Syrian opposition denounces ‘Iranian invasion,’ says world must act

' “There is a large number of Hezbollah fighters in an Aleppo military academy. They are in charge of training, recruitment and leading military operations in the province.”
The FSA leader urged the “Friends of Syria” group to send helicopters, anti-tanks arms instead of “food supplies and medicine” to the rebels. Meanwhile, he described European fighters backing rebels as an “individual case” of people who infiltrated Syrian borders.
Idriss, who also participated in the Istanbul conference on Saturday, said the FSA will fight Hezbollah, but, FSA will not transfer the conflict into Lebanon.'
There "are" a large number of Hezbollah fighters might be better. Other than that, another sign that it is the opposition that wants to confine the conflict to overthrowing Assad, the régime and its allies that wants to make it about a spreading poxy sectarian war.

The Battle for Aleppo

'I wonder what he makes of Jabhat al-Nusra’s phenomenal rise as the rebellion grinds on. “Ninety-nine percent of them will lay down their guns when the regime falls; they are good people and don’t like what their leaders are saying.” Like every other Syrian rebel I meet, however, Abdul Kareem knows they are the coming thing. “Say there are 5,000 Nusra here now,” he says, spitting out the words. “Next year, I promise you there will be 50,000.” '

What are your chances if you're a Syrian citizen now?

"You can join the revolt, which may involve you in the crimes of murder, kidnapping, pillage and rape."
Charles Glass slanders by maybe. It is the Geneva talks, which promise nothing but compromise with the torturers, which offer a continuation of the horrors.

Snipers of Aleppo

"What does he think when he sees his people having to run across the street from Assad's snipers?"
"You wish you could explode yourself. But we are going to hold fast. We plead to Allah, to elect him
as his men on Earth, and we will defend them until our last drop of blood."
How do we know who to arm in Syria? Maybe start with this guy. Probably much of the weaponry will
fall into the hands of Muslims, and that's not a bad thing. They're trying to free Syria from Assad, not
diverting Stinger missiles to Afghanistan or flying planes into the World Trade Centre.

Is #Qusayr Assad's 1stmajor victory in over a year?

Is #Qusayr Assad's 1st
major victory in over a year?

Reuters: "What Qusair also underlines is how a conflict that began as an Arab Spring uprising against dictatorship is turning into a proxy war pitting Iran against the West and its Arab allies - a contagious contest that has spread east and west of Syria.
Clay Claiborne: "Oh really? Where was the West in Qusayr? Where were the Arab allies?
True enough, Assad has brought in Hezbollah from Lebanon, as well as fighters from Iran and Iraq, but the Syria revolutionaries have no proxies even while the media imagines they do."

I read the following on a status update by a member of the SWP, and wondered what this "internationalist left" is saying about Syria. 
'The move by the internationalist left in Turkey to create a "peace square" inside the Gezi/Taksim protests is very significant and a tremendous tactic. 
Reports say many hundreds have joined it today, with its slogans against Kurdish national oppression, against sexism and homophobia, and for democracy. 
The choice of name is inspired. "Peace" draws on the legacy of the anti-Iraq war movement that the left was a key part of (and which in Turkey, for a variety of reasons, actually had direct political effect in keeping the state and its airbases out of the 2003 war).'

Doctor in Syria's Qusayr pleads for help

 "It is a serious catastrophe. The martyrs are more than 200. We have no time to bury them. Some stayed for days in the streets. The smell of death is all over the place, it is not human. Where is the world, where are the organisations who are claiming to help the people? We have lost everything."

Proxy war in Syria is part shadow boxing

 Alex Callinicos would appear not to know what he wants to say about Syria:

 "But there is a definite danger that geopolitics will overwhelm the revolution in Syria. This doesn’t mean that there is a serious prospect of a direct confrontation between Britain and France and Russia over Syria."

 I think he finally explains in what way he thinks geopolitics will overwhelm the revolution in the last line, but it is a throwaway comment rather than analysis.

 "But the proxy war that outside powers are trying to wage in Syria may precipitate a widening sectarian implosion."

 There are really boxes of weaponry arriving in Syria from Russia, the revolutionaries are much poorer armed. The West is vacillating, but he ought to be saying that they should be providing arms to the rebels, rather than vaguely saying that everything that is real is wrong.

Jumblat Slams Nasrallah's 'War against Takfiris': Syrian Regime Uses al-Nusra to Execute Attacks

The Druze leader reiterated his support to the “Syrian people's revolution against injustice, dictatorship and oppression,” but stressed his rejection to all calls that refuse to recognize other religious sects.
"(Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf) Qaradawi's call to expiate Allawites is completely unacceptable and contradicts with Islamic Sharia,” Jumblat declared.
"Such fatwas (Islamic edicts) generate hatred and establish long-term sectarian conflicts.”

The Preview Trailer For Not Anymore: A Story Of Revolution

"We can talk, and express our opinions about anything; and that's worth it."

Train Long-Suffering

Russia blocks UN ‘declaration of alarm’ on Syria’s Qusayr*
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It doesn't matter to the Russians, or their fans in the Stop The War movement, that thousands of civilians have no food and are being bombarded, because it is their ally Assad who is doing it.
The government may win this fight - though the longer it goes on, the more it looks like it has played every card in its hand - but it can never return the areas it controls to any sort of normality.

*[http://www.presstv.ir/…/russia-blocks-un-declaration-on-qu…/]

Review: Writing the Revolution -
The Voices from Tunis to Damascus

"Bashar al-Assad has proved to be as brutal as his father in the suppression of dissent. Every day there is more bloodshed and new horrors are witnessed; Dunia calls it the revolution of the mobile phone versus the bullet."