The same kids who started the revolution in Syria are the armed opposition.
'His son fled to Jordan about a year ago, where he spent his time looking for work as a day laborer, and dreaming about returning to fight the government in Syria.
About two months ago, he heard that his cousin who wrote the graffiti and somehow managed to avoid arrest had joined the rebels as a fighter — and had been killed.'
'He then accused America of pushing a dark agenda in Syria—working to keep the war going instead of helping with the overthrow of Assad. “America,” Tlass said, “is trying to prolong the Syrian revolution.” '
'One resident said: “I don’t like Jabhat al-Nusra. But I am telling you that, these guys will rule – for a time. It is a matter of how long before us Syrians realise we need to take their destiny in their own hands.” '
"They told me they were afraid they'd be persecuted if the regime falls," Mohamed says. "I told them no. We are against the regime, not against Alawites. But whatever I said, they were convinced their fate was tied to that of the regime. Because that's what the Assads have put in their mind."
“As citizens, we cannot deny that the regime has provided safety and security, despite its disadvantages. If the revolution jeopardizes these two factors, perhaps the people will support Assad.”
'The overwhelming majority of the Syrian rebels are defectors from the Syrian army and are young men who revolted against injustice. They are neither jihadists nor Arabs or foreigners from “Qaeda.” If Nusra is really affiliated with “Qaeda,” it will end like all Qaeda organizations did; it will fail. But if it is a Syrian revolutionary group, it will find a place for it among the others.
What we have to understand is that the FSA is the overwhelming power. It is real and patriotic, and its religious chants must be understood in their context and not considered as ones that agree with “Qaeda’s” mentality. Their chants are like what Christian fighters do in their armies; they draw the cross sign, and like what Jews do; they carry the Torah. It is piety not extremism, and it is normal that most people are pious and expressive of their religion.'
'Let me count the ways: you abandoned her when her movement for democratic change was nonviolent. You let Assad violate her and kill her children. You turned your back on her children when they rushed to her rescue, and pretended you were unaware. You uttered words of sympathy and encouragement, and sent few blankets and tents to people who were at the mercy of mortars and MiGs, not only the elements.'
'While foreign weapons have been seen in Syria, we have not encountered them on this scale. All this suggests a new, organised, and well-funded effort is under way to ensure that "moderate" fighters are capturing territory and weakening the Assad regime.
It is too early to tell whether there are enough weapons to make a long-term impact. None of them be used as an effective counter to Assad's primary threat, his fighter jets. However, if this is an experiment to see a surge in armament makes a difference, the answer is clear.'
'The Revolutionary mocks the piss-poor media coverage of Syria, as he believes deeply in the importance of disseminating leaked naked pictures of Asmaa al-Assad, ridiculously good looking Syrian rebels nuzzling kittens, Bashar wearing different wigs, and other essential topics.'
I guess this is Robert Fisk, 'Showing off his Arabic by a generous sprinkling of the words habibi and shabiha in his reporting, as well as his fetishizing and in depth knowledge of political Islam (he once visited a mosque in Pakistan and he follows Mona Eltahawy on Twitter), he is in an ideal position to make rational and enlightened comments on the future of Syria. After providing a more comprehensive overview of the situation of the ground using an embellished version of the amateur’s account, the seasoned journalist concludes his article grimly and definitively: the “Lion of Damascus” and his regime are bad but so is the opposition; Syria is bound to be a repeat of Afghanistan, Lebanon, and the Balkans.'
'Here it is,when its people were forced to resort to arms,in response to the unlimited brutality of the regime, it is today offering the highest standards of defiance and persistence.'
Hillary Clinton's getting some credit at the moment for supposedly calling for the arming of Syria's rebels during her time as secretary of state, but why do we only find out now? I think one possible answer is that it just wasn't important to her, because like every other member of the administration, her first priority was always to consider what was best for America, and the business it wants to do.
The two Hillary-sceptics rip apart the Clinton fan here, who ironically gets most inarticulate when talking about how Hillary articulated her vision. Their focus on the failure of Great Power diplomacy isn't the angle I'd choose, but they make a number of points against the image of Clinton as a humanitarian feminist.
'The US remains handicapped in pressing to bring torturers to justice because President Obama refuses to allow the investigation of Bush officials implicated in torture. The UK has also refused to properly investigate its role in sending two suspects to Gaddafi's Libya, where they were tortured.'