The future of the Free Syrian Army

 Robert Fisk: "The sad truth is that General Idriss and the other FSA leaders in Turkey are out of touch with what's going on on the ground in Syria."

 "The real fighters are al-Nusra"[Government soldiers tell him so]

 "Deep down the FSA want an accommodation."

 Al-Jazeera's Inside Story. With someone from the FSA and Fawaz Gerges.

 RF: "The government are winning the war."
 FG said that the Western powers have all been trying to give legitimacy to the FSA. Not weapons though.
 RF: "I go into rebel areas and talk to people." I'm sure there are people who would like to know where that might be.

Charity cash 'going to Syrian terror groups'

 Pernicious. Overwhelmingly in Syria, it is the terrorism of the Assad régime that has led to refugees fleeing, and it is the régime that has prevented aid reaching the internally displaced in Syria. They have been aided in this by their allies on the UN Security Council, who have ensured that there have been no resolutions insisting that aid be allowed through, or that attacks on civilians must cease.

 And the story is a game of Chinese Whispers anyway. From "some of it undoubtedly goes to extremist groups … It is very hard for all organisations to determine that," we go to, "“It is shocking to find that some charitable aid is being diverted to terrorists in Syria."

Meet the Syrian Women Who Aren't Afraid to Face Assad

 'They openly rape and imprison women ... in parts of Central Syria the regime soldiers look for Sunni women to kidnap and rape. Just before Homs fell to the regime a few months ago, Assad's forces kidnapped 100 women from neighbouring town and forced them to march ahead of the army as they entered oppositional areas. To get the opposition to surrender. They use this tactic. In some towns they get the women to strip naked and then march.

 Q: What were your opinions on an American military strike?

 Aisha: "Syrians are divided over this questions. Many Syrians supported the idea and held up signs in anti-regime protests saying 'We are against the Syrian military intervention into Syria.' Others were against. For me it depends on their intentions. But now they have cut a deal with the regime, it is clear they do not care about the Syrian people".'

French police try to move Syrian refugees seeking asylum in UK

 'One refugee, a 24-year-old English literature graduate from Aleppo, who did not want to be named, told the Guardian by phone:

 "We just want to appeal for asylum in the UK. We don't hold any hope from the French government. We hope that the British government will show some of the humanity it is famous for. People are desperate. The two people on the roof threatening to jump are proof of that – one has lost two brothers, he has nothing left to lose. I'm so worried about my family back in Aleppo but they wanted me to go."'

Misadventures In The Class Struggle

 'A movement comprised of the dispossessed must husband its scant resources. It can ill afford the wastefulness of lies. A state compensates for errors and delusions with the superabundant resources at its disposal. In a radical movement clarity of mind must compensate for lack of resources. The crucial prerequisite for being grounded in reality is truthfulness.'

 I made a similar point here* about Syria:

 'If the Left claims that thousands will die in carpet bombing, that depleted uranium will be scattered across Syria, that American soldiers will be dying to help al-Qaida, and none of these things turn out to be true, it will discredit the Left, and because the Left does not control the media, that impression will stay for a long time, and when the US does want to intervene, the pendulum will have swung back to it being easy again for the US to do what it wants. And if the situation in Syria takes another step towards Hell, then there is a greater likelihood that American, French or British power will be brought to bear on Syria, rather than the empowerment of those rebels that we just don’t know about from what we’ve read in the press.'

 I nearly started with the funny story of the ultra-Maoist sect who tried to beat up Norman and his comrades:

 'Leaving work one evening I noticed a grim-faced mob all wearing the trademark lumberjack boots, blue jeans and work shirts of the Revolutionary Union approach our building. I quickly rang up Fred at the front desk, who, I was later told, braced for the worst with wrench and crowbar in hand. (At the time he was eighty years old.) The RU’s plot was foiled, however, when they crowded into the elevator and it sank to the basement. It seems that they hadn’t read the bourgeois warning about maximum elevator capacity.'
*[http://notris.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/dominoes.html]

Arab revolts undermine Iran’s influence

 'At some point in the future, Iran will discover that it has made the wrong choice. Sooner or later, the Syrian regime will disappear from the scene and Iran will be having no friend whatsoever in new Syria. Most Syrians will not understand Iran’s regional motives for supporting their oppressors. All they know now is that Iran is acting in a sectarian manner and is supporting their tyrant.'

Not A Civil War

 It is an all out massacre by the criminal Assad régime against the defenceless citizens of Syria.

Uneasy stalemate

 'Many Damascenes who oppose the regime, including most of the activists who organised the street protests of 2011, have left for Beirut. Arrests continue, and those activists who remain in Syria avoid being seen with foreign journalists. As a result, the overwhelming mood in the capital is support for the government, either with genuine enthusiasm or out of fear of chaos if it falls.'

 In those areas of the capital to which Jonathan Steele travels. A piece full of half-truths , "the informal militias, known as the 'shabiha', who were often accused of massacres". I see that Rajaa Nasser gets another outing, with another pack of untruths, "The Syrian National Coalition [the western-backed opposition] is not independent." [DG: Of course the armed opposition is the FSA, and 'Western-backed' is a sick joke]. The idea that the FSA would agree to a ceasefire while Assad's representatives talk in Geneva displays considerable i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ prejudgement* on Mr.Steele's part. His contention that Assad is doing well is based on Britain not voting for airstrikes (remember that?), and the narrowly won military success in Qusayr, which Clay Claiborne puts in proper context.**

*Compare him from September 1st: "Syrian rebels' intransigence and their unwillingness to attend without preconditions are the main reason for the failure of Geneva so far. US military strikes will only embolden them to delay further. The hope of a ceasefire – by far the most reliable and principled mechanism to protect Syrian lives – will recede again."[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/01/us-public-doubts-attacking-syria]

**"Qusayr wasn't regarded as being strategically important by the media while the Syrian revolutionaries held it for a year. Now that it is back in the government's hands, we will hear a lot about its strategic importance."[https://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2013/06/is-qusayr-assads-1st-major-victory-in.html]

Civil war leaves Syrian economy, cities in ruins

 'Robert Powell, Middle East analyst for the EIU, said the economy alone probably won't bring down the Assad government in the near future.

 "It may be another year or so before the economy falls off the precipice," he said.'

 Probably and may.

Syrian activists begin 'Pen and Revolution' campaign

 'Syria’s local coordination committees say they have started what they describe as a “Pen and Revolution” campaign to provide school-going children in Syria with educational materials.'

Airstrikes Threat On Syria! Third World War? No War But The Class War!

 I'm sure they'll be very receptive to this message. Not.

 'Finally, we want to warn the proletarians in struggle in Syria who are on their knees while suffering endless bombings and massacres orchestrated by the current regime, and who yet develop illusions about an intervention of the “international community” (which is nothing but a bunch of capitalist gangsters), who call for airstrikes or a “no-fly zone”… There is nothing to expect from any State power, all of them have always fought and suppressed proletarian revolts in history...

 All representatives and tendencies of “anti-Assad” united front whisper to you to tactically postpone attack against capitalist propertied class, existing social relations and present state of things, until “devilish” Assad is defeated.'

Injured Syrian rebel fighters treated on the border

 'Mustafa has no regrets about his sacrifice as part of Syria’s revolution.
He laments however, the destruction of his city by regime forces and impotent western governments, refusing to intervene.

 “Bashar al Assad has destroyed all of my city (sic) – there’s no city left”

 “We don’t expect anything from the west – it’s clear they are going to support the regime by not helping us.” '

Syria between revolutions and counter-revolutions

 'With a military that is completely loyal to the regime, any illusion (and there were many illusions in the movement at the beginning) that the regime could be overthrown merely through mass demonstrations was false. It was in a sense inevitable that the uprising would turn into a civil war because there is no way to overthrow a regime of this nature without a civil war.'

A Free Syrian Army fighter strokes a cat

 'A Free Syrian Army fighter strokes a cat while sitting behind sandbags in Aleppo's Sheikh Saeed neighborhood.'

Syrian opposition reports rampant starvation in Damascus suburb

 'The coalition's statement further calls on the international community to "assume its responsibilities towards the besieged areas of Syria by opening safe humanitarian corridors" by delivering "essential humanitarian aid to its residents and to evacuate hundreds of people who face death by starvation." '

U.S. Hands Off Syria!

 Stupid things that supposed revolutionaries say. Leaving aside the idea that Obama was leading any march to war.

 'Socialist Action rejects support to the U.S. or Saudi-Qatari-funded forces, or to any others in the region that funnel aid to achieve U.S. objectives. Many of these semi-secret U.S. weapons providers, while advancing U.S. corporate interests, simultaneously seek to impose on the popular opposition, and on Syria itself, a reactionary fundamentalist ideology and practice that would have Syria ruled by clerical reaction rather than the oppressed working masses.'

Massacre reports emerge from Assad's Alawite heartland

 I think this will turn out to be a complete falsification, and Jonathan Steele and the Guardian have been caught passing on pro-Assad propaganda. There have been repeated reports over the last two years that the rebels have engaged in sectarian massacres, over and over they have proved to be untrue.This time we get a convenient narrative that the régime wanted to hide the massacres to begin with (something completely unprecedented), and still won't let reporters in to do any independent confirmation. We get three of Assad's murderers put up to support this fable. And Rajaa Nasser, labelled an "opposition politician". Here's Rajaa Nasser from last September:

 'President Assad's regime normally tightly restricts criticism in areas it controls, but the NCB's Rajaa al-Nasser said the Damascus authorities had permitted all Syrian political figures to attend the conference "without restrictions." '*

 I think he's part of the loyal opposition to Assad, that is tolerated as long as it does the régime's bidding when needed.
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19692967]

 Note 21/2/24, the attack does seem to have been real [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/world/middleeast/syrian-civilians-bore-brunt-of-rebels-fury-report-says.html], and while Rajaa Nasser was indeed "a leading member of the Democratic Arab Socialist Union, a leftist-nationalist opposition party that has long defended the Baath Party’s foreign policy", he was arrested by the regime on the 20th November 2013 and never seen again [https://carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/diwan/2013/11/raja-al-nasser-arrested].

The Free Syrian Army Press Office would Rather Be Fighting

 'Abdul had been a teacher before the revolution and worked as a media activist during the initial protests against al-Assad. When government soldiers started shooting at protestors, Abdul joined the Aseft al-Shamal (Northern Storm) Brigade and spent eighteen months fighting across the north of Syria. After his brigade took over the border region around Azaz last year he was assigned to the press office to translate documents and show journalists around. He’s been bored out of his mind ever since.

 “I like the war. I like the war more than to sit here.”

 “I feel that I give my country a lot when I fight. But here, by sitting here we do something like this.” He hands me a stack of western news articles about Syria that he has to translate into Arabic.'

Syria chemical arms accord a 'disgrace': ex-regime colonel

 'He said the FSA still had "overall control of the situation."

 "But the more the situation drags on, the more we wait for weapons that don't come, the more it will become intolerable." '

A Syrian solution to civil conflict? The Free Syrian Army is holding talks with Assad's senior staff

 'And in areas of Homs province, it is a fact that fighting between the FSA and the army has virtually ceased. In some government-held villages and towns the FSA are already present without being molested.'

 I don't believe a word of what Robert Fisk writes about Syria.

Facing Calls for Diplomacy, Many Syrian Rebels Reject Talks With Assad Regime

 “God damn Geneva and all those who want to negotiate,” says Nusra al-Hamad, Hassan’s mother. “After all this blood, after all these burned hearts, there can be no reconciliation here. We sacrificed our lives for a free Syria, not for Bashar to stay.”

A neighborhood in Homs, Syria. Sept 24, 2013

'Thanks @LensHomsi.'

 Also:

 'This poor soul was shot but not killed immediately. This is intentional. Assad’s forces know that others will try to come to his rescue. One man does so and is shot at, fortunately he escapes. The local FSA fighters try to get the man to grab a metal hook so they can drag him to safety, but the man is unable.

 For 10 agonizing minutes, Assad’s forces take ‘pot-shots’ at the man. They shoot him in the legs, the arms and in his torso, all with the intended purpose of pain, but not death. However, finally, they shoot him in the head and kill him.

 These are Assad’s men. This is what they do to us.'
[http://www.therevoltingsyrian.com/…/assad-cannot-kill-us-wi…]

Talking to Razan Zeitoune

 'What is special about Eastern Ghouta is that civil movements are still active in it. It is also one of the liberated regions with the lowest rate of security incidents... Opposition brigades here are operating cohesively, and the vast majority of fighters are natives of the liberated cities and villages, with few strangers (ISIS and others) up until now.

 In spite of all the mistakes made so far, Eastern Ghouta is the brightest example of the Syrian revolution. This is why we say "do not leave Ghouta to meet its face alone." '

The ‘free women of Syria’ camp in Jordan with stories of horror

 ' “They [regime forces] would bring a bus to our village and fill it with men and then go,” she says. “They threw them in the bus like animals or goods, so I don’t know how many people. They arrested them and made them praise Assad like a god. And then they slaughtered them.”

 The manager of “Counterstrike Bisun” told me he was frustrated with the way his store had been reported in the media; a Russian journalist had reported such games meant “Syrians were training their children to become terrorists.”

 Unsurprisingly, the refugees have strong opinions on international politics. A number of refugees dismissed the international community’s efforts as hot air. One woman described efforts by the United Nations to address the worsening conflict as “just words and paper”.

 But there is optimism about the Free Syrian Army being able to overcome major organisational differences to form a government, if Assad was to fall. God willing, they said.

 When I asked two of the women what fake names I should use, to protect their identity, they said to call them the “free women of Syria”. “Every day we pray for Syria. The whole world won’t help us, only god.” '

Using Women to Win in Syria

 'Some say that the first battalions were formed in May 2012, shortly after forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad massacred 108 civilians -- including 34 women and 49 children -- in the city of Homs. Other female brigades formed out of necessity soon after that. The Daughters of al-Walid, for instance, announced on YouTube that it arms and trains women to defend themselves. And self-defense is much needed: According to the International Rescue Committee, violence against women, especially rape, is the main motivation for flight among Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon -- more than shelling and air raids.'

The Obama administration’s brilliant strategy to keep us out of Syria

 'Privately, Hill aides joke that everything is going exactly to President Obama's plan. It's just that that plan is to stay far, far away from Syria.

 Boxed in by red-line rhetoric and the Sunday show warriors, the Obama administration needed to somehow mobilize the opposition to war in Syria. It did that by "fumbling" the roll-out terribly.

 Obama turned on a dime and decided to go to Congress at the last minute, making his administration look indecisive and fearful of shouldering the blame for this unpopular intervention, putting the decision in the hands of a body famous for being unable to make decisions, giving the argument for strikes more time to lose support, and giving an American public that opposes intervention in Syria more time and venues to be heard.

 And then, after all that, Obama goes to Congress with an absurdly broad force authorization -- so broad that it doesn't specify when it ends, or even really limit which countries can be hit. The force authorization offended even Obama's allies in Congress, left many questioning his motives, and has now been thrown out by the Senate. Members of Congress and their aides I've spoken to remain shocked that Obama chose to come to Congress and then handed them that document.

 The Obama administration's strategy to cool the country on this war without expressly backing away from the president's red lines has been brilliant, Hill aides say (just look at the polls showing overwhelming opposition!). If they are going to go to war, their efforts to goad Congress into writing a punitively narrow authorization of force that sharply limits any potential for escalation have worked beautifully.'

Syria: empire and revolution

 Never read so much shit in such a short space.

 'I argued, firstly, that although there was an internal dynamic to the Syrian revolution it was increasingly prey to imperialist intervention which was both corroding the revolutionary process and increasingly shaping the direction of events in the region. This argument was in response to those like British blogger Richard Seymour and others on the left who were arguing that ‘there is no reason at this moment to think that imperialist intervention is, or is going to be, the dominant axis determining the outcome and meaning of this process’.

 Secondly, I argued that the socialists and anti-war activists primary duty was to confront the imperial goals of the political establishment in their own countries.

 Thirdly, I argued that the opposition forces in Syria were not a monolithic bloc and that some of those forces were pro-imperialist.

 The events of the last year have provided important confirmation of this analysis. Contrary to those who argued that the US and its allies were not going to attack Syria it became quite clear that the US, British and French governments were very serious about a military strike on Syria.'

 More importantly, it leaves Jonn Rees as a shill for the rulers of Russia.

Syrian-Americans find ways to help from afar

 'Recently, about one hundred Syrian-Americans gathered at a tidy park in suburban Detroit. They chanted and held banners depicting scenes of atrocities in Syria, including victims of a chemical weapons attack attributed to President Bashar Al-Assad.'

On al-Jazeera's Inside Syria

 Joshua Landis: "The US has decided not to turn on the spigot. It has to decide if it is more worried about Sunni extremism, in the opposition, or Shi'ite extremism."

 SNC rep: "Extremists didn't kill 100,000 people, didn't make 4 million homeless, didn't destroy 1.2 million homes."

 Unidentified speaker: "There is hope for a Geneva conference down the road. Assad isn't going anywhere."

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.” '

Journalist Spends 'Seven Strange Days' With Syrian Rebels, Perfectly Captures Humanity Within A Brutal War

 I don't think that cat wants to be a martyr for anyone's cause.

The Assad Regime, The Free Syrian Army And Al Qaeda - And The War Against Journalists In Syria

 If we can only get our information from those journalists that operate with the régime's consent from Damascus, we will get a picture that fits with its desire to portray the conflict as a sectarian, proxy war the revolutionaries can never win.

 'The scene appears to have been awkwardly staged, leading some to believe it was fabricated to make it appear that Syrian rebels were holding Tice when he was actually in the clutch of government forces. The sad truth is, we may never find out Tice’s fate.'

 Note 26/3/15, a belief supported by the negotiations now going on with the Syrian government for his release. [http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/03/25/austin-tice-syria-talks/70431890/]

Dodging Bullets with Syrian Rebels Who Love Soccer and Adolf Hitler

 The Hitler headline is a bit misleading. Like the reference to a pawn in the paragraph about proxy war.

 ' “Yes, we are Islamists, because we believe in Islam. But we reject the Islam of the extremists! Those are crazy people,” Abu Ahmad says. After a moment he adds, “Of course they’re the only people who are helping us.” There is nodding on all sides.

 “I want a Syria in which everyone lives together in peace,” Amir says. “Sunnis, Shiites, Alavites, Kurds, Druze, Christians. And we don’t want to trade Assad for a new dictator. That’s not why we started the revolution.” '

Freedom for Jihad and Syria’s Wretched of the Earth

 'The systematic bid to arrest or kill people with free pens and loud voices is a deliberate, concerted tactic that the regime will deploy until the end.'

Syrian Rebels: U.S. Distracted By Focus On Chemical Weapons

 'Zawi shrugs off disappointment with the most recent U.S. policy shift. He is focused on the fight for Dera'a, where, he says, months of quiet preparation have paid off.'

 Jeremy Bowen spent a couple of days telling BBC viewers that rebel commanders were furious and bitterly disappointed when the US strikes didn't happen.

In Syria, we may be seeing a repetition of the Balkan tragedy

 'For years, the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina escalated, alongside a “diplomatic process” marked by a series of broken promises, culminating in the massacre at Srebrenica of thousands of civilians supposedly under United Nations protection. In the end, intervention was necessary anyway.'

 Remember Joschka Fischer? He's the bloke who asked Donald Rumsfeld, "where are the weapons?", when he was trying to drag us into a war in Iraq.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k_QbpFl7RM]

 'Most people in the West regard Syria’s civil war as a continuation of the sectarian violence in Iraq. But Syria is not Iraq. America’s president is not searching for excuses to start a war; Assad’s chemical weapons are not a fanciful pretext. The scale of the violence in Syria underscores the risk implied by inaction.'

Syrian Rebels Make Advances Along Jordanian Border

 

 Meanwhile.

 “We now control approximately 70% of the crossing that separates Syria from Jordan, and we expect to be in complete control of it within the coming hours.”
[http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2013/09/syria-jordan-border-rebel-advances-clashes.html#]

People at the top

 Owen Jones: "Many people at the top were keen on getting involved in a war, very quickly, in Syria."

 An hour earlier he told us that the involvement of British people with al-Shabab was just like the British jihadis who've gone to fight in Syria. And then said that it was Islamophobic for people to lump in other Muslims with the jihadis.

 Owen Jones was better last year.

 "Agreed - but this is a popular uprising, not arriving on the back of Western cruise missiles, tanks and bullets," though he was still agreeing with this, "if [Assad] falls could then be a sectarian civil war like Iraq".

 [https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/225643764604088320]

Quick Guide

 The BBC teletext section on the Syrian Conflict has been replaced by one on the Nairobi Attacks. Move on, nothing to see here for a while.

 Here's a quick guide to the next round of media interest, so you can sleep through that one. There will be a resolution discussed at the United Nations Security Council about the Assad government's possession of chemical weapons. The US, Britain and France will insist that the resolution must include a reference to Chapter 7, which is the authorisation of the use of force, if Assad doesn't give up his chemical weapons. The media will spend a couple of days discussing what this means for the geo-political balance, the Russians and Chinese will say no, you can't have a Chapter 7 authorisation, you can't even have a resolution that condemns Assad for the Ghouta attack, or for the bombing of civilians, or the denial of food and medical aid to civilians. A watered down resolution will be passed, and everybody will go home. Except for the Syrians who have no homes to go to.

One Month On After The World Officially Gave Up on Us

 'Since the US airstrikes were called off, not a single anti-war proponent that opposed the US strikes has protested nor voiced any concern for the deaths of 2,285 people, all killed from Assad’s war against the people of Syria.

 Then again, we should not have expected any concern from this crowd as they actually hoisted photos of Assad, the man responsible for this massacre, at rallies. One pro-revolution, yet anti-strike/intervention Syrian activist, Darth Nader, summed it up best regarding these protests: “Remember when all the anti-Iraq war demonstrations had pictures of Saddam Hussein? Me neither." '

A demonstration in Germany

 A demonstration in Germany with placards of Bashar and his wife, and Bashar alone. I haven't checked quite when it is from. The source is News Daily Planet,[https://twitter.com/newsdailyplanet].

Russian policies bred extremism in Syria

 ' “Does he even know how the Syrian regime hacked off the throats of those who sang for the revolution?

 “Does he remember that for almost eight months, the Syrians protested peacefully under the regime’s fire and how there was not one statement from Moscow or any mention of a political solution?”

 Mr Putin announced at the summit that extremist groups fighting in Syria didn’t come from nothing.

 True, said the writer, terrorism grew and expanded in Syria as a result of the regime’s terrorism under the patronage of Moscow.'

Syrian rebels urge boycott of any conference involving Iran

 'The general also said there were several foreign fighters fomenting dissent among the opposition fighters but they did not pose a real threat as they were few in number.

 "Some of these extremists come from Chechnya or from Iraq. They say they come to help the Syrian revolution, but they have another agenda. Their numbers are very few, but the Assad regime has a political interest to make the world believe they are many.

 They are not a threat: after Assad falls, we will take care of them in two days. But first, we have to focus on Assad," he added.'

Wary of Staff in Harm’s Way, Editors Leave War Coverage to $70 Stringers

 Not a great way to honour her memory.

 'After Ms. Colvin, a correspondent for The Sunday Times, was killed, the British newspaper decided not to take any more freelance work from the war-torn country.

 “In the light of what happened to Marie Colvin, we have decided we do not want to commission any journalists to cover the situation in Syria,” Policy Deputy Foreign Editor Graham Paterson said at the time. “And we take the same view regarding freelancers speccing in material, even if they have returned home safely.” '

How Barack and Hassan Became Pen Pals

 'Dear Hassan,

 To be honest with you, this whole Syria thing has become a big headache for me. I mean I like my job but the one thing I hate about it is having to make decisions. You’re so lucky you have a bigger boss to help with that. Although I too have a senile old fool who thinks he runs the place, I guess he’s our big boss. His name is McCain.

 Have you ever been to America?

 Yours truly,

 Barack'

Millions Of Syrians Are Starving

 'Absent some kind of peace agreement or total military victory by one side, no one’s quite sure what to do to solve this problem.'

 An agreement that leaves Assad in power won't bring peace.

Some Syrians rebuild amid the ruins

 'Under the barrage of forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, the cycle of destruction and construction has been put on repeat.

 Few parts of the country are unscathed. Neighborhoods have been flattened, leaving Syrians stunned by the destruction with one-word comparisons: Stalingrad. Grozny.'

‘Ridiculously photogenic Syrian soldier': A weapon of mass seduction

 'Last year’s successful overthrow of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi turned Libya’s rebels with a cause into international sex symbols. Now Syrian rebels are getting the star treatment, with one particularly dashing combatant starring in his ...'

 I see Obama's calling it a sectarian conflict (Assad and his backers would like to make it so), and the BBC seem to be following suit.

The End of Silence in Syria

 'Amjad Taleb summarizes how many Syrians feel at this false dichotomies posed by media and the “international community.”

 "If you would ask Syrians to choose between dying by gas while sleeping or dying under torture, I think you could expect the answer. If you asked them to choose between Assad and Al-Qaeda I think you should expect the answer too.

 But if you stop being an asshole and ask them what they want and dream of, then the answers would be more amazing than anything you might have read or heard of… Only if you stop being an asshole." '

Carrie is back, but the west is over

 I think appearing impotent is the least worst strategy for the American administration, and if the problem of Syria is cast as one of the willingness of the US to intervene military, as the suffering worsens, so will US intervention seem more credible as the solution.

 Paul Mason:

 'But if the Clinton strategy in response to the Arab Spring failed, it was at least a strategy. Now, with Clinton gone, US foreign policy reads like a series of random events off the pages of the Homeland screenplay.

 Call for a military strike on Syria. Lose a vote in the British parliament. Call for a vote in congress. Place an extra random caveat on the action, in an impromptu speech, which becomes the basis of a new, strategic agreement brokered by Russia. Fail - as looks likely - to get even that deal backed by the threat of force, at the UN, should Syria renege on it.

 When Roosevelt, in 1936, signed the non-intervention pact on Spain it was at least the consequence of design. Clear statements of policy backed it up. Today seasoned diplomats shake their heads. As one put it to me: this is not a strategy at all.'

UN Data on Gas Attack Point to Assad's Top Forces

 'Details buried in the United Nations report on the Syrian chemical weapons attack point directly at elite military formations loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, some of the strongest findings to date that suggest the government gassed its own people.

 The inspectors listed the precise compass directions of flight for two rocket strikes that appeared to lead back toward the government's elite redoubt in Damascus, Mount Qasioun, which overlooks and protects neighbourhoods and Assad's presidential palace and where his Republican Guard and the army's powerful Fourth Division are entrenched.

 "When you fire it from such a place, it means that you don't care if fingers will be pointed to you in some period of time," said retired Lebanese Army General Elias Hanna, a lecturer on strategy and geopolitics at the American University of Beirut.'

Tear The Fascist Down

 The Venture Capital show on Russia Today has just shown several clips of Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, culminating in him explaining that US policy over Syria "has brought us to 1913".

Russia Urges Syrian Rebels to Destroy Chemical Weapons

 Those crazy Russians.

 'Lavrov said "when our western partners repeatedly say that only the regime has weapons and that’s why only the regime could have used them, and the opposition has no chemical weapons, they are cunning." '

Mortar Hits Russian Embassy In Damascus

 That's nice.

 I saw the bit earlier about the Russian willingness to send troops to Syria. Hollow laugh.

Local Syrians aid war-torn homeland

 'The U.S. "decided not to act (when fighting began)," he said. "And not acting was the most devastating thing to happen to the revolution."

 "We're hoping for a democratic republic ... don't make us choose between two disastrous things," he said, referring to the current regime and the radical Islamic groups that are now involved.'

From Kafranbel: The Syrian Revolution in Three Minutes

 'The irony of Syria becoming crushed into the past while it struggled to emerge into a future where freedom and justice prevailed has been used by the people of Kafranbel (Idlib), to send a powerful message to the world.

 In a three-minute video that became viral soon after it was published online, activists from the town of Kafranbel dress as stone age people to represent the evolution of the Syrian uprising. A few stone-agers hold rudimentary banners to protest, before they are attacked by a group holding guns and rifles, who suddenly open fire at them. The attacks gradually turn into shelling and bombing. As more protesters keep coming out of their caves, a few observers sit and watch. It is only when the attackers start using a bottle of gas to spray the others that the observers react, angrily demanding that the bottle is removed from the picture. The video ends with the following message:

 Death is death, regardless of the way it is done. Assad has killed more than 150,000. Stop him.'

Raqqa's FSA Brigades Join Jabhat al-Nusra

 ' “What help? We have not received any support since the beginning of the revolution. Obama and Cameron are liars,” the commander said. One local media activist, who declined to be named for fear of retribution from ISIS, was adamant that if the rebels had received arms, ISIS would not have been able to gain a foothold in his city.

 “There is no regime presence in Raqqa. Why should the FSA decide now, after the city is liberated, to join Jabhat al-Nusra?” he said. “It’s because ISIS is a bigger threat to them than the regime. If they had arms this never would have happened. ISIS is spreading like a cancer, and the regime only fights the FSA; they don’t fight al-Qaida.” '

Syria: The moral imperative to act

 'Some left-wing writers and spokespeople look to Syria and see Vietnam. They are terribly wrong. The moral and historic duty of any progressive person is to stand by the Syrian people’s struggle for freedom and help them topple the genocidal Assad regime.

 To imply that the people of Syria are passive and impotent, and that therefore the rebellion against Assad must be an imperialist scheme or the work of Islamic extremists, you negate the basic tenet of the Left that the people is the creator of history.'