Carnage Caused by Syrian Regime Attack Near Damascus

 'At least 70 people were killed and 550 injured after airstrikes and shelling hit a marketplace on the outskirts of Syria's capital Damascus, according to the medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders, which quoted medics on the scene as saying the wounds from the attack were "worse than anything they have seen before."

 The attack occurred on Friday in the city of Douma, east of Damascus, and was reportedly carried out by Syrian government forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Graphic footage from the aftermath of the bombing showed rescuers attempting to pull the dead and severely wounded from piles of debris and rubble.

 "This was an extremely violent bombing," said the director of an MSF-supported hospital in the area. "The wounds were worse than anything we've seen before, and there were large numbers of dead. We had to do many amputations… We did our best to cope, but the number of critically wounded was far beyond what we could handle with our limited means."

 MSF noted that bombing of civilian infrastructure such as hospitals and markets has increased in the areas around Damascus in recent weeks. In Douma, medical workers struggled to treat the influx of casualties from the latest airstrike because the nearest makeshift hospital had been bombed the previous day.

 Nearly 40 percent of people treated in MSF-supported facilities in East Ghouta, an agricultural area in the Damascus countryside, have been women and children under 15 years old, the group said. "This massive bombing on a crowded market and the repeated destruction of the few available medical facilities breaches everything that the rules of war stand for," said Brice de le Vingne, director of Syria Operations for MSF.'

Never mind the Russians, IS is destroying itself

 'This week it was revealed that another mass slaughter by the extremist group had taken place, involving the summary execution of 224 of the group's fighters. They were suspected of attempting to defect to al-Nusra Front, and follows rumours that al-Qaeda's franchise in Syria is growing in popularity due to Russian air raids being aimed at them and other rebel groups - but not IS.

 A month of heavy Russian bombing in Syria, falling almost exclusively on rebel-held towns and cities, has left IS militants in the north and east largely unscathed. It has allowed the extremists to direct their forces to defeating their rebel adversaries in Aleppo province, and cutting off the regime's lifeline to the southern Aleppo city. But the focus on fighting rebels rather than the regime has led many fighters to question the reasons for fighting "other Muslims". The IS leadership still refers to opposition groups - including al-Nusra Front - as "apostates", while most of its fighters are well aware that it is Bashar al-Assad's forces who are doing most of the killing in Syria. "There's senseless violence which a lot of fighters consider un-Islamic… people didn't join to spend half of their time fighting other opposition groups, they went to Syria to fight Assad and Shia domination of the region," the defence analyst said.

 The economy is in tatters, and recent efforts to introduce a gold currency suggest amateur and impulsive responses to their economic woes. Meanwhile, the health system - which was once referred to by IS idealists as being a mirror of the UK's National Health Service - has collapsed. Ironically, Russia and the regime are also appear to be targeting hospitals in rebel-held territories - making the overall situation for Syrians grim. But the fact that in IS territories public hospitals lie in waste while the group's leadership is treated with relatively high-standards highlights a discrepancy in its claims of moral leadership. It also underlines a very apparent gulf in wealth between the leadership and subjects in their territory, and most Syrians understand clearly that the projection of IS' utopia to the outside world is shrouded with lies. If we imagine the near future, IS will no longer be able to rely on popular support - and without an inexhaustible supply of manpower and money, its project is doomed.

 Even its capable and die-hard supporters have proven unable to defeat experienced opposition groups such as the Kurds and Free Syrian Army that offer more representative leadership and goals. In the end, the fate of IS might be decided by the fact that its population and ranks are voting with their feet and fleeing the territory.'

How to stop the bomb Syria bloc

 The most pro-Assad part of Andrew Murray, Chairman of the Stop the War Coaltion's, diatribe is,

'It is now pretty obvious that bombing by western powers is not going to roll back Islamic State. That could only be done by the forces of strong and sovereign states in Iraq and Syria, able to mobilise support from all sections of the people.'

He rolls back from that a little in this,

'Such preconditions only serve to prolong the conflict and to give either government or opposition hope that foreign military and diplomatic support could somehow lead to all-out victory.'

There is a clear difference between the estimation of the Russian and US interventions. Although he says,

'All foreign military intervention in Syria should end immediately,'

one is,

'the Anglo-American war front in the Middle East,'

while the other is,

'Our bipartisan armchair strategists are obviously riled by Russia’s escalating military involvement in Syria. But it is a fact.'

A couple of lies in series in response to the Cox/Mitchell letter, that Britain has been arming Syrian rebels, and that has escalated the refugee flow.

'Of course, if humanitarianism was really a consideration, Britain would have stopped funding and arming the Syrian civil war some time ago. It would be welcoming far more refugees from the conflict zone it has fuelled.'

A lie about those wanting to stop Assad and Russia's war on Syria. That they wanted Britain to go to war with Assad in 2013,

'In 2013 they were urging war against the Syrian government over its alleged use of chemical weapons.'

Two untruths, that Western funding caused the uprising against Assad to militarise, and that the uprising caused the rise of ISIS,

'The rise of Islamic State to control much of Syria’s territory – a consequence of the civil war fostered by the western powers, amongst others – seemed to offer another excuse for intervention.'

 

The argument against a no fly zone is asinine. Assad is doing the bombing, a no fly zone would stop him.

'The reality of “no fly zones” and “safe havens”, benign as they sound, is regime change. That is the clear aim of the proposal. Assad government forces – or those supporting it – would be the target.'

Of course the areas already cleared of régime forces by the moderate opposition would be the major beneficiaries, but that's not even on the radar of someone who knows so little about Syria.

'In Syria today, the winners from a war to set up safe-havens – an operation which would also require the deployment of grounds troops into Syria – would most likely be IS. It would be best placed to expand into many of the areas cleared of regime forces.'

People who supported revolutions used to be called socialists, not neo-conservatives. Shame on Andrew Murray for this slander, and that on the Free Syrian Army he claims is only a figment of Washington imagination.

'Such plans fuel the fantasises of neo-conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic who dream of creating a “third force” capable to taking over Syria in opposition both to Assad and to Islamic State.'

Too Weak, Too Strong

 'The Russian air strikes that have been taking place since the end of September are strengthening and raising the morale of the Syrian army.'

 That would be the Syrian army that has been retreating across Hama despite the Russian airstrikes. The pro-Assad lies are strong in this one.

 'Literally from the front line.'*

 No, a liar who has embedded himself with Assad's minders in hotels in Damascus, who never sees the destruction Assad does, never talks to the people he's doing it to, and who is quite capable of making up his presence at an incident Brian Williams style.[http://notris.blogspot.com/search?q=patrick+cockburn]

 'It needs partners on the ground who are fighting IS, but its choice is limited because those actually engaged in combat with the Sunni jihadis are largely Shia.'

 This is another lie. It is the Free Syrian Army that has been fighting against ISIS in Northern Syria for the last two years.

 'Shia leaders dismiss the idea, much favoured in Washington, that a sizeable moderate, non-sectarian Sunni opposition exists that would be willing to share power in Damascus and Baghdad.'

 A series of untruths. The opposition is not just Sunni, but Christian, Alawite and atheistic too. None of them are willing to share power with the torturers and rapists of the Assad régime, but want a democratic pluralist state. The Shia leaders, Iran and its proxies, don't want to share power, they've been pursuing a genocide in Syria precisely against the Sunnis above all.

 'In the swathe of countries most directly involved in the conflict – Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon – there are more than a hundred million Shia, who believe their own existence is threatened if Assad goes down, compared to thirty million Sunnis, who are in a majority only in Syria.'

 The figures show what a nonsense the excuse for supporting Assad in his genocide against Sunnis is. Very reminiscent of the Israeli claim that if they stop oppressing the Palestinians the Israelis will all be killed.

 'A few miles further on, in the town of Tal Abyad, which the YPG had captured from IS in June, a woman ran out of her house to wave down the police car I was following to say that she had just seen an IS fighter in black clothes and a beard run through her courtyard. The police said there were still IS men hiding in abandoned Arab houses in the town.'

 The allegation that Arab residents are member of ISIS is the justification for ethnic cleansing by the Kurdish forces, as Amnesty has noted. As with Assad, or the Russian bombing that Cockburn laments "has taken attention away" from the failure of the US campaign against ISIS, these war crimes just aren't part of his narrative.
[https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/syria-us-allys-razing-of-villages-amounts-to-war-crimes/]

 'Between 2011 and 2013 it was conventional wisdom in the West and much of the Middle East that Assad was going to be overthrown just as Gaddafi has been.'

 And it was only massive military assistance from Russia, which had to be bolstered by thousands of troops from Hezbollah, and thousands more from Iran's other proxy militias, that saved it from rebels who couldn't get their hands on anti-aircraft missiles, let alone the tanks and aeroplanes Assad has.

 'In late 2013 and throughout 2014, it was clear that Assad still controlled most populated areas, but then the jihadi advances in northern and eastern Syria in May revived talk of the regime’s crumbling.'

 If you read Cockburn through 2013 and 2014, you'll see repeated assertions of the strength of Assad, that he controls all the provincial capitals, that the army is strong, that all communities still supported him. As the régime has continued to hollow out, it is his assessment that has proved to have nothing in it, not that that Assad is a dictator who has relied almost entirely on force rather than consent since 2011, and now is a dead man walking with only a skeleton apparatus of power, who would be gone in five minutes if Iran and Russia left him to it, and will only last five minutes when the more united than ever Syrian rebel forces kick Iran and Russia out of their country.

 'Russian air support won’t be enough to defeat IS and the other al-Qaida-type groups.'

 Russian air support isn't going to do anything to defeat ISIS when it is used overwhelmingly against the Free Syrian Army. In fact the Russian bombing of the FSA has enabled ISIS to cut the régime's access to Aleppo, leading to the bizarre situation where the opposition has been asked to open a supply route by aid agencies to the area controlled by the people barrel bombing them. Russia's intervention is a disaster all round, but you'll never discover why from a study of Cockburn on its own.

*[http://discussion.theguardian.com/comment-permalink/62403589]

The horrors of Syria. We can end them

 'The West let the best strategy be the enemy of the good in Syria – and now we have seen the enormous price of not intervening, as it fell to Tony Blair to argue this week, in his partial mea culpa for the invasion of Iraq. The UK’s efforts in Syria have only tinkered at the edges of a humanitarian catastrophe. When Assad crossed Barack Obama’s stated red line in his use of chemical weapons in August 2013, the US president stood back and did nothing. All the time, Syria’s people faced slaughter – and now Vladimir Putin has stepped into the vacuum to shore up the faltering regime of the murderous Bashar al-Assad.

 I saw the humanitarian and security situation decline throughout three six-week visits to Syria in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Later, I told of what I saw in interviews: the children blown apart by barrel bombs; the snipers targeting pregnant women.

 An oft-repeated line was that all the anti-government protagonists are equally extreme, equally impossible Western allies. I can say that from my experience that they are not. Towards the end of my time there in 2014, I went to visit a Catholic Church in Aleppo. There, having tea with the priest, were a group of Free Syrian Army fighters, their rifles slung across their chests as they chatted amicably. The Church had been protected by the Free Syrian fighters and the priest respected for the kindness he showed to many sick and dying people. In March this year, I was shocked to hear that this kindly priest had been killed. Not by supposed Islamist rebels intent on destroying all those of other religions; but by a barrel bomb dropped by one of Assad’s helicopters.

 The West has so far abrogated its moral responsibility to the Syrian people and has paid a price not only in the hundreds of thousands of desperate refugees flocking to Europe’s shores but also in Putin’s audacious power play, so that we find ourselves in a situation where Russia, Iran and Hizbollah are leading this brutal dance.

 All the major powers involved are now to meet at a peace conference in Austria. Here’s what they must secure: a safe haven in Syria, probably from Aleppo northwards, which is free from air attacks and allows humanitarian access via corridors which can be policed by the UN or by a western coalition with the Gulf states and Turkey.'

One man's perilous journey from Syria to Europe

 "Please help us! The régime of Bashar al-Assad is killing us. Please! Every day there is blood..."

 Abu Salah was a blacksmith, who fled after his home town in Homs province, one of the first in Syria to rise up in revolution, was destroyed by the Assad régime.

'Wonderful' Windsor welcomes Syrian family

 'Al Hayik spent almost a month behind bars after he and other lawyers went on strike to protest the widely publicized torture killings of two young children at the hands of government agents. His boys, both university dental program students, spent a similar amount of time being tortured and interrogated after they joined protests sparked by politically active classmates being tossed to their death from university highrises by government thugs.

 But lawyer Al Hayik, 51, his wife Lina Alnatour and their seven children wouldn’t flee their homeland until later, after their homes, their wealth and their hopes had all but vanished.

 After government shelling damaged their villa in southern Syria, they moved to their city apartment in the capital Damascus, which, unfortunately, according to Al Hayik, was in a neighbourhood of 50,000 people targeted and destroyed by the forces of President Bashir al-Assad. They returned to their damaged villa but, by then, what had started as a peaceful “revolution” had morphed into civil war, with militias, radicals, foreign fighters and government troops locked in a battle of attrition with everyone else in their gunsights.'

 It is Assad who arrested and tortured them, it was Assad who flattened the homes of 50,000 people in their neighbourhood. So it seems to be false editorialising to say that everyone is shooting at them, to claim this is a civil war and not a revolution against Assad's genocide.

Russia Bombs Hospitals. Lefties Shrug

 Sam Charles Hamad:

 'Nowhere in any of Greenwald’s output will you find actual recognition of the victims of the Russian strikes and the circumstances that led to their deaths. The mention of Syrian casualties of Russian strikes by Greenwald features only as a means to point out U.S. hypocrisy.

 And this gets to the heart of the matter—Syrians facing brutality from the Assad regime and Russia can’t feature among the left because they are deemed to be unworthy of support due to their real or imagined proximity to the West. By some delusional twist, Syrians fighting for liberation are deemed to be the aggressors representing imperialism, while the Assad regime and Russia are seen as being the resistance to such imperialism. Amidst all the destruction wrought by the Syrian war, one perhaps small though significant casualty is the idea that the left could overcome the contradictions of its own history to reaffirm its founding principles.

 It claims to oppose Islamophobia, yet you can read a wide range of leftist writers invoking visceral appeals to Islamophobia and orientalsm by essentializing the Syrian rebels as “jihadis,” with deliberate obscurity. It claims to oppose the “war on terror,” yet the Manichean logic of the Bush era is reproduced in support of Russia’s intervention. It claims to be “anti-imperialist,” yet you have no less a figure as Noam Chomsky so absurdly and pathetically claim that Russia’s intervention in Syria is not “imperialist” since “it’s supporting a government,” while he endorses the conservative “realism” of Patrick Cockburn, whose writing has often come down on the side of the Assad regime.

 The brutal array of crimes committed by the Assad regime, Iran and Russia against the Syrian people are swept aside in some imagined geopolitical game that leftists think is unfolding. Internationalism is about breaking down the barriers that separate people and uniting struggles around the world—it’s not about constructing these delusional, byzantine buffers that determine which struggles we can and can’t support.

 If that is indeed to be a feature of the dominant form of leftism in the modern era, one which determines that one can be outraged by an American war crime in Kunduz but not a Russian one in Sarmin—I want no part of it.'

FSA rebels reject Russia military help

 "Vladimir Putin is assisting a regime that indiscriminately kills their own people," Issam al-Reis said. "How could we trust the Russians' help?"

 Mr Issam said the FSA would continue fighting President Bashar al-Assad, who "was not part of the solution" to ending Syria's civil war. "If the Syrians stood with Assad he would not ask for invaders to come to Syria."

 This must have come as a bit of a shock to the interviewer, Gavin Esler, who only a couple of weeks ago was telling us the FSA didn't really exist.*
*[http://notris.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/does-free-syrian-army-no-longer-exists.html]

Rebel Defiance as Assad Forces Get Bogged Down

 ' “The Russians are burning and flattening everything,” explains Abdul Rahman, a commander with the Ahfad Omer battalion, arguing the scorched-earth tactics are reminiscent of what the Russians did to the Chechen capital Grozny in 1994, reducing it to rubble. “There are 50 or 60 airstrikes a day,” he said. The difference is the Russians are not bombing a built-up city, but spread-out villages, some the poorest in northern Syria.

 “The solution is simple. It is not complicated. Assad, his inner circle, the security apparatus and all the intelligence agencies, all have to go,” said 35-year-old Zakaria Malahefji, a former higher education teacher and political officer of the 3,000-strong Fastaqim Kama Umirt.

 Having withstood more than three weeks of Russian bombing and Assad ground assaults, the rebels say they are relieved they have lost little territory, just five villages in the southern Aleppo countryside. “Our fighters are skilled fighting in the towns and all we need are Kalashnikovs,” said Col. Mo-hamed al-Ahmed, spokesman of militia alliance Al-Jabha al-Shamiyya (Shamiya Front). “The Assad regime knows it can’t fight in the city — so it is choosing to fight in the countryside,” added al-Ahmed, a Syrian Air Force pilot defector.

 Months before the Russian intervention, commanders lamented the difficulty in finding new recruits. That has changed, at least in rural areas. Now locals are eager to fight, so too are youngsters among the refugee population in neighboring Turkey. “Since the Russians came many people want to fight,” said al-Ahmed, sitting in a bare, dismal office in a ramshackle building adjacent to the wasteland in the Turkish border town of Kilis. “Before they said they didn’t want to kill fellow Syrians, but now they want to confront the Russians.” '

The Syrian army is a myth

 'The FSA was mainly born as part of the Syrian opposition project, which comes under the umbrella of the political coalition council that includes all of Syria’s religious and racial components. Sunnis, Kurds and Christians have served as its chiefs and its leaders include Alawites, Druze, Turkmen and others. However, Assad whom the Russians and the Iranians defend, no longer represents anyone, not even his small Alawite sect upon which he inflicted the biggest massacre against its sons as he forced them to engage in battles during the past four horrific years.

 There are in fact Syrian traffic police in Damascus; however there’s nothing called “the Syrian army” in the sense which the Russians keep mentioning. Even their Iranian allies avoid using the term “Syrian army” as they consider themselves Syria’s armed forces.

 It’s not only the Syrian army which has evaporated. During the past four years of the war, the structure of the security forces’ institutions and intelligence apparatuses, which were once described as among the strongest in the world, have been destroyed. Therefore, the Russians and Iranians must not try and paint a false picture regarding what’s happening in Syria. The truth is no longer a secret due to the several parties fighting there. There is currently no state, no system, no legitimate president, no security forces and no army in Syria.'

Who Are the Moderate Opposition in Syria?

 Gareth Bayley, UK Special Representative for Syria:

 'The Syrian Moderate Opposition are made up of people who subscribe neither to the values of the regime, nor of ISIL, nor of al-Qaida. They are people fighting for Syria. Many Syrian citizens joined Moderate Opposition groups in 2011 or even before then in response to Regime brutality against the Syrian people. They have been imprisoned and tortured by the regime and lost family members and friends, but are determined to give Syrians a better future. These groups represent a range of political views, but are today united in their aim to fight ISIL, oppose Assad and support a political transition to get Syrians a fair, democratic and representative government.

 Taken together, Opposition groups have over eighty thousand armed men fighting both the regime and ISIL. Their support is crucial for a political solution, and they have strong credibility with much of the Syrian population. This credibility means they offer the best hope of defeating ISIL in Syria, from both a military and ideological point of view.

 85% of Russian strikes have been in areas where ISIL is not even present. Russia is targeting Moderate Opposition fighters opposed to the Assad regime. Russia seems to be playing along with the regime's fantasy that all Opposition groups are terrorists. In fact, the majority of Opposition groups are moderate. Russia's actions are killing the Moderate Opposition; the only people fighting against ISIL. Russian activities could allow ISIL to make territorial gains.

 Moderate Opposition forces in Western Syria had removed the ISIL presence from almost all of their territory, and are fighting the most intense battles against ISIL anywhere in Syria in the area north of Aleppo City. However the Assad regime, with a few exceptions, has rarely targeted ISIL areas or engaged in large-scale confrontations with the organisation. Whilst the 50km frontline between ISIL and Opposition forces in Northern Syria sees daily fighting, the 130km frontline between ISIL and the Regime is usually quiet.

 Jaysh Al-Fatah is not a single organisation. It is a loose mechanism for coordination between different groups fighting both the Assad regime and ISIL. This mechanism does contain some terrorist elements - principally The Al-Nusra Front, although most of the groups involved are not extremists or terrorists. The reason for this coordination is practical. The Al-Nusra Front is currently concentrating on fighting the regime. The Moderate Opposition is already fighting both the regime, and ISIL and now being bombarded by the Russians. It cannot afford to attack Al-Nusra as well at this stage. Rather it is concentrating on fighting the enemy who are continuing to target civilians with impunity. The Russian argument that everyone who coordinates with Jabhat Al-Nusra is themselves a terrorist is patently false and ignores the reality of the conflict. If the regime stopped bombing its own people and seriously looked at engaging in a political process, the Moderate Opposition would be able to weaken and confront Al-Nusra. But right now, they cannot afford to have that battle.'

 I am surprised at something so accurate coming from a British government official. He does mention that we aren't actually doing anything to help the military struggle of the moderate opposition against Assad, the Russians and ISIS.

These Syrian Rebel Leaders Have A Warning For Russia

 'The Russian Defense Ministry claims to be targeting ISIS, but the majority of targets appear to be the Syrian rebels fighting both ISIS and the Assad regime.

 “There is no difference,” says Abo Hamza, a commander of the Free Syrian rebels in Aleppo. “The Russian interference in every country is the same. The Russian regime is repressive and dictatorial, and works against any revolution which is against the other dictatorships they support.”

 The rebels in Syria acknowledge that the Russian intervention presents a huge challenge for them, but they remain optimistic. “We are steadfast,” says Colonel Ahmad Eissa.” We will defeat the Russian intervention…This is not a normal war. This is a revolution of the people.” '

 Note 15/5/25, link not working.

Destruction in Al-Lataminah, Syria after Russian airstrikes

   "Al-Lataminah was inhabited during the Stone Age."

Syrian Refugee Family Needs Helping Hand In Pomona

 ' “Life in Syria is horrible,” says Fouad Wawieh. He and his family escaped the violence-riddled town of Dumas — targeted by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and his supporters. “Him and his gangsters. he destroyed Syria. And there is nothing left.”

 The oldest son, Omar, had to escape on his own. Teenage boys who do not support the revolution are also targeted, Wawieh said. “I would have been captured. I would’ve been tortured. I would’ve been beat,” Omar said.

 They aren’t looking back and can’t imagine ever going back to Syria, unless, of course, the Assad regime is forced out. “He is the cause of our misery. him and his gangsters,” Wawieh said.'

Regime forces detain women to negotiate bodies of dead

 'The régime forces yesterday kidnapped a group of 10 women and children at a hill checkpoint of the eastern side of north Homs while they were trying to flee to escape the bombing of the régime and Russian airforce of villages and neighborhoods in the Homs region.'



Note 15/5/25, link broken.

Russia paves way for regime’s advance on Aleppo

 'Until now Iran had tried to avoid a public show of its role in the war, fearing that it would be portrayed as a Shia invasion force, amplifying already febrile sectarian tensions. Mohammed al-Sheikh, a senior member of an FSA-aligned unit called Division 1, said: “We know that, if the Iranians bomb us, it would be the start of the third world war. Everyone from the Arab world would come and join us, because it would be a Persian attack on Syria. This is why the regime has played it smartly, by bringing in the Russians.

 For the regime, Aleppo is the economic hub. If we lose Aleppo, it doesn’t mean we lose the war, it means we lost a phase. Our friends understand the gravity of the situation, but their hands are tied by politics and international agreements. We are the Syrians who are losing on a daily basis because of these politics. If we look at who has what in Syria, you will see that Isis is only controlling the desert, and it is worthless. Yes, they have oil and water, but now we are controlling the core of Syria and that’s why the regime is crying for help.”

 “We are confused about the Americans,” said Malafji. “We can only see the Americans active near the Kurdish areas, but not anywhere else.” From a base in Aleppo’s southeast, not far from the city’s airport that is still used by the regime, Abdur Rahman, a long-term member of an Islamist unit, said: “We used to dream about the sound of F-16s. But for us it’s just the Syrian planes, and the deeper roar of the Russian jets. That’s our fate.” '

Russia's ‘quagmire’ destroys all hope of defeating ISIS

 Kenan Rahmani:

 'The first Russian airstrikes in Syria targeted Talbiseh, a rebel-held village in the northern suburbs of Homs, killing 30 civilians and 3 children. That Sunni community has been a hotbed of anti-Assad activity since early 2011, and for the past few months, its residents have been resisting advances by nearby ISIS. Just before Russia bombed Talbiseh, ISIS assassinated 3 of the town’s Sunni clerics because they had rallied local rebel fighters and residents to fight ISIS. Russia’s attacks on these anti-ISIS communities effectively makes Russia the air force of ISIS.

 By eliminating the moderates and empowering ISIS, Putin is forcing Obama to accept Assad’s role in the fight against ISIS and in a future Syria. Sadly, it seems Obama has succumbed to Putin’s strategy even if it means that ISIS will win, at least in the short term. On Monday, the administration’s spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, Army Colonel Steve Warren, said: "We have seen ISIL make progress based on Russian airstrikes." The next day, White House spokesman Josh Earnest reminded reporters that countering Russia's involvement in Syria is not a high priority. Combined, these statements are a tragic admission of Obama’s resignation to accepting ISIS because of his unwillingness to confront Putin and Assad.

 The White House should be worried now, not only that the policy goal of a Geneva-type Syrian peace process has become impossible, but that Putin’s actions may have destroyed all hopes of defeating ISIS too. Though many Syrians want to fight ISIS, their first priority is to stop the number one killer of civilians: the regime’s barrel bombs, which now have Russian backing. The no-fly zone that Syrian rebels need in order to focus on fighting ISIS is needed now more than ever, but it has also become more difficult and less likely due to the newest player in Syria’s skies. And while Russia targets the anti-ISIS rebels in Idlib, Latakia, and Aleppo, it is openly challenging radical Islamists from around the world to a fight that the Syrian people will pay the price for.

 Obama long ago abdicated the U.S.’s moral imperative to protect Syrian civilians, and to promote peace. Now he is also capitulating to Putin on a core strategic imperative by failing to recognize and confront Russia’s empowerment of ISIS. This may be the final nail in the coffin of the US’s fight against ISIS, which has already been a complete failure due to micromanagement of the anti-ISIS airstrikes and a laughably misguided train-and-equip program. Any hope of ending this horrible conflict--or even just defeating ISIS--has now been lost, and all that a generation of Syrians will remember is that U.S. and Russian warplanes joined the Assad regime in bombing their country to oblivion.'

Russia is the newest Syria bully

 'Unfortunately, the SRD hospital is not the only hospital Russian jets have targeted. At the beginning of their campaign, Russian jets targeted three hospitals near the Turkish border including two hospitals that provided services to civilians and children.

 In this latest Russian assault on Aleppo, the collusion game between the Assad regime, and #ISIS has apparently widened to now include Russia. Without the assistance of both Russia and Assad, it is highly unlikely that Daesh (ISIS) would be able to seize five villages on the northern edge of Aleppo from Syrian rebels. The Syrian rebels have recently been empowered with new weapons from the Turkish – Saudi Arabia – Qatar coalition, backed by the US.

 In the starkest testimony of how ISIS is favored by the Assad regime, Shahba Press Agency, a Free Syrian News Agency, reported about a dissident Abu Uys Libyan who defected from Daesh with other dissidents. Nazeer Al-Khatib, Editor at Shahba Press Agency, said, “The interview of the Libyan defector exposed Daesh and its operations was a slap in the organization's (Daesh’s) face. He witnessed and exposed the game that ISIS is playing throughout the region.”

 Abu Uys Libyan said, “We were with ISIS for several months and were fortified only a hundred meters from the regime’s army. They (Daesh) did not make any move against Assad’s army and the regime did not make any move against them. Not a shot was fired on us.”

 Nazeer al-Khatib said, "Surrendering the free areas and surrounding areas to the regime is another spoof that the regime and ISIS are executing through their mutual agreement." Abu Libyan spoke of Daesh and the regime “seizing then dividing areas that are held by the Sunnis.” Nazeer said that the Libyan dissidents went to al-Nusra.'



 Note 15/5/25, link broken.

The Israel-Russia ‘Axis of Resistance’

Michael Karadjis:

 'Iran, Russia and Israel have the same fundamental view on Syria.

 Of course, Iran and Israel haven’t much looked like they do over 2013-2015. That’s because Israel and Iran have a clash over the broader region, which then gets partly played out in Syria when Iranian proxy forces (eg Hezbollah) get close to the stolen Golan, or when Iranian missiles are getting moved across Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. But that’s not really about Syria, or Assad, as such; that’s about Assad’s survival becoming increasingly dependent on the Iranian occupation.

 So what do I mean the three countries, including two declared enemies, “agree” on Syria?
Basically, Plan A is that the the Assad regime must be preserved, and if possible restored to control over larger areas of Syria, as the power to look after their interests in Syria. These interests include, for Russia, its Mediterranean naval bases in Tartous on the north coast; for Iran, its connection to Hezbollah in Lebanon via the Qalamoun region between the Lebanese border and Damascus; for Israel, restoration of Assad to his role as best border cop protecting Israel’s control over the Golan.

 More generally, all three are threatened by a revolutionary uprising dominated by the largely Sunni Arab masses of Syria, but then again, so are the Gulf states, Turkey, US imperialism etc, without such specific interests; and all three, like their mutual friend al-Sisi of Egypt, are particularly good at using “anti-jihadist” language to justify this stance.

 However, if this is impossible, then Plan B calls for the creation of an Alawite-dominated statelet (even if unofficial), consisting of the heavily Alawite coastal provinces (Latakia and Tartous) through the Lebanese border region (Homs and the Qalamoun) down to Damascus. Such a sectarian partition would aim to keep the “great unwashed” Sunni masses of “jihadists” (ie, the worker-peasant Sunni Arab majority, the backbone of the revolution) at bay behind defensible lines.

 Such a statelet would serve the key Iranian interest, which is centred on the Qalamoun, and the key Russian interest, which is centred on the coast. But if it didn’t reach beyond Damascus down to the Golan “border,” it would not be able to serve the key Israeli interest.'

Obama’s legacy tarnished as Putin fills vacuum in Syria

 Muhammad Idrees Ahmad:

 'Vladimir Putin can face little resistance if he bombs an ambulance in Idlib when a US gunship incinerates a hospital in Kunduz. Bashar Al Assad can get away with murder because he has conveniently pronounced his opponents “terrorists”.

 The conflict in Syria is often described as a “proxy war” between the US and Russia. Syrian rebels are rarely mentioned without the obligatory prefix “US-backed”. (The regime army on the other hand isn’t often described as “Russian-backed”.) The backing, though tangible, takes distinctly different forms; and the support that the contending parties have received reflects the character of their patrons.

 Not used to doing things by half, Russia has supplied the Syrian regime with bombers, gunships, armour and missiles. The US, on the other hand, has spent many years trying to ensure that no anti-aircraft weapon would reach Syrian rebels lest it affect its ally Israel’s ability to bomb Syria with impunity. Instead, its support has taken the form of non-lethal aid, such as night-vision goggles and satellite phones. It took many years before it supplied outdated TOW anti-tank missiles but has refrained from passing on any game-changing technology.

 On several occasions, US officials’ commitment to the war on terror ideology has obliged them to welcome Russia as a potential partner against ISIL. Little thought is given to the toll this might extract, given Russia’s looser definition of a terrorist, and what an emboldened Mr Putin might do next.

 “In all times and places,” said Thomas Hobbes, “nature abhors a vacuum.” The vacuum Mr Obama left in Syria has been filled by Mr Putin. This is now Mr Obama’s legacy: the abyss gazing back. At least we can now recognise that the war on terror is also a war of terror.'

Does the Free Syrian Army no longer exist?

 'As always the Free Syrian Army [FSA] proves to be an active military force combating against Assad regime forces and its allies throughout Syria, and also actively contributing in liberating territories from Assad regime and from the Iranian and Russian occupation in Syria. Western media don’t give the FSA enough coverage despite they are fighting throughout Syria and they are operating on many fronts against Assad regime troops and Islamic State fighters. The Free Syrian Army do have a weak presence in north-western [Idlib] of the country but they have a strong presence in Aleppo, Central and in the South, also they have contributed a lot in liberating territories from the Assad regime forces.

 On 7th October, the Assad regime backed Russian military personal and airstrikes launched an offensive on northern suburbs of Hama, in order to re-capture the opposition held territories in northern suburbs of Hama from two sides. Syrian Army [SAA] are willing to capture the Highway [Hama – Talbiseh] and also capturing all opposition territories from Rastan to Talbiseh. The FSA units have managed to stall their offensive and destroyed more than 20 Tanks and armoured vehicles using TOW missiles despite the heavy shelling and airstrikes from the Russian airforce, the FSA have managed to hold their line of defence.

 The Free Syrian Army proved to the world that they do exist and they are fighting for freedom of the Syrians, Syrian people who are sacrificing for the revolution do support the Free Syrian Army because they are fighting clearly for the revolution and to bring an end to the Assad regime."



 No kidding on the Western media. Just this morning there's an interchange between Gavin Esler and Jim Muir on the BBC news channel.

 Gavin Esler: "There really isn't any moderate opposition in Syria, is there?"
 Jim Muir: "No. There is al-Qaida, and other Islamists."

 Jim Muir went on to say that the supply of weaponry by regional powers to these Islamists was part of a CIA plan B when the training programme only produced a handful of fighters (he said it was that they were fighting ISIS, rather than having to promise not to fight Assad that made them targets). He had heard this from 'a diplomat in the region', which seemed to be Patrick Cockburn's code for someone in the Iraqi government who supports Assad.'

Cartoonist Believed Murdered by Syrian Regime

 ' “Akram Raslan is a martyr, and a witness to the fact that the regime and Islamic State are two sides of one axe,” cartoonist Ali Ferzat wrote on his Facebook page following the news. “They both represent the death of art and of thought.”

 Raslan was arrested by Assad’s mukhabarat agents on October 2, 2012, while working at the Al-Fida newspaper in Hama. Then 34 years old, he had been criticizing the Syrian regime since the 2011 siege of Daraa through cartoons — he published more than 300 of them. One shows the suited president grinning devilishly by a pile of bloody bodies; another depicts him as an anaconda strangling Syria to death. The cartoon that purportedly got him jailed has Assad surrounded by flames and holding a sign that reads, “Assad, or the country burns.” '

Russia just handed ISIS a 'big win' in Syria's largest city

 'ISIS militants seized five villages on the northern edge of Aleppo, putting them within 1 mile of territory held by the Syrian regime, Reuters reports. Russian airstrikes in the area reportedly killed hundreds of anti-regime rebels, many of whom ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, and Daesh) was also fighting. "Daesh has exploited the Russian air strikes and the preoccupation of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army in its battles in Hama, and advanced in Aleppo," one rebel commander told Reuters.

 "The Russians are following the same script as the Syrian regime, which is basically to avoid ISIS as much as they can because ISIS is useful," Hassan said. "ISIS can attack the rebels. It’s not in the heartlands, it's in areas that are farther away. ... If ISIS attacks the rebels in Aleppo, that’s good news for the Russians and the regime." Consequently, Russia would hit ISIS harder only if the group creeps into regime strongholds. "The regime and Russians will focus on the heartlands — Hama, Damascus, but not Palmyra," which is an ISIS stronghold, Hassan said.'

 Compare that to Patrick Cockburn's latest litany of misdirection*:

 'There have been a lot of air strikes around Palmyra, and I think that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which [is pro-opposition], I think yesterday they said there have been 34 strikes there. And to the west of there. There seem to be a lot of strikes there. It's fairly clear that the Russians are attacking ISIS and they're also attacking Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham, which are--Jabhat al-Nusra is the Al-Qaeda representative. Ahrar al-Sham is not much different. These are all from some, in the Western media, described as [moderates]. I don't know why, because they really are not. They're very much the same ideology as the Islamic State. A lot of their commanders are former Islamic [State], ISIS people.'

*[https://therealnews.com/pcockburn1008nato]

Local Syrians watch crisis from a distance

 ' “It’s a very close community, and it was not before the revolution,” said Salem, who grew up in Damascus and came to the United States in 1996. “After 2011, when it started, a lot of Syrians started looking for others.”

Like many others, Salem spends his days worrying about relatives who are unable to leave his homeland. Salem’s parents now live with him and his family in Sharon; his wife’s parents became homeless two years ago after a rocket destroyed their home in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city. He also has two sisters who still live in Damascus and suffer through bombardments and a lack of water and electricity.

“We’ve lost multiple family members, cousins mostly,” Salem said. “Some were detained and tortured to death in regime prisons and others [died] due to Syrian Air Force aerial bombing.” '

What Syria’s refugees think about Israel

 ' “Israel and Bashar [Assad] – same-same,” said Khalid el-Hassan, a 17-year-old from the Syrian coastal city of Tartus who recently made his way to Berlin.

 “I think what’s happening now is Obama’s responsibility; if Obama wanted he could stop the war,” said Suleiman, who has five surviving children. “For 10 years I worked to build a house, and now it’s all crushed by Assad’s bombs,” she said. “I tried living under ISIS control, but anybody who said anything that disagreed with ISIS was beheaded.”

 Idris Abdulah, 30, an unemployed Syrian Kurd who came to Germany a year ago, said it wasn’t fair to blame America for ISIS; he fingered Assad for creating the ISIS problem by releasing Islamic militants from Syrian prisons shortly after the outbreak of the civil war. “We all hate the American government because it’s not doing anything for the Syrian people even though it can. We don’t hate American people.” '

80,000 displaced from Hama following Russian strikes

 'Al-Masri said that the Assad regime is backed by the Russian regime and its warplanes, and that he believed the regime is now able to control north Hama, a precedent that demonstrates the regime's treachery and non-compliance with the truce as a peaceful solution. He added that Assad's regime only understands the language of aggression.

 He added that Russia is the Syrian people’s enemy and the regime’s partner in killing their children, and appealed to the free world to support Syria’s women and children. He also called on all factions to stand up to the regime's brutality.

 Syrian citizen, Abu Ahmed, said that he fled the regime's shelling of his city of Al-Lataminah two years ago and headed to Kafr Nabudah, but he can now sense the spirit of displacement looming once again.

 Abu Ahmad said that Syrians only found olive groves for shelter after the town was shelled. He noted that the world has abandoned Syrians leaving them in the hands of Russians and Iranians.'

Majority of Syrian Refugees in Germany Blame Assad

 'Adopt a Revolution spokesman Elias Perabo said that the results show clearly that Syrians want to return – although the essential precondition was the removal of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

 More than two-thirds of the refugees – 70 percent – said the Assad regime was responsible for the conflict in their country, while 32 percent blamed Isis.

 "The German government and the EU must recognize that the greatest cause of flight in Syria is Assad and his barrel bombs [improvised explosives dropped from aircraft] and adapt their policies accordingly," Green party leader Cem Özdemir said in response to the findings.

 "We have to bring an end to the brutal terror of Isis in the region, but as long as Assad rules in Syria, the country will not find lasting peace." '

Syrian Journalist Wins Award for Courageous Reporting

 ' "The Syrian media always conveyed the same, that there was no conflict, no demonstrations, no shelling, no bombardment, nothing. The message from the regime is 'the sun is shining, the birds are singing, nothing, nothing at all is happening in Syria.

 If we stop, no history will be recorded, and only the loud voices will be heard - the voices of the most powerful, whether it's the regime or the extremists," she said. "If we stop, no one is going to hear the voice of the vulnerable."

 Elena Kudimova, sister of Politkovskaya and a member of the RAW in WAR nominations committee, said: "This brave woman ... is doing the same dangerous work as Anna did.
The newspaper she runs is a rare source of truthful facts for the people in Syria, who are left either in an information vacuum or are subjected to heavy state propaganda." '

Syrians should not be told Assad can stay

 Lina Sergie Attar:

 'Every so often, I’m asked to make the argument why Mr Al Assad and his deadly regime no longer have a place in Syria’s future. The very question seems like an insult. Then I remember to not answer would be a greater insult to our dead who were killed chanting for the tyrant to leave.

 So why should Mr Al Assad go? He should go because the Syrian people deserve to live free from the regime’s security apparatus that has terrorised thousands of innocents over four decades.

 He should go because no people in the world should live under the constant threat of barrel bombs on their homes. He should go because why must millions flee in exchange for the few to stay?

 He should go because even when we convince ourselves that we live in a world of “no more good options”, it’s never acceptable to justify genocide. He should go because there will never be peace in Syria with him or his regime in power.

 My greatest fear, one that has materialised over and over since 2011, is that these very lines may also read like a cruel joke 36 months from now. It is when numbers like 250,000 dead and 11 million displaced make us wince and ask: Were there really so few dead, only that many refugees, back in 2015? Why didn’t we stop the violence when we had a chance?'

Government forces responsible for more civilian deaths

 'Amnesty International UK’s Syria Campaign Manager Kristyan Benedict told The Independent: “It’s absolutely no secret that the vast majority of civilian deaths in Syria have been at the hands of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.

 Syrian government forces have launched indiscriminate attack after indiscriminate attack on the country’s beleaguered civilian population.

 Barrel bombings have become the most notorious of Assad’s forces’ tactics, but we mustn’t forget that countless people have also died at the hands of army snipers, through starvation in besieged areas, and at the hands of torturers in government detention centres.

 It’s important that ISIS’s many crimes are properly documented and the perpetrators brought to justice, but the far bigger killing machine in Syria is the one made in Damascus." '

Russia’s Giving ISIS An Air Force

 'YouTube shows the burning wreckage of the Russian airstrike, in Mansoura, in the western suburbs of Aleppo, as the local commander known as Abu Mohammed taunts his enemy: “Thank God, we are all fine,” says Abu Mohammed. “We don’t fear Russia or anyone helping the Russians. Bashar, we will remain resistant fighting you even without any ammunition or bullets. We will fight you with knives. We don’t need ammunition, Allahu Akhbar.”

 The cameraman then adds that the Russians weren’t the only ones hitting the brigade yesterday. “The Russian airplanes are targeting Suqour al-Jabal’s weapon depots in Aleppo and ISIS attacked the bases with explosives at the same time.”

 Today, Russian warplanes heavily bombarded several targets along a salient in Hama province, reportedly using thermobaric munitions and the same multiple launch rocket systemsearlier employed to devastating effect in east Ukraine. At the same time, Assad’s army advanced to dislodge the rebels from towns such as Kafr Zita, Morek and Kafr Nabudah. But the army failed, principally because many of its Free Syrian Army opponents were equipped with TOW guided anti-tank missiles, all supplied by the CIA. As many as 18 regime tanks (all manufactured in Russia or the former Soviet Union) were destroyed by these weapons in a 24-hour period. And the rebels held their ground in Hama.'

 It's actually looking like as many as 24 tanks were destroyed or captured by the rebels in Hama yesterday. The Russian strategy is in tatters.

Those who don’t die in air raids will when regime invades

Q: "Do you believe the regime is capable of storming the region?"

"Not really. The area is reactively large. We trust that our destiny is tied to the destiny of the rebels and the Free Syrian army."

Syria pushes to qualify for World Cup for first time

 ' “Any Syrian is going to be happy that there is a Syrian team that is competing on the world stage,” said Kenan Rahmani, a 27-year-old student at American University's Washington College of Law. “But it is a team that is run by the same government that is killing its own citizens. The Syrian people have suffered every tragedy you could ever imagine. It is hard to think about soccer when there are terrible forces destroying our country.” '

Uncomfortable Facts

 Robin Yassin-Kassab:

 'It seems regime/ Iranian ground offensives will follow, particularly in northern Homs and the areas of Hama and Lattakia near the regime’s coastal stronghold. The aim is to shore up Assad’s collapsing regime in the fifth of Syria he retains. The larger hope is to destroy the opposition, leaving only Assad and ISIS standing. Then the West may more openly back Assad to take the rest of the country back.

 The imperialist assault will undoubtedly extend the war in time and expand it in space. The coming months may see grievous setbacks for opposition forces. In the end, however, Russian bombs will not be able to alter the demographic reality any more than Assad’s bombs or the Iranian militias could before. Assad is running out of fighting men; foreign troops, however many arrive, can extend but not win his war. And not only the opposition militias but the majority of the Syrian people too will refuse to cooperate with any plan envisaging regime survival. For them Assad, not ISIS, is the supreme evil, and with good reason: Assad’s forces are responsible for the overwhelming majority of civilians killed and driven out.

 Beyond that, Russia’s economy shrank by 5% last year. Russia isn’t strong so much as it is constantly appeased. But Syria’s fighters are in no mood for appeasement. When the Russians first walked into Afghanistan, when the Americans first walked into Vietnam, they thought their operations would be easy and brief…'

The revolution has triumphed and Assad has fallen

 'Syrian revolutionary factions announce the victory of the revolution and the fall of the Assad regime.

 Revolutionary factions fighting in Syria announced that the Syrian Revolution has triumphed and the Assad regime has fallen effectively. They call all syrians inside and abroad to mobilize to defend their land and honor, in the coming war of liberation against the Russian and Iranian occupation that Assad regime called for help.

 This came in a joint statement signed by all the factions fighting on the ground and who consider Russia aggression, an occupation which began with the massacre in the northern Homs where 50 civilians have been killeds.

 The statement call for all factions to unite to liberate the land and defend their identity.

 The statement : https://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2015/10/05/syria-statement-by-the-major-armed-factions-concerning-the-russian-agression/'

Moscow scuppers US coalition plans for no-fly zone

 'Just weeks ago, after months of diplomacy, officials were close to an agreement on enforcing aerial safe-zones to end the Assad regime’s bombing of civilians in northern and southern Syria, according to diplomats and military officials in the US-led coalition. The agreement was based on Jordanian and Turkish plans presented earlier this year.

 “The Russian forces now in place make it very, very obvious that any kind of no-fly zone on the Libyan model imposed by the US and allies is now impossible, unless the coalition is actually willing to shoot down Russian aircraft,” says Justin Bronk, research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute.

 Preventing the creation of US-led coalition no-fly zones in Syria is important for Moscow’s influence over events in the country. With the Assad regime’s territorial grip looking fragile in recent months, the added imposition of a US-led coalition no-fly zone could have forced negotiations that would have led to a loss of Russia’s influence. Now any diplomatic or political process that does occur will do so on Moscow’s terms.'

Russian intervention shows Assad collapse

 ' "Russia's interference in Syria is a sign Assad's army is collapsing. In 2013, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah said, 'We joined the war because the Free Syrian Army was getting close to Damascus.' Then in 2014, Shia militias entered because Hezbollah couldn't protect the régime, and now all these groups couldn't protect the régime, so we have Russia.

 Russia considers anyone fighting the régime as their enemy. They didn't come here to fight ISIL, they are bombing civilians and the Free Syrian Army, and even other groups who are receiving foreign support.

 America has no clear plan. They have let down the Syrian people. it's a very weak administration. They have left it all in Russia's hands. They didn't support their partners on the ground, and even the group they trained, they left them to face their fate against the régime and Russia's bombs. There's been no reaction."

 He says what keeps his men fighting is that they have a just cause, fighting for freedom, dignity, and the need to rebuild a free Syria for the next generation.'

 Note 15/5/25, link broken.

Bashar al-Assad is Syria's problem, not its solution

 'The situation on the ground in Syria is ripe for a concerted air campaign that can assist the two major rebel coalitions ready to take Damascus and turn the course of the war. These two forces -- "Army of Conquest" in the north and "Southern Front" in the south -- are strategically positioned, battle hardened, and more than equipped to carry out what will be required by land. All they require is sustained air support that can neutralize the remnants of Assad's army brigades, national defense forces, and Hezbollah/Iranian battalions, as well as prevent Syrian planes (and now maybe Russian ones as well) from dispatching their dreaded and devastating barrel bombs. With such assistance these coalitions will be able to move into Damascus and take the capital city on their own.

 Russia's growing military alliance with Iran and al-Assad in the name of defeating ISIS is a disconcerting development that complicates the situation in the Middle East. However, it is clear that the major Arab powers in the region, led by Saudi Arabia, cannot sit back and let the Russians and their proxies dictate the course of events. Over 300,000 Syrians have died and 4 million are now refugees. ISIS must be destroyed, but that can only occur once al-Assad is removed from power. Thus, we are likely to see in the near future a concerted Saudi coalition moving into Syria by air and providing the anti-Assad coalition forces the cover they need to break the stalemate of this war and, hopefully, bring it to an end.'

Here's the new FSA statement to Russia and Iran

 ' "The al-Assad regime said the Russian and Iranian forces are “fighting terrorism”,
while in fact they are only assisting the regime in its crimes against Syrians.

 Your masks had fallen and your true faces are revealed. Especially for those countries
who pretended to be our friends and support the Syrian revolution. Therefore we
consider Russian and Iranian forces and government as our enemies and preserve
our right to fight them as occupying forces.

 We reject and refuse the dividing of Syrian land, and promise the Syrian people that
we will do our best to restore our land in full. This is a goal that we will sacrifice our
life for.

 The scene is now clear for all Syrians— our appeals to the Arab and Muslim world
were in vain after their silence on the regime's crimes. But this has only increased
our determination and energy. May God bring us back victorious."

 "Amid an international shift in favor of—or at least ambivalence toward— Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad remaining in power, opposition groups and rebel factions
have unified against the tide. Also on Saturday, the Syrian opposition's external
political wing Syrian National Coalition (SNC) joined powerful Islamist factions
and Western-backed rebel groups in Syria to sign a statement against a UN
peacemaking framework drafted in July." '

Occupation: Photographer of corpses

 ' "My name is Caesar. I used to work for the Syrian regime. I was a photographer in the military police in Damascus. Before the revolution, I was responsible for taking photographs of crimes and accidents involving the military. This included suicides, drowning, and road and fire accidents.

 I had not seen anything like this before. Before the revolution the regime would torture detainees to extract information, but they were now doing so to kill.

 I saw wax marks and I once saw a round mark from a small stove used to make tea that had burned the face and hair of one of the bodies. Some of them had deep wounds, gouged eyes, broken teeth and marks from being hit by electric cables used to start car batteries."

 Caesar wanted to stop working and defect, but Sami talked him into staying, because he was the only one who could gather insider evidence against the regime. He promised to stand by him - no matter what happened.

 For two years, and despite the risk, Caesar copied millions of pictures of prisoners, which can be seen today online and at the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC.'

The choice is not only Assad or Isis

 'It seems clear that the immediate goal of the Russian attacks is to degrade and demoralise moderate opposition forces as they, and not Isis, constitute the real challenge to Assad’s legitimacy. Colonel Abdul-Jabbar Akidi, former commander of Aleppo operations, told me that the Russians want to kill us all so they can convince the west that it is either Assad or Isis in Syria.

 One Christian fighter for the Free Syrian Army, who leads a small FSA group, tells me that while Muslim fighters in his group do observe their religious duties faithfully, all of them are fighting for a free and democratic Syria in which Syrians enjoy equal rights, regardless of their religious or ethnic origins.

 Another FSA officer, Colonel Abdulsalam Almerei, commander of Talbeissa operations in northern Homs, told me two days ago after his brigade was attacked by Russian aeroplanes: “We have no Isis here, we are fighting for our freedom and dignity. We want a united Syria for all Syrians. We do not want to oppress any sect or change one tyranny with another.”

 Many Syrians have lost faith in the UN; they feel that the international community has abandoned them to the barbaric killing machines of Assad and Isis. The international law states that the principle of responsibility to protect civilians overrides the principle of sovereignty of states when a government kills its own people.'