Syria 3
Most Syrians back President Assad, but you'd never know from western media
Assad's popularity, Arab League observers, US military involvement: all distorted in the west's propaganda war
Suppose a respectable opinion poll found that most Syrians are in favour of Bashar al-Assad remaining as president, would that not be major news? Especially as the finding would go against the dominant narrative about the Syrian crisis, and the media considers the unexpected more newsworthy than the obvious.Alas, not in every case. When coverage of an unfolding drama ceases to be fair and turns into a propaganda weapon, inconvenient facts get suppressed. So it is with the results of a recent YouGov Siraj poll on Syria commissioned by The Doha Debates, funded by the Qatar Foundation. Qatar's royal family has taken one of the most hawkish lines against Assad - the emir has just called for Arab troops to intervene - so it was good that The Doha Debates published the poll on its website. The pity is that it was ignored by almost all media outlets in every western country whose government has called for Assad to go. ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/24/ian-black-syria-q-a
I think Ian Black gives a pretty fair report here with an indication of the complexities, and the real challenges of producing straightforward answers, even for an old Syria hand like himself.
Black is surely a master of exaggeration and hyperbole himself. It was a U.S.-backed KLA and Qaeda friendlies who attacked government forces in the former Yugoslavia.
It was LIFG, a terrorist organization the U.K. said before June 2011 was affiliated with Al-Qaeda, that started an armed insurrection in Gadaffi's Libya and with plenty of help from the CIA and NATO.
And it is NATO's Al-Qaeda commander in Tripoli heading the "Free Syrian Army" today.
The US-Al Qaeda Alliance: Bosnia, Kosovo and Now Libya. Washington's On-Going Collusion with Terrorists Peter Dale Scott, former Canadian diplomat
Clinton-Approved Iranian Arms Transfers Help Turn Bosnia into Militant Islamic Base
http://rpc.senate.gov/releases/1997/iran.htm
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which was supported by NATO, had developed extensive ties to the Islamic terror network
http://rpc.senate.gov/releases/1998/kosovo.htm
Charade they are.
The Truth Behind the Coming 'Regime Change' in Syria - by Shamus Cooke
http://www.countercurrents.org/cooke250112.htm
"...The Syrian government opposition bloc inside Syria, the National Coordination Committee, opposed foreign military intervention. A leader of the NCC is Hassan Abdul Azim, who wisely states:
'We refuse on principle, any type of foregin military intervention because it threatens the freedom of our country.."
Gulf States to Arm Syrian Opposition? (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/arming-syria-rebels-saudi-913
"...Gulf states' opponents of the regime in Syria, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have reportedly come to an agreement to offer financial aid to Syria's flagging opposition movement for the purchase of much needed arms. A secret meeting has been conducted between opposition leaders and Saudi and Qatari officers to discuss funding for the movement's dwindling weapons supply.
Dr. Ibrahim Alloush, a professor at Zautouneh University in Jordan has told RT that the arming and funding of the Syrian opposition comes mainly from the Arab Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and from Turkey and NATO...
'It is obvious that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar are harboring an agenda of overthrowing the Syrian regime because it opposes Western political, military and cultural intervention in the region,' he said.
Dr. Alloush says that the point of the operation is to implode Syria socially so that there will not be any 'central government that is able to fend off and protect the sovereignty of the country.
This is basically a replica of what took place in Libya with only one exception - that Russia has so far prevented NATO from having its way of having no-fly zones, buffer zones and all kinds of zones that infringe on the sovereignty of Syria,' Alloush said.
(see interview)
Free Syrian Army 'captures Iranian soldiers'
Syria: Are Captured Iranians Military Men or Engineers?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2105510,00.html
"...Is this proof of Iran sending military reinforcements to prop up its main Arab ally? Or could something else be happening there? On December 21, Syria state media reported that eight foreign engineers including five Iranians were abducted 'by terrorists' as they traveled on a company bus to their place of work, the Jandar power plant on the outskirts of Homs.
The men in the video bear a resemblance to the five engineers abducted in December. Their names also appear to match..."
'Assad Will Die Like Gaddafi' - Syrian Opposition
http://rt.com/news/syrian-opposition-warns-assad-145/
"A leading member of the Syrian opposition has threatened President Assad, his British wife and three children with a bloody Gaddafi-esque end. Meanwhile, the West continues to push for a resolution to help the Syrian opposition oust Assad.
'We came, we say, he died,' joked Hillary Clinton after Gaddafi's death. It now looks very much as if the scenario is repeating itself, with Clinton saying the US will throw its weight behind the Arab-backed condemnation of Assad's regime..."
Russia Opposes 'Libyan Scenario' in Syria (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/russia-assad-talks-opposition-083/
Assad Must Go, No Foreign Forces in Syria: UNSC (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/un-resolution-syria-russia-131/
"...But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday he has no intention of telling President Assad to step down. Moscow says the new UN resolution contains a threat to 'adopt further measures if Syria does not comply with the terms of the resolution,' opening the door to a Libyan-style foreign intervention in the conflict-torn Middle-Eastern country.
Reportedly, tensions are running so high that the US Secretary of State's spokeswoman has accused Russian FM Sergey Lavrov of being unavailable by phone when Hillary Clinton allegedly called to discuss the situation.."
Article translated from the original here: http://international.daralhayat.com/internationalarticle/355882, I think gives useful insight into the practical issues confronting progressive Syrians:
"Yassin Al-Haj Saleh just published this article in Al-Hayat about militarism, violence, and the revolution . Given that it falls right in our discussion, I have spent sometime to translate it to English using machine translation as a start and then performing very heavy editing. I think it is a good article coming from an intellectual who is not only on the inside, but also on the run.
Yassin Haj Saleh - Regarding militarism and violence and revolution
Little can be gained from discussing the growing military dimension of the Syrian revolution without placing it in the context of the 320 days of unconstrained and rampant violence practiced by the regime in its attempt to quell the revolt from the outset. Not much can be gained either by discussing intellectual, political, and psychological shifts that have occurred and are occurring in the society and within the revolution's own environment throughout these bloody months. The outlines are known. The regime threw the army in to confront the foci of the Revolution and It killed many in the field who who refused to fire on their fellow citizens (Human Rights Watch report in December), leading some officers and soldiers to defect and out of these defections a loose umbrella was formed under the name «the Free Syrian Army FSA». The regime directed punitive and vengeful disciplinary campaigns akin to colonialist campaigns at cities and towns in and around Damascus, Homs, Hama, Idlib, and Deir Al-Zour , which resulted in civilians picking up arms here and there to face regime's forces, albeit the regime has already pushed civilians in the conflict since the beginning and on a large scale: the Shabbeeha.
These circumstances, which are known to all, imply an authentic military component of the revolution that can't be overlooked in the context of its intellectual or political planning considerations. This dimension is neither brought from the outside nor does it possess an ideological underpinning that may have preceded its emergence.
The emergence of this armed component does not undercut, today or since its beginning, the overarching peaceful character of the revolution. The peaceful nature of the revolution is rooted in its social composition, in the type of its demands, and in its primary protest tools (i.e., demonstrations), and not in any ideological preference or political tactics. It is now known that the juxtaposition of peaceful demonstrations flying banners and shouting chants and armed groups firing bullets does not say anything about what is happening in reality, but only covers the ignorance of those making such argument of the reality of what is happening with only figurative approximations.
In fact, it would not have been possible for the peaceful demonstrations to continue in most of their sites had it not been for the protection provided by the Free Syrian Army with both of its military and civilian component and had it not been for its relative deterrence of the striking arms of the regime.
Refusal to see this reality does not change it and hinders its understanding and more so the ability to influence it. And perseverance in reiterating argument against the arming of the revolution and against militarization without the slightest indication of a cessation of violence from the regime is akin to blaming the victims for their resistance to the aggressors. There are no nationalistic or humanitarian justifications for such an attitude.
There is no doubt that at abstract values level, peaceful resistance is preferable to armed resistance. However, we are not in a store shopping for this or that, but in macro-scale reality, which imposed on a substantial number of Syrians the need to defend themselves as they faced a regime whose precise composition is what breeds hatred and violence and not emergent exigencies, nor popular demands, as a massive Syrian minister had recently uttered.
What requires understanding and caution is that resorting to militarism can be associated, and today is actually becoming associated with anarchist and undisciplined practices. We can not deal with this reality with puritanical logic that refuses any armed resistance, or objects to the revolution itself under the pretext of the anarchist practices that may occur under its banners. This will not work as long as the regime persists in its own militarization. What could be useful is to work at the level of the revolution, not from outside or above, towards the direction of uniting the militant and civilians in a single concerted body and that the military component of the revolution be disciplined and directed by its general interest. This is not easy, and there is nothing that guarantees its accomplishment at the required level, but to continue singing about peaceful actions is a recipe that ensures it does not happen at all.
Notwithstanding the prospects for chaos, violence is formatively elitist and un-democratic, and expansively spread of its exercise, even if it is disciplined, may raise the threshold of identification with the revolution and weaken the participation of women and children and the elderly. Our choices, however, are not between militarization and the non-militarization, but between unchecked and undisciplined militarism, and that of a checked, and perhaps more disciplined militarization.
Furthermore, political change achieved by armed force may result in many social, political and security complexities, which is less favorable to democratic development than a peaceful transformation. But, again, our choices are not free, and the military component of the revolution is a byproduct of the intrinsic violence of the regime, not because of someone's will or decision.
The key point in all this debate is that there remains no room to restore the original innocence that predated blood, or to leisurely talk about facing the regime's violence with bare chests, especially when expressed by those who do not participate in the revolution, neither with their chests nor with their backs. What is needed instead of illusionary innocence are initiatives and work toward military, political, and moral discipline of force. We have a chaotic unchecked reality, and the intellectuals and politicians perform their duty when they work to make it rational and organized and not when they purify and distance themselves from it. This is weakness.
In fact, some of what is being said regarding militarism is driven by objection to the revolution itself and not by objection to the legitimacy of some of the practices under its banner. Revolution means the removal of the legitimacy of the regime and the denial of its national and public character, and, consequently, considering its violence a factional and unpatriotic, and the denial of any legitimacy and generality of any of its organs, which establishes the foundations for the new legitimate and popular, which is he revolution itself. While this does not confer an automatic legitimacy on all violence that may be exercised in its name or shadow, the only position that provides consistent objection to the uncontrolled violence is a position from within the revolution and with it, and not outside it or against it. Certainly, revolutionary violence is more legitimate than the violence of a regime murdering the people. It is a multiplier of legitimacy in that it is essentially forced and defensive even when it is offensive at the tactical level.
There is already a genuinely peaceful mood in the revolution that dislikes violence, even in self-defense. But the best defense of peaceful action is to participate in the revolution including on the ground, and to work hard to strengthen its civil nature. The worst defense is to sit on the sidelines and singing praise of the beauty of peaceful actions.
From the viewpoint of action, there is a need for legitimate public entity, that transcend the external embrace of the revolution's cause and the standing beside it towards engagement in the revolution and the intellectual, political, and organizational morphing in manners responsive to its evolution and growing complexity. Such a public body would have coordinated between the components of the revolution and led it to achieving its national objective. Alas, this is not available. But one of the causes of optimism in Syrian Revolution is the multiplicity of the centers of thought and initiative, which proceed without the guidance of anyone, and never stop working in order to discipline the militarization and to develop the civil and popular character of the revolution.
----
Yassin Haj Saleh
Syrian dissident writer and
Dar Al Hayat
Sunday, 29/01/2012"
Thanks Merowe.
Al Jazeera Plans Regime Change in Syria (and vid)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/224328.html
"The Syrian ambassador to the UN has slammed the Qatari government and its state-run television, Al Jazeera, for their role in what he has called an anti-Syrian campaign of violence and interference.
Press TV talks with Conn Hallinan from the Foreign Policy in Focus, in Berkeley regarding the issue..."
What Is Really Going On In Syria: Insider Update by Boris Dolgov
Congratulations to the American CIA, NATO and their Al-CIA'duh terrorist friends in orchestrating yet another 'Arab Spring' "uprising", this time in Syria. Turkey and Lebanon are the staging countries for terrorist attacks inside Syria just as Costa Rica and Honduras were staging countries for the Condoms, I mean, "Contras" attacking innocent civilians, bombing and burning schools and hospitals in cold war era Nicaragua in the 1980s. The war on democracy continues.
Syrious Rebels (and vid)
http://rt.com/programs/crosstalk/syrious-questions-syria-assad/
"Will the international community resort to force in Syria? What if Assad stays in power for much longer than most experts predict? And will Syrians be able to topple the Assad government without foreign interference? Is Syria the next Libya or will it follow its own unique path? Cross talking with Marwa Daoudy, Maxmillian Forte and David Pollock."
Who Is Syrian Opposition? West Has No Idea (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/syria-opposition-foreign-intervention-321/
"...It is wrong to compare the Syrian opposition to their Libya counterparts, believes Mehdi Hasan, who is senior political editor with New Statesman magazine. The Syrian opposition is far less homogenous.
'There is this division between the external opposition figures, like the leader of the Syrian National Council, who is based in Paris, and those who are on the streets, who have said again and again to Western reporters, to human rights groups - 'We don't want military intervention.' ' We are opposed to both the Syrian president, the Assad regime, and we are opposed to Western intervention.
We saw what happened in Iraq,' the journalist says. Mehdi Hasan says the opposition Free Syrian Army, consisting of defectors from the Syrian military, may be deliberately exaggerating its might to justify a Western intervention.
Organizations like the FSA have cropped up in many other places where the West has intervened, Hasan tells RT.."
Syria Resolution Text Agreed - Russia's UN Envoy (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/syria-united-nations-russia-377/
"...Diplomats have reportedly agreed to drop demands for an arms embargo against Syria and the resignation of President Bashar al Assad.."
Syria Resolution Part of Proxy War Against Iran (and vid)
http://tv.globalresearch.ca/2012/02/syria-resolution-part-proxy-war-agai...
"Neil Clark, a journalist and contributor to the Guardian, believes that Russia's stance on Syria has much more international support than one may assume.."
Exposed: The Arab Agenda in Syria - by Pepe Escobar
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB04Ak01.html
"Here's a crash course on the 'democratic' machinations of the Arab League - rather the GCC League, as real power in this pan-Arab organization is wielded by two of the six Persian Gulf monarchies composing the Gulf Cooperation Council, also known as Gulf-Counter-Revolution CLub, Qatar and the House of Saud.
Essentially, the GCC created an Arab League group to monitor what's going on in Syria. The Syrian National Council - based in NATO member countries Turkey and France - enthusiastically supported it. It's telling that Syria's neighbor Lebanon did not. When over 160 monitors, after one month of enquiries, issued their report...surprise!
The report did not follow the official GCC line - which is that the 'evil' Bashar al Assad government is indiscriminately and unilaterally killing its own people, and so regime change is in order. So the report was either ignored (by Western corporate media) or mercilessly destroyed - by Arab media, virtually all of it financed by either the House of Saud or Qatar. It was not even discussed - because it was prevented by the GCC from being translated from Arabic into English.
Until it was leaked. Here it is in full...
The report is adamant. There was no organized, lethal repression by the Syrian government against peaceful protesters. Instead, the report points to shady armed gangs as responsible. So the current 'Arab-led drive to secure a peaceful end to the 10-month crackdown' in Syria at the UN, is no less than a crude regime-change drive. Usual suspects, Washington, London and Paris..."
Obama: UN Must Take Stand Against Assad's 'Relentless Brutality'
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/obama-un-must-take-stand-against...
"Obama in a written statement said the attack was an 'unspeakable assault' and urged Assad to step down from power. 'Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately,' he said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe countered that 'those who block the adoption of such a resolution are taking a grave historical responsibility' in light of the Homs bloodshed, which he called a 'crime against humanity.' The government denied the assault. It said the reparts are part of a 'hysterical campaign' of incitement by armed groups against Syria, meant to be exploited at the UN Security Council as it prepares to vote.."
Canada Slams UN 'Paralysis on Syria
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/02/04/pol-canada-syria-un-sec...
"Canada is 'disappointed in the extreme' by the UN Security Council's 'paralysis' after Russia and China vetoed a resolution calling for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down. 'Today's failure by the UN Security Council to effectively deal with the crisis in Syria is yet another free pass for the illegitimate Assad regime and those backing it,' Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement issued from Tel Aviv on Saturday.
The New Democrats also weighed in, calling on the federal government to 'immediately recall Canada's ambassador from Syria but also to apply diplomatic intervention.' 'We call on the Canadian government to immediately exert diplomatic pressure on China and particularly Russia in order to secure a UN resolution of the crisis,' said NDP foreign affairs critic Helene Lavardiere in a written statement."
ndp= no difference party regime-change again anyone?
Assad, this wonderful supporter of human rights, might as well pack his suitcase now, as he is on the way out, and probably sooner rather than later. It's just a matter of time. Looks like the power shift is continuing to occur in the Middle Esst. Iran, being on the wrong side of the fence, will probably be next.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/05/syria-brink-civil-war?INTCMP...
Coalition forces. Where have we heard that term before?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ibnfMMuChdANEyWBuOeV4T...
Lies and Double Standards: Crimes against Humanity: Syria or the US?
Our lapdog news media are publishing war propaganda which is a crime against humanity and punishable by international laws since Nuremberg. They should be strung-up by their nuts.
Adolf Hitler on the SS' covert terrorist attacks at Gleiwitz and falsely blamed on Polish nationals on the eve of launching blitzkrieg over Poland.
Canada, USA & the UK - quite the group we are allied with, eh!
William Hague accuses Russia and China as Syria heads toward 'civil war’ William Hague on Sunday accused Russia and China of “tipping Syria closer to civil war” as he urged the Arab League to take the lead in international efforts to force President Bashar al-Assad from power.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9062794/Willi...
UN Shenanigans on Syria - by Aisling Byrne
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NB03Ak03.html
'vicious, nasty business', 'aggressive pressure...by US diplomats', ferocious pressure on weaker non-permanent members,' the 'type of pressure that is very, very difficult for weaker countries to resist.'
That's how a former British diplomat at the UN, Carne Ross, described last September's UN showdown over the Palestinian Authority's bid for recognition for statehood. 'This is how power works', he said.
He might have added 'money', for the route to the UN Security Council in the case of Syria this week, has been one of bullying, bribery, unprecedented procedural violations at the Arab League, along with media manipulations and significant distortions of reality...
...Senior political sources have confirmed that last September Qatar 'bought' the president's position of the Arab League from the Palestinians in return for a donation of US$400 million in 'aid' to PA President Mahmoud Abbas...The presidency - along with its position as chair of the League's Syria committee - gave Qatar the opportunity to pursue Assad's fall.
Pro regime-change commentators argue that 'Syria looks more like Libya every day.' If it does, it is because the mainstream narrative on Syria is intentionally constructed to be so - in order to justify the call for external intervention. But this doesn't mean it is necessarily correct.
The extraordinary act of war by Qatar and Saudi Arabia agreeing to supply weapons to armed insurgents in a fellow Arab state in any other situation would be called state-sponsored terrorism, particularly given the evidence a majority of Syrians do support Assad..."
Syria Vote: US 'Appropriated' UN Power (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/syria-us-vote-russia-547/
"While officials in Washington tirelessly admonish Russia and China for blocking another resolution on Syria, Rick Rozoff of STOP NATO tells RT that the UN has been hijacked by the US and NATO.
'Were armed groups to invade the territory of the United States from Mexico or Canada, I can assure you Washington's response would not be limited to a domestic one,' Rozoff said.." (see interview)
'US, Arab Puppets Seek Syrian Civil War' (and vid)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/225023.html
"A prominent political analyst says the UN draft resolution on Syria had been initiated by the Israel-backed US and Arab countries seeking to instigate a civil war in the country.."
Clinton Calls for 'Democratic Forces' to Unite on Syria
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/02/05/syria.html
"US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling for 'friends of democratic Syria' to unite and rally against President Bashar Assad's regime. She said the 'friends of Syria' could work with the opposition groups to promote their goals. Such a group could be similar to the Contact Group on Libya, which oversaw international help for opponents of the last deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs said the failure of the UNSC to effectively respond to the crisis in the Middle Eastern country was 'yet another free pass for the illegitimate Assad regime and those backing it..."
Harper Rejects Calls to Pull Ambassador From Syria
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/harper-rejects-calls-to-pul...
"The official Opposition wants Canada's ambassador recalled from Syria, but the government says he will stay in the country to blast President Bashar Assad for his attacks on domestic dissenters.."
that's why they're called a 'loyal opposition'..
Heading for War in Syria - by Stephen Lendman
http://warisacrime.org/blog/4155
"Washington's longstanding policy is regime change in Iran and Syria. At issue is replacing independent regimes with client ones and securing unchallenged control and valued Middle East resources..."
Jeez, it's becoming harder to tell the difference between the NDP and the other two parties when it comes to Ottawa's long time second-hand foreign policy.I guess they realized that some large number of Canadian voters weren't even considering the marathon US-led military occupation of Afghanistan when voting last year. And I guess Canada is doomed to never having a permanent seat on the UN war council.
I suppose this might even open doors for the NDP to all those soft and disaffected Liberal and Tory voters who could switch to the NDP next election if deciding that old line party policies on domestic and other issues affecting Canadians in Canada need updating to reflect 21st century reality and modern democracy in general.
NDP looking good for first past the post victory in 2015. And it'll prolly be a phony majority, too. It's all so unfair.
US on UN Veto: 'Disgusting', 'Shameful', 'Deplorable', 'A Travesty'....Really?
A Quick Listing of Veto Use at the UN 1972-2011
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/4237/us-oil-un-veto_disgusting-sham...
"Including Resolutions against decades of atrocities and violations often supported and/or bankrolled by the US"
Assad Ready for Talks, 'Fully Commits' To End Violence - Lavrov (and vid)
http://rt.com/news/syria-lavrov-talks-damascus-657/
"Syria's President Assad has agreed to talks with the opposition and will follow the Arab League's roadmap, increasing the number of observers in the country, even in the most hostile areas in Syria. Russia's Foreign Ministry has announced that President Assad has agreed to send a government delegation to Moscow to meet with representatives of the opposition. The parties reaffirmed their readiness to use the Arab League's initiative to find 'a swift way out of the crisis.'
Damascus is to shortly announce a national referendum to draw up a new constitution. Officials expect the referendum to be set for March. After the referendum, the country will go to parliamentary polls, so far planned for May.
Moscow has called on the Arab League to expand its observing mission, dubbing it a 'crucial stabilizing factor for Syria'."
Imperialism or fascism? There is a third option.
Al Jazeera