Syria #4

[url=http://www.antiimperialista.org/kandil_syria]Foreign intervention destroys the revolution[/url]

Abdel-Halim Qandil wrote:

[b]Calling for a foreign intervention serves the Assad regime, betrays the revolutionary cause, and threatens Syria with disintegration.[/b] What is required is not to destroy Syria, but to destroy the regime and let Syria rise from the ashes, according to the wish of her people, who long for a democratic Arabic homeland.

Is the crisis in Syria heading down the path of the Libyan scenario? And to what extent are the regime's stubbornness and bloodiness preparing to open the door to a foreign armed intervention, which would transform the Syrian revolution into a tragedy that would threaten the very survival of the Syrian state?

The danger is present, though not very likely, as Syria lacks petrol - the booty that attracted Western greed as in the case of Libya, and Iraq before.

America and its satellites act in a very pragmatic way. They are not concerned about tens of thousands of people injured or martyred. They may even prefer the situation as it is: the Arab Syrian army worn out in a bloody war against the people. And the Syrian regime challenged and undermined, but not overthrown, because the West does not know exactly where Syria would be going after Bashar. They don't trust Burhan Ghalioun's pledges of peace with Israel, which explains why Washington and other Western regimes hesitate to officially recognise Ghalioun's opposition Syrian National Council.

That Council on one hand includes the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the main sectors of the opposition, but on the other hand most of its other members have dubious identities and backgrounds, are close to intelligence circles - including the Syrian secret services - or simply opportunists, seekers of illegitimate fortunes as money is flowing in from the Gulf states. There are a few others who stand for the Damascus Declaration and are not tempted to collaborate with Washington. And then there is a constant appearance and disappearance of Syrian groups who claim to represent the revolution and sell Syrian blood like a merchant who sells wares who are not his own, but eagerly accepts cash advances.

[b]These are the people who keep begging for a foreign military intervention, for establishing and securing no-fly zones, pretending to protect civilians and to stop the bloodshed,[/b] though in fact any foreign military intervention means more bloodshed and the destruction of Syria, of the land and the people, and a transformation of the revolution into an open civil war.

89% Vote in Favor of New Syrian Constitution

http://rt.com/news/syria-referendum-constitution-results-307/

"Syria's Interior Minister has announced that 89 per cent of those who took part in the referendum have voted in favor of a new constitution. The new law puts an end to five decades of one party rule among other reforms put forward by President Assad.."

EU Hits Syria With Toughest-Yet Sanctions (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/eu-recognizes-syrian-national-council-321/

"The EU has recognized the Syrian National Council, one of the main opposition groups, as a legitimate representative of the Syrian people. The decision came as the EU ministers met in Brussels to slap Syria with its toughest sanctions yet..."

'Al Assad Government Opens Democratic Political Process (and vid)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/228925.html

"...First of all, outside entities have no business interfering in a referendum on a constitution in any country. I think it's just a sample of the strong interventionist policies that the US has been carrying out for a good part of the 20th century and the beginning of this century. Outside parties that are against the referendum on a new constitution have been defined by your report - we're talking about the Persian Gulf monarchies, most of which have no constitutions and the whole process of voting does not exist.

And the US, for example, not approving or not accepting the concept of a referendum on a constitution - that contradicts the very foundations on which the US was created.."

[url=http://www.eurasiareview.com/04022012-cynicism-around-syria-oped/]Israel doesn't want the Assad regime to be toppled[/url]

Vijay Prashad, on February 4, wrote:

Writing in the Israeli paper Haaretz, Zvi Bar’el writes that [b]Washington and Tel Aviv do not wish the precipitous departure of al-Assad. “He is seen as a safety valve[/b] against a violent attack by Hezbollah on Israel or against its physical takeover of Lebanon. He has also made known his disagreements with Iran following the controversial visit of Ahmadinejad to Lebanon [in 2010].” One member of the Israeli cabinet told the Washington Post, “We know Assad. We knew his father. Of course, we’d love to have a democratic Syria as our neighbor. But do I think that’s going to happen? No.”

The US and Israel are currently hiding behind the Russians (and to some extent the Chinese) in the UN Security Council. None of them have any interest in the removal of al-Assad from power. [b]To their minds, Syria should not have a Libyan solution but a Yemeni one: the violence will simmer, the opposition will tire, then al-Assad will be allowed to create a successor in name only who will retain the lineaments of the regime intact but will provide a new face for Syria.[/b] Just as the “new” Yemen cannot be allowed to be a threat to Saudi Arabia, the “new” Syria cannot be allowed to upset the Israeli applecart.

[url=http://alciaduh.blogspot.com/][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v69...

[url=http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29524][size=14]Syria: Clinton Admits US On Same Side As Al Qaeda To Destabilise Assad Government[/size][/url]

globalresearch.ca wrote:

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has acknowledged that Al Qaeda and other organizations on the US "terror list" are supporting the Syrian opposition.

Clinton said: "We have a very dangerous set of actors in the region, al-Qaida [sic], Hamas, and those who are on our terrorist list, to be sure, supporting - claiming to support the opposition [in Syria]." [1] (Click here to watch video)

Yet at the same time, in the above BBC interview the US Secretary of State repeats the threadbare Western claim that the situation in Syria is one of a defenceless population coming under "relentless attack" from Syrian government forces.

There is ample evidence that teams of snipers who have been killing civilians over the past year in Syria belong to the terrorist formations to which Clinton is referring to.

Never forget.

Meanwhile: The 4th Armoured Division commanded by Maher al-Assad, the president's younger brother is poised to crush the rebelion in Baba Amro in Homs.

Quote:

The 4th Armoured Division commanded by Maher al-Assad, the president's younger brother, has a reputation for ruthlessness burnished during the past year of revolt and forged in history.

Drawn from the Alawite sect to which the Assads belong, it is hated by many in the Sunni majority who recall the role its predecessor units played in massacring many thousands of Sunni Islamists at Hama in 1982 on the orders of Assad's father Hafez.

 

Hopefully Assad can squash the rebellion before NATO gets its excuse to move. This should be a rather quick one sided fight..

howeird beale wrote:

Exactly. A pig is a pig.

Hoodeet (JW)

 

Disagreement:

1) Please stop dissing pigs.

2) Don't even compare that slimeball servant of US corporate interests -him of the narco warlord brother- with the reluctant Assad, who is trying to hold together the last secular state where ethnic war has not yet taken root.  

 

Oh yes. Remind us again, M. Sarkozy, about how you have aided the thousands of Christians displaced by the war in Iraq.  That should be a helpful indication of what you'll do for Syria's Christian minority -- not to mention the Druze and the Allawites.

 

Bec.De.Corbin wrote:

Meanwhile: The 4th Armoured Division commanded by Maher al-Assad, the president's younger brother is poised to crush the rebelion in Baba Amro in Homs.

Quote:

The 4th Armoured Division commanded by Maher al-Assad, the president's younger brother, has a reputation for ruthlessness burnished during the past year of revolt and forged in history.

Drawn from the Alawite sect to which the Assads belong, it is hated by many in the Sunni majority who recall the role its predecessor units played in massacring many thousands of Sunni Islamists at Hama in 1982 on the orders of Assad's father Hafez.

 

Hopefully Assad can squash the rebellion before NATO gets its excuse to move. This should be a rather quick one sided fight..

[size=12]I wouldn't worry too much about the Syrian oppo or Al-Qa'eda in Homs. They must know what they are in to by now. And surely they are being supplied with guns and anti-tank weapons from someone. Okay, that's a source for exclusive membership and rumored to be linked to Israeli intel, so whatever. I mean, they must be rx'ing aid from someone.
I don't believe the CIA or Brits would leave them hung out to dry. And besides, any civilian casualties can be pinned on Assad in making a case for blitzkrieg and marching soldiers into Syria we can be sure.[/size]

Hoodeet wrote:

Was that  tongue-in-cheek,  B de C?

 

No I'm dead serious; the sooner this rebellion is over (crushed) the better. The rebels won't be able to stop that tank division once it starts its assault. I hope the UN can't move fast enough to give NATO its excuse referendum to bomb that unit before it completes its attack to retake those cites.

As for the French thing I haven't seen anything posted on it from PressTV by NDPP so I really don't believe it.

@Fidel: I don't care what weapons the rebels get from whom... unless it's full out air power and modern heavy equipment like tanks the (unpopular) rebels can't hold off an all out assault from an elite division that has all its support units in place. If the story about the 4th Tank Division is true this should end soon.

 

Hamas Aligns Itself With US Imperialism Against Syria, Iran

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/mar2012/hama-m01.shtml

"...the Palestine Islamist movement has found new patrons among the most reactionary regimes of the Middle East.."

Bec.De.Corbin wrote:

@Fidel: I don't care what weapons the rebels get from whom... unless it's full out air power and modern heavy equipment like tanks the (unpopular) rebels can't hold off an all out assault from an elite division that has all its support units in place. If the story about the 4th Tank Division is true this should end soon.

 

But these are U.S. and British trained and armed Al-Qaeda and affiliated right wing groups. Their Qaeda allies have anti-tank weapons, rpg's, guns and ammo. Surely they can take out a few more soldiers, civilians, bridges, dams, power stations, and the like? These slackers are sounding like Qaeda's wing in Libya calling for the luftwaffe to bail them now they are in deep. Where is their sense of superiority and sticktuitiveness? I'm sure SAS and CIA'da will come up with something. Syrians will rise up again we can be sure. As Hillary says, Assad is done.

Syria: One Country, Two Stories  - by William Bowles

http://williambowles.info/2012/03/03/syria-one-country-two-stories-by-wi...

"The battle that has been raging in the southern Syrian city of Homs and that now seems to have been resolved with a 'win' for the government, though it would seem at a terrible cost in lives, is now the subject of a follow-up by the MSM, how to care for the survivors, and what exactly went on in Homs? This is how the BBC reported it:"

see also 'Syria newslinks' at page bottom

Syria and 'Conspiracy Theories' : It Is a Conspiracy  -  by Felicity Arbuthnot

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29596

"...There will be no peace. At any given moment for the rest of our lifetimes, there will be multiple conflicts in mutating forms around the globe. Violent conflict will dominate the headlines...The de facto role of the US armed forces will be to keep the world safe for our economy and open to our cultural assault. To these ends, we will do a fair amount of killing..."

Report: 13 French Officers Captured in Syria

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4198622.html

"Lebanese media says Western troops already present in embattled Homs,,,The Daily Star's source further claimed that Paris and Damascus are in the midst of negotiations to free the soldiers..the French Foreign Ministry dismissed the report insisting that 'not a single French soldier is on Syrian soil.."

McCain Calls for Airstrikes in Syria

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/05/mccain-calls-for-airstrikes-in-syria/

"To be clear: This will require the United States to suppress enemy air defenses in at least part of the country,' McCain said. 'The ultimate goal of airstrikes should be to establish and defend safe havens in Syria, especially in the north in which opposition forces can organize and plan their political and military activities against Assad.."

Canada Closes Embassy in Syria (and vid)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/03/05/pol-baird-foreign.html

"...International consensus is that this regime has lost all legitimacy and the only course of action  is for Assad to leave and leave now,' Baird said at a press conference in Ottawa. NDP foreign affairs critic Helene Laverdiere, a former diplomat, said the government has legitimate concerns for the safety of Canadian personnel in Damascus.

'We have been asking the government for weeks now to recall the Canadian ambassador. We still think it would have been a good move. It would have sent a statement to the Assad regime to recall the ambassador and could have been done weeks ago while the embassy could have still been working on the ground,' she said."

Canada Targets Syrian Central Bank in New Sanctions

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/03/05/canada-targets-syrian-central-bank...

"Canada imposed Monday a fresh round of sanctions on Syria targeting the central bank and seven cabinet ministers in a bid to halt President Bashar al Assad's deadly crackdown on dissent. THe Canadian embassy in Damascus and a consulate were also shuttered, and Canadian diplomats left the country, the foreign ministry said.

'The continuing appalling violence perpetrated by the Assad regime on the people of Syria compels us to again tighten the vice on those responsible, Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement."

Anti-Syria Bids Reprisal For Anti-War Front (and vid)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230208.html

Panel discussion with Lizzie Phelan, Omar Nashabe and Jeff Cohen

 

Syria: Game Over For Western Propaganda - by Tony Cartalucci

http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2012/03/syria-game-over-for-western-pr...

"Why should [Canada,] the US, UK, EU or the West's stable of Arab proxy-regimes be allowed to arm Syrian rebels admittedly carrying out their own horrific atrocities? Clearly Syria's opposition have turned out, just as they have in Libya, to be craven, murderous and ultimately deceitful extremists - making any further contact with them by the West a direct violation of their own national and international laws.

If it is possible for the international community to justify a foreign military doing what was done to Sirte, Libya in a crowded population center with absolute impunity, how can a sovereign nation seeking to restore order in its own city be criticized let alone sanctioned economically or militarily?

The West has lost all moral authority - authority that only billions of dollars in manipulative media and military supremacy can buy - but is easily lost as the facade begins to crumble. Most importantly, how long are people going to allow themselves to be lied to..?"

'Mr Speaker, we need more than just promises and rhetoric. Will the government ensure that the new sanctions against Syria will prevent its friends from doing business as usual when millions of civilians are being killed?' Helen Laverdiere, NDP Nov.21, 2011

Hoodeet wrote:

And might I ask whom this well-informed luminary Laverdiere is supporting for the leadership??  

She and her buddy Dewar obviously went to the same school. This is the kind of crap that passes for talent in the NDP.

Quote:

And where she comes up with such brilliant political analysis?

Hilary Clinton, only she multipies Clinton's civilian casualties by 1,000 because she's "progressive".

I find Hilary more reasonable and dispassionate when it comes to lying and preparing to justify invasion and murder, than Laverdière. Just a personal preference.

Splintered Syria: Fear of Sectarian Violence (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/syria-sectarian-violence-fear-021/

"Our country, before the crisis [was] developing, now - we area all losing. Jesus said any kingdom that split will die fast. These people [foreign backed rebels] are receiving money and listening to other orders. They want to ruin this country.'..."

UN Syria Draft" US Attempts To Get Russia and China Aboard

http://www.rt.com/news/un-draft-us-syria-025/

"The US is pushing for a new UN resolution to resolve the Syrian crisis. The reaction from the Russian envoy to the UN is unclear, but Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov noted the US draft needs to be further worked out, calling it a 'slightly renewed version of the previous document,' vetoed by Russia and China.

Meanwhile the Obama administration will reportedly make a shift towards a more aggressive policy toward the Assad regime. Last week a group of senior White House officials met to finalize a package for aiding the Syrian opposition, both internal and external, according to a Foreign Policy report.

'These moves are going to invest the US in a much deeper sense with the opposition,' one administration official told the magazine. 'US policy is now aligned with enabling the opposition to overthrow the Assad regime. This codifies a significant change in our Syrian policy.'..."

That seemed reasonably balance except for one point - the polling. I don't think we can take those results as meaning much given the situation. If someone calls you up in Syria and asks if you support the government, chances are you're going to think about saying yes for your own good.

Fidel wrote:

[ Ayman al Zawahiri, likely ordered Qaeda massacres on Homs from his U.S-occupied Qaeda sanctuary in Iraq.

 

Speaking of baloney, seeing how there was artillery and tank fire involved where did they get the artillery and tanks to do that from? Not to mention how could they set up and not get attacked by the Syrian army? Tanks and artillery have a huge operational foot print... they could not possibly hide units like that from the Syrians in Syria.

Syrian Rebels Dismiss UN Dialogue (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/opposition-syria-assad-annan-163/

"A joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria has called on both the opposition and government forces to halt fighting and push for political dialogue, a suggestion that has incited the ire of rebels in the city of Homs..

 

Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Jumps Ship (and vid)

http://rt.com/news/minister-defection-assad-syria-111/

"Syria's deputy oil minister has announced his defection to the opposition from the Assad regime. Meanwhile Russia has slammed Libya for reports of Syrian rebels being trained in the nearby nation. An activist known as Rami, who filmed and posted the video, told news agency AFP Beirut that the opposition had helped orchestrate deputy minister Hussameddin's resignation from government..."

 

Four More Syrian Generals Defect to Rebels

http://rt.com/news/line/2012-03-09/#id27669

"Four brigadier-generals have defected from the Syrian Army and joined the rebels, fighting the regime of President Bashar al Assad, Reuters reports citing Lieutenant Khalid al Hamoud, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army. The latest defections bring the number of high ranking officers who have deserted to the opposition to seven.

'We have six brigadier-generals who are now in Turkey and another who has stayed to lead some battalions inside Syria,' Hamoud said. 'We plan to form an advisory council to absorb these and other high-ranking defections and this group will plan operations for the FSA."

Fidel wrote:

Financial Times wrote:

Recent bombings and attacks against the Syrian regime in the country's main cities appear to be the work of an al-Qaeda affiliate that may have infiltrated the opposition, according to senior US intelligence officials.

The bombings in Aleppo last week and other attacks on Syrian government and intelligence targets in Damascus bear "all the earmarks of an al-Qaeda-like attack", said James Clapper, director of national intelligence.

That's James the Clapper, your Director of National Intel. If anyone knows what Uncle Sam's Al-Qa'eda allies have been up to in "the Middle East", that guy should be high on your list of wise guys.

 

Whatever... you still haven't been able to explain the artillery and tanks firing into the city, or are you saying that didn't happen?

Tanks and artillery fired into the neighbourhood of Homs that had been taken over by armed rebels who did not want to negotiate but chose to shootat the army instead.  The blood of all the civilians who were trapped in Bab al Amar is on the heads of those thugs, who are of the same ilk as the Cyrenaicans who've been torturing and massacring in Libya (and perhaps are some of the same people).

 

The armed thugs coopted the peaceful demonstrations from the get-go.  The overreaction of a trigger-happy army cannot be forgiven, but it is understandable.    The escalation by the armed opposition is showing all the hallmarks of the kind of urban terrorism that's been plaguing Iraq,  Afghanistan and years ago, Algeria, Egypt and Lebanon.  I am happy to call it terrorism because it is a tactic that targets armed enemies through car bombs and IEDs, which inflict harm on non-combatants and are designed to instill fear in the  general population (and please note that I do not call combatants terrorists if they engage in targetted assassination of armed enemies, kidnapping, or firefights). 

 

At this point it's no longer relevant, imho, whether the terrorist attacks are  in fact Al Qaeda --internationalists from other countries--  or AlCIAda --to advance justification for foreign intervention--

As for the defections of the high-ranking officers, my conspiracy radar senses that it could conceivably be a brilliant move by the regime (at least by elements of the military) to co-opt the rebellion, pulling something between a Libya and an Egypt.  The "free Syrian army"  will now have experienced military leaders who've brought their prestige to the game, and the top brass live to rule another day.    Taking bets right now (4:30pm Eastern, March 9, 2012).

 

 

 

 

 

'Arab Spring' is Arab Socialism's Fall  -  by Wayne Madsen

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/03/07/arab-spring-is-arab-soc...

"...the Obama team of 'democracy engineers' set out to implement policies that would eliminate the Middle East's remaining pan-Arab socialist regimes. Now history is repeating itself in Syria..."