AH0&feature=player_embedded
There can never be enough reminders of the horrors of war and killing. The SBS
program “Insight” on 27 March presented views and stories of some ‘killers’.
http://www.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/watchonline/461/Trained-To-Kill
And back to Syria:
Asma Al-Assad speaks to a CNN reporter, February 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SA-FZV2K5KU&feature=endscreen
One story of a victim of the ‘revolution’ in Syria:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3z3Nnvlye4&feature=related
Other victims of the ‘rebels’ who are motivated to kill in Syria:
http://www.youtube.com/verify_controversy?next_url=/watch%3Fv%3DxghNvVQehlM%26oref%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.youtube.com%252Fresults%253Fsearch_query%253Dsyrian%252Btv%252Bchildren%252Bkilled%2526oq%253Dsyrian%252Btv%252Bchildren%252Bkilled%2526aq%253Df%2526aqi%253Dq-w1%2526aql%253D%2526gs_l%253Dyoutube-psuggest-reduced.3..33i21.3215914l3222029l0l3222264l25l25l0l0l0l0l386l3627l11j4j7j2l24l0.%26has_verified%3D1
For a reminder of the big merchants of war:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV6CiZ029bM
> 2009: Former marine Josh Rushing reports on how the US prisons in Iraq are
> turning into big business.
>
> He visits the world’s biggest arms exposition and travels to Iraq to see how
> one prison is attempting a new strategy with its inmates.
***************************************************************************************************
ALAKBAR
AL JAZEERA IN SYRIA: A CASE OF TUNNEL VISION
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-jazeera-syria-case-tunnel-vision
By: Elias Mahdi
Published Wednesday, March 28, 2012
> With the onset of the crisis in Syria, Al Jazeera dropped any pretense of
> balanced coverage. Those who tried to buck the trend failed and eventually had
> to toe the line of the Qatari government.
>
> For some time, Al Jazeera has been inundated with media leaks about its inner
> workings, most notably when the Syrian Electronic Army hacked the main server
> and leaked some of its contents.
>
> Al-Akhbar obtained a copy of the “order of the day” sent on the first
> anniversary of the Syrian uprising. The channel’s head of news Ibrahim Helal
> sent out a memo dated 15 March 2012 with the title “Our Coverage of Syrian
> Affairs.”
Reading on:
> Senior employees admit in their private circles that no one who works for the
> channel can express opinions on Syria contrary to those of the Qatari emir.
> Otherwise, they will be ostracized and humiliated until they leave
***************************************************************************************************
A letter from a member of Australians For Syria addressed to ABC Lateline, 29
March 2012:
> Dear Lateline,
>
> In the current fog surrounding Kofi Annan’s mission in Syria, I think it is
> vital that your audience should listen to the viewpoint of the Syrian
> Government, and this interview with their eloquent English speaking
> spokesperson Jihad Makdisi spells out quite clearly many aspects of it to a
> Dutch journalist.: ( the interview is in English )
>
> http://nieuwsuur.nl/video/353158-volledig-interview-met-syrische-regeringswoordvoerder.html
>
> I am sure that Mr Makdisi would be happy to do an interview with Lateline, and
> answer the undoubtedly similar questions once again. I have previously
> suggested the ABC talk to this representative, following enquiries about
> suitable spokespersons, and it is quite annoying to me to listen to him in the
> knowledge that my suggestion has been ignored. I simply do not understand why
> this is.
> The current situation in Syria is that Russia and China and Syria have signed
> up to Kofi Annan’s UN/Arab league peace plan, but the Opposition has NOT.
> There is no other story, yet the ABC persists in talking about alleged Syrian
> army abuses and attacks, and the circus of foreign powers trying to put up a
> front for regime change and support for ongoing violence.
>
> Yours etc,
> David Macilwain
In the video interview, Dr Makdisi answers the hard questions most people would
like to put to a Syrian official, but who outside Syria will listen to his
responses, or at least give them considered thought?
***************************************************************************************************
THE UN AND SYRIA
RT: SYRIAN GOVT ACCEPTS ANNAN’S 6-POINT PEACE PLAN
http://rt.com/news/syria-accept-annan-peace-plan-545/
Published: 27 March, 2012, 14:36
Edited: 28 March, 2012, 02:01
> Damascus has accepted Kofi Annan’s six-point plan to stop bloodshed in the
> country, a spokesman for the UN envoy to Syria announced.
>
> Kofi Annan has praised Damascus’s acceptance of the plan as “an important
> initial step” towards ending violence in the country and creating an
> environment to start a dialogue between the regime and the Syrian opposition.
Although Kofi Annan has not called on President Al-Assad to step down, a
spokesperson for Turkey at a meeting for the Syrian National Council in Istanbul
(28th March 2012) presented another view:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/turkey-meeting-fails-reunite-opposition-snc
> Turkish foreign ministry official Halit Cevik said there was no alternative to
> Assad’s regime going, and he extended support to the SNC as a platform for the
> different strands of the opposition.
SYRIA AUTHORITIES TARGET CHILDREN, SAYS UN RIGHTS CHIEF
What also makes Kofi Annan’s efforts for peace difficult is the intrusion of
UN’s Navi Pillay’s voice at this time, basically making the same claims she
made in December 2011 regarding “Syrian authorities systematically detaining and
torturing children”. (Claims which insult the Syrian people: they would not
stand by and allow their government or army to target and kill Syrian children.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17532966
The claims come at a time when efforts are being made for peace, while war is
being pushed onto Syria by so many outside forces. They remind this editor of
the claims heard in the UN in the lead up to the Iraq war.\
POWELL PRESENTS US CASE TO SECURITY COUNCIL OF IRAQ’S FAILURE TO DISARM
http://www.un.org/apps/news/storyAr.asp?NewsID=6079&Cr=iraq&Cr1=inspect
> “My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid
> sources. These are not assertions. What we’re giving you are facts and
> conclusions based on solid intelligence,” Mr. Powell told the
> ministerial-level session of the 15-member body.
***************************************************************************************************
THE ARAB LEAGUE AND SYRIA:
Diplomatic snubs exchanged at Baghdad summit on Syria
29th March
http://rt.com/news/arab-league-baghdad-summit-711/
Interview with reporter in Istanbul, and a report which includes:
> Qatar and other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council have been pushing for
> military intervention and arming the opposition. Host country Iraq, on the
> other hand, has been opposed to intervention and has been more in favor of a
> peaceful resolution.
***************************************************************************************************
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/new-phase-syria-crisis-dealmaking-toward-exit
NEW PHASE IN SYRIA CRISIS: DEALMAKING TOWARD AN EXIT
By: Sharmine Narwani
Published Wednesday, March 21, 2012
> In recent weeks, there has been a notable shuffle in the positions of key
> external players in the Syrian crisis. Momentum has quite suddenly shifted
> from an all-out onslaught against the Assad government to a quiet
> investigation of exit strategies………
********************************************************************************************************
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/20/open-letter-leaders-syrian-opposition
Open Letter to the Leaders of the Syrian Opposition
REGARDING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES BY ARMED OPPOSITION MEMBERS MARCH 20, 2012
> ……..Now, in the face of evidence of human rights abuses by armed opposition
> members, Human Rights Watch calls on the leadership of leading opposition
> groups including the Syrian National Council (SNC) and its Military Bureau to
> condemn such practices by the armed opposition and to work to prevent such
> unlawful practices.
>
> While the protest movement in Syria was overwhelmingly peaceful until
> September 2011, since then Human Rights Watch has documented apparent crimes
> and other abuses committed by armed opposition elements. These crimes and
> abuses include the kidnapping and detention of security force members,
> individuals identified as members of government-supported militias (referred
> to locally as shabeeha), and individuals identified as government allies or
> supporters. They also include the use of torture and the execution of security
> force members and civilians. Some of the attacks targeting Shias and Alawites
> appear to be motivated by sectarianism.
>
> Abuses of this nature, including torture, taking of hostages, and executions
> by armed opposition members, have also been documented by the UN-mandated
> Commission of Inquiry in its February 2012 report. In addition to concluding
> that armed members of the opposition have committed gross human rights abuses,
> the Commission’s report also references and appends documentation received
> from the Syrian government indicating that armed opposition members have
> kidnapped, killed, and disappeared civilians and security force members and
> displaced civilians………….
********************************************************************************************************
JOINT PRAYER HELD FOR THE SOULS OF SYRIA’S MARTYRS… PATRIARCH LAHAM: SYRIA
STRONG AND RESILIENT
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/116030
> DAMASCUS– A joint prayer was held on Wednesday in Kyrillos Church in al-Qassa
> neighborhood in Damascus for the souls of Syria’s martyrs and the martyrs of
> the two terrorist bombings that targeted Damascus last Saturday.
>
> In a speech, Patriarch Gregorios III Laham of Antioch and All The East said
> that this prayer is held for the sake of Syria, which is strong and resilient,
> noting that this cycle of violence must not persist and calling on Syrians to
> resort to dialogue, reconciliation, repentance and calm to preserve unity and
> vanquish enmity.
>
> He called upon Syrians to pray to God to preserve Syria and its people,
> stressing that Syria can continue the process of renewal and change and emerge
> from violence through dialogue……..
**********************************************************************************************************
http://www.medialens.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=672:constructing-consensus-the-victims-and-aggressor-meme&catid=25:alerts-2012&Itemid=69
CONSTRUCTING CONSENSUS – THE ‘VICTIMS-AND-AGGRESSOR MEME’
> Journalists are supposed to tell the truth without fear or favour. In reality,
> as even the editor of the Independent acknowledges, MPs and reporters are ‘a
> giant club’.
>
> Together, politics and media combine to provide an astonishingly consistent
> form of reality management controlling public perception of conflicts in
> places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. Alastair Crooke, founder and
> director of Conflicts Forum, notes how the public is force-fed a ‘simplistic
> victims-and-aggressor meme, which demands only the toppling of the aggressor’.
>
> The bias is spectacular, outrageous, but universal, and so appears simply to
> mirror reality.…..
********************************************************************************************************
RUSSIA TODAY 14 March 2012 Video interview with former Al-Jazeera reporter.
http://www.rt.com/news/hashem-al-jazeera-resignation-523/
‘NO INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM ANYMORE’ – EX-AL JAZEERA REPORTER
> Television channels have turned into political parties, pushing the agenda for
> some outside forces, former Al Jazeera correspondent in Beirut, Ali Hashem,
> told RT. Hashem has come in spotlight after resigning from the television
> citing its bias.
>
> In emails leaked by Syrian hackers, Ali Hashem vented his anger over Al
> Jazeera’s one-sided coverage of Syria and its refusal to cover the events in
> Bahrain. In an exclusive interview with RT, the former Beirut correspondent
> Hashem refrained from discussing his resignation, but stressed that these
> days, independent media is a myth. ….
THE REAL NEWS March 20, 2012
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=8106
AL JAZEERA JOURNALIST EXPLAINS RESIGNATION OVER SYRIA AND BAHRAIN COVERAGE
Ali Hashem: Al Jazeera has become a “media war machine” and is “committing
journalistic suicide”
(Video interview with Ali Hashem)
RUSSIA TODAY 12 March 2012
http://www.rt.com/news/al-jazeera-loses-staff-335/
AL JAZEERA EXODUS: CHANNEL LOSING STAFF OVER ‘BIAS’
> Key staff from Al Jazeera’s Beirut Bureau have resigned citing “bias” in the
> channel’s stance on the conflict in Syria.
>
> Bureau Managing Director Hassan Shaaban reportedly quit last week, after his
> correspondent and producer had walked out in protest.
>
> A source told the Lebanese paper Al Akhbar that Al Jazeera’s Beirut
> correspondent Ali Hashem had quit over the channel’s stance on covering events
> in Syria. “… his position [which] changed after the station refused to show
> photos he had taken of armed fighters clashing with the Syrian Army in Wadi
> Khaled. Instead [Al Jazeera] lambasted him as a shabeeh [implying a regime
> loyalist],” a source told Lebanese press.
>
> Ali Hashem was also infuriated by Al Jazeera’s refusal to cover a crackdown by
> the King of Bahrain while twisting its Syria angle. “[In Bahrain], we were
> seeing pictures of a people being butchered by the ‘Gulf’s oppression
> machine’, and for Al Jazeera, silence was the name of the game,” he said.…..
********************************************************************************************************
http://www.infernalmachine.co.uk/?p=1486
IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL: THE MEDIA AND SYRIA
Posted on March 16, 2012 by Matt
> Objective analysis of the brutal conflict in Syria has been generally
> conspicuous by its absence over the last 12 months, where the mainstream media
> has generally followed the narratives propagated by their governments with all
> the independence and perspicacity of trained seals.
>
> One of the few exceptions is the political analyst and blogger Sharmine
> Narwani. An associate of St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University, Narwani
> has been a remorseless and forensic critic of the inadequacies in western
> media coverage of Syria, and she has penned a typically stinging indictment on
> her blog, entitled ‘Dear Western journalist‘, which laments the failure of so
> many reporters to do their job properly…..
********************************************************************************************************
MIDEAST SHUFFLE by Sharmine Narwani
http://mideastshuffle.com/2012/03/15/dear-western-journalist-syria/
> Dear Western journalist,
>
> Please cease using the argument that the reason you are writing crap about
> Syria is because “media is not allowed there.” The Arab League report lists
> 147 media outlets – Arab and foreign – working in Syria in January, 2012. I
> and a few others who were there at the time were not even on the list. Ahead
> of me in line at the border was the CBC crew, who was on that list. Perhaps
> the reason you have such a hard time getting in is because you need to wait –
> like CBC Suzy – for visas for 47 staff and support staff members, including
> people to hold your over-sized coffee cup as you interview an opposition
> gunman in that special breathless way you do it. Of course you need a
> translator for that too, because otherwise you wouldn’t have a fucking clue if
> you were in Idlib or Homs now, would you?
********************************************************************************************************
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/lebanese-druze-clergy-jumblatt-not-our-name
LEBANESE DRUZE CLERGY TO JUMBLATT: NOT IN OUR NAME
By: Firas Choufi
Published Tuesday, March 13, 2012
> Walid Jumblatt’s relationship with the spiritual authorities within the Druze
> community is temperamental. The sheikhs are partners when they share
> Jumblatt’s view on a particular decision, and when the clerics defy the lord
> of Mukhtara, suddenly it is all about socialism and the separation of politics
> and religion……
>
> Today, Jumblatt and the Druze clergy are on opposing sides of the Syrian
> crisis.
Below is a link to a skit on Lebanese TV in regard to Walid Jumblatt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F6lXMFa04M
********************************************************************************************************
ABC LATE NIGHT LIVE
GEORGE JOFFE ON SYRIA AND THE CHESSBOARD OF MIDDLE EAST POLITICS
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/george-joffe/3889230
Editor’s note: I hope the comment page is as interesting as the interview with
Joffe, perhaps more enlightening even.
********************************************************************************************************
VT VETERANS TODAY: MILITARY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS JOURNAL
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/03/09/the-bloody-road-to-damascus-the-triple-alliances-war-on-a-sovereign-state/
THE BLOODY ROAD TO DAMASCUS: THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE’S WAR ON A SOVEREIGN STATE
by James Petras 9 March 2012
> Introduction
>
> There is clear and overwhelming evidence that the uprising to overthrow
> President Assad of Syria is a violent, power grab led by foreign-supported
> fighters who have killed and wounded thousands of Syrian soldiers, police and
> civilians, partisans of the government and its peaceful opposition.
>
> The outrage expressed by politicians in the West and Gulf State and in the
> mass media, about the ‘killing of peaceful Syrian citizens protesting
> injustice’ is cynically designed to cover up the documented reports of violent
> seizure of neighborhoods, villages and towns by armed bands, brandishing
> machine guns and planting road-side bombs.
>
> The assault on Syria is backed by foreign funds, arms and training.Due to a
> lack of domestic support ,however, to be successful, direct foreign military
> intervention will be necessary. For this reason a huge propaganda and
> diplomatic campaign has been mounted to demonize the legitimate Syrian
> government. The goal is to impose a puppet regime and strengthen Western
> imperial control in the Middle East. In the short run, this will further
> isolate Iran in preparation for a military attack by Israel and the US and, in
> the long run, it eliminates another independent secular regime friendly to
> China and Russia.
For complete article, go to above link.
***********************************************************************************************************
THE INFORMATION WAR: In regard to Syria, Alastair Crooke is an analyst who
deserves attention in Australia. He challenges the very comfortable narrative
most people have accepted. In Australia, it seems you are on the side of the
‘goodies’ if you damn the Syrian government. It’s irrelevant that you are also
on the side of the Pentagon, the US State Department, John McCain, extremist
clerics, Salafist jihadists, Al-Qaeda, the oil-rich monarchies – Saudi Arabia
and Qatar. And a good guess would be 20 million of the 22 million people in
Syria are not on your side. What is the real David and Goliath story here?
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NC09Ak03.html
> ASIA TIMES,ON-LINE: Syria: Straining credulity?
> By Alastair Crooke 9 March 2012
>
> The UN Secretary General was reported on March 3 saying that he had received
> “grisly reports” that Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing,
> imprisoning and torturing people in Homs after retaking control of the Baba
> Amr district from insurgents. Did he really believe this; or was he just
> “saying it”?
>
> “One of the defining bifurcations of the future will be the conflict between
> information masters and information victims” the US officer assigned to the
> Deputy Chief of Staff (Intelligence), charged with defining the future of
> warfare, wrote in the US Army War College Quarterly in 1997.
>
> “But fear not”, he writes later in the article, for “we are already masters of
> information warfare … Hollywood is ‘preparing the battlefield’ … Information
> destroys traditional jobs and traditional cultures; it seduces, betrays, yet
> remains invulnerable……
*********************************************************************************************************
In April 2011, several Al-Jazeera reporters resigned from the station in
protest, apparently, at the station’s reporting on Syria, Bahrain and the ‘Arab
Spring’ in general. The most well-known of these journalists was Ghassan
Bin-Jeddo, who was the head of the Al-Jazeera Beirut office and a
highly-regarded journalist (once banned from entering Syria). Bin-Jeddo spoke
about the ‘smear campaign’ being waged against Syria. So the recent report of
dissatisfaction among AJ reporters and the resignation of one should be seen
with this context in mind. The following is from an article on English Alakhbar.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-jazeera-reporter-resigns-over-biased-syria-coverage
AL JAZEERA REPORTER RESIGNS OVER “BIASED” SYRIA COVERAGE
Published Thursday, March 8, 2012
> Al Jazeera Arabic’s Beirut correspondent, Ali Hashem, resigned on Tuesday
> after leaked emails revealed his frustrations over the news channel’s coverage
> of Syria, according to a source within the television network.
>
> Hashem’s resignation comes weeks after pro-Assad hackers leaked emails that
> revealed the dismay among Al Jazeera’s staff over its “biased and
> unprofessional” coverage of the Syrian uprising.
>
> “Hashem’s misgivings are clear and well-known, and are no longer a secret to
> anyone,” the source, wishing to remain anonymous, said.
>
> “You can check the emails he sent to his colleague, Rula Ibrahim, to know his
> position which changed after the station refused to show photos he had taken
> of armed fighters clashing with the Syrian Army in Wadi Khaled. Instead [Al
> Jazeera] lambasted him as a shabeeh (implying a regime loyalist).”
>
> The source also said that Hashem reported his dismay to several officials in
> the station, not just to his colleague, Ibrahim.
>
> Complicating matters for Hashem was Al Jazeera’s refusal to cover the uprising
> in Bahrain.
>
> “[In Bahrain], we were seeing pictures of a people being butchered by the
> ‘Gulf’s oppression machine’, and for Al Jazeera, silence was the name of the
> game,” the source added.
>
> According to the source, Hashem was not the only Al Jazeera reporter to
> express his frustration over its coverage. Staff members in Al-Jazeera’s
> offices in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Bahrain also voiced similar
> opinions.
********************************************************************************************************
This latest article by Sharmine Narwani (referred to below) indicates the
difficulty writers or speakers can have if they want to present evidence of
something else going on in Syria which differs from the commonly held single
narrative. For the complete article which was published on 7 March 2012 in
“Alakhbar English”, go to the following link:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/sandbox/syria-censorship-aol-huffington-post
SYRIA CENSORSHIP AT AOL-HUFFINGTON POST? WEDNESDAY, MAR 7 2012
By Sharmine Narwani
Let me be clear that this blogpost is not about sour grapes.
But the media cacophony on Syria has just become too shrill – reporters, too
reluctant to raise obvious questions – to just sit back and let this one slide.
Especially when it is taking place under my nose at the place I have blogged for
two and a half years. There’s no other way to look at this: by refusing to
publish all but one of my seven Syria articles, AOL-Huffington Post is censoring
a viewpoint that challenges the dominant narratives on Syria in the mainstream
media……..
The battle for narratives is the frontline of this war, and it is a dirty one.
Where once we thought fabrications of WMDs in Iraq and yellowcake uranium in
Niger would never, ever pass through our vigilant scrutiny again – today, those
stories barely compare to the barrage of unverified propaganda that filters
through both social and mainstream media sites every, single day.
NB: “Alakhbar” is an alternative source of information about events in the
Middle East. For more information, go to:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/about
> “YOUR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST”
>
> On August 14 2006, Beirut-based Al-Akhbar was launched as a “calculated
> adventure” by prominent Lebanese journalist Joseph Samaha and a team of
> like-minded colleagues. The late Samaha (1949-2007) envisioned a publication
> that would uphold the highest standards of journalistic integrity while
> remaining true to the principles of anti-imperialist struggle, progressive
> politics, and freedom of expression.
>
> Five years later, Al-Akhbar embarks on another calculated adventure amid a
> period of historic significance in the region – the year of the Arab
> uprisings. By providing much-needed in-depth reporting on the uprisings and
> other news in the region, Al-Akhbar English will reflect the diverse and
> dynamic realities that make up the communities undergoing these
> transformations. The English edition also aims to make debates and analyses
> circulating in the Arabic media sphere accessible to English speakers
> worldwide. Al-Akhbar depends on young and creative writers that challenge
> conventional forms of reporting and aspires to speak truth to power. Al-Akhbar
> English intends to preserve this tradition by translating selected articles
> from the Arabic edition to an international readership.
>
> The site also features original content of opinion, analysis, and field
> stories as well as photo blogs chronicling the latest developments across the
> Middle East.
**********************************************************************************************************
And the HUMANITARIAN WAR.
http://wrongkindofgreen.org/2012/03/07/the-grotesque-and-disturbing-ideology-at-the-helm-of-avaaz/
THE GROTESQUE AND DISTURBING IDEOLOGY AT THE HELM OF AVAAZ
admin Mar 07, 2012 Avaaz, The International Campaign to Destabilize Syria, The
War on Libya – There Was No Evidence
IMPERIALISM UNDER THE GUISE OF HUMANITARIANISM – THE 21ST CENTURY THEME WITHIN
THE NON-PROFIT INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
> As far as America’s war against terrorism is concerned [the] senator provides
> unequivocal support to Barrack Obama.” – The Perriello of Congress website
>
> In the 2012 winter issue of ‘Democracy Journal’ Avaaz Co-founder and former
> U.S. Representative Tom Perriello penned a grotesque and delusional article
> (below) titled “Humanitarian Intervention: Recognizing When, and Why, It Can
> Succeed”.
>
> The views within the article are a complete reflection and validation of the
> U.S. administration’s rhetoric intended to justify the annihilation and
> occupation of sovereign states under the false pretense of “humanitarian
> intervention” and “responsibility to protect”.
>
> Make no mistake, this is the ideology of the world’s most powerful NGO, that
> of Avaaz, and the matrix of NGOs within the non-profit industrial complex.
>
> Next week we will begin publication of our investigative report on Avaaz, the
> Avaaz co-founders, the Avaaz corporate media partners, the Avaaz strategy, and
> finally, the role Avaaz played in the NATO-led annihilation of Libya, which,
> prior to the strategically planned and unprovoked invasion by Imperialist
> states, held the highest standard of living in Africa. This slaughter has left
> as many as 150,000 Libyans dead. NGOs must be held accountable for paving the
> way for these crimes against humanity.
**********************************************************************************************************
FOCUS ON DR BASHAR JA’AFARI
The Syrian Ambassador to the UN, Dr Bashar Ja’afari, has become a hero to many
Syrians because of the strength, dignity, intelligence and integrity they
believe he presents in the UN.
1. Background Information:
http://www.un.int/syria/ambassador.htm
H.E. Dr. Bashar Ja’afari was born in Damascus , Syria on April 14, 1956. He
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French Literature from the
University of Damascus in 1977. Dr. Ja’afari continued to receive a Diploma of
Higher Studies in Translation and Arabization from the University of Damascus in
1978. He furthered his education in France where he received two Diplomas of
Higher Studies; one in International Political Relations from the International
Institute of Public Administration (IIAP) and another in International
Organizations’ Management from the University of Sceaux in 1982. Dr. Ja’afari
received two Doctorates in Political Science, one from the University of Sceaux
in Paris , France and another from the University of Paris La Sorbonne in 1989.
Dr. Ja’afari received a third Doctorate in 2002 in the History of Islamic
Civilization in South East Asia from the University of Sharif Hedayatuallah in
Jakarta , Indonesia . Dr. Bashar Ja’afari is fluent in Arabic, French, English
and Persian.
2. Dr Bashar Ja’afari talks to UN Media Reps January 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zFgVP0uklA&feature=related
3. Anderson Cooper’s interview with Dr Bashar Ja’afari on CNN illustrates how
difficult it is for spokespeople for Syria to inform people about the terror
faced by the people, army and government of Syria. In this interview, Cooper
does not want to hear. He believes he has enough ‘youtube evidence’ to condemn
Syria; he doesn’t need to hear or consider the other side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fPdeX7-_aM
In regard to the terror the Ambassador refers to, many Syrian Australians can
confirm that Syrians have been facing fear and terror since April 2011, if not
earlier. For example, on 17 April, three children as well as the father of two
of them were killed by armed men in Homs. This is quite a well-known story in
Syria and the Diaspora, but it has never been reported in the Australian media
or by Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. The uncle of a Syrian
Australian was killed by gunmen along with two of his friends in April. They
were young farmers on their way to sell their produce at the market. The father
of another Syrian Australian disappeared in Homs several months ago. There have
been scores if not hundreds of assassinations; the victims include university
professors; people who have taken part in the political reform process;
businessmen; a mufti who preached peace, and the son of the Mufti of Syria;
Air-force pilots; doctors and surgeons; a chemist; army personnel and family
members, including a baby in one incident. There have been many abductions of
people from buses and the shooting deaths of people taken from buses. The
‘nephew’ of Dr Fiona Hill was abducted off a bus and told he had four choices:
join the ‘Free Syrian Army and kill; be killed, blow up infrastructure; or
convince his family to pay a $8,000 ransom to be released. These are just a few
of hundreds of stories that are known by many in the Australian community, but
of which the wider community is ignorant.
4. The US delegation in the UN walk out of the General Assembly in protest while
Dr Ja’afari is speaking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws3daot-Y5k
********************************************************************************************************
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/03/05/in-syria-al-jazeeras-credibility-implodes/March
The guy who runs al Jazeera’s Syrian coverage is the brother of a SNC bigwig
COUNTERPUNCH
IN SYRIA, AL JAZEERA’S CREDIBILITY IMPLODES
by PETER LEE
Excerpt:
As’ad AbuKhalil, proprietor of the Angry Arab newsblog, hails from the
atheist/Marxist/feminist quadrant and is no friend of the Bashar regime. He had
this to say about recent trends in programming on Syrian state TV:
> “It seems that Syrian regime had agents among the rebels; or it seems that the
> Syrian regime obtained a trove of video footage from Baba Amru. They have
> been airing them non-stop. They are quite damning. They show the
> correspondent or witness (for CNN or from Aljazeera) before he is on the air:
> and the demeanor is drastically different from the demeanor on the air and
> they even show contrived sounds of explosions timed for broadcast time…
>
> “PS This is really scandalous. It shows the footage prior to Aljazeera
> reports: they show fake bandages applied on a child and then a person is
> ordered to carry a camera in his hand to make it look like a mobile footage.
> It shows a child being fed what to say on Aljazeera.”
Later in the day:
“This is rather explosive. You know how low Aljazeera has sunk when Syrian
regime TV stations have a field day with the shoddy journalism and fabrication
procedures of Aljazeera. It seems that people inside Aljazeera have leaked raw
footage and pre-air reports to someone in Syrian regime TV. I am not surprised
of the leak at all: I am in contact from people inside Aljazeera who are
disgusted by the propaganda work of the network in the last few months. … I
know how those things work and they know that I know. The footage that are
being shown show staging of events of calling a civilian an “officer” in the
Syrian army, of faking injuries and feeding statements to people before airtime,
etc. Aljazeera seems to be writing its own professional obituary. I don’t know
how it can really resurrect itself again. It is mortally wounded. I know that
there are people in the network who are pained about what is happening but royal
orders are royal orders in the network and no one dare to disobey. I am told
that orders came down to the effect that no half-position would be tolerated and
that categorical adoption of the Qatari foreign policy on Syria is a job
requirement.
For one of the videos being referred to above, please go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiMFeXuUj0U
Danny’s response to the charges against him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpgQHdz2g4 (NB: Anderson Cooper interviews
Danny as a defense lawyer might.)
For an analysis, on “Prison Planet”:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/syria-danny-caught-staging-cnn-war-propaganda-stunt.html
Information about Danny, from a previous page on this blog:
Who is a Credible Witness? So often the media’s ‘big’ stories in regard to
Syria are both shocking and outrageous, and often proven to be unfounded. On
ABC RN”s Breakfast 9/2/12, Fran Kelly interviewed “Danny”, introduced as a
‘resident of Homs’. She listened to him listing all the possible war crimes an
army could be guilty of, telling listeners that he hopes the Syrian president is
killed, and then she wished him ‘well’. Danny had been interviewed by the BBC
in September and it appears from the questioning the interviewer wasn’t quite as
gullible as Ms Kelly, though he made an effort to be respectful. But it is not
just the ABC which is putting its trust in Danny to tell the world what 22
million people in Syria want and need. Avaaz is using an interview with him in
its latest campaign to ‘help’ Syria and, at the same time, to raise funds.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/2012-02-09/3819578
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-14831387
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/smuggle_hope_into_syria_q/?cl=1567906594&v=12529
From London, a critical view of Danny and his claims:
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1328547290.html
***********************************************************************************************************
http://wikileaks.cabledrum.net/cable/2006/12/06DAMASCUS5399.html
WIKILEAKS: VIEWING CABLE 06DAMASCUS5399, INFLUENCING THE SARG IN THE END OF 2006
Below are extracts from this cable. Please view in full to understand bigger
picture.
PLAY ON SUNNI FEARS OF IRANIAN INFLUENCE: There are fears
in Syria that the Iranians are active in both Shia
proselytizing and conversion of, mostly poor, Sunnis. Though
often exaggerated, such fears reflect an element of the Sunni
community in Syria that is increasingly upset by and focused
on the spread of Iranian influence in their country through
activities ranging from mosque construction to business.
Both the local Egyptian and Saudi missions here, (as well as
prominent Syrian Sunni religious leaders), are giving
increasing attention to the matter and we should coordinate
more closely with their governments on ways to better
publicize and focus regional attention on the issue.
-- Vulnerability:
-- THE KHADDAM FACTOR: Khaddam knows where the regime
skeletons are hidden, which provokes enormous irritation from
Bashar, vastly disproportionate to any support Khaddam has
within Syria. Bashar Asad personally, and his regime in
general, follow every news item involving Khaddam with
tremendous emotional interest. The regime reacts with
self-defeating anger whenever another Arab country hosts
Khaddam or allows him to make a public statement through any
of its media outlets.
-- Possible Action:
-- We should continue to encourage the Saudis and others to
allow Khaddam access to their media outlets, providing him
with venues for airing the SARG,s dirty laundry. We should
anticipate an overreaction by the regime that will add to its
isolation and alienation from its Arab neighbors.
-- Possible Action:
-- ENCOURAGE RUMORS AND SIGNALS OF EXTERNAL PLOTTING:
The regime is intensely sensitive to rumors about
coup-plotting and restlessness in the security services and
military. Regional allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia should
be encouraged to meet with figures like Khaddam and Rif,at
Asad as a way of sending such signals, with appropriate
leaking of the meetings afterwards. This again touches on
this insular regime,s paranoia and increases the possibility
of a self-defeating over-reaction.
Vulnerability:
-- REFORM FORCES VERSUS BAATHISTS-OTHER CORRUPT ELITES:
Bashar keeps unveiling a steady stream of initiatives on
economic reform and it is certainly possible he believes this
issue is his legacy to Syria. While limited and ineffectual,
these steps have brought back Syrian expats to invest and
have created at least the illusion of increasing openness.
Finding ways to publicly call into question Bashar,s reform
efforts )- pointing, for example to the use of reform to
disguise cronyism -- would embarrass Bashar and undercut
these efforts to shore up his legitimacy. Revealing Asad
family/inner circle corruption would have a similar effect.
-- Possible Action:
-- HIGHLIGHTING FAILURES OF REFORM: Highlighting failures of
reform, especially in the run-up to the 2007 Presidential
elections, is a move that Bashar would find highly
embarrassing and de-legitimizing. Comparing and contrasting
puny Syrian reform efforts with the rest of the Middle East
would also embarrass and irritate Bashar.
**********************************************************************************************************
**************************************************************************************************
RT: 13 UNDERCOVER FRENCH ARMY OFFICERS SEIZED IN SYRIA – REPORT
5 March 2012
http://rt.com/news/french-army-officers-syria-893/
> Thirteen French officers have been captured by the Syrian Army, according to
> Lebanon’s Daily Star newspaper. It claims it received the information from a
> pro-Syrian Palestinian in Damascus.
>
> According to the source, the officers were taken captive in the city of Homs
> – the heart of the internal conflict between forces loyal to President Bashar
> al-Assad, and insurrectionists – and are being held in a field hospital there.
> The source claims the French and Syrian governments are locked in negotiations
> over the fate of the men.
>
> If confirmed, it would be an embarrassment to France. However the French
> Foreign Ministry has categorically stated that there are no French soldiers in
> Syria. Perhaps more intriguingly, the Ministry of Defense has not issued an
> outright denial, saying instead that it has no knowledge of the situation.
>
> Official Damascus has similarly refused to comment.
>
> Despite imposing ever-tougher sanctions on Syria, the West has consistently
> denied that it has troops on the ground, although there have been occasional
> rumors. There have also been several reports of NATO powers supplying arms to
> the rebels.
Editor’s note: It may be in Russia’s interests to support peace and stability in
Syria. Will that mean RT is more or less likely to present objective news from
Damascus? Certainly it is presenting a much bigger picture than any Australian
media outlets.
**********************************************************************************************************
RT: STRATFOR LEAKS: NATO COMMANDOS IN ILLEGAL SPECIAL OPS IN SYRIA
6 March 2012
http://rt.com/news/stratfor-syria-secret-wikileaks-989/
> Undercover NATO troops are already in Syria despite denials from their parent
> governments, according to a leaked brief from a highly-placed analyst.
>
>
>
> The information comes from a hacked email from leading private US intelligence
> agency Stratfor, whose correspondence has been released by Wikileaks since
> February 27. The email appears to be written from the address of Reva Bhalla
> (bhalla@stratfor.com), the company’s director of analysis, for internal use,
> and details a confidential Pentagon meeting in December. The consultation is
> alleged to have been attended by senior analysts from the US Air Force, and
> representatives from its chief allies, France and the United Kingdom.
>
> Western powers have categorically denied military involvement in Syria’s
> internal conflict, for which they have no international mandate. But if the
> information contained in the letter is reliable, a radically different picture
> of Western activity in Syria emerges.
*********************************************************************************************************
ON MONDAY FEBRUARY 27TH, 2012, WIKILEAKS BEGAN PUBLISHING THE GLOBAL
INTELLIGENCE FILES, OVER FIVE MILLION E-MAILS FROM THE TEXAS HEADQUARTERED
“GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE” COMPANY STRATFOR. THE E-MAILS DATE BETWEEN JULY 2004 AND
LATE DECEMBER 2011. THEY REVEAL THE INNER WORKINGS OF A COMPANY THAT FRONTS AS
AN INTELLIGENCE PUBLISHER, BUT PROVIDES CONFIDENTIAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICES TO
LARGE CORPORATIONS, SUCH AS BHOPAL’S DOW CHEMICAL CO., LOCKHEED MARTIN, NORTHROP
GRUMMAN, RAYTHEON AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, INCLUDING THE US DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY, THE US MARINES AND THE US DEFENCE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY. THE
EMAILS SHOW STRATFOR’S WEB OF INFORMERS, PAY-OFF STRUCTURE, PAYMENT LAUNDERING
TECHNIQUES AND PSYCHOLOGICAL METHODS.
INSIGHT – MILITARY INTERVENTION IN SYRIA, POST WITHDRAWAL STATUS OF FORCES
Email-ID 1671459 Date 2011-12-07 00:49:18 From bhalla@stratfor.com To
secure@stratfor.com
http://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/1671459_insight-military-intervention-in-syria-post-withdrawal.html
A few points I wanted to highlight from meetings today --
I spent most of the afternoon at the Pentagon with the USAF strategic
studies group - guys who spend their time trying to understand and explain
to the USAF chief the big picture in areas where they're operating in. It
was just myself and four other guys at the Lieutenant Colonel level,
including one French and one British representative who are liaising with
the US currently out of DC.
They wanted to grill me on the strategic picture on Syria, so after that I
got to grill them on the military picture. There is still a very low level
of understanding of what is actually at stake in Syria, what's the
strategic interest there, the Turkish role, the Iranian role, etc. After a
couple hours of talking, they said without saying that SOF teams
(presumably from US, UK, France, Jordan, Turkey) are already on the ground
focused on recce missions and training opposition forces. One Air Force
intel guy (US) said very carefully that there isn't much of a Free Syrian
Army to train right now anyway, but all the operations being done now are
being done out of 'prudence.' The way it was put to me was, 'look at this
way - the level of information known on Syrian OrBat this month is the
best it's been since 2001.' They have been told to prepare contingencies
and be ready to act within 2-3 months, but they still stress that this is
all being done as contingency planning, not as a move toward escalation.
I kept pressing on the question of what these SOF teams would be working
toward, and whether this would lead to an eventual air camapign to give a
Syrian rebel group cover. They pretty quickly distanced themselves from
that idea, saying that the idea 'hypothetically' is to commit guerrilla
attacks, assassination campaigns, try to break the back of the Alawite
forces, elicit collapse from within. There wouldn't be a need for air
cover, and they wouldn't expect these Syrian rebels to be marching in
columns anyway.
CHECK LINK GIVEN ABOVE FOR COMPLETE CABLE.
**************************************************************************************************
BREAKING NEWS: DUBAI THREATENS YOUSSEF QARADAWI WITH ARREST OVER CRITICISM OF
UAE HTTP://GLOBALMBREPORT.ORG/?P=5860
(MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, DAILY REPORT)
Financial Times Report:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/517f437e-66e7-11e1-9e53-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1oPBivR00
DUBAI POLICE CHIEF HITS AT CLERIC ON SYRIA
BY SIMEON KERR IN DUBAI
Dubai’s police chief has launched a war of words with an influential Qatar-based
cleric who criticised the United Arab Emirates for revoking the visas of Syrians
demonstrating against the regime in Damascus.
Dhahi Khalfan al-Tamim late on Sunday threatened to arrest Sheikh Youssef
al-Qaradawi after the senior cleric branded the decision to revoke the Syrians’
visas as “forbidden” under religious law, reminding the rulers of the United
Arab Emirates that the protesters were only “human”.
The sheikh has been an enthusiastic champion of Arab revolutions and has ties
with Islamist groups in the region that have emerged as major beneficiaries of
the political upheaval.
Appearing live on Al Jazeera, the Doha-based satellite TV channel, Sheikh
Qaradawi said the leader of the Syrian opposition had asked him to raise the
issue of around 100 families that face the threat of expulsion from the UAE
after taking part in a February rally against President Bashar al-Assad outside
the Syrian consulate in Dubai.
The UAE government has said the visas of around 30 Syrians were revoked for
unidentified political activity unrelated to the demonstration. Human Rights
Watch, the campaigning group, has called on the Emirates to reverse the
decision.
The UAE, while active in Arab attempts to end the bloodshed in Syria, is
concerned about the political unpredictability of a post-Assad environment.
For one view of Sheik Qaradawi he would perhaps not want you to see today,
please go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HStliOnVl6Q
NB: Sheik Qaradawi issued a fatwa against the ‘heretical’ Syrian government in
March 2011. He broadcasts regularly on Al-Jazeera and has told his followers
that if it is necessary to kill 1/3 of the population of Syria, that is OK as
long as you bring down the government.
Editor’s note: Contrary to what many commentators in Australia claim, the crisis
in Syria is not a civil war between the different sects, though there have been
concerted efforts to create conditions for such a war. Instead, the sides in
this crisis could be seen as (1) the secular government, the army, security
forces and people (from all sects, including those who oppose the Baath Party)
who believe in a united, secular, secure Syria which can implement political
reform peacefully up against (2) those who are encouraged by the ideology of
extremists such as Qaradawi or who are paid by forces with seemingly unlimited
funds to use violence to topple the secular government. And of course, people
who have the best of intentions perhaps can get caught up in supporting a war
in which propaganda is being used relatively successfully outside Syria to
promote ‘revolution for freedom’ and ‘war for peace’. Forget about Peace.
***********************************************************************************************************
http://www.infernalmachine.co.uk/?p=1435#comment-195
Matt Carr’s Infernal Machine
JOHN MCCAIN WANTS TO BOMB…AGAIN
Posted on March 6, 2012 by Matt
Republican Senator John McCain is one of those American politicians who rarely
comes across a war he doesn’t like. During a 2000 Republican debate, he
advocated a new variant on the Reagan Doctrine which he called ‘rogue state
rollback’ and declared that if he were president
> I would arm, train, equip, both from without and from within, forces that
> would eventually overthrow the governments and install free and
> democratically- elected governments.
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal in October 2001 he called for an all out
assault on the Taliban in Afghanistan without ‘half-measures’, as part of a
wider war which aimed at ’the complete destruction of international terrorism
and the regimes that sponsor it’. A Vietnam war veteran, McCain conceded that
‘war is a miserable business’ but nevertheless insisted that
> However heady the appeal of a call to arms, however just the cause, we should
> still shed a tear for all that will be lost when war claims its wages from us.
> Shed a tear, and then get on with the business of killing our enemies as
> quickly as we can, and as ruthlessly as we must.
Please visit Matt Carr’s blog for remainder of article.
**********************************************************************************************************
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30705.htm#.T1NOP-CyAjQ.email
Planned Regime Change in Syria
By Stephen Lendman
March 03, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and now
Syria had peace and calm until Washington intervened belligerently.
Strategies and tactics vary. Objectives are consistent. They involve replacing
independent regimes with pro-Western ones by any means, including war.
Three unwinnable ones rage. Nonetheless, Obama plans more. Syria’s target one.
For the past year, US-instigated violence ravaged parts of the country.
Thousands have been killed, many others injured.
Syria’s gripped by fear. Heavily armed killer gangs rage out of control, and
direct foreign intervention looms.
***********************************************************************************
SAFAFI JIHADISTS IN SYRIA
On Sunday 4 March 2012, Salifis and supporters held a rally in Beirut. The
leader of the Lebanese Salifis spoke at the meeting, and called for a jihad
against Syria. It is a pity ABC reporter, Peter Cave who is based in Beirut, did
not report on this. It was broadcast live on Lebanese satellite TV, so many
people in the Diaspora would have been aware of it.
For some understanding of Salafism and the particular dangers posed by the
extremists in this school of Islam who believe in violent jihadism, please go
to:
http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/AlNakhlah_SalafiJihadistThreatInLebanon.pdf
AL QAEDA IN SYRIA
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/07/28/us_and_al_qaeda_agree_on_syria
Proven provider John McCreary observes that the U.S. government and al Qaeda
apparently are on the same side in calling for change in Syria:
> Syria-al Qaida: Al-Qaida’s new leader Ayman al-Zawahiri praised anti-regime
> protestors in Syria in a video released Wednesday claiming the United States
> is seeking regime change in Damascus, U.S.-based monitors said. Calling the
> pro-democracy activists ‘mujahideen,’ or holy warriors, Zawahiri hailed their
> efforts in “teaching lessons to the aggressor, the oppressor, the traitor, the
> disloyal, and standing up against his oppression” in a video the SITE
> Intelligence Group said was posted on extremist online forums.
>
> Comment: For perhaps the only time on record, The US and al Qaida apparently
> are supporting the same policy end state for Syria: regime change. That
> bizarre coincidence cannot be good for Israeli security or regional stability.
>
> Zawahari sees the conflict as a Sunni fundamentalist vs. Alawite struggle, not
> as a movement for plural political rights, women’s rights and liberal freedoms
> against a repressive regime.”
CONFESSIONS OF A TERRORIST
Yasser Fouzi al-Abd who claims to be a Salafi jihadist has confessed to
assassinations he and others are responsible for in Aleppo, March 7, 2012:
http://sana.sy/eng/337/2012/03/07/404682.htm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
> “One day, four persons visited us and said they want us to kill a businessman
> named ‘Mahmoud Ramadan’, they asked us to help them in planning the
> assassination because we had weapons and experience in this field.”
>
> Terrorist al-Abd said that they had a ‘Facebook’ page and they were listing
> posts on all of their operations, adding that the name of the page was ‘Abu
> Amara Battalion’.
>
> “After we killed Mahmoud, we were surprised that he was a brother of one of
> Istanbul Council’s members whose name is ‘Ahmad Ramadan’. Istanbul Council
> asked Ahmad to delete the post about the assassination from Abu Amara
> Battalion page because they had other plan.”
>
> “At that time we had an account in Turkey opened and funded by two persons,
> Hassan Hashem Abu Omar and Yassin Abu Ahmad who had connections with Turkey. I
> told them that if they want to delete the post from the page, they must
> support the battalion financially through our account in Turkey and they
> agreed. We sent them the account number and deleted the post. After two hours,
> the Council issued a statement in which Ahmad Ramadan accused the Syrian
> security forces of killing his brother Mahmoud, but they didn’t send us any
> money.”
>
> He added that he brought two pump-action shotguns to a person named ‘Jihad
> Albo Assi’, adding that he turned to be a member of al-Qaeda.
>
> “I was told that they are preparing for something big in Aleppo, they gave me
> a list of materials to bring, they told me these materials are the recipe used
> by al-Qaeda to make explosives.”
>
> “They had a leader in each town in Aleppo Countryside, they called the leader
> ‘The Hajji’ –religious rank-, the Hajji of Mari’a town was a jihadist in
> Afghanistan, The Hajji of Indan city ‘Abdul-Aziz Salama’ was the general
> leader of the countryside, they told me that he takes direct orders from
> al-Qaeda.” He concluded.
**********************************************************************************************************
Questions should always be asked about the independence, integrity of
journalists.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/02/24/rundle-colvin-was-brave-in-syria-but-her-cause-is-unjust/?wpmp_switcher=mobile
RUNDLE: COLVIN WAS BRAVE IN SYRIA, BUT HER CAUSE IS UNJUST
by Guy Rundle
An excerpt from this article:
> Thus the whole cause is neatly contained within the Western drama of
> salvation, and the Syrians themselves become a backdrop in their own
> country — as in the last photo of her that has now become iconic, and a more
> telling picture than many war correspondents would want to admit to. Did her
> death add to our understanding? Or become part of the drama in ways which make
> clear-sighted action less possible?
>
> The question can be widened to one that is rarely asked, and that is abut not
> merely the personality, but the class basis of many such journalists.
> Overwhemingly drawn from a fairly privileged elite — especially in
> Britain — or ex-forces personnel, their default setting seems to be a cynicism
> about organisational politics of any type, and a celebration of individual
> “conscience”, tied in with eye-witness, and often uncontextualised, accounts
> of suffering. For many such correspondents, trying to understand the meaning
> of a conflict is what Colvin disparagingly called the “desk job”, a hint of
> the wilful anti-intellectualism that often pervades war reporting (making all
> the more visible the quality of the work of those — such as *Robert Fisk and
> John Pilger — who do put in the desk time).
*Editor’s note: Robert Fisk is often seen in the West as ‘the expert’ on the
Middle East, much as Somerset Maugham was seen as the expert on the Orient 70 or
80 years ago (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham) Really, Robert
Fisk is one of millions of ‘doors’ to a better understanding of the ME; he
should not be given the position of gatekeeper to that understanding.
Robert Fisk is perhaps influenced in his views on Syria by someone he has
presented as a personal friend, Walid Jumblatt, who is notoriously fickle in his
political allegiances. At the moment, Jumblatt may be more anti-Syrian than
pro. As for tomorrow, it is impossible to predict.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/mideast-notebook/walid-jumblatts-epiphany/article1524390/
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fiskrsquos-world-not-even-a-civil-war-could-stop-the-old-bookbinder-of-beirut-1786167.html
See: Walid Jumblatt, leader of the Lebanese Druze and my favourite nihilist
(and dinner host) ….
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March 1, 2012
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A PHOTO GALLERY: WOMEN AND GIRLS OF DAMASCUS
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