West tries to engineer a coup in Damascus

 Wednesday's Times front page - "West tries to engineer a coup in Damascus"

 Syrians need a revolution rather than a coup.

Samar Yazbek: "Syrians refuse to remain slaves to the Assad regime"

 "I can no longer talk about freedom of expression, or even allow myself to think about anything other than the mangled corpses of children being pulled out by their mothers’ hands from under the rubble of homes destroyed by Assad’s bombs."

 Robin Yassin-Kassab:

 "Fools can write all they like about compromise with the child-killers, peace conferences, negotiations and so on. half a minute inside Syria is long enough to show anyone with a brain stem that such talk is entirely and absurdly irrelevant."

'Take Your Portion': A Victim Speaks Out About Rape in Syria

 'During dark sessions over a period of 38 days, guards whipped her with a wire, strung her alternatively by her wrists and feet, and injected the crook of her elbow twice a day with a kind of drug that made her feel high, she says. The things Abdulrahman recalls the men saying as they allegedly raped her multiple times were so filthy she is loath to repeat them -- "it's too dirty and too low" -- although she remembers them saying, "Here is the freedom you wanted" (a phrase similar to ones other women have reported hearing while being raped in Syria). And she can summon up at least one face. And a couple of names.

 "We were all blindfolded and raped and we would not know who was raping us," she says, tearing up for the first time in our interview. Before being blindfolded, she could see what she calls the "boss" sit in front of them, teaching them "exactly what to do and say to us."

 "They were ordered to take this one, to take 'your portion,'" she says. "And they would take it."
The horrors she describes have positioned her to become the face of powerful women survivors in Syria. She says she has fought and killed; she also says she has done it for her country. She says she has endured torture and violation but that she is "capable of standing up against oppression." '

US and Taliban to open direct peace talks in Qatar

 'The US is to open direct peace talks with the Taliban, senior White House officials have announced.'


If they don't help the Syrian rebels now, they'll be chatting with Jabhat al-Nusra in a few years.

John McCain - US Must Give Heavy Weapons To Syria Rebels And Take Out Assad's Airforce

 'They are losing, and they're being massacred, and they are sustaining incredibly heavy casualties. It's terrible.The Free Syrian Army need weapons and heavy weapons, to counter tanks and aircraft. They need a no-fly zone. And they - Bashar Assad's air assets have to be taken out and neutralized. And we can do that without risking a single American airplane. We can do it by cratering the runways with cruise missiles, moving the Patriot missiles closer to the border, and protecting a safe zone.'

 Part 2 in People I Wouldn't Normally Credit With A Progressive Opinion. When I heard it mentioned that McCain was in favour of the use of cruise missiles I thought that sounded a very bad idea, it turns out he just wants them used to crater the runways of the government's airforce.

The case for arming Syrian rebels

 Marko Attila Hoare:

 'It is the west's failure militarily to support the Syrian National Coalition and its principal military counterpart, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), that is strengthening the hand of al-Qaida in Syria.'

  True.

 'The fixation of Johnson et al on Sunni Islamic extremism is blinding them to the far-greater Islamist menace facing Syria: the Shia Islamist extremism promoted by Iran and embodied in its proxy, Hezbollah.'
Very questionable. I've seen it suggested elsewhere that we should look on Hezbollah's support as political rather than religious, as Shia and Alawites are by no means the same thing. On Libya, I was thinking this morning that if the only significant blowback is one American consulate in Benghazi getting mullered, that's a price worth paying for the Libyan people's freedom from Gadaffi.

 'In the subsequent free elections in Libya, the liberals defeated the Islamists, dramatically disproving the Cassandras' claims that intervention amounted to support for al-Qaida.'

Imperialism, counterhegemonic blocs, and the Syrian revolution

 'To some extent, the “plague on both your houses” stance relies on evidence carefully sifted so as to put the rebels in the worst possible light. The most recent instance was the case of a fifteen-year-old boy being executed by jihadists for blasphemy. Before that there was Abu Sakkar, the fighter who took a bite out of a dead Baathist soldier’s heart. Whenever such violations of human rights take place, the entire revolutionary movement suffers collective punishment. By the same token, MIG or Scud missile attacks on working-class tenements in Aleppo or Damascus are considered normal activities for a government under attack.'

They chant "We swear we are coming (for you) Hassan Nasrallah

 'Aleppo (Salah Al Din): June 14, 2013 - Another Friday of protests across Syria. These brave men and women protest on the front line in Aleppo’s Salah Al Din neighborhood. Despite everything, they still come out to the streets to protest, as they had when this revolution first begun.'

 There are some graphic pictures on the site if anyone wants to know what state mass murder looks like.

Rouhani vows transparency on nuclear issue

 'Efforts to end continuing fighting in Syria and restore stability must rest with "the Syrian people." '

 Not that gung-ho.

I Don't Know What Took So Long

 'I feel hopeless and helpless. I don't know what took so long" for the U.S., Kholaki said. "Is that because we don't have oil in the region, or is it because Israel wants Assad in power?"

Israel, a close U.S. ally, has repeatedly expressed concerns that a change in regime in Syria could further harm Arab-Israeli relations and regional stability.'

Syria Bomb Kills At Least 10 Soldiers In Damascus

 'The Syrian pound plunged to a new low on Monday, apparently over news of the U.S. decision to arm the rebels, diving from 170 pounds a dollar to 210 in a single day.

 Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi rushed to calm nerves, saying the government has large reserves of foreign exchange and would put in place a package of economic measures to enhance the economy.

 The premier referred to the support of "friendly countries," including Iran, citing its willingness to finance Syrian imports and requirements of the industrial and agricultural production.
The governor of the central bank of Syria, Adib Mayaleh, told reporters that the bank would continue its policy of intervention to prop up the value of the pound.'

Note 2/4/15, the original link, which also started off with the headline, "Hezbollah Is Taking Prominent Role", also appears to have had a photo with this tagline, "Syrian rebels stand on top of a tank they took after storming the Iskan military base in Idlib province, northern Syria. After weeks of fighting the rebels captured tanks as well as other vehicles and artillery in the area."

Saudi Arabia ‘supplying missiles’ to Syria rebels

 'Saudi Arabia, a staunch opponent of President Bashar al-Assad since early in Syria's conflict, began supplying anti-aircraft missiles to rebels "on a small scale" about two months ago, a Gulf source said on Monday.'

 There were reports last year of Syrians getting beards in order to get weapons off the Saudis. There was an American General, Kimmet I think, on the BBC last night saying the Americans weren't worried about adding to the weaponry in the Middle East, as the region is awash with the stuff, and if extremist terrorists (Cameron's phrase) want to get hold of them they will. Douglas Alexander is worried that the weapons that people are fighting to get hold of in Afghanistan are the same anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons the Syrian rebels need.

 Russia is a bully. Of course they are going to threaten retaliation if their client is threatened. That's always the way when they want to stop a revolution.

Why Is Russia Supporting Syria?

 'I think Russia is going to regret this, Marten said. It's going to cost Russia a lot of its reputation, not primarily in the United States but in the rest of the Arab world as well.'

 From February last year.

Don't arm the Syrian maniacs

 Boris Johnson: "Don't arm the Syria maniacs."

 He can fucking talk.

'Israel, Hezbollah, Iran are working with Assad'

 'Despite previous media reports that last week's airstrikes in Syria were an Israeli initiative to aid rebel forces and stop Hezbollah from helping Assad attain destructive weapons, Saleh apparently told Zaman that these reports were false.

 “The opposition was going to take over arms, so Israel attacked. There is evidence pointing to this," he reportedly said.'

Syrian civil war: Sarah Palin says ‘let Allah sort it out’

 'The former governor of Alaska said both sides were slaughtering each other and shouting "Allah akbar".

 She continued: "Until we have a commander in chief who knows what he is doing… let Allah sort it out!" '

Three Syrian stories from Eye on Wales

 'When I returned I heard that the Assad regime had attacked that camp, with aircraft and shelling.

 (For the second trip to a school) we collected art materials for educational workshops. We used to go early in the morning to 7pm, trying to draw a smile on the children's faces.

 We asked them to draw whatever they think. They drew tanks and people fighting. Then we gave them a star or a heart or a butterfly - nice images - to change it.

 It is a platform to talk about their experience. They talk about how they lost their mother or father or how their brothers are still inside Syria.

 They all have stories about how they saw death in front of them.'

Hell Is Other Countries: Sarin In Syria, A New Man In Iran

 'Ah yes, the slippery slope argument, so beloved of — depending on your perspective — “cautious pragmatists” or “do-nothing weasels.” (There always seems to be a “quagmire” at the bottom of these slippery slopes, possibly because of all the runoff.)'

European Foreign Fighters in Syria

 'The Syrian government has – at various times and for different reasons – claimed that many fighters that are involved in the current conflict are foreigners. Our numbers do not support this assertion.

 Even when juxtaposing the most liberal estimate for the number of foreign fighters over the course of the entire conflict (5,500) with the most conservative estimate for the current size of rebel forces (60,000), foreigners would represent less than 10 per cent. The actual figure is likely to be lower.'

War Envoy: Tony Blair urges Syria intervention

 'There was some suggestion that both sides were using chemical weapons.'

 It's a lie. Lindsey German ignores the Russian arms, and suggests that any help to the rebels would be to rerun the Iraq war. She could at least be honest and say she prefers Assad to the rebels.

 1956, and Hungary is shooting up the agenda. The announcement by the Eisenhower government that it will arm sections of the opposition is guaranteed to escalate the war and to create tensions with its traditional Cold War rival Russia, which remains a close ally of the Kádár government. It is the duty of socialists to oppose this, while any action by the Russians should not be our concern in the West.

Assad Loses Tank In Deir Ezzor In Clashes With Free Syrian Army 17/12/12

 What the Free Syrian Army needs is anti-tank and aircraft missiles, which would stop the Syrian government strategy of pulverising liberated areas into dust. With them the war could be over in a relatively short time, so it is probably up to those fearing helping the rebels to say how such weapons will cause problems down the line, or how the Russians could up the ante. Nuking Aleppo probably isn't a worthwhile option.

Either Help the Sunnis Win in Syria, Or Risk a Global Sunni-Shiite Battle

 'It is apparent that Hezbollah’s presence and zeal for supporting Assad has been contingent on the fact that President Obama has been repeatedly sending the signal that he was not willing to back up America’s red lines and was not committed to do what was necessary to produce victory for the opposition and save Syrian lives.'

 Generally even more true of Russia, they are happy to be there while they get paid for their arms and lose zero troops, but they are never going to risk WW3 over somewhere not even in their near abroad.

Seventy-one Syrian army officers defect to Turkey

 'Seventy-one officers, including six generals, have defected from the Syrian army to Turkey, a Turkish official said on Saturday, the biggest single mass desertion of senior soldiers from President Bashar al-Assad's security forces in months.'

 Assad can't win. The longer the conflict is allowed to drag on, the more Syrians he will kill before he falls.

Syrians welcome U.S. help, but they want big guns

 "We hope that arming us results in us immediately resisting the assaults of the regime and Hezbollah militia on civilian areas," said Louai Mikdad, a Free Syrian Army spokesman based in Turkey. "Thousands of civilians might be killed due to the regime's use of their air force, ballistic missiles and chemical weapons."

Egypt Cuts Diplomatic Ties With Syria. Calls For A No-Fly Zone

 'Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi said he had cut all diplomatic ties with Damascus on Saturday and called for a no-fly zone over Syria, pitching the most populous Arab state firmly against Bashar al-Assad.

 Addressing a rally called by Sunni Muslim clerics in Cairo, Morsi said: "We decided today to entirely break off relations with Syria and with the current Syrian regime."

 He also warned Assad's allies in the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah to pull back from fighting in Syria.

 "We stand against Hezbollah in its aggression against the Syrian people," Morsi said.'

 But whatever he does will make them more determined to kill Syrians. Oh wait, they're doing that anyway.

What the Hell Should We Do About Syria? Robin Yassin-Kassab: Arm the Guerrillas

 Rim Turkmani - "It is one thing to take up arms to defend your self and your family while you are directly under attack, and completely another thing to advocate arming while you are sitting away from it all in Britain."
2 June 2012 at 15:46

 Richard Horton - "As a Brit, I know much less about this, so I just have a couple of questions: what is the alternative to taking up arms? Is it moral force, or will it be a foreign intervention that Syrians will have no control over? And if it OK to take up arms to defend yourself and your family while you are directly under attack; what's going to happen to the hundreds of thousands who will be rounded up and tortured at the very least if the regime is ever going to regain full control over your country; are they entitled to take up arms now or do they have to wait until it is too late but for them to lose their own isolated battle against far superior force?"
4 June 2012 at 21:14

Obama should Resist the Clintons & Europe on Syria

 'Former president Bill Clinton criticized President Obama on Thursday for his inaction in regard to Syria. This step seems extraordinary', yeah I wouldn't expect an American president to give a shit.

 I recall a Pluto Press book making a very different point about Algeria, tolerate secular dictatorships as a bulwark against Islam, and the Islamists will get very popular.I have a copy around somewhere.
[http://books.google.co.uk/.../Islam_and_democracy.html...]

 'Unlike in Bosnia, this is not a war by an outside force like the Serbs of ethnic cleansing against a neighbor.' What?

 '– Syria has stockpiles of chemical weapons, the exact position of which is unknown; indiscriminate bombing raids on Syrian military facilities could release those chemicals on civilian populations.'

 So that's a no to indiscriminate bombing raids.

What to Expect When Syria Crushes Its Rebellion

 As I said before, I don't think Assad can win, but this is what will happen if he does. Not supporting the rebels could turn the country into Somalia in a year, and Pol Pot's Cambodia in two. And will be much more likely to destroy the countries around it.

 'Assad regime forces will exact revenge against the Sunni-majority opposition and perpetrate mass sectarian atrocities. As Assad’s army retakes parts of the country held by the opposition, regime forces commanded by Assad’s Alawite minority sect will carry out summary executions, imprisonment, and torture among the Sunni-majority opposition. In a country where the confessional balance has always been at risk of tipping, confessionally mixed cities like Homs and Damascus, where Alawites and Sunnis live in close proximity to one another, will erupt in sectarian bloodletting.'

U.S. weapons can get to Syria rebels via familiar route

 "Now, we've started to manufacture and develop our own weapons," he said. "The Syrian people get the means to defend themselves any way they can."

Aftermath of a battle

 'Hours after the fall of Al-Qusair, websites affiliated with Hizbullah and the Syrian regime posted video clips on the Internet showing Shia combatants celebrating their victory and chanting sectarian slogans.'

Bad Idea, Mr. President

 'Mr. Assad still has strong support from many Syrians, including members of the Sunni urban class.'

 Ruling class supports ruler shock.

Can the Syrians still believe Washington’s promises?

 Hard to. I disagree with some of the points made about Iran. But the timeline of the West's inactivity seems correct.

 'All of the statements made by Washington over the past few years proved to be meaningless. Moreover, all steps taken by Washington or its European allies towards Syria have been either too little or too late, or both.'

Thousands of Egypt Islamists rally for Syria jihad

 'We must undertake jihad to help our brothers in Syria by sending them money and arms, and providing all aid to save the Syrian people from this sectarian regime.'

 I've seen it suggested that this is the reason why Obama has belated decided to maybe arm the rebels, that a popular movement will do the job instead. Note they are calling for a war on sectarianism, not on sects. It is the Assad régime that creates sectarian division, that plays up all the talk of a regional sunni-shia conflict, that has dragged in outside forces, that would like to scare the world into allowing it to stay in power.

Could Syria conflict start WWIII?

No. A more tabloid version of the bullshit that arming the rebels is the new Cuban Missile Crisis.

Comparisons

 Zoe Williams was pointing out on the Sky press preview how disingenuous the comparisons between Iraq and Syria are: there are actual chemical weapons in Syria, there wasn't a civil war in Iraq...

An Israeli Truck Reportedly Captured From The Syrian Opposition Reappears in Qusayr

 We often see these stories recycled with a warning of the conflagration that is about to engulf the region. Give us a break.

Meet The New Boss

 'Reader, let me lay this on you - arming the rebels will keep the war going,' and I was no longer reading.

Cockburn on Syria: Prejudice offered up as wisdom

 'Patrick Cockburn knows he can't depend on understatement to soft-pedal Assad, so he offers up what aspires to be an impressive version of "this is a great big mess". Of course the underlying message is that the West ought to stay out of the great big mess, and it will be a disastrous to arm the rebels. This disingenuous pessimism is made plausible and respectable by standard techniques flaunting purported authority and expertise.

For that matter, not even Assad in an Iranian proxy. The Iranians are cruel and calculating, but they are not idiots. They don't go in for sectarian massacres and they don't delight in shabiha gangs running amok on steroids and booze, flaunting their syrupy Assad tattoos. Hizbollah, disciplined and judicious, is more Iran's idea of a proxy.

As for the rest of the area, it's a lark for Israel, not at all dangerous for Jordan and Turkey, and more of the same for Iraq, where Shia-Sunni violence never stopped. As for Lebanon, since the Christians and Druze so far are absolutely out of the picture, there's real danger, but hardly anything like an Iraqi-level conflagration.

The Syria conflict may indeed ignite the whole region. China may invade Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam. Or maybe Syria and Lebanon are about to get past violent repression and enter into a brighter future. Anything is possible, but invoking mere possibilities shouldn't pass for analysis.'

Britons fighting with Syria's jihadi 'band of brothers'

 Channel 4 News has been generally poor on Syria, tonight - SHOCK! There might be 700 Europeans fighting to free Syria (so 'jihadists'), and they might get American weapons!!! - of which their commentary on the film below is an example, but there was an interview with the film-maker, Bilal Abdul Kareem who has spent seven months with the Battalion of Migrants who pointed out the difference between the rebels, even the jihadis, and the government. Are abuses SOP or isolated incidents? They are SOP on the government side, they celebrate their killings on Youtube. They are isolated incidents on the rebel side, denounced by the vast majority and punished.

 The Channel4+1 has come on while I've been trying to post, so here are a couple of quotes:

 "The Syrian people won't live or die according to what American weapons they get."

 "Try to understand who these people fighting jihad are, and are their aims really incompatible [with ours]?"

 "I think you're labouring under a misconception. Whenever you have tens of thousands of people fighting you're going to have incidents."

 Damn, couldn't really get the rest of it, but rebels who commit abuses are punished, not so on the government side.

The Revolting Syrian

 "We’ve been systematically let down over the last 2.5 yrs. I'll believe US arming when I see it …"

 "Didn't you say you don't want ANY sort of foreign intervention??"

 "No, I never said that. If US arms to the FSA can stop and defeat Assad then I’m all for it. His massacres needs to end."

This is what the people of Syria are enduring to free our country

 'These are the men that are fighting for our eventual freedom. These are the people enduring the most hellish of nightmares so our children can live in peace. These are the men that deserve the respect and gratitude that we can never hope to repay.

 The very least we can do is take a minute to mourn these heroes.'

As Assad's and Hezbullah forces prepare to invade Aleppo, they being with the Scuds

 'So is the "strategy" to re-take Syria from the people and re-oppress them. To bomb the hell out of a town for weeks, then invade and murder the few survivors that remain.

 Assad has already lost. The fact that he needs to bomb most of the country and use foreign mercenaries to invade the town’s and cities across Syria proves as much. The question remains how many people will he and his mercenaries kill before they are defeated.'

London protest on Saturday 15th: Stop Western Intervention in Syria

 Pro-Assad demo in Mayfair tomorrow.

Power draw drops off

 'Syria, which is engaged in its own conflict, registered nearly a 50 percent decrease.'

 I saw somerone say that if Assad survives, a million Syrians will die and ten million will be refugees. I think the economic data might well show that the régime cannot return the country to normal function, though it may kill that many trying.

Morton Grove man explores war-torn Syria

 ' “Before the revolution, when I lived there, the regime would arrest anyone with a tattoo, long hair, a long beard, for listening to rock music or even for just wearing shorts,” Mousa said. 

 “Despite the destruction, it was nice to see people free and happy.”

 For Smith, who was born and raised in the U.S., the trip gave him perspective on racism.

 “People think they’re being patriotic by being disrespectful to Arabs,” Smith said. “But that’s not true. We never felt threatened on our trip and we saw how all those people love and work just like we do. It’s fascism that we should hate.”

[On Jabhat-al-Nusra]
“They turned out to be real nice and excited to see us.” '

Touched by Magic

 'It's true that confessional groups are fighting against each other, that Syrian soldiers are killing Syrian rebels and vice versa. But it's still not a civil war. If a civil war is to be avoided, the government must fall. The Syrian people will only find unity in a democracy, and that will not come about as long as Assad is in power. The sooner the regime goes, the greater the chance that we'll be able to rebuild our nation and grow together to form one society.'

Old Homs Under Siege for a Year

 'The “siege” of the 14 neighborhoods in Homs is a special case – and is not similar to other Syrian cities. It is a reminder of the siege of Gaza. However, in Homs there are no secret tunnels to smuggle basic supplies, medical aid and injured and sick people. In Homs, a few thousand people are trapped in an area where there were 400,000 people residing.'

 I suppose the rest are fled or dead.

Worries

 "We've got measures in place to make sure that transport doesn't fall into the wrong hands." - David Cameron.

 Miliband says we should focus on the peace conference, but also worries about the hands aid will get into. How are you going to stop Assad killing civilians, by appealing to the Russians' better nature perhaps?

We can't just say 'arm Syrian rebels' – we must be clear what this means

 Or let's throw up a smokescreen to justify not arming the rebels. Either there are so many weapons that some more will make no difference, or the rebels can't be trained, or have better things to do with the weapons than fight Assad. Tosh.

For some, the best bad choice: Returning from refuge to Syria

 'Refugees say many of the returnees are from areas in Syria’s southern Dera’a Governorate that have been "liberated" by the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) - UNHCR said in April this constituted 80 percent of returnees.

 "We want to go back and stand with our people,” he said. “We want to do something about the massacres, killings, and rape instead of being stuck in the desert feeling helpless.” '

Assad’s Unlikely Allies: Who In The West Is Supporting The Maligned Syrian Dictator, And Why

 'Assad advocates, few in number but strong in conviction, consist mostly of extreme right-wing, almost-fascist political parties in France and Italy.'

Prospects for the Syrian revolution

 'The first speaker was from the http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/blog, an indispensable resource for understanding Syria from a Marxist standpoint. Even though he is presently not based in Syria, the blogger had to have his identity concealed during a Skype video call since it is entirely conceivable that the Baathist goons might want to track him down. 

 The second speaker was Anand Gopal, who quite simply is the most informed person on the American left about Syria, both theoretically and as a journalist who has taken great risks to tell the true story of the revolutionary struggle.'