Rebels take control

 'Syria rebels take control of east and west entry point of Damascus.'

Tackling impossible odds, the DIY weapons of the Syrian civil war

 'In the face of terrible losses, the rebels have fashioned an remarkable array of DIY munitions.'

Local Syrian-Americans rally to help their war-torn homeland

 "The Syrian people are not the victims of a natural disaster; it's not an earthquake or tsunami that we're here to address," Ayloush said. "It's an ongoing process of killing and massacres that will not end until the Syrian people are given the chance or the tools to defend themselves."

Two years later, Syrian revolutionaries reflect on their cause, the costs

 "I know that the choice now is better than if we didn't have any revolution."

Syria: the story behind one of the most shocking images of the war

 'Why did the bodies of 110 men suddenly wash up in
the river running through Aleppo city six weeks ago?

"This is a message from the army; every time the FSA will step forward, we will kill more civilians. Now the families of each victim are going to join the FSA." '

Desperate, some fleeing Syria turn to prostitution

 This guy isn't helping.

 ' “I insist that the Syrian women in Zaatari and elsewhere are practicing prostitution because they like it or got used to it, not for money, or for the sake of their poor families,” Ghassan Jamous, a spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army in northern Jordan, says.'

Syria's women: Fighting a war on two fronts

 "I was with the revolution from the start, the revolution is one line, it's not Islamist, it's for all Syrians, and Syrians are from all sects. At the end, the revolution's original ideals are going to endure because we are here, those that started it will be there at the end," she adds. "If something happens and this changes it means it's our fault because we gave up."

Prospects for Syria's revolution

 'On the other side is a traitorous and opportunistic left, part of which takes a centrist position between the dictatorships and the rebellious masses and another part of which openly and brazenly stands with the dictatorships against the popular revolutions.

 The pretexts to justify this betrayal of the popular revolutionary cause are many, but all equally bankrupt. There is the tired excuse of "anti-imperialism," as if Russia and the United States are not both imperialist countries. And there is the excuse of the "Islamist danger," as if the revolutionary processes are mere fruit that should ripen according to our whims and mechanically fall into the hands of the left--otherwise, they are not revolutions.'

Running the Town of Qusayr Without Assad

 “If we were able to form this council amid all these hellish conditions, there is a very good chance that there will be better days ahead once this regime is no more.”

Refugees number a million, says UN

 It wasn't so long ago that apologists for Assad were pointing to the Alawis who'd got out of the country as the real refugee crisis, whereas the truth is that the government supporters who have left have travelled comfortably with money and passports, while those shelled by Assad's forces are the ones struggling and dying.

 And still I hear the BBC News tell me that the problem is how to stop weapons getting in the hands of extremists.

Help

 Douglas Alexander telling the House of Commons now that the arms embargo against the Syrian opposition shouldn't be lifted, but the Russians should be prevailed upon not to sell arms to the régime. The problem is that there might be some unsavoury types who end up with weapons.

The last thing Syrians need is more arms going to either side

 'Rather than the combatants' benefactors, 24 million Syrians are victims of the escalating arms deliveries to all sides.'

 It is a slander on the Syrian revolutionaries for Charles Glass to compare them with a government that is firing Scud missiles at its own citizens.

 Forming a Non-intervention Committee was a way in the 30s to make sure that the Spanish Republicans didn't get the arms they needed to defend themselves against the fascists.

Syria is a Civil State for All Syrians

 'The message is the same all across the country.'

'Conscience' of Syrian Revolution Faces Challenge from Islamists

 'Islamists from Jabhat al Nusra stage their own protest in the town. Until recently, the group has been reluctant to appear in public.'

Syrian rebel put his dreams on hold in civil war

 "I'm happy with the battles and the people I've gotten to know," Qadi said. "These are the best moments of my life."

Fighting Shortages, Syrian Civilians Take Reins in Rebel Areas

 “The old people think Bashar Assad is very strong and he will never leave,” he said. “But we think they are not thinking the right way, because we see every day that he is vanishing and going away.”

The victory of the revolution takes two revolutions

 “The victory of the revolution takes two revolutions: One against the regime strangling freedom, another against those awaiting its victory to steal.”

Syrian rebels advance despite regime attacks

 'It is stopping the Islamic resistance, not the success of the revolution, which preoccupies US policy on Syria.

 Many Syrians feel abandoned and have little faith in any outside help. They point out that the Assad regime receives a steady supply of weapons, cash and fuel from Russia and Iran, while they are subject to a weapons embargo.

 This is why many revolutionaries have welcomed the Islamist brigades as allies, even if they do not share their vision of a future Syria.

 One rebel commander said, “We can thank god that we are indebted to no one.” '

Was Syria ever the secular, non-sectarian state we are led to believe it was?

 'For provincial types, "secular" has come to mean flashy, worldly, corrupt and finally brutal, and for them Sharia means a more honest and decent society, as much as anything else. This is not a good thing – I wouldn't want to be an ambitious young woman growing up in Syria today, or one of the many perfectly decent, god-fearing middle-aged Muslim men I know who like a quiet tipple of Scotch before bedtime – but they will be victims of the dictators' dishonesty and refusal to reform as much as of Saudi fundamentalists.'

Syria democracy in action defies dangers in Deir Ezzor

 ' "We want a democratic state, not an Islamic state. We want a secular state run by civilians, not by mullahs," he said.
Free Syrian Army rebel fighters were forbidden from taking part in the vote.

 "It is an opportunity for civilians to have their say. We soldiers must fight against regime, that's our job," said Abu Obeida, a rebel commander.'

Arts Of Revolution

 "I cut the missile at its end, and emptied the cluster bombs inside it."

Zaatari refugees torn between revolution, security

 “When we left Syria five months ago the Free Syrian Army had a shortage of arms. Had we stayed in Syria, we would have been a burden,” he said.

 “Now, they have got the weapons. I can join their ranks to fight against the oppressive regime.”

Syria’s Agony: Situation and Outlook, Winter 2013

 'The country’s naturally diverse, cosmopolitan culture means that after regime collapse the street crowds will probably reappear amid the rubble demanding the pluralism and non-sectarianism they endorsed in 2011. There are good reasons to suppose that the Islamists and their agenda will swiftly deflate among a people that will have paid so much for a new dawn. The outlook, however, will darken with perpetuation of the agony.'

London Event: 'Syria Through a Lens' Screening (28 February 2013)

 'Syria Through a Lens highlights the life, activism, and films of the late Syrian filmmaker Bassel Shahade. On 28 May 2012, Bassel was killed during a government assault on Homs, where he had been filming the aftermath of the violence in Houla.'

Omar Aziz: Rest in Power

 'He was not a son of the Facebook generation, but at the age of 63, his enthusiasm, ambition, and swashbuckling energy were matched by none of the twenty-somethings on the scene.

 At a time when many activists were forced to flee, he chose to relinquish his safety in the United States and return to Syria to participate in the popular uprising that has swept through the country.

 At a time when most anti-imperialists were wailing over the collapse of the Syrian state and the “hijacking” of a revolution they never supported in the first place, Aziz and his comrades were tirelessly striving for unconditional freedom from all forms of despotism and state hegemony.'

Syria's strategic stalemate, made worse by US inaction

 'Not only is the Obama administration no longer convinced that Syria's armed rebellion is about to topple President Bashar Al Assad, a rebel military victory does not even appear to be Washington's preferred outcome.'

A Botched Mass Defection

 'There were 23 officers in our unit, and 20 of them were Alawites. The Alawites didn’t consult the colonel, a Sunni, on security matters. They didn’t trust us.'

The country formerly known as Syria

 Underclass meaning workers and peasants. An interesting point, which it would be nice to have expanded on.

 'A hardened and increasingly sectarian underclass on each side—disenfranchised mainly Sunni rebels and the regime’s mainly poor Alawites—is bearing the brunt of the battle. Middle-class Syrians and secular activists are leaving in droves.

 The uprising, which is now a full-blown civil war between Mr Assad’s forces and the opposition, has brought new freedoms. Young Syrians are no longer afraid to deride the regime openly. Even within the security forces, people discuss politics. “We all say things we wouldn’t have dared talk about in our own homes before,” says Aisha, a mother of four from Idleb province, in the north-west. Neighbourly bonds have sometimes grown strong amid the bloodshed. Altruistic bravery is common. Women risk their lives to smuggle medicine to rebel areas through the regime’s checkpoints, because the soldiers are less likely to search them. In Damascus people sleep ten to a room, welcoming relations who have fled from more dangerous areas.'

The death of a country

 'Russia supports Mr Assad in part to frustrate Mr Obama. Europe and America should keep on trying to tempt it to give him up, by promising it a stake in a liberated Syria.'

 The editors of the Economist want Assad gone which is good; but think the Syrian people aren't capable of making their own choices, and an imperialist carve-up would be a way to go, a strategy with which I can see problems.

West lacks will to arm Syrian rebels

 'The (understandably) hesitant policy of the west now ensures that the Assad regime it wants out, and the jihadis whose advance it wants to block, are the only ones with a reliable supply of arms, while the more or less mainstream rebels it purports to back keep running out of ammunition.

 Russia and Iran provide real support to the Assads, and Saudi Arabia and Qatar channel resources to the jihadis and Muslim Brotherhood respectively. The military council created by the National Coalition as a condition for international recognition has little means to establish authority in rebel ranks – and therefore much diminished ability to attract either regime defectors or fighters that now flock to the black banners of the jihadis.'

The myth of Palestinian neutrality in Syria

 'To claim that they are “used by both sides” is a profound insult to the Palestinians who freely chose to protest against the Syrian regime. Such a claim suggests that anti-regime Palestinians have no free will or autonomy.'

Syrian couple overcomes sectarian differences

 "I'm the only Alawite here, but people don't think I'm different from others, because we are one country, and one nation."

Local Family Rallying For Syria

 The face of American imperialism.

Russia Ends Sales Of Weapons To Syria

 “That's pretty inconsiderate. What’s the Syrian army supposed to kill people with now?”

Having Gone This Far Without Caring About Syria, Nation To Finish What It Started

 'According to a recent poll, 85 percent of Americans said they actually care less about Syria now than they did at the outset of the country’s antigovernment protests; 57 percent admitted to almost caring after they learned of the systematic rape of thousands of Syrian women by troops, but said they “were still going to see this whole not-caring thing through”; and 30 percent said that while they acknowledge the conflict is a major human rights issue, they will forge ahead with their cold-blooded lack of compassion purely for the sake of consistency, and also because they “honestly and truly don’t give a shit.” '

Syrian Revolution

 'The one time I ran into a Syrian state TV reporter in downtown Damascus, she was doing street interviews on the pressing issue of “Which fruits and vegetables do you freeze so you can eat them out of season.” Which was all the more surreal as I saw smoke billowing up on the horizon.'

Life in battleground town of al-Safira

 'In a pattern familiar across Syria, rebel fighters advanced into the town, the government responded with massive indiscriminate bombardment and those who could get out, did.'

Back from hell, back from Syria

 ' "Assad is going to fall, no doubt. The question is if Europe wants to be on the right side of history in order to limit the killings and play a role in the reconstruction afterwards?"
Today this question remains poignant.

 We can still play a role, limit the casualties and help to build a secular/non-sectarian Syria. The task is not even that difficult.

 We should give humanitarian aid directly to the liberated areas and we should give anti-aircraft defences to the FSA. It is the only way to support the right people in this conflict and to help non-combatant Syrians to survive.'

Harlem Shake For Syria

 "While thousands shake mindlessly, Assad kills Syrians senselessly."

Fawaz Gerges And Rosemary Hollis In Conversation With Robin Yassin-Kassab

 Robin Yassin-Kassab:

 "Because the word intervention was mentioned, I'd just like to say, in my opinion, that as far as I can see, this has been a massive diversion, it's the hugest red herring of the whole conflict; the Syrian National Council in the beginning seemed to put all its eggs into the basket of a foreign military intervention, leftists vehemently opposed the foreign military intervention, the régime spoke in paranoid tones about the military intervention as if that was what it was all about, it wasn't about a revolution; and I think they're all missing the point, because it's a misjudgement of the West, the fact that it's just got into two silly wars in Middle East and Muslim countries, the West doesn't have money; I don't think that intervention has ever been on the cards - it may come in the future, if things get so desperate for the rest of the world, because of what's happening in Syria, it may have to come at some point, but at the moment, and in the past, as far as I can see, it's never been on the cards, we waste time by talking about it, hoping for it, or by dreading it."

How to Start a Battalion (in Five Easy Lessons)

 "Why are the Americans doing this to us? They told us they wouldn’t send us weapons until we united. So we united in Doha. Now what’s their excuse? They say it’s because of the jihadis but it’s the jihadis who are gaining ground."

Time and Questions

 Razan Ghazzawi:

 'People don’t ask me what’s happening in Syria, I love people who ask these questions, but I despise people who come to me and look me in the eye and ask me to ease their worries from, umm, “imperialist agendas,” from “Islamists,” and from “FSA violations of human rights.” People like these don’t genuinely want to learn, they just want to “chit-chat” about my pain. The pain that lives in me day and night, I remember Lina’s voice coming from the other side, “I am tired, Razan,” and I know that when she says that, it means that she really, really, can’t take it anymore.

 Questions. People have questions. I get that. But don’t come and tell me you’re in solidarity with our revolution. People in solidarity would first open a discussion with questions like: “how is your family and friends?” or “what can I do to help?” before you come and dictate me how we should be “worried” about your definition of a “successful revolution.”

 People in solidarity are easy to feel, they’re compassionate and would listen more than talk, you on the other hand, intellectual, are a waste of my painful time.'

Max Boot and Martin A Miller's books about warfare

 'In Syria, the problem is not Islamist blowback but the west’s active support for the Islamist insurgents. Almost certainly, the result will be a longer, bloodier war, possibly spreading throughout the region, in which Syria becomes one more failed state or else a hostile fundamentalist regime.'

 A shorter war might occur if the West actually armed the insurgents. Professors of European Thought can be such idiots sometimes.

Lasting scars of Syria's assault on Baba Amr

 'The whole world watched while we were butchered," said Ahmed Idriss, an aid worker in Arsal and a refugee himself.

 Of course, we blame the international community for that. But it doesn't really matter now: we don't expect help from them any longer. Now we put our faith in God and in the Free Syrian Army.

 Mohammed Jomaa: "We still have good relations with many of the Alawites, and some of them are even passing information about the checkpoints to the rebels." '

Syria finds means of financial survival

 'Almost two years after the Syrian uprising began, Damascus is funding its state structures and war machine thanks to assistance from Moscow and Tehran, dwindling commodity exports and taxes – and the opportunities the war economy offers to make and seize cash.

 “You can see pressure building up on the regime but you don’t actually get to the collapse,” said David Butter, a Middle East finance specialist at Chatham House, the London-based think-tank. “There is enough circulation in parts of the economy to keep things going.” '



 Central Damascus slowly succumbs to war

 'It was once thought that puncturing the bubble of normalcy in Damascus would strengthen opposition to the regime. But increasingly armed rebels, often referred to as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), are accused of looting and acting with disregard for the populations they are supposed to be fighting for.'
[https://www.ft.com/content/2e854122-6fcc-11e2-956b-00144feab49a]

Desperate for Fuel, Syrians Chop Down National Forest

 Haiti lost what was left of its forests the same way.

Belaid’s stance on the Syrian revolution

 'A person who finished their revolt to find themself confronting Islamists and their rule, like the situation is in Tunisia and Egypt, is not the same as he who is still engaged in a revolution and attempting to find means of consensus among parties that are fighting a mutual enemy. This is exactly what the situation in Syria is.'

"Peoples always win over their tyrants. The Syrians are not an exception. Watch your steps."

 Syria Live Coverage: The
Fighting from Damascus to Idlib

 'Bilal Zaiter, a Palestinian refugee, exiled for a second time: "Assad has dried up our souls and nurtured terrorism inside every single Syrian." ' [https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/double-exile]

 "Ahmadinejad did not look like a populist in Egypt, but like a Kissinger-style Realist, willing to sacrifice the Syrian masses to Iran’s hegemonic geopolitical interests in the region." [http://www.juancole.com/.../02/visit-ahmadinejads-egypt.html]

 31st anniversary of the massacre of Hama. [http://doumarevolution.tumblr.com/post/42818972876/31]

The survival of Syria

 'Every Syrian is extremely upset and frustrated about lack of support from the international community, never has a country seen such a disaster, with a regime targeting civilians in full view and the West just sitting by watching, like a spectator.

 Europe and America have used all sorts of excuses for not getting involved in Syria, for example, the lack of a united opposition, but really, the West has no interest in the Syrian uprising.

 More importantly, leaving Syria very weak will service the interests of some neighbouring countries. The regime is destroying its army and draining its supply of fighter jets, and the country will need at least 20 to 25 years to rebuild. Having such a weakened Syria is preferable for Western strategy in the region.'

A Faceless Teenage Refugee Who Helped Ignite Syria’s War

 The same kids who started the revolution in Syria are the armed opposition.

 'His son fled to Jordan about a year ago, where he spent his time looking for work as a day laborer, and dreaming about returning to fight the government in Syria.

 About two months ago, he heard that his cousin who wrote the graffiti and somehow managed to avoid arrest had joined the rebels as a fighter — and had been killed.'

Did the CIA Betray Syria’s Rebels?

 'He then accused America of pushing a dark agenda in Syria—working to keep the war going instead of helping with the overthrow of Assad. “America,” Tlass said, “is trying to prolong the Syrian revolution.” '

How jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra is taking over Syria's revolution

 'One resident said: “I don’t like Jabhat al-Nusra. But I am telling you that, these guys will rule – for a time. It is a matter of how long before us Syrians realise we need to take their destiny in their own hands.” '

Syria's Salma scarred by war

 "They told me they were afraid they'd be persecuted if the regime falls," Mohamed says. "I told them no. We are against the regime, not against Alawites. But whatever I said, they were convinced their fate was tied to that of the regime. Because that's what the Assads have put in their mind."