Our World - Syria - Descent into Hell

 'The more enthusiastic parts of the crowd started singing the winds of change have blown.'

The Syrian people will not submit, nor the permanent popular revolution

 'The big Western imperialist powers, other global imperialist powers such as Russia and China, and regional powers like Iran, as a whole, and without exception, continue to implement in Syria a Yemeni-type solution, in other words, cut off the head of the regime.'

 When people on the Left say, "the ongoing war in Syria, which is likely to worsen unless the protagonists step back and search for a diplomatic solution"*, they echo this desire to keep the structure of the régime intact. The more outspoken supporters of official intervention are propbably sincere in their desire to see a real change, but a foreign-imposed solution is a recipe for an even less accountable administration.

 I see the author of this article, Joseph Daher, member of the Syrian revolutionary Left, is a PhD student and assistant at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. Co-founder of the blog Cafe Thawra and founder of the Syria Freedom blog, he is co-author (with John Rees) of “The People Demand. A short history of the Arab revolutions”. He doesn't share Mr.Rees' views on Syria.

*http://original.antiwar.com/…/09/28/syria-and-the-dogs-of-…/

Babylon Is Falling

 'Kurds Prepare to Pursue More Autonomy in a Fallen Syria'

[http://www.nytimes.com/…/kurds-to-pursue-more-autonomy-in-a…]

Revolutionary press blooms underground in Syria

 "Our goal is to run an objective paper that is open to every Syrian's views," he said. "Right now, while we're being shelled, it's a little hard not to take sides."

Dope For Guns

 They're not having to retreat every time the government forces advance now, so victory may be much closer.

 'For commanders assembled at the headquarters of Aleppo's main rebel unit, the Liwa al-Tawhid Brigade, the current stalemate in Syria's second city boils down to a lack of ammunition. Their current depleted supply, used sparingly by snipers, is just enough to defend the positions they hold but not to advance, as regime forces and rebels remain holed up either side of the front line.'

Libyan fighters 'return favor' in Syria battles

 ' "It is not jihad, it is a revolution," Abu Abdo insisted, adding that "in Syria there are many foreign fighters as we no longer believe in promises coming from the West."

 Firas has his own explanation for why the West is not interfering in the Syrian conflict as it did in Libya.

 "In Libya there is oil and gas and the West is still looking for wars from which it can derive economic benefits even if it is at the cost of thousands of lives, as was the case in Iraq," he said.
"The second reason is that Libya is far from Israel, a war out there does not affect Israel as here a large-scale conflict would be devastating." '

West complicit in Syria 'massacres': rebel leader

 'A Syrian rebel commander has accused the West of being complicit in the "unprecedented massacres" committed by President Bashar Assad's forces by refusing to arm the rebels with anti-aircraft weapons.

 Rebel officer Ahmad al-Fajj, a brigadier-general in the regular Syrian army before his defection "in the first days of the revolution," spoke in the rebel Free Syrian Army-held village of Atmeh on the Turkish border.

 "The free peoples of the world -- Europeans, Americans -- must understand that their governments are indirectly responsible for the killings in our country," Fajj, 64, said on Tuesday.

 "We asked all the arms dealers and traffickers in the region to sell us anti-aircraft missiles. They told us they needed the green light from the CIA and Mossad, and the light was red," he said.

 "They won't sell us anti-tank weapons for the same reason. All we have to defeat Bashar's tanks are the RPGs we manage to retrieve from the enemy."

 He claimed that with surface-to-air missiles the rebels would be able to defeat the regime forces "in a week, a month at most."

 General Fajj, who bore an odd resemblance to the late Hafez al-Assad, former president and father of Bashar, said he could not fathom the West's reluctance to supply the rebels with the necessary anti-aircraft equipment.

 Western nations fear that such weapons may fall into the hands of militant Islamists operating in the country.

 "There aren't many Islamists, less than a thousand in the whole of Syria. They have no power," he asserted. "We control the liberated areas and I can guarantee you there is no chance they'd get hold of missiles.

 "If Western countries had helped us from the beginning, they wouldn't even be here as we wouldn't need them. I assure you that after our victory they will not pose a problem. If they do we'll deal with them. The Syrian people don't support them, they're on our side.

 "I can promise the free peoples of the world that if surface-to-air missiles are given to us, they will not fall into the hands of Islamist groups," he said.

 As the U.N. General Assembly opened in New York Tuesday, Fajj complained: "Democratic countries only support us with words. This is shameful for the world. They can see what's happening, buildings being destroyed by air strikes, and they do nothing."

 Fajj, commander of the rebels on the front line in western Aleppo, had been leading a four-day-old FSA assault on a crucial army post, "base 46," which lies on the main road between the northern city and Turkey.

 "We are surrounding them. Yesterday a helicopter flew past to drop them bread. They can't get reinforcements because we hold all the roads.

 "This base is the only obstacle on the road to Aleppo. If we take it, we can join up with our fighters in the city, which would be a key victory," he said.

 "We have time anyway," he concluded. "We will defeat them by ourselves. It'll take longer and many people, civilians in particular, will die as a result. The French revolution didn't get any outside help. This is our revolution." '

Sectarianism of the Syrian revolution

 'The young man was perplexed and said that it was a banner that called for God’s oneness. The older fighter scolded the young man and said, “This is an Al-Qaeda banner; are you Al-Qaeda? Haven’t we had enough of these rumors? Do you like the media to depict us as radical villagers? And that we slaughter people?”

 The argument was over in no time. The banner was left behind in the village.'

Women Combat an Oppressive Regime Online, On the Ground, and Sometimes Armed

 'Zara and her friend, Rasha (not her real name), were both activists who saw the revolution as an opportunity for social as well as political reform. Having begun to attend protests and to connect to networks of activists locally, Rasha, in particular, found that she wanted her involvement to be personal as well as political. “I stopped wearing the hijab, I cut my hair, and I moved out of home,” she says, sipping lemon and mint juice in a café in Amman.'

Prophet film diverts gaze from Syria

 'The crisis over the film also has reinvigorated militant rhetoric that U.S. and Israel are the real enemies of Muslims, taking the heat off of both Assad and his loyal and powerful ally in neighboring Lebanon, the militant group Hezbollah.'

 Often they are. I was going to make the opposite comment on a League For The Fifth International article that Marcus Halaby linked to, which seemed to promote a slightly simplistic, anti-imperialists good, salafists bad, view.

Front line Syria rebels hostile to command move

 "We don't follow any religious or political ideology. Not the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Qaeda, or any other foreign movement. We are the FSA on the ground," he said. The commanders on the ground share one goal: "That (President) Bashar Assad falls as soon as possible."

Open letter of the Syrian Revolutionary left to support the Syrian popular revolution!

 Via Bassem Chit, but his link only seems to come in French.

 'The Syrian revolutionary process is a real popular and democratic movement that mobilizes the exploited and the oppressed classes against the capitalist elite linked to the global order – very similar to their counterparts across the Arab world. The movement began peacefully calling for reform, but the regime has responded with violence and repression in all directions. Some sections of the Syrian population then decided to organize armed resistance to defend themselves against attacks from security services and thugs, known as the shabihas of the regime.

The Syrian people’s armed resistance expresses their right to defend themselves against the repression of the regime and has allowed for the continuation of the popular resistance in some regions faced with the attacks of the regime. Some revolutionary councils were formed throughout Syria, as well as coordinating committees and armed political action. A code of good conduct, which calls for the respect for international law and against sectarianism, has also been signed by a large number of armed groups belonging to the armed popular resistance against the regime.

Composed of deserters and civilians who took up arms, the armed popular resistance has real roots in the popular insurrection.'

Eyewitness account of war crimes in Syrian conflict

 syriastrugglel: "Assad people saying opposition killed them but some have shackles on their wrists. Where we normal people get shackles? Democracy fighters have trouble getting guns and bullets."

Understanding The Arab Revolutions - Phil Marfleet

 This from the International Socialism Journal 2*33, Autumn 1986; below his meeting from last year.

 'The presence of Israel and the expansionary policy that has led to five major wars has allowed the Arab rulers an alibi - they have been able to direct domestic discontent into nationalism, with the Zionists the main enemy. Their ability to produce Palestinian leaders to verify their anti-Zionist credentials has helped to give a whole generation of shaikhs and presidents legitimacy and has weakened the basis for unity between the Palestinian masses and Arab workers. This has been true whether Arafat has been appearing alongside the Gulf shaikhs and emirs, or George Habash of the Popular Front and Nayef Hawatmeh have shared platforms with the 'progressives' - Syria's Assad, Libya's Qaddafi, Algeria's Boumedienne or Chadli. There has been no part of the Palestinian movement not identified with a section of Arab capitalism.'

 'Elsewhere the communist parties were pursuing the same popular front strategies that had proved so ineffective in the 1940s. In Syria, for example, the party lobbied the Baathists who had seized power in 1963, viewing them in the same light as the Nasser regime. In 1966 they were admitted to the government, being allocated two ministers, and for several years had representation in a ruling "progressive front". This did not stop the regime developing a police state in which all dissent was suppressed.'

Important Finds At Tell Sabi Abyad

 The Syrian rebels have taken control of a similarly named border crossing with Turkey today.

 'In 1997, the team of researchers found parts of grand vizier Assur-iddin's private archive, dating from about 1200 B.C. The texts on the clay tablets prove that the officials of that time took bribes on a regular basis.

2005 Yet the oldest pottery from Syria
This year the research team found pottery that was older still! The usually polished, sometimes even painted pottery is truly unique: it has never been found at any other site in the Near East thus far.'

Aleppo's deadly aerial warfare

 "I want to ask you a question," said the commander I'd spoken to about the FSA's share of the blame for civilian casualties. "Why is the whole world watching and doing nothing? The dead are laying in the streets. We bury people in gardens. Why is the world protecting Bashar?"

Syria Rebels Down Jets

 'All the villages we are in control of now are Sunni. So far, the position of the Alawites in Latakia is ambiguous. We want a clear stance from them. We have sent them many messages telling them that we are not against them or targeting them but when their villages are used as a base for tanks to launch attacks against other part of Latakia, they become like witnesses to the killing of the Syrian people.'

 Brian Whitaker linked to a piece on Syria Comment [http://tinyurl.com/8nkzb6f] that linked back to this, but also gave a radically different account, followed by a comment section which I'm sure resolved the whole situation.

Sayed Hassan Nasrollah Tonight

 Someone who has chosen to be an idiot, 'Sayyed Nasrallah also stressed that the incident requires an urgent session of the Islamic conference because it is more serious than what's going on in Syria.'

The Revolution Betrayed: Obama and the Syrian Uprising

 'People who bemoan the FSA’s human rights violations from the safety of their couches while remaining mum about the regime’s criminal acts that drove them to arms in the first place cannot comprehend what Malcolm X meant when he said: “sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the gun down.” '

 I disagree with Pham Binh's enthusiasm for Western intervention, thinking he misunderstands the effects, but he says a lot of things that are right.

The Sorrows of Syria

 'I think the Iranians, and to a lesser extent the Russians, will support Bashar al-Assad until there are no more Syrians left.'

US says Iran training Syrian militia

 The BBC was just reporting the head of Iran's Quds force as admitting this, but saying they are only acting as advisers. Like the Americans in Vietnam.

 Iran's Revolutionary Guards commander says its troops in Syria.

Volunteers struggle to feed poor in Syria's Aleppo

 It can get a little tiresome when it's claimed that the threat to Syrians is American machinations.

 "For the regime, we are terrorists because we are helping people in rebel-held areas," he adds. "We don't get anything from anyone, no NGOs -- Syrian or foreign," he says. "A Saudi came to us two weeks ago. He has promised to help us and send money. We are still waiting."

Barack Obama’s Courtship of Bashar al-Assad

 'Donate to Wikileaks. They deserve and need your support to make projects like these possible.
In a 31 March 2011 Stratfor [1154727] memo obtained by Wikileaks:

 "Since Mubarak has gone and Gaddhafi is under fire, Assad has more than enough reasons to be concerned about Syrian regime’s survival. Regardless of what our Syrian contacts tell us about Assad’s confidence, we know and Assad knows that he is on the thin ice and needs US/Saudi support for survival. US/Saudi (and by proxy, Qatar) back Assad not because they fear things may get worse in Lebanon. Indeed, they think this is the best time to put pressure on Assad to give concessions in Lebanon due to his current weakness. Don’t you really find it a bit unusual that Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United States did not even hesitate throwing their support behind Assad at the very beginning? Washington could have easily sent a warning to Damascus by saying that “Libya-like treatment for Syria is one of the options”. France was already willing to get engaged in Syria. But US did the contrary."

 Less than a month later, Clinton was trying to strike a different tone without changing anything. Assad had greatly intensified the crackdown and people were demanding action so the leaders of the “free world” had to at least look like they were doing something.'

Steady stream of Syria army defectors feeds rebels

 I scream for ice cream.

Syrian conflict claims the life of another young filmmaker

 'Tamer Awam, a Syrian documentary filmmaker, died Sunday of shrapnel wounds in the northern city of Aleppo, according to friends and activists.

 Awam helped organize sit-ins in Germany supporting the Syrian rebellion. During one protest, he took issue with the Qatari monarchy, which has provided aid to the Syrian rebels.
"To the Qatari government I say, first liberate your own people," he declared.'

 He had earned the right to criticise.

Can't Take My Eyes Off You

 If you click on the Next Blog button at elderofziyon.blogspot.com [a very pro-Israel site], you get to The Angry Arab News Service making almost as stupid a connection as I'm doing:

 ' "The man who controls the FSA's operations around the border with Turkey then handed the designer $300 (£187) and a flash drive full of footage and photographs of the conflict. These included interviews with senior FSA commanders and images from the frontline; even gruesome footage allegedly showing a soldier from the regime's forces being decapitated with a chainsaw. "Sell that to CNN or the BBC and you can keep the profits!" the commander told the designer." '

Syria funeral is focus of Kurdish anger

 'The four coffins, draped in Kurdish flags, were taken to the cemetery in pickup trucks and then carried to the graves. Loudspeakers played songs celebrating Kurdish "martyrs" of past struggles. A speaker who was no more than 12 years old used a microphone to lead antigovernment chants.'

 It obviously breaks the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (which I recall all governments other than the US and Somalia have signed) to allow a twelve year old to be chanting.

Daraya massacre leaves a ghost town still counting its dead

 'Other people say the regime soldiers fed them and provided medical attention to the wounded. "They gave us bread," one man says. "Not all of them were monsters."

 Two weeks on, Daraya still stinks of death. A poor Sunni suburb south of Damascus, it had been well known for furniture-making, and for its peaceful resistance before the conflict.'

Syria and the region's nationalist left

 Details on the refugees and a spot-on analysis that might be more generalised

 'The misanalysis of Islam and the strong commitment to military backed “secularity” still exists among these left groups. This is why they have lost many of their political fights against the right-wing AKP party. For them, after almost 70 years of secularist republic life, surely people who voted for AKP were “stupid” or “uneducated” not to see the dangers of “AKP Islamism”. Having long lost the connection with the working class due to their sectarian attitudes, they grabbed on to the issue of “religion” in a secular republic. But it has clearly not worked for them.'

 Update, 28/10/15. The original link has expired. Some of it is preserved here, [http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.politics.marxism.marxmail/162586]