Learning To Fly

I still don't think a No Fly Zone will help in Syria, but many Syrians disagree.

Alon Ben-Meir of New York University's Center for Global Affairs argued in a recent Turkish press interview that direct action was becoming both unavoidable and desirable, and that the best way forward was a no-fly zone. He said:

"Now that Turkey is asking for this, if Nato goes along with it and the United States goes along with it, that's a change in attitude. Turkey did not have the legal legitimacy to intervene. But now they also realise that everybody is intervening.
"Iran is intervening by sending military advisors. Russia is intervening by sending weapons on a regular basis. Saudi Arabia and Qatar are intervening by sending money and some weapons. And the United States is intervening by sending communications gear and some weapons and money indirectly. So everyone is interfering, but they talk about no interference, which is cynical …"
"The Assad regime is finished. When it might happen depends on what other powers do and when they do it. If after the [US presidential] election the United States along with Turkey, in particular these two countries, decide that the time has come, then they will be able to accelerate his demise."
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/…/oct/04/syria-turkey-great-powers]

Syria's Revolution: bloodied but unbowed

Very good piece explaining where the Syrian revolution is at.

Children Of The Revolution

"Syrians are standing strong. When we started this revolution we said we’d finish it by ourselves. Now 32,000 have died and millions have been displaced inside and outside the country. So there are no more shades of grey.People have picked a side and many have picked the revolution—and that is our most powerful weapon."
[http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=29723]

Up In Smoke

 The British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported four bomb attacks - three in the Saadallah al-Jabri Square and a fourth at the nearby Chamber of Commerce, a few blocks to the south-east. Most of the dead and wounded were soldiers from an officers club and a security branch that were targeted.

[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/A4RM5InCcAAmBed.jpg]

If You're Part Of A Crew 

Foreign interventions are a lot like this.
"Your murderers come with smiles, they come as your friends, the people who've cared for you all of your life. And they always seem to come at a time that you're at your weakest and most in need of their help."

The Manbij Experiment: Rebels Make a Go of Governing in Liberated City

 "In the space of a week, we see more Che Guevara T-shirts (two) than al-Qaida flags (one). Even the handful of hardened Islamists talk about elections.

 Manbij has made the most progress among Syrian cities, but it isn't an exception. In the embattled major city Aleppo, the leaders of the largest units consisting of more than 4,000 troops have come together to form a military council."

As civil war rages across Syria, Assad's own community may pose new challenge for regime

"Some commentators say a local dispute may mark the beginning of a new front against the president – one launched by his own Alawite brethren."

Tony Cliff
The struggle in the Middle East

"One of the shabbiest roles in the situation in the Middle East has been played by the Communist Parties. Instead of keeping independent from the Bonapartist regimes of Nasser, the Ba’ath and previously of Qasim, they completely capitulated to them."

John Baxter

Is the UN an alternative to ‘humanitarian imperialism’?

"Given the scale of the slaughter it is not surprising that many cling to the hope that there is some institution which can stand above the conflicts and act to end them. For them, attacking the UN can seem to be the ultimate nihilism – if not the UN, then who will save us? Yet the 20th century also offers us the real alternative. In every decade of this century workers have made revolutions which have overturned their states and, even if only temporarily, held out the prospect of a world where humanity can live in peace without exploitation."

American influence on the Middle East is

past its peak – someone should tell them

"There is something deceptive about David Cameron implying that Russia and China are responsible for the slaughter of Syrian children."
Cameron may be deceptive about a lot of things*, but the liar here is Patrick Cockburn.
There might be some value in his analysis, but after reading the above I don't care.

*His speech at the UN was weaselly, saying the UN to blame, but especially some countries, was to claim he was a righteous man who would save the situation if only it wasn't for the Russians and Chinese, and has a slimy 'I say us, but I mean you' structure. But he isn't denying the murder of Syrian children.