The people will not kneel and will not accept any new tyranny!

 “The green path will cross from Damascus to Tehran, toppling all tyrants. The path of humanity and love from the free Syrian people.”

Help Syria now. Tomorrow it may be too late

 Yassin al-Haj Saleh:

 'An area that had 2 million inhabitants before the uprising, East Ghouta is now populated by only around one million. It was a base from which the rebels headed towards the capital, but is now completely besieged by the regime's forces due to renewed support from Russia and Iran, and the arrival of Iran-sponsored Iraqi and Lebanese militias. During the past three months, I have personally witnessed the staggering lack of arms, ammunition, and even food for the fighters.People fight here with absolute defiance because they realise that a big massacre awaits them if the regime succeeds in regaining control over the area. Those who are not killed immediately will be arrested and tortured savagely.'

The Syrian army renews offensive in Homs

 'The campaign in Homs shows the Syrian government’s difficulty with launching sequential campaigns without operational pause, as well as the challenges it faces from launching multiple, simultaneous offensives in Aleppo, Homs, and Damascus in ways that protract each fight.'

Henry Kissinger: Balkanized and Broken-Up Syria “Best Possible Outcome”

 Never was a man who believed in punishing dictators. As long as they didn't piss off America of course.

 'In the American press it’s described as a conflict between democracy and a dictator- and the dictator is killing his own people, and we’ve got to punish him. But that’s not what’s going on. It may have been started by a few democrats. But on the whole it’s an ethnic and sectarian conflict.'

 Note, 31/3/15. I see this is from the conspiracy theory site, the Centre for Research on Globalization. But their contribution does seem to be a direct quote from an actual video.

How phony fear of US jihadis obscures the real threat of far-right terror

 Some people will be rightly angry about this, but be happy to peddle the same prejudice when it comes to Syrian Muslims.

Understanding Syria's revolution today

 This is the most reasonable formulation I've seen of the American guns are dangerous position, but it still lets them off the hook if they don't deliver. When he writes, 'I see a more fundamental problem with appealing to governments to arm the revolutionaries. It seems to me to be unrealistic because state-sponsored arms are never given to democratically controlled organizations,' that sounds like Yusef Khalil is hoping for someone to blame rather than asking what help should be demanded. It might be Chris Harman who once said that nobody thanks you for pointing out that it's raining unless you've brought an umbrella.

 'But the question of arms procurement by the revolutionaries will remain very significant at this heavily militarized stage. An appeal for Western weapons is an understandable (but I think, dangerous) attempt to level that playing field. I understand that people need to defend themselves against the military machine of the regime, or be slaughtered. Faced with those conditions, you will accept any help you can get. The blame here isn't on those seeking to defend themselves, but on the overwhelmingly massive "military solution" that Assad has unleashed on Syrians and shows no signs of halting.

 But winning the struggle by purely military means is highly improbable. And the fragmentation and sectarianism brought on by the reactionary Sunni groups is helping the regime destroy the social fabric in Syria.

 Faced with these circumstances, the revolutionary left in Syria is aiming to bring the mass, civil, "unarmed" movement out of the shadows in order to unite it under popular control with the armed resistance.'

Yassin-Kassab versus Landis

 I have a small part.

 Dick Gregory: ' “Do you think the US should pump in the weapons until Sunni rebel militias have conquered Damascus and the coast?” – I think not calling the FSA a Sunni rebel militia would be a start. I assume the point is that to create a mini-Alawite state would require the ethnic cleansing or cowing of the majority, and so is an even more impractical alternative to a revolution for all Syrians.

 The suggestion that Obama could get the F̶S̶A̶ Sunni militias to fight one war against Assad and another against radical Islamists simultaneously is also highly questionable, and that they are likely to massacre non-Sunnis en masse in the event of victory re-writes the history of the conflict. Not a well written article.'

British jihadis in Syria

 Owen Jones is doing the BBC paper review tonight, with former Murdoch minion Neil Wallis.

 Jon Snow was fairly patronising about British jihadis in Syria on Channel 4 News. They may be unwanted idiots, but making your central question whether it's their idea, or they are being groomed by older men, would raise eyebrows in another context.

War in Syria: what would Thomas Aquinas do?

 'The 13th-century theologian set out the rules for a just war – and an intervention in Syria would fall short of them, says Jacob Rees-Mogg.

 "It is notable that the means of involvement in this war is by sending arms, not troops. If the war were wholly just and the intention rightful then it ought to follow that a just ruler would want to be directly involved in securing peace. Yet desire to do so by proxy indicates either an uncertainty of purpose, or a lower value being placed on Syrian lives." '

 I would argue the opposite, that it is by receiving arms rather than foreign intervention that Syrians have the best prospect of keeping their future in their own hands.

 I did study Aquinas for a week once.

Assad’s narrative is making headway

 'Assad did everything to bring about precisely this violent outcome; and had his Hezbollah allies not intervened militarily in the Syrian conflict, it is unlikely that we would have seen car bombs in Lebanon. But as we assess the balance of forces, the Syrian regime and its backers have gained the upper hand, while the Syrian opposition is now viewed with uneasiness because of its association with the jihadists.

 Observers warned of this two years ago, when the Americans and Europeans were fiddling over what to do in Syria. They still are and the vacuum they helped perpetuate only facilitated the emergence of jihadist groups that Western governments had feared bolstering.'

Syria's communal tensions are fuelled by politics not theology

 Robin Yassin-Kassab:

 'A few months ago, for example, Islamist black flags dominated demonstrations in Raqqa, in the east of the country; now, Raqqa's demonstrations are as likely to be against Jabhat Al Nusra, the extremist militia which nominally controls the city, as against the regime. This is not an Islamist rebellion but a popular revolution. As in Egypt, if Islamists oppress the people or fail to deliver, they too will be rebelled against.'

 'If you’d prefer to read my tense choices, before the subediting process, read this version here.'
[http://qunfuz.com/2013/07/10/politics-not-theology/]

Against All Odds, Female Reporters Lead in Syria

 'Most important are the women who still live out a normal life under the shelling.'

Syrians say they have given up on U.S. weapons promises

 "The U.S. will not supply the weapons," said Mohammed Fizo, a rebel fighter. "They come up with excuses for why they are not with the Syrian revolution; because it's not unified, or that there are terrorists. But what is important is that they are not helping us."

 I might get around later to talking about the comparison between Sarajevo and Homs (in part a feeling of hope, that Homs cannot be taken fast enough for the massacre that would entail not to be preventable), and generally the comparison between Bosnia and Syria, and how everyone has their own version of history.

Sometimes inaccurately

 Newsnight is currently doing Syria. In Mark Urban's introduction, he said that since 2012, the government has used aircraft, "sometimes inaccurately", assuming that they weren't trying to kill lots of civilians.

 Robin Yassin-Kassab's on.

 Hope may not always come from the barrel of a gun, but despair is when someone is pointing one at you and you don't have one.

Millions of Syrians in need of food aid as war devastates food production

 'Food production has been hampered by high costs and reduced availability of inputs, damage to agricultural machinery and storage facilities, the threat of violence and the flight from the land by farmers. Some crops may not be harvested.'

 I'll find the source for a claim that the régime has been burning crops. Not a crisis that is going away if ignored.

 'Before the crisis, Syria was a significant exporter of agricultural produce, including cotton, fruit and vegetables, sheep and cattle. But exports have dried up leading to losses of about $500,000 a year.'

Syria – We’re Still Alive, Love

 'Although it may not have a direct impact on Assad’s fall, it is an ideological threat that adds weight to the culture of Syrian resistance. Prisoners lined up against the wall of a dingy Damascene police headquarters in Light After Dark by Hamid Sulaiman, emphasise this risk and its consequences.'

 The ‪#‎withoutwords‬ exhibition at the P21 Gallery in Euston continues until 1 September 2013.

By their friends shall you know them

 'No one can seriously deny the popular nature of the original protests movement against the Assad dictatorship. Only a fool or Assad apologist would beg to differ. But even then things changed and Sunni Islamists took the lead turning the democratic struggle in Syria into a sectarian civil war*. All sorts of overseas Jihadists flocked into Syria, much to the concern of the US and Britain. Not that that has stopped the Obama administration committing itself to openly arming the Free Syrian Army** (not a coherent force; rather a loose umbrella organisation). However, surely the ‘By their friends shall you know them’ motto applied long ago***. The fact of the matter**** is that the US has being fighting a proxy war in Syria - its main target is Assad’s main regional ally, Iran.

 Thankfully*****, there are signs that the SWP may be shifting its position - even if you have to strain hard to detect it. A recent issue of Socialist Worker made a passing reference to the “sectarian battles” that have broken out in Lebanon after Hezbollah threw its weight behind the Assad regime - the latter trying to “hold onto power against what began as a popular revolution” (my emphasis, June 25). Therefore, presumably, there is no longer a “popular revolution” or “Syrian revolution”. We await further clarification.'


* Only a fool or Assad apologist...
**Not a coherent argument
***Only an Assad apologist...
****Facts are difficult things
*****Worryingly

Their friend has nuclear weapons

 "The bombing of Iraq last weekend was soaked in hypocrisy. Shia Muslims in the south and Kurds in the north rose up against Saddam Hussein at the end of the 1991 Gulf War. They wanted to overthrow the 'evil tyrant' the US and Britain told us that war was all about. But in another sick display of their hypocrisy, the US and Britain sat back and watched while Saddam Hussein brutally crushed both risings. Whatever they say today, they preferred Saddam Hussein in office to the prospect of a popular rising."

 If the Americans had armed the Shia in the South of Iraq or the Kurds in the North when they rose against Saddam Hussein AFTER the Gulf War in 1991, would those condemning the prospect of American help for Syrian rebels have condemned the Americans then? Of course they would, and had no problem calling the Americans hypocrites. I'm sure they'd say that the ongoing sanctions and occasional bombing would render such risings just part of an American proxy war, and so support for them is contingent for the geo-politicists on the risings not getting enough support to avoid being crushed.

 Those in the SWP and the ISO who have been lukewarm about the rebels getting guns in Syria might do well to reflect, because they should know better.

If Iran and Russia leave Bashar Assad alone, he will fall automatically

 It is rare to see "terrorist" used appropriately.

 'Bashar Assad and his gang have Iran and Russia to support them. Iran supports the regime with money and terrorists, and Russia supports them with weapons and ammunition.

 If Iran and Russia leave Bashar Assad alone, he will fall automatically.'

Assad forces in onslaught on Homs

 'Activists claim that fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah Shia armed movement, which has sided with Assad’s forces, have been battling rebels in the city. Hezbollah fighters helped the Syrian army capture Qusayr, a key town near Lebanon’s border last month, dealing a blow to opposition fighters who have been ferrying supplies and fighters over the border.'

 To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; they make a desert and call it peace.

Activist Who Documented Syrian War’s Toll Became Its Victim

 'On Friday, Mr. Baali, a citizen journalist and an antigovernment activist known to many Syrians by the nom de guerre Mohammed Moaz, died of shrapnel wounds sustained weeks earlier as government forces shelled his neighborhood, Qaboun, on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, Damascus. Mr. Baali had remained in the working-class jumble of concrete houses during months of heavy bombardment, rushing with his video camera to the scene of attacks.'

Helping the cause in their Syrian homeland

 'During two weeks in Syria treating the sick and wounded — and seeing men succumb to heart attacks for want of medicine, women and girls laboring to conceal their having been raped, children who had frozen to death — the Baltimore physician developed a new level of commitment to the revolt against President Bashar Assad.

 "I'm just in awe of these people when I think about what they're facing and the fact that they're still protesting," she says. "Their conviction is unbelievable." '

Damon Albarn joins new supergroup for Syria fundraiser

 'Damon Albarn has united Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos with Richard Russell and Rodaidh McDonald's Fresh Touch for a special release in aid of Oxfam's Syria appeal.'

 I see that he was born in Whitechapel Hospital, I've got a feeling that he worked in the one that used to be on the corner of Goldsmith's Row and Hackney Road, as a nurse once told me a story about watching someone tell a group of kids "and Damon's coming back in next week."

Tariq Ali on Syria

 "What this war is increasingly becoming is a war that is increasingly targeting Iran, and trying to remove Iran's only Arab ally from the reckoning...Without assigning blame or responsibility..."

 "We've heard that the rebels in Qusayr are using civilians as human shields [sic]. Could we see the government being blamed for civilian deaths?"

 "It could be, the situation is so confused."

 Tariq Ali's brain has left the building.

Syrian National Coalition urges world to protect Homs

 'Syria’s main opposition bloc on Friday urged the international community to take action to protect civilians in the cities of Homs and Daraa that have been targeted by military as part of a government campaign to regain control of the territory it lost to the opposition.'

Face-to-face with Abu Sakkar, Syria's 'heart-eating cannibal'

 ' "This guy had videos on his mobile. It showed him raping a mother and her two daughters. He stripped them while they begged him to stop in the name of God. Finally he slaughtered them with a knife... What would you have done?"

 Well, perhaps not make a meal of my enemy, I think. At the time, Abu Sakkar's men greeted what he did with cries of "God is Great". Now the fighters looking after him while he recovers from an injury just seem a bit embarrassed.

 "If we don't get help, a no-fly zone, heavy weapons, we will do worse - you've seen nothing yet.” '

Kursk legacy: Will there ever be another massive tank battle?

 'The tank, like the battleship, was suddenly a sitting duck without control of the skies.'

 I always tended to think that a no-fly zone in Syria wasn't the best idea, as the action to destroy air defences took control from the insurgent people and put it in the hands of Western air forces, but this made me think a little.

 There is military analysis of Syria at [http://brown-moses.blogspot.co.uk/].

Activists Preserve a Part of Syria’s Revolution

 ' "We are just peaceful protestors who are fighting against oppression," Fares said. He doesn't identify himself as a rebel or a fighter but emphasises that the people of Kafranbel are on the rebels' side.'

Can you bear to look at this image for more than a second?

 'Are you horrified? Disgusted? Outraged? Terrified?

 Did little Wadak Aghi ruin your day? Let me tell you about her day, that is the last day of her life. Assad’s forces targeted her home with a monstrous shell which ripped her face off. She was taken to a clinic where doctors tried in vain to save her. They were then forced to transfer her to the only decent hospital that could have a chance in saving her life in Assad controlled territory. However she had to cross the infamous “Checkpoint of Death" in Deir Ezzor, Syria manned by Assad’s forces. That is where she died as she never crossed it.

 Thank you for caring dear world. The children of Syria will never forget you …'

Seven Reasons Why Islamists May Now Be Losing Ground Among Syria’s Rebels (A roundup post)

 'Regime may be facing a military catastrophe in Aleppo

 Yallah Souriya reports panic, shock and rage on pro-regime facebook pages over the performance of regime defensive forces in Aleppo—a reaction which tends to confirm reports of major rebel advances there.'

 [http://iranian.com/.../post/16841/jumpto/idcomment-27456]

US interference

Russia reports pullout from small base in Syria

 Will the last American out of Saigon please pull the rope up into the helicopter. About the following quote it could be said that the Russians can see the writing on the wall, or that Syria just isn't that important.

 'Given the Assad government’s gains, the Russian decision to pull out of Tartus might represent a calculation about potential intervention, either from the United States over the regime’s alleged chemical weapons use or from Israel, which has said that it will strike if advanced surface-to-air missiles are delivered to the Syrian regime, according to Andrew Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute.

 “It would explain something that otherwise seems counter­intuitive,” Tabler said. “If the regime is doing well, you don’t close your base.” '

 From a week ago. Also suggests they won't be bankrolling an Assadite mini-state on the coast.

Thomas Pierret, Religion and State in Syria

 Thomas Pierret:

 'The conclusions I draw from my book lead me to take issue with widespread narratives about the current rise of Sunni Islamism, and in particular of Salafism in Syria. This phenomenon is usually perceived in a negative way, that is, as an expression of sectarian radicalization against religious communities. There is undeniably some truth in that, but it is a partial view of the problem. There is also a "positive" dimension to it: the expression of an identity that has been suppressed for decades, notably, as I show in the book, by imposing severe restrictions on religious practices and symbols that are considered as perfectly harmless in most other Muslim countries.'

 More precision comment from the author can been found via [http://pulsemedia.org/…/thomas-pierret-on-the-syrian-revol…/]

Videogame: Zaytoun, the Little Syrian-Palestinian Refugee

 'In the words of Mokha, a Syrian-Palestinian designer, the Syrian revolution has reconciled many Palestinians with their Syrian identity.

 “We are not only Palestinians, we are also Syrians and we suffer what Syrians suffer. For many years I wondered why Syrians did not rise against their tyrants, and now that they have, I feel proud of my Syrian people, just like I do of my Palestinian people.” '

Russian Troubles in Syria

 'It is tempting to watch American foreign policy and Russian foreign policy and assign all the naiveté and sloppy thinking to one and all the clever, chess-playing skills to the other. But that would be wrong.

 Instead of being a loyal friend to an Arab leader, as opposed to the fickle United States, the fact is that Russia is now mired in support for a genocidal bastard in a war that has led to more than 100,000 deaths, the apparent use of chemical weapons, and the decided use of artillery, helicopters, and aircraft to bombard civilian centres.

 No one in the Arab world wants to be Putin’s friend.'

A thousand years of civilisation pulverised by months of battle

 "Hezbollah's snipers are much better than the régime's. They are very accurate and kill everything that moves - EVEN THE CATS. But their presence has united my men. We all want to fight Hezbollah."

Homs rebels resist Syria army fierce onslaught

 'Arab states in the Gulf urged the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to prevent a “massacre” in Homs.

 In a statement, the six Gulf Cooperation Council members announced they are “following with deep concern ... the unjust siege Syrian regime forces are imposing on Homs ... with military support from the militias of the [Shiite] Lebanese Hezbollah movement and under the umbrella of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.” '

Interview With Colonel Aqidi Of The FSA On Qusayr, Jihadists, And The Supreme Military Council

 Interviewer: What about the execution of the fourteen-year-old boy in Aleppo?

 Aqidi: Once I arrive in Aleppo, I am going to investigate it. I am sure Islamist groups are not behind this act. Some groups claim to be Islamist or FSA but in fact, they are regime-made and consist of secret police and shabeeha. Last week a brigade commander was trialed and executed because his acts were doing harm to the reputation of the FSA. His name was Mahmoud [.........], he headed the Unified Army of Muhammad, and his deputy’s name was Abu Taleb.

 (When asked about the latest call for Jihad in Syria)

 Syria does not need foreign fighters because this will make it another Afghanistan, what we need is arms and money. We prefer arms to money because the latter is spoiling the revolution.

Putin Toys With Obama as Syria Burns and Snowden Runs Free

 Garry Kasparov has something to say.

 'The G8 statement on Syria that came out from the summit was a triumph for Putin and also a victory for what I would call “consensus through cowardice.” Getting rid of the murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad is not one of the document’s pledges. Incredibly, al-Assad is not even mentioned—no doubt at the insistence of his greatest supporter, Putin.'

Emergency: Dire Conditions in #Aleppo Central Prison Today!

 'Due to extreme lack of food, diseases widely spread among the prisoners, Scab, all types of allergy, Undernourishment, Anemia, and the most dangerous is TUBERCULOSIS. More than 225 were infected by Tuberculosis, 6 were dead and the number is escalating dramatically.'

 Like Nelson Mandela, who contracted TB on Robben Island.

 100g of bread a day isn't much compared to the 550g that Solzhenitsyn told us In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was promised to prisoners in Siberian labour camps.

The Destruction Of The Syrian Air Force

 They will lose , but will kill a lot of people doing it.

 'An air attack was considered successful whether it hit armed rebels or the unarmed civilians that supported him. Several air force defectors reported that pilots were often instructed to go after bakeries (bread is a key element of the Syrian diet) and apartment buildings, in order to maximize the suffering among civilians.

 The air force is rapidly disappearing because of combat and operational (accidents and poor maintenance) losses. At this point the government has nothing to lose and simply regards the remaining aircraft as similar to diminishing ammo supplies. Use it or lose it to advancing rebels.'

Self-organization in the Syrian people’s revolution

 Ghayath Naisse:

 'This is a genuine popular revolution; the driving social forces are the workers and more broadly the impoverished urban and rural social strata. These forces have been able to create, despite the outrageous violence of the regime, a popular armed resistance, in the cruelly felt absence of a revolutionary political leadership. They have created structures of self-organization and coordinating bodies, as well as embryos of self-government, local councils and civil advice bureaus. These forms of control and administration from below are more developed in the Syrian revolution than in any other process in the countries of the region.'

What matters

 Mulham Al Jundi:

 Graffiti on a destroyed building in Taftanaz, Syria: "It doesn't matter when or where I die. What matters is that revolutionaries remain with their voices filling the earth until there remains no oppression for the poor and wretched."

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights

 "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has documented 100,191 casualties since the beginning of the uprisings in 18/3/2011, from the first casualty in Dera'a, up till 24/06/2013."

 Patrick Cockburn claimed in his most recent Independent/Counterpunch piece that these figures show that Syria is six of one and half a dozen of the other. He does recount the figures accurately, but this comment puts them in a more complete context.

 "All these unsubstantiated declarations of large numbers killed in rebel massacres, ignoring the massacres by regime and pro-regime forces, as well as the long-standing systematic tortures of civilians by the regime, is effectively propaganda in favour of one of the (if not the) most brutal regimes in the planet. The larger number of soldiers dying results from the generalised opposition by the population, including by rebel soldiers, and probably counts many soldiers killed because they were (at least suspected of) attempting or wanting to desert. Without inside knowledge, we can't know why they died, but there have been numerous reports of recent deserters being summarily executed. The rebellion contains fighters from all religious and ethnic communities, any of which could have killed soldiers. Another factor is unsure. Only some essentially Alawite units are trusted to fight the rebellion. The units are constantly in battle against the rebels. With fatigue, they are more likely to make fatal errors."

Burning the Mosques

Robin Yassin-Kassab:

 'What’s happening is no secret. The shabeeha write it on the walls: “Al-Assad or We’ll Burn the Country.” The world worries about Islamists, about hypothetical future persecutions, about the chess game between America and Russia, Israel and Iran. Meanwhile the country burns. The people and their history burn.'

The Syrian Revolution Is Not Dead

 "How can you call this a war?" asked a young Syrian man. "We don't have an army. We are not trained and our weapons are mostly stolen from government troops. A war necessarily means two sides fighting one another. We are civilians fighting the State. This isn't war, this is self-defence. This is a Revolution."

Rebels seize Deraa army post in battle for cradle of Syria revolt

 'Syrian rebels advancing from the Jordanian border seized a strategic army position in the southern city of Daraa on Friday as deadly fighting raged in the surrounding province.'

 Hezbollah, Iran, and Russia aren't all-powerful then.

 'Daraa is an ancient city dating back to the Canaanites. It was mentioned in Egyptian hieroglyphic tablets at the time of the Pharaoh Thutmose III between 1490 and 1436 BC. It was known in those days as the city of Atharaa. It was later mentioned in the Old Testament as "Edre'i," the capital of Bashan where Moses defeated the city's king, Og.'
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deraa#History]

Syria Running Dangerously Low On Civilians To Oppress

 'The Syrian government is also reportedly looking into the possibility of importing roughly 50,000 people from Iran, which has long enjoyed a surplus of citizens to brutalize.'

Alqusoor neighborbood in #Homs #Syria

 Al-Qusoor in Homs

 'The policy of the government, as expressed by the Governor Ahmad Munir, is not to storm areas in Homs it does not control unless other options have been exhausted. He said he was trying to deal with each case “without a special military operation”. '
 Bit of a gullible fellow, that Patrick Cockburn.
[http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/28/return-to-homs/]

 Further bullshit at Counterpunch on the Mediterranean gas reserves:
 'It appears that Damascus will soon finally feel the full impact of the Western fist. Turkey and Israel will be key partners in this effort. Gas may be the reason why.'
[http://www.counterpunch.org/.../is-the-us-playing-with.../]